Temple Sword

Chapter 50 Departure
1305, St. Michael's Month
Dubica, Slavonia

William Bartow's estate
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Without saying a word, Antal bid farewell to Dubica's manor with hazy eyes, which gave him life and future, and even if he made mistakes, he knew he could always return here.He said goodbye to the stables, his uncle's horses, and the wine cellar, which had been sacred places to him in childhood, and which had become other places later on as a boy.

He said goodbye to the yard where he had spent so much time with the heavy leaden sword and other weapons that he knew that if it hadn't been for these hours he would still be nothing today.

He had bid farewell to his room earlier when he was packing up, and he didn't have many possessions other than what he wore and carried with him, and as a Templar he had only a change of clothes, a A warm cloak for bad weather, and a wooden knight that Umberto gave him when he was ten years old, it seems like 1000 years ago...

At the back of the house, he placed a red rose on his mother's white marble angelic tombstone, as well as on the grave of the faithful Maritius, which had nothing but a simple stone cross.He prayed for the rest of their souls before getting up to say goodbye to his family.

He was not close to the Urbanos couple, but every time they met, Urbanos and his wife Albina were always friendly to him.Antal found them in the kitchen, Madame Albina cooking crepe soup and her husband tinkering in the corner.

Antal came to them, but he was a little confused, he didn't know what he should say to them, but the woman who heard his confused grunt came up to him and hugged him tightly, as if he was talking to himself The same farewell to the son.

"Take care, young man," Albina said with a smile, "or should I call you my Lord Knight now?"

"Hey, woman, you can't hold the king's knight like that!" said her husband, smiling kindly at them both. "Tell me, my child, what will the king want you to do? Will give it to us." Does the kingdom bring security? If someone squints at the king, will you swing your sword and make him kneel and beg for your mercy?"

"I don't know yet, my brother Urbanos," shrugged the young knight as he left Albina's arms. "Maybe it's just to protect the king and be his bodyguard. His Majesty hasn't told me about this yet."

The big man with the gray beard had a childlike excitement in his eyes, and his giant, leathery hand could almost wrap Antal's outstretched right hand.

"I can't say we know each other, kid," Urbanos said, "but we will miss you and we may never see each other again."

"It's hard to tell," said his wife.

"Anyway, I made this for you," he handed Antal a finely crafted wooden plate and spoon. "We don't have any gifts to give, but your uncle doesn't mind something I've carved out of wood. You might not be able to afford this at a feast with the king and other lords, but when you have to ladle soup out of your helmet on the battlefield When you feed, you'll remember old Urbanos' name."

Antal's eyes lit up, a little flickering.In his opinion, the plates carved by the old man are more beautiful than gold and silver tableware.In lieu of words of thanks, he gave the old bear a friendly hug.

"I have to go," Antar said, resisting the lure of whispers of fragrant crepe soup whispering in his ear. "The king's riders may arrive at any moment, and I want to ride to the river bank and wait."

After saying goodbye to the two, the young knight left the kitchen with a tear in his eye.
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A thin column of smoke rose from the banks of the Sava River. Antal, who walked out of the woods, curiously followed the direction of the column of smoke, and found that William was sitting on the grass with a rolled up canvas on his lap, as if waiting with him.

"I thought you wouldn't come," William said bluntly.

"I just wanted to say goodbye to everyone," Antal dismounted, "I didn't expect to find you here."

"I have something to show you," William said, his knees clicking as he got up. "Before you leave me completely, I think you should know me."

"understand what?"

"Do you remember Gregory, the court painter?" William asked, spreading the materials in his hand on the ground. "You've never seen what he's been doing for so long..."

Antal remembered, of course, the young painter who had come to the estate with the musician Francis some years before, and he and William had spent months furtively in the room, and every time the boy saw Gregory he was His face was pale, his eyes were sunken, and he said nothing about what he and William had done.

