Warlord (Outlaw 4) by Donald Angus

Author:Donald, Angus [Donald, Angus]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780748120529
Publisher: Hachette Littlehampton
Published: 2012-07-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Three days after my dinner with Sir Aymeric, in the late afternoon, I was invited to Master Fulk’s home on the Petit-Pont. It was Luke who brought the invitation after his lessons had ended, and who offered to act as my guide to the narrow house on the bridge, where I was greeted with great affection by his huge, hairy and malodorous teacher. When Luke had departed, Fulk offered wine and sweet cakes and we sat in his cramped downstairs room, with the shutters flung wide on that warm September afternoon – for which I was grateful, given that it appeared that he had neither bathed nor changed his robe in the weeks since I first met him – and we watched the boat traffic gliding down the brown Seine, our conversation occasionally interrupted by the coarse oaths of the boatmen passing through the arches of the bridge beneath us.

‘After I left you the other week, Sir Alan,’ Master Fulk began, ‘I started to think hard about your father’s story and the goods that were stolen from Bishop Heribert all those years ago. And I remembered something, which I think may be significant. You recall the magical object – the wondrous relic that defeats disease and holds back death – that Heribert was rumoured to possess?’

I said that I did.

‘Now, let me ask you another question: have you heard of a trouvère known as Christian of Troyes, who used to serve Philip, Count of Flanders? He died a few years ago.’

I nodded. ‘I read one of his poems called “Erec and Enide” and I was impressed. He was good, very good, some of his poetry was truly lovely.’

‘And have you read “Le Conte du Graal”?’

I sat up straighter on my stool. ‘No,’ I said, ‘but I have heard other trouvères speak of this bizarre story. Indeed, they speak of it with something approaching awe.’

‘It is the tale of a young knight called Perceval and his adventures. I have a copy here: will you allow me to read you a little from it?’ Master Fulk pulled a small, fat book bound in brown leather from the sleeve of his robe. He muttered to himself as he leafed through the vellum pages until he found the passage he wanted.

‘Perceval has been invited to dine in the castle of a mysterious fisherman king,’ Fulk said, ‘they are sitting together on a great bed in the hall. Listen to this!’ And he began to read:

‘While they talked of this and that, a young attendant entered the room, holding a shining lance by the middle of the shaft. He passed between the fire and those seated on the bed, and all present saw the shining lance with its shining head. A drop of blood fell from the tip of the lance, and that crimson drop ran all the way down to the attendant’s hand. The youth who had come there that night beheld this marvel – he means Perceval,’ Fulk said, interrupting himself before continuing – ‘and refrained from asking how this could be.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.