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steps quickly, rather more like a girl than the woman I was.
    I emerged at the top onto the stone parapet just in time to see a bizarre picture spread before me. Looking down, I gazed upon an extended, winding human snake outlined against the distant meadows. I leaned out between the crenellations to better observe.
    The line looked for a moment like a long, colorful, mythical serpent created for the amusement of onlookers at a festival, but soon the flags carried in the front became visible, and the many wagons bringing up the rear rolled into view. The serpent broadened and the moving tableau was defined as an ordinary company of knights and their entourage. With all the adjacent baggage and the many foot soldiers and attendants, it was clearly the train of someone very important.
    “You have recovered from your malady?” The deep, rather hoarse voice at my shoulder startled me. Philippe had come upon me with no warning. He stood so close I could sense the heat from his climb up the stairwell. I looked at him, but he remained staring straight ahead at the advancing group, frowning and pursing his lips. I saw he did not expect an answer to his question, for he continued: “So they called you to come, as well.”
    “No,” I said, “no one summoned me.”
    “Another of your premonitions?” he asked, his brows rising slightly. He didn’t take his eyes from the colored autumn fields on the west bank across the Seine, and I turned back to watch with him.
    “Yes, I suppose you could say that. Who comes below?”
    “It’s too early to see for certain,” Philippe answered, and for the first time I detected a light note in his voice. “But I suspect we will see the pennants bearing the insignia of the Templars among those in the front rank.”
    “Philippe”—my heart stuttered in joyful surprise—“William is in this train!”
    “So said the advance courier who arrived sweating like a drenched bird only an hour past.”
    “But why did you not tell me immediately?” A storm of feelings was taking me over, my anger at William for his absence in conflict with my rising joy to see him again. And the happiness that now, finally, I could tell my son the truth about his blood bond to me. I clutched the iron ring attached to the stone rim and leaned farther out, determined to get a better view. “It’s been eight long months. I should have prepared.”
    “Softly, my sister.” Philippe took my arm and pulled me slowly away from the edge. “How could we explain to the grand master of the Templars in England that his dearest love fell over the parapet in plain sight of her beloved’s train and within reach of her own brother’s hand? That incident could start a war!”
    “Philippe!” I turned to face him again, only to see him grinning like a schoolboy. Philippe never mentioned my seven-year liaison with the Templar Grand Master William of Caen. What could possess him to show wit about it now?
    But he only shrugged and tossed the locks of his dark hair back from his forehead. “Well, all the court talks of you and the Lord William. I suppose we can acknowledge it when you and I are in private.”
    “Oh, the court again,” I said, pressing my fingers to my temples in mock-fury. “Always the court and their endless chatter.”
    “How now, Sister.” Philippe took my hand lightly in his own. “Do not distress yourself. If my courtiers speak of you at all, it is with kindness and with some awe. After all, a man as famous and handsome as the Lord William will draw attention, even if you in your retiring manner do not seek it.”
    I shook my head, but I could not allow the mention of the silly court to distract me now from the startling news: William, coming home at last! I cast my gaze back to the brilliantly colored train and was astonished to see the group’s speedy progress. The front riderswere now quite close to the bridges of the Île de la Cité. The colors were coming into view, and I could make out four