Temple of the Grail(127)

The inquisitor smiled a little. ‘There is no need for adjournment, all I require from you, dear preceptor, as a socius in these awful, though necessary, matters, is that you hear the evidence with calmness of spirit. You may ask a question if you so wish, otherwise you might allow me to proceed as I have done so many times, relying on my experience as one would rely on the experience of an older and wiser brother. It is not necessary to be an expert in theological matters, it is enough to be a seeker after truth, for in the end, God will recognise his own.’

Having no other recourse, my master joined the assembly on the dais, and I was filled with dread.

‘Now we begin . . . what is your name?’ he asked the cook.

The cook raised his big head a little way from his chest and with a choked voice answered, ‘Rodrigo Dominguez de Toledo, your grace.’

‘Rodrigo Dominguez de Toledo, tell this assembly in your own words your history.’

He seemed confused, a terrible vagueness in his eyes. The archer standing on his left side poked him in the ribs and stunned him to his senses. ‘Sí...sí ... a young boy . . . I was in the care of Benedictines at the convent of St Miguel.’ He paused vaguely and the inquisitor waved him on impatiently. ‘In Gerona . . . I did not want to be a monk, instead, un cocinero . . . a cook.’

‘Why did you not become a monk, as was the desire of your family?’ the inquisitor inquired mildly.

‘I . . .’ He paused looking around, ‘I was not . . .’ He swayed a little, and an archer steadied him roughly.

‘Come now, is it not,’ the inquisitor smiled, ‘because even as a young man you had a nature predisposed to the distortions of the Devil?’

‘No!’ the cook denied weakly, ‘I wanted to see the world, I came to France to Toulouse, and worked at a monastery.’

‘But it is not your time in Toulouse that interests this inquisitio, but your time in Italy when you conspired against the pope by serving the excommunicated serpent, Frederick! Tell me your history from the time you arrived in Italy.’

Slowly he returned from wherever he had been in his mind to answer thus, ‘I came to know people . . . followers of a Cathar.’

‘You see! A heretic! As I have said!’ he exclaimed hotly. ‘We see a man touched by the foul enemy whom we defy with every breath of our being!’ he thundered. ‘This history should be enough to convict you!’

The cook then straightened his back, and this made him appear doubled in size. The archers were immediately dwarfed and a look of discomfort settled on their faces. They did not know, however, that for this poor wretch, size was no longer a measure of strength. ‘But the man was you, Rainiero Sacconi . . .!’

There was a loud stir in the audience. The inquisitor blanched and his face hardened into a hideous mask. ‘What say you?’

‘You were my leader . . . you Cathar!’

There was a pause. ‘I do not know you.’

‘No! You forget me because mi nombre, my name, was another . . .’ He looked directly into the eyes of the inquisitor, whose face looked a little incredulous. ‘Don’t you remember me? Do you not remember your vows, your confessions?’ He stopped, gasping for air.

‘Stay your mouth you devil!’ the inquisitor cried. ‘See how the Devil binds a man! How the distortions of Beelzebub enter into the soul? Not only did this poor wretch commit numerous heresies that he freely confesses, allowing himself to be the accursed instrument of the evil emperor who seeks to destroy the church and to replace the pope in his own throne. But also following those other heinous enemies of the church, whose corruptions are too various for a holy man to utter from his lips. Now he seeks to bring the judge to judgement! The champion of truth he accuses! However, I know that the enemy tempts us to exalt our own deeds and worship our own qualities, and so I shall not be forced to do so to a confessed heretic whose debauchery and dissipation has, by his own admission, led him to a life of sin!’

The cook fell to his knees.

My master stood then and said, ‘But you strayed from the narrow path, Rainiero, and you were forgiven! This man has confessed and performed penance.’

‘Peace, brother!’ the inquisitor exclaimed harshly. ‘I have returned to the flock, while this man became a conspirer and a heretic! We see here before us the Devil incarnate, by whose hand three good men, perhaps four, have died!’

‘But I see no evidence!’ Andre answered assertively.

Sacconi ignored this and continued, ‘Stand, you devil, instrument of Satan!’

The cook stood unaided, though with much effort.

‘Did you conspire with the Devil to kill the three brothers?’