The Immortal Knight Chronicles Box Set 2 by Dan Davis

Author:Dan Davis [Davis, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2019-08-03T22:00:00+00:00

17. Gilles’ Confession

October 1440

Stephen arranged it so that I was let into Gilles’ chambers in the dark of the night. We were able to lean on enough people to gain access but it was far from officially sanctioned and Stephen kept watch from the other side of the chamber door while I went in. He seemed convinced that we would be discovered and rousted out at any moment.

“Are you going to kill him?” Stephen had asked a dozen times on the way to his quarters.

“No, no, certainly not,” I said. “Most probably.”

Stephen grabbed my arm. “We shall have to flee immediately if you do.”

“I will restrain myself.” After I spoke, I pulled away my arm away.

“Why do this at all, then? Merely to satisfy your curiosity? You risk spoiling the entire trial.”

What could I say? That I wished to face the man who had defeated us on the battlefield? That I also needed to understand what had turned him into the monster that he was and whether such a degeneration was something that might lie in store for me or for my men?

“I simply must, that is all. I must.”

When I closed the door behind me and stepped within, I was still not certain if I would do the deed. A murdered Gilles would leave the bereaved families without the sense that justice had been done. There would be many who would say he had been innocent of the charges and where would that leave the people? I would have to kill Poitou and Henriet, also, although I was dearly looking forward to that.

But I was so curious. I wanted to speak to him and find out why. To find out what he knew of William.

Perhaps these were excuses I told myself while yet knowing deep down that I was there to cut out his heart and feed it to him.

He stood across the other side of the room, watching me enter. An imposing figure in his own hall and in the courtroom, seeing him standing close made his stature and bearing even more impressive. Broad at the shoulder, tall, and slim, he looked like a man of immense strength and also gracefulness. Dressed in black velvet with silver embroidery, he looked like a starry night or a pot of black ink spilled across a desk reflecting candlelight. His hair was as black as the midnight outside the window.

“So,” he said, holding his palms out by his side. “You have come at last.” His voice was level and self-assured.

“How do you know me?” I asked him.

He raised one eyebrow and peered at my face. “Do you not know me, sir?” he replied. “You do not recognise me?”

“Certainly, I do. But I do not know from where. Or from when. Was it long ago?”

His shoulders slumped. “Long enough. As for where, why, it was here.”

“Nantes?”

He seemed disappointed. “I suppose you have lived so long and done so much that it was an event of little significance to you. But it was near Tiffauges, a little less than a hundred years ago.

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