Between Two Fires (9781101611616)

ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

For Danielle

Part I

One: Of the Donkey

Two: Of the Honey and the Broken Cross

Three: Of the Tower and the Looted Church

Four: Of the Monastery, and of the Best Wine Had in Seven Years

Five: Of the Thing in the Murk

Six: Of the Marriage on the Bank and the Visitation in the Stable

Seven: Of the Battle of Song-of-Angels

Eight: Of the Feast, and of the Night Tourney

Part II

Nine: Of the City of Paris

Ten: Of the Battle of Crécy

Eleven: Of the Market on Rue Mont-Fetard

Twelve: Of the Ones Who Knock by Night

Thirteen: Of the Rain and the Figure of Death

Fourteen: Of the Stained Priest and the Widow’s Revenge

Fifteen: Of the Visitation in the Barn

Sixteen: Of the Maple Tree

Seventeen: Of St. Lazarus and the Rotten Fruit

Eighteen: Of the Penitents, and of Auxerre

Nineteen: Of the War Drawing Near

Part III

Twenty: Of the Monk in White

Twenty-One: Of Monsters, and of Blessings

Twenty-Two: Of the Fishers of Men

Twenty-Three: Of the Island of the Dead

Twenty-Four: Of the Cottage, and of the Song

Twenty-Five: Of Delphine, and of the Scarecrow

Twenty-Six: Of Thomas, and of an Oath Long Overdue

Twenty-Seven: Of the
Routiers

Twenty-Eight: Of the Affair of Honor

Twenty-Nine: Of Marguerite of Péronne

Part IV

Thirty: Of the Priest’s Brother

Thirty-One: Of the Feast, and of the Hunt of Stags

Thirty-Two: Of the Night Vintners

Thirty-Three: Of the Pope’s Garden

Thirty-Four: Of the Arrest

Thirty-Five: Of the Doctor

Thirty-Six: Of the Arming, and of the Vigil

Thirty-Seven: Of the Visitation at Villeneuve

Thirty-Eight: Of the Rings of Lazarus, and of the Bathers

Part V

Thirty-Nine: Of the Gemini, and of the Unmasking

Forty: Of the Coming of the Host

Forty-One: Of the Knight’s Death, and of the Judgment

Forty-Two: Of the Harrowing

Forty-Three: Of October’s End, and of November

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

N
ow in these days the Lord God had turned His face from the business of men; and the angels who had remained loyal to Him said to one another, we must look after the children of Adam. And they did so, as best they could.

Now also the third part of the angels who had rebelled looked upon the earth, and saw the hand of God withdrawn from it; and the air was cold in the valleys of men, and the sea was also cold.

And one of the fallen angels, whose name was Uzziel, said, it was for man’s sake that we were cast down, for we would not bend our knee to him; let us test the Lord and see what He will do if we afflict their mightiest kingdoms with hunger. And this angel rose from the waters of the sea and made rain; and the spikes of wheat and the ears of barley were heavy with that rain, and they fell into the mud, or withered, or went to rot; and the livestock were made sick, and they died in great numbers; and in their turn, the children of Adam knew hunger; and men devoured all there was, and there was no more. And many died. And some would go into the dead-yard
and eat of the newly buried. And the babes born during those years who lived to be children had only twenty-two teeth.

And the Lord made no answer.

Now another of the fallen, whose name was Beliel, said, it was for man’s sake that the war began in Heaven; so let us try them with wars in their greatest kingdoms; and he rose through the wells of a king who ruled a mighty island, and blew pride into his mouth; and when this king spoke, he swore that he would have the crown of an even greater kingdom, which he would take with the sword. And so he came upon his neighbor’s shore under arms and with banners. Now the greater king, seeing that his land was in peril, sent out a mighty host in armor of iron and silver; and they rode against the men of the island, who shot them with arrows, even through their armor, and they died. And so the long war began.

And the Lord made no answer.

So it came that the first among the fallen, whose name was Lucifer, said, our old enemy sleeps; if we do not seize this hour, we will come to the End of Days as He has written them, and He will grind us under His heel, and destroy us forever; let us rise against Him now in all our numbers, and pull the walls of Heaven down, and shake out the souls of the just; and let us seize our brother angels by the throats, and cast them down into Hell; and let us live as once we did, upon the Great Height.

But some were fearful of the power of the angels of God, whose numbers were greater, and whose generals were Uriel, and Gabriel, and Michael, who had broken the back of Lucifer and sent him into the hot coals in the belly of the earth to blacken his face with soot and know he was lower than the Lord.

And some were fearful that God would wake from His drowsiness and rack them with pains and fires even they had not learned to endure, or destroy them utterly.

And the first among the fallen spoke to them, saying, then let us test Him one more time; it is for man’s sake that we were insulted, for his sake that we were driven out, and for his peace that we are mortared under; let us break the roof of Hell with our fists and murder the seed of Adam; for if God will not rouse Himself to save His favorite creature, His sleep is deep, and we may catch Him by the hair, and cast Him down.

And one of the fallen, whose name was Azzazel, said, shall we kill them with fire or with cold?

And Lucifer spoke to him, saying, neither of these.

What then, said the wicked angel.

With a Great Plague, answered Lucifer.

And so it was.

And the years that had passed since the Lord had come to be born among men were one thousand, three hundred and forty eight.

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