But there was no denying.
Everything had changed with Kelsey here.
Claire reached up and gently caressed the gash to her cheek. It and her jaw hurt. Never had she taken a blow like that before. But she抎 accepted the attack without rebuke. Retaliation would have accomplished nothing. Thankfully, the other maidens had practiced a similar restraint. She felt the power and threat that surrounded her, but was not afraid.
Not in the least.
She stepped into the chapter room and walked to its center. The other maidens were already seated on benches at the tables. The five from the cemetery, and the two Dominicans with guns, joined her among the others. Only their footfalls detonated across the deep silence. Her heart pounded with a heavy throbbing that seemed to beat through the center of her wounded face. Fuentes kept Sister Deal close. The room loomed like a mausoleum, illuminated only by shafts of weak sunlight filtered in through the high mullioned windows.
揑抳e come for the Chapel of the Maiden,?Fuentes said. 揥ho among the legendary Vautours will tell me where it is??
No one spoke.
The cardinal seemed pleased with himself. 揑 repeat my question. Who will tell me the location of the chapel??
The knot of women continued to cling together in silence.
揂ll right,?Fuentes said. 揧ou give me no choice.?
He motioned and Friar Dwight grabbed one of the maidens from the cemetery by the shoulder, forcing her to her knees, the barrel of his gun pushed into the soft flesh below the ear.
The hammer clicked into place.
揑f I do not have an immediate answer to my question,?Fuentes said, 揾e will shoot her.?
Nick could hear and see what was happening below. He抎 dropped down, lying prone on the wood floor, back from the iron railing that guarded the gallery抯 outer edge. He did not want to reveal his presence. But Fuentes抯 move on the maiden had changed his thinking. He抎 assessed the situation, and was about to vault the rail, when he noticed Sister Ellen, the one he抎 taken down in Ghent. She sat across the hall at one of the tables with an angle to spy up to the gallery. She seemed to be the only one not focused on the men in the room.
Their gazes locked.
And he immediately noticed the tiny shake in her head. He pointed to himself, then down. She shook her head again. He got the message. Don抰 do it. He decided to trust her judgment, though the situation with the gun below urged otherwise. Every fiber in his being told him to react and he debated ignoring her warning.
But he stayed still.
揗aidens,?Fuentes said. 揟o your credit, you have managed to remain hidden for a long time. You抳e eluded Rome for centuries. But that all ends today.?
The declaration was firm, direct, and without any equivocation.
揥hat will you do??the abbess asked. 揔ill her, then us all??
Fuentes motioned and the gun was withdrawn from the woman抯 neck, the hammer replaced. The maiden scurried away from Friar Dwight, clearly shaken. 揘o, abbess, I will not harm anyone. But I will have this order dissolved and every woman here removed to another convent. Then I will dismantle this building, stone by stone, and search every millimeter of it and the land around it with the best scientific equipment, until I find what we both know is here.?
No one said a word.
揟hat I will do,?Fuentes said. 揂nd with Rome抯 backing. Surely you realize that we are but the advance guard. More Dominicans are on the way.?
Silence continued to reign.
No one moved.
揑抣l tell you,?one of the maidens finally said.
揘o. Don抰，？another voiced.
揑抣l tell you as well,?another added.
More voices joined in urging them not to speak.
揝ilence.?
Sister Claire. Her voice loud and firm.
揘one of you will say a word. Instead, I will lead them to the Chapel of the Maiden.?
Chapter 66
Vilamur passed through the main gate and kept walking down the road between rows of trees, sunlight spearing the ground from openings in the leafy canopy. Certainly, it was much easier going down this switchback than coming up. So many thoughts tumbled around inside his head. Mainly, bad. And under all that troubling debris, he was concerned about what came next. He抎 challenged Fuentes and there抎 surely be repercussions. A man like that would not take a public rejection lightly, especially when he抎 come to France bearing gifts. But he抎 deal with all that later. The fact remained that Fuentes needed him. His was an easy vote for the conclave. Bought and paid for. One more in the yes column. And he was counting on Fuentes to place his needs above all else.
He kept moving.
Away.
Nothing good was happening. The smart play, the only play, was to get as far away as possible. He felt numbed, half awake, dreamlike, confused and bewildered by all that had happened over the past couple of days. Usually, in life you got out of it in proportion to what you put in. And he抎 definitely invested. But he was weary of the seemingly endless obstacles. Too late now, though, for remorse.