The fortress stood atop a motte, and was encircled by a mantlet wall of stone. In the past it belonged to the Dukes of Normandy, and had played many a role as a frontier castle until it fell into the hands of the Crown. Gillet stared at the octagonal keep and slowly made the sign of the cross against his body. It had also been the prison for Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, the unfortunate soul burned at the stake as a heretic. As the story went De Molay challenged his two accusers, calling for them to face God with him in judgement. Uncannily, both King Philippe IV and Pope Clement died before the year was out. The Knights Templar had fallen … or so it was supposed, though some whispered the order still existed in secret. Gillet knew it did. He belonged to it. It was through this connection and Simon’s visit to the alchemist, Nicholas Flamel, in Paris the previous year that the Countess de Gisors heard of Gillet’s current plight. Now the former Queen of France, Blanche d’Évreux, had sent for him.
