Temple Sword

Chapter 61 Reunion

A begging procession of Dominican nuns rounds a street corner, startled by pigeons pecking at crumbs.The leading nun leads the choir, holding aloft a simple wooden cross, and behind her are the vowed nuns, and behind them the novices walk with a slow and calm pace.

Agnes, who was walking behind, hardly paid attention to the prayer. She chanted in a low voice while looking left and right, not knowing where the man in Templar clothes might appear.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, Buda turns into a bustling anthill.Knights, soldiers, mercenaries, merchants, priests, townspeople, serfs, peasants, beggars crowded wherever the naked eye could see, everywhere.The girl could see the logos of many knight orders, the hospital knights, the Teutonic knights, and the coats of arms of various noble families appearing and disappearing in the crowd.Occasionally, a crest of the Knights Templar would appear before her eyes, but somehow it was never accompanied by the correct face, and the noise from the street was almost unbearable.

“The freshest fish ever!”

"This is a great pastry made with the best flour!"

"The best meat, pork, game, everything, who wants some!"

"The softest cloth the Queen wears!"

"Best baskets, best prices, here, here, here!"

A serf was whipped for publicly blaspheming God, an adulterous woman was chained in a corral, however, the procession of nuns didn't stop anywhere, they didn't buy anything, they didn't look around, they just held up the cross, solemnly walked forward, singing angelic hymns.

"Give the poor cripple a dime!" came a voice from somewhere in the commotion, followed by a shrill male voice: "Get out, I say one last time, or I'll cut off your other leg too , you bloody beggar!"

The Dominican nuns slowly pushed their way through the thickest crowd and turned into a narrower, quieter street.Agnes' heart also sank, why didn't he come as promised in his message?Or had he come and she hadn't seen him in that horrible crowd?Perhaps their eyes had met, but Antal had changed so much in the past four years that she hadn't recognized him at all?Impossible... She must recognize him!but where is he

The streets became narrower and narrower, so that halfway through the nuns and novice nuns had to form a single file.This did not disturb the leading nun singing, the crowd behind her started whispering, she raised her voice higher, the whispering stopped, and they started singing loudly together, the sister nodded approvingly and attributed it to herself To her credit, she lifted the cross higher: may the Lord be pleased!
At this time, a slender arm stretched out from one of the open doors, snatching away Agnes who was walking behind in the blink of an eye.

"Shh!" A hard, dry palm was pressed against her mouth. "Shut up, it's me..."

The voice was familiar, only deeper than the last time she heard it.The palm slowly slipped from her mouth and touched her face. It seemed that it was not as hard as before, but warmer.

They were standing in a small room, probably an old granary, with only a few tattered sacks and a few crops scattered on the ground.

Agnes still didn't dare to turn around, perhaps because she was afraid that the person standing behind her holding her tightly was not the one she expected.But he turned her around, and before she could speak, he kissed her lightly.

"You are here, just as it was said in the message." She whispered with difficulty.She looked up at the man who had grown a full head in the past four years, "Let me see you...your hair has grown longer."

"Yes, longer." The Templar replied in a hoarse voice.

"You still have a beard... so strange..."

"Yes."

"And your eyes...become more mature...I'm like looking into a man's eyes again."

"You're looking into a man's eyes." Antal stroked her face again, "I'm not the boy I used to be."

"I'm still the same," she replied. "I'm the same Agnes you had to leave behind."

Tears welled up in the novice's eyes, but Antal didn't, he was too excited.

"You really are exactly the same as you were," he said afterward.He felt like a stupid, empty-headed idiot who didn't know what to say to the blue-eyed angel who smelled of lavender.Even though he thought about it a hundred times, a thousand times, those beautiful words he repeated to himself every night now were left behind, "It's just like yesterday..."

Agnes's eyes fell to her lover's clothes, and she saw for the first time this magnificent mantle, embroidered with the royal arms of the red cross.

"Yes," she said with a smile, "you are the king's man, the knight of the lilies."

"And the Pope's." Antal nodded, "I serve two masters."

"Three," Agnes reminded, "we all serve the Lord..."

"I know," the man looked away nervously, "I still remember."

"We're running out of time," she said hastily, "I don't even know how to explain it to the other sisters..."

Antal walked to the end of the small room and opened a small door leading to another street.

"The Dominican nuns pass by here all the time," he smiled resignedly. "We still have time before the procession gets here. Then you can sneak out and join the others, and if you're lucky, they won't even Noticing your departure."

Agnes felt that she was as clumsy and awkward as the Templars. She had imagined countless times what it would be like to meet again. She always thought of some passionate scenes, but now she really met, but only cautiously. Actions and more careful words.She looked at the man standing by the other door, and found that he was staring at her, his face was as white as a wall, and he was breathing heavily.

"What's wrong?" She approached him and asked softly.

"Nothing," Antar whispered, "and all..."

"I know, I feel the same way."

The approaching nun's singing ended the difficult conversation, and the two retreated to the door, waiting for the team to arrive.

"When will I see you next time?" the novice nun asked in a low voice.

"Next full moon," he said.

"But that's two weeks away!"

"It can't be earlier," Lily Knight kissed again quickly, "I have a way to get you to leave the monastery and come back before dawn mass. I have my own method."

"Like Umberto?" Agnes smiled sweetly, and Antar's eyes finally revealed a mischievous light for the first time.

"Almost," he replied, "except that I have more ways than he does."

The Dominican nuns then went to the little gate, passing by the old granary.

"I've got to go!" Agnes put a final, soft kiss on Antal's lips.

"Wait until the night of the full moon!" Antal said goodbye to her. "Whoever comes to you will give you my mark, and you will recognize it, so let's go now!"

(End of this chapter)