William spread the long canvas on the bank and squatted aside, his knees still creaking. Antal remembered that he had seen this strange painting before, when he was 14 years old, he sneaked into William's room took his sword.At that time, Antal was only holding the sword, and with the dim moonlight, he didn't pay much attention to the details of the painting, but he remembered that it looked strange.

"What is this?" Antal asked as he watched the slender brown-black lines form a human figure on the sand-colored canvas. "I've never seen anything like this before..."

"Well, look carefully!" William insisted. "Keep looking until you see what's hidden in it. Do you see his figure?"

Antal narrowed his eyes, and a strange image of a man became more and more obvious in front of him: a lying naked man, with two thin hands crossed in front of his groin, as if to cover himself, he wore long messy hair. hair and beard.

"I saw it," he said softly, "but I still don't know what it is. Who is this? Did you spend months with Gregory just for this?"

"Exactly this."

"Why did you let me see this painting?"

"Because...I don't know...it might be important." William's voice was hoarse and weak. "I never knew why it was important, why I was so attached to it, why I wanted to see it again, but ... I always had a strange feeling about it."

Antal was startled by his uncle's voice, which sounded hopeless and weak, and the young knight crouched beside the canvas, looking at its contents and then at the old knight.

"Can you tell me what this is?" Antal asked in a very gentle voice, he felt that William's state was a little strange.

"I first saw it in the Holy Land, 30 years ago, in Tripoli," William replied, "it was hidden under our monastery, when my companions and I saved the monastery from the Saracen attack. After a long time, he showed it to us out of gratitude. He said that no one but the members of the order should see it, and made us promise to never tell anyone, especially outsiders. At first, I was as confused as you are now looking at it, but...

But... something emanating from it attracts me, what you're looking at is just a parody, even though it looks extremely similar to the original... but... the one I saw in Tripoli... it seemed Reach out for my soul, Antal!I suddenly felt that if I didn't kneel before him, I would die!It's so great... I don't expect you to understand, but that shroud is looking at me! "

"Shroud?" Antal echoed.

"Yes," William nodded, his eyes red with tears, "a shroud, that's what they say, it came from a cave tomb."

Antal didn't understand a single word, he wanted to ask back and forth word by word, but he chose to frown silently and listen to his uncle continue to explain to him.

"After Jesus was crucified, his body was buried in a cave tomb, and the entrance was blocked by a large stone." William told a story that every Christian knows, "The next morning, The stone is gone, the body of the Savior is gone, and only the shroud remains inside."

Then the young knight suddenly realized, and his heart was pounding, as if someone had punched him in the chest.He jumped up suddenly, his eyes widened, his breathing was rapid, and he stared at his uncle in disbelief.

"I know what you're thinking," William said with a faint smile, "don't be afraid, we'll make it disappear forever. If the situation turns bad and the Iron King of France and his Pope of Avignon start investigating the affairs of the Knights, we Don't want them to brand the Templars heretics with this unexplainable painting."

After that, he grabbed the canvas, quickly rolled it up, and inserted a section into the fire.The tongue of fire began to lick, and then quickly spread to the whole body of the picture scroll, devouring it into ashes.

Antal looked at the flame with some pity, and then stared at William without saying a word.

"As for the original work," William patted Antares on the shoulder, "it was destroyed in Acre. During the siege of Acre, the Saracens destroyed the King's Tower. Grand Master Guillaume and his men were in the tower. The shroud was with them, too, and I'm sure it was destroyed."

"Do you think things are going to get worse?" Antal asked. "Is it true that the Pope won't protect us?"

William sighed painfully.

"You know, my dear child," he said despondently, "I've seen so many tragedies in my life that no matter how hard they try to fight their fate, it's all in vain. Our fate is in God's hands, but don't Be afraid, you are under the king's protection!"

When they returned to the estate, Umberto was waiting for them with a detachment of light cavalry.Riders wore leather jackets and fancy hats, their lances waving lily banners in the wind.They are the men of the King of Anjou, and Antal disappeared into the horizon with them, while Umberto, who accompanied them, started another intelligence journey.

It was difficult for the young knights, but Antares never looked back.

(End of this chapter)