Trouble, compounded! Parry had to speak. "So the Evil One sees an opportunity for mischief, because of the irritation of the Church and the Crown!"

"It is not smart to annoy both at once," the Sorcerer agreed. "The times are charged; any spark will set things off. Now that spark has occurred, and I recognize the handiwork of the Evil One. He cares nothing for Church or State, only for mischief, for in troubled times his harvest increases."

"Spark?" Parry asked.

"A Cistercian monk has been murdered. That provides the catalyst for action. We cannot abate it now."

"What will happen?" Jolie asked.

"There will be a crusade against the Albigenses. They did not kill the monk, but they opposed his teachings, and they will not be able to defend their innocence. The Pope will determine that the Albigenses must be abolished.

They must recant their heresy, renew fealty to the Church, and pay their taxes, which are in arrears."

"But they will not do that!" Parry exclaimed. "They are stout folk, firm in their belief and their independence, and they have powerful support."

"Hence the crusade. They will be converted by force. Their heresy will be abolished. But there will be much pain in the doing of it. That is why we must prepare."