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Thanks be to God in His wisdom, our laws are clear on such things. The letter of credit goes to the depositor and no copies are made of it. The Temple holds the funds in trust, and no king or king`s henchman holds jurisdiction over our Order. It would never have occurred to de Nogaret that one of our preceptors might contravene the laws of our system and do what de Champagne actually did in sending the documents to me. And so he assumed the obvious: that the letter still existed and that Bar Simeon had passed it for safekeeping to another of his race.

I was caught unprepared, never having known about, or even suspected, Etienne`s venture with the Jew, whom he evidently and with good reason, it transpired held in the highest esteem. But once I had thought about it for a time, I conferred with my friend and colleague here, Sir Arnold de Thierry, as the Preceptor of La Rochelle, because although I thought I knew what must be done, it seemed an arrogant and prideful course for me to steer, so far outside the confines of our rules. But Arnold believed I would be doing the right thing, and he encouraged me to proceed.

Cauterize the stumps. Quickly. Now remove the gag. He laid the axe down and drew the dagger from his belt, then bent down to open the unconscious man`s mouth and insert the point of his knife. A moment later, he straightened up again, his face white, his mouth a lipless line. Take him to the surgeons, as quickly as you may. And carry him face downward, lest he choke on his own blood. He dropped his dagger into the heart of the fire in the brazier, then wiped his bloody fingers on the cloth of the maimed man`s gag.