Temple of The Grail Read Online Free PDF Page A

of which had increased of late.
    The man hesitated a moment longer and
left us with a frown, returning again in a mood of agitation because he had
omitted to advise us that after the service there would be a dinner in the
refectory, in honour of the legate. Having said this, he rushed off into the
cold night, talking to himself as old men do.
    My room was sparse, but comfortable.
My pallet was constructed of wood, fashioned into a crude frame and filled with
clean, fragrant straw. I had one sheepskin for warmth, and the only light came
from a lantern attached to the wall by iron clasps, a luxury extended only to
guests. The abbey monks would have no light in their cells.
    In the centre of the small room a
large vessel had been filled with warm water. This, too, was a rare pleasure,
and I must admit that the thought of it made one instantly glad. I said a small
prayer thanking the Lord that this abbey did not follow that aspect of the
Benedictine rule which forbade regular bathing, for I had become very
accustomed to it in the East.
    I sat heavily on my pallet, feeling
an overwhelming weariness. From my cell window I could see only a strange
greyness. I stood and found that I could look down on the forest, now almost
completely in shadow, to see directly below my window smoke coming from the
fire at the encampment we had seen on our way to the abbey. I shuddered with
cold, thinking of the poor pilgrim as I prepared for my bath. I said a short
prayer that this night would not be too cold for him, shed my road-soiled
clothes, and immersed my broken body into the grateful warmth. And, having
resolved that I must be exceedingly tired, I set out to prove my hypothesis by
falling into a deep and contented sleep.

2
Capitulum
Prior to Vespers
    I awoke to the sound of a loud knock. Still in the bath, my head dull, I
realised that I was very nearly frozen. I dressed in the habit provided me by
the fine monks of the abbey, and in haste opened the door to reveal my master
standing before me, his foot tapping the ground and his face contorted into a
scowl.
    ‘Come, boy,’ he remonstrated. ‘What
have you been doing? You look like a plucked chicken. Have you been sleeping?’
He searched my face, and I nodded, uncertain of his response.
    ‘Well, good for you.’ He smiled then,
and slapped me on the back. ‘There will be little sleep these coming nights,
for we must be prepared to make our inquiries at the oddest hours, at the same
time attempting to follow the customs of the abbey. Come, we must conduct our
preliminary inspections before dark.’
    ‘But where are we going, master?’ I
asked, following him outside, unaccustomed to the long habit that, because of the
wind, became entangled around my legs with each step. ‘Must I wear this . . .?’
    ‘Is your head a sieve, boy?’ he spoke
as he so often did, loudly. ‘What did I just say?’
    ‘That we must follow the customs of
the abbey,’ I answered. Not mentioning, of course, that he, on the other hand,
continued to wear the uniform of the order. Instead, I merely followed him,
trying to keep up with his short, though exceedingly brisk strides, as we
walked past the graveyard.
    ‘Just one moment.’ He paused, casting
his gaze over the graves. Having satisfied some unspoken question he continued
as before, and I followed him as we came upon the body of the cloisters. He
said something, and I did not at first realise that he was speaking to me, for
he was looking away, as though addressing an unseen person.
    ‘The rere dorter . . .’
    ‘Master?’
    ‘In answer to your previous question,
Christian, before anything else, I need to attend to the call of nature and so
our first hunt will be for the rere dorter, the latrines . . .’ He looked up at
the building. ‘The dormitories are likely to be situated on the second level,
and following the Cistercian model, so too the lavatory. However, it will not
surprise me if we find that there is another lavatory on the ground