****
De Floyran ate in silence, his eyes dark and deep in thought. Botolf, Armin and Guillaume all sat with him and shared his silence, thinking hard themselves of a good idea just in case he called upon them to suggest one. He did.
“Come on then,” he suddenly said, “let’s hear your suggestions.” His eyes darted from one to the other expectantly.
“We should move the masters.” Armin de Merle said.
“Not necessary.” De Floyran said.
“But they will come here for them.” De Merle said making his case. “Galeren will not leave his father to rot in hell.”
“No, he will not.” De Floyran agreed. “But I don’t believe the masters will take the opportunity to escape. De Molay has forsaken the chance before, has he not De Nogaret?”
“You are right.” De Nogaret said, “The masters are like the captains of sinking ships. The institution of the Temple is engrained in their nature; they will prefer to die with it so they are forever bound to its memory and legacy.
Besides, if we move them then it will cause Galeren to go on a wild goose chase looking for them, and surely we want him to come here and finish it here.” De Nogaret concluded looking at De Floyran. De Floyran smiled at the councillor, he had taken a beating over the last few years and physically he had suffered but his mind was still as sharp as a blade.
“Precisely,” De Floyran said. “It is likely that Galeren’s new troop will split into two groups. I am sure Raymond has given them the Paris Temple as the other locality where their brethren are being held. I do not doubt that they will be successful, for they are too many in number, just those freed at Chinon outnumber my ranks and those that did not die fighting will likely have taken their chance to join them. What concerns me at present is damage limitation with regard to the King. How do we emerge from this unscathed from both Galeren’s attack and the King’s wrath?”
“If the masters choose martyrdom out of devotion to the Order all well and good, but you will still likely lose all the other prisoners. Some fools may decide to become martyrs and stay but the King’s dungeons will be empty of Templars. He will not be happy about it.” Botolf offered.
“Of course not, but there is little he can do about it and when he realises that, his focus will change. The King wants the Order destroyed, its name, its power and status.” De Nogaret said. “Its destruction is a mark of his autonomy and a warning to others that he is an absolute monarch and not to be messed with.
If the Pope comes to his senses and dissolves the Order quickly, then the King will have his wishes. Clement will wash his hands of the matter and will not be concerned with how many were burnt, how many died in prison or how many remained there. He will just be eager to be out of Philip’s sights and have the Church’s future secure. Events can be recorded as we see fit. Some two hundred Templars have already been burned at the stake at the King’s pleasure, the Pope and others need not know when this actually occurred.” De Nogaret pointed out.
De Floyran’s eyes lit up in understanding and he nodded his head eagerly and motioned for De Nogaret to continue.
“Philip will still have the masters to show for his triumphant elimination of the arrogant and heretical Order of the Temple. His strike has not made him as wealthy as he would have liked, but he has demonstrated his authority over those that may believe they are beyond the limits of it. As long as he looks like the hero then he will be happy enough, believe me. History will not know about the details. History will record what we wish it too.”
“Well, that is the Pope and the King taken care of, I hope.” De Floyran smiled at De Nogaret. “I trust I can let you explain all to our petulant King when the time comes. You have a way with words that a simple soldier like me could only dream of possessing.” De Floyran said smoothly.
“Of course,” De Nogaret said compliantly.
“Good,” De Floyran said rubbing his fingers together. “Now, of this imminent attack, there are still thirty of us.”
“But you said there could be no doubt of their success.” Armin pointed out, a little bemused.
“I did,” De Floyran said. “But I care not about that. Like the King my focus has to change. I care not if all the Templars escape to their freedom, ’tis the way it has worked out. But there are those that cannot leave France alive. I can admit defeat in this if I have both the heads of Galeren and Caradas.” He looked at each of the men in turn. “I have sworn to destroy Galeren for the last sixteen years, I cannot let him have the victory and enjoy the rest of his life and Raymond has betrayed me. None of this would have happened if he had not, so he must suffer my vengeance.”
“What about the girl?” De Nogaret said.
“Mmm,” De Floyran pondered. “She is a tricky one. If I possess her then a modicum of my triumph will still be intact, but on the other hand she will be a constant reminder of the failure. I am not sure whether her merits outweigh the negative.”
“But with Galeren dead, two hundred Templars burned and the Temple destroyed, surely there is little failure to dwell on.” De Nogaret offered shrewdly.
