Angel City Read Online Free

were.”
    The knight looked at the French soldiers on the plateau, then beyond to where the shadows of hills began to creep over the land.
    â€œDo you believe in the faith of the good men, de Combel?”
    The crossbowman sighed.
    â€œI believe that these good men believe it, and I believe it is a comfort to these gentle folk.”
    â€œSo what is to happen to them?”
    â€œYou don’t know?”
    â€œYou’re the first person I’ve seen since I woke up, or the first I can remember seeing. I’m not even sure how I made it to the courtyard.”
    The crossbowman chuckled.
    â€œYou’d best come with me, see for yourself. Make your own choice about going or staying, now that you’re on your feet. It’s still not too late to leave the fortress and become a good little Frenchman.”
    The knight followed the crossbowman along the ramparts, careful not to trip over rubble and spent missiles in his path. At the southwest wall, Jean de Combel leaned through the battlements and pointed down.
    â€œThat is what happens tomorrow.”
    Five hundred meters down, in a clearing at the edge of the forest, hundreds of French soldiers appeared small as ants. They were busy as ants, too, carrying tinder and buckets of pitch to a large square palisade. There were wooden ladders at the walls and the soldiers took turns climbing the steps to empty their burdens. Soldiers inside the walls spread the stuff over a thick flooring of straw.
    â€œThey will burn us, as heretics,” the knight said.
    â€œThey will.”
    â€œWhen?”
    â€œTomorrow, at dawn. And that will be the end of Montségur and the good men, I think. And a foul end it is. I’d hoped we could do more for them. But, alas, there is no choice but to watch them marched to their deaths.”
    The knight looked at Jean de Combel, never before having heard such a sadness in the crossbowman’s voice.
    â€œHow do you mean, de Combel?”
    The crossbowman’s eyes betrayed a secret knowledge, one he tried to conceal with a mocking smile.
    â€œWhy I . . . why I only mean these Cathars are a gentle folk, they deserve better than extinction.”
    The knight stared at the crossbowman.
    â€œYou fought bravely as anyone to defend them, de Combel. You will burn with them at the dawn, will you not? What more could you do as a fighter?”
    The crossbowman turned his eyes from the knight, looked down on the palisade. The French soldiers were done with their work and drinking wine from skins. After a long silence, the crossbowman looked at the knight.
    â€œYou said it yourself before the last battle. Pope and King wish to wipe all memory of this place from the face of the Earth. I feared your words as you spoke them. I fear them now more than any words I’ve heard from a man. Shall I tell you why?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œBecause more than battle, more than what will come at the dawn, I fear a world without the Cathars.”
    The knight nodded, looked up to the sky. There was Saturn, there was Mercury, there was Mars hanging at the edge of the falling dark.
    â€œFear not, de Combel. It cannot end here; it must not end here.”

BOOK ONE

    GO, SET A WATCHMAN, LET HIM DECLARE WHAT HE SEETH

ONE
    I
    R ADIO I NTERCEPT, P ARIS: S EPTEMBER 9, 2013, 19:30 HOURS. Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale: Code Red Alert.
    â€œ. . . Batobus Manon dockside at Musée d’Orsay. Several bodies seen floating in river. Manon heading east on river. Anonymous tip reports area of Notre Dame to be target of attack by Muqatileen Lillah. This is a GIGN Code Red Alert. Engage Operation Dragon Fortress. Repeat: This is a GIGN Code Red Alert. Engage Operation Dragon Fortress. Level A terrorist strike in progress. Six men wearing black jumpsuits and balaclavas, carrying light automatic weapons have hijacked Batobus Manon dockside at Musée d’Orsay. Several bodies seen floating