“Well put!” De Floyran said. “So our efforts will be concentrated on bringing down Galeren and Caradas, thirty of us should manage that. Anyone else can also be taken down, the more the merrier of course, but our goal is more refined now. There is no use sacrificing ourselves on a futile cause. De Nogaret with his silken tongue will convince the King that he has been successful in his exploits and so we should still come out of this with what we came into it for.”
“Mmm, I do hope so.” De Nogaret said, raising his eyebrows at De Floyran to remind him of his own pledge. De Floyran smiled understanding his meaning immediately.
“Don’t worry. My promise still holds true, but in light of the turn of events we must once again delay. I need you De Nogaret, ’tis not the time for transition now. Let the dust settle first.”
De Nogaret nodded but said, “what if Galeren should kill you before you fulfil your promise to me?”
“Galeren kill me?” De Floyran said, sounding almost insulted.
“He has reason plenty to.” De Nogaret reminded him.
“True, but I too have reason plenty to want his head, and have it I will. His men will be focused on setting free other Templars and the masters while dealing with potential resistance. However, my men will simply be focused on getting him. I wish him only grievously wounded mind,” he pointed to Botolf and Armin, “not dead. The pleasure of taking his life will be mine. Make sure the men know that. Have him brought to me in any state, but he must be alive. Leave Catherine to me, no one is to touch her. I will decide her fate when she is in my possession.”
“What about Caradas?” Armin asked.
“The same as Galeren. I want to save him for the stake; it was his undoing so let it be his end.” He looked at De Nogaret and smiled. “Have faith my gritty councillor! I do not plan to die. At least one thing is for sure, this will be over a lot sooner than we anticipated and perhaps that is a good thing. We are all weary of this, are we not?”
Everyone grunted their agreement and as the conversation appeared to be over, Armin and Botolf took their leave and went to brief the rest of De Floyran’s men. De Floyran and De Nogaret sat in silence for a while. De Floyran drummed his fingers against his face and slowly drank his wine. De Nogaret felt the swelling across his nose and cheek bones and winced as he felt the broken bone in his nose. De Floyran looked up and smiled wryly.
“You have had some bad luck,” he noted. “Galeren broke your leg and now Caradas has broken your nose.”
“A disadvantage of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess.” De Nogaret shrugged unperturbed.
“Mmm, well that’s why I want you to leave here as soon as possible, after that drink preferably.” De Floyran said.
“Leave, why?”
“To prevent you from suffering another breakage. It could be your neck next time. It will be ugly, besides I need you to go to the King
and give him the news now. Prepare him for the worst, and hopefully it won’t be that bad.” De Nogaret was about to protest but De Floyran cut him off before he could open his mouth.
“There is nothing you can do here, except get yourself killed. Broken bones are the least of your worries. I am relying on you De Nogaret to placate the King and smooth this mess over.”
De Nogaret relented knowing that De Floyran was right. Still, he did not like the thought of not knowing what was happening. If De Floyran was killed, he would never receive his gift, but if he stayed here, he may be injured further or worse.
“I know what you are thinking,” De Floyran said, “but worry not. I will survive to make you one of us.” He smiled reassuringly.
De Nogaret nodded, “I must admit you have handled this whole situation better than I thought. I thought your rage would be unrelenting.”
“I have had time to digest events. My rage was sincere however. To lose Catherine once again from practically under my nose, find that my oldest comrade has betrayed me and that Galeren and some hundred Templars are to be freed from Chinon was all just cause for my rage. Our hard work seemed to be in ruins De Nogaret, but serious thought and your wise words have made me see that all is not lost. The game has just changed and we can still all have what we set out to obtain.”
“Indeed,” De Nogaret agreed. They shared one last drink together and when all that needed to be said had been, De Nogaret stood slowly and prepared to leave.
“I had better be on my way then. I trust I will be able to take a handful of the regular garrison with me for escort.”
“Of course, as many as you like. They will be useless to me here.”
“Good luck then.”
“To you too, De Nogaret. I will seek you out at Fontainebleau when this is over.” De Floyran winked slyly at him.
De Nogaret turned and began to limp across the floor of the main hall. As he got to the door he stopped and then turned and said:
“How many regular men are here?” he asked.
“About twenty five,” De Floyran answered.
“And at Chinon?”
“About the same, give or take.” De Floyran said, raising his eyebrows inquisitively. “Why?”
“Just curious,” De Nogaret answered and bowing courteously he left the hall.
Chapter Thirty Five
The Wolves of Solomon (Wolves of Solomon Book One) Page 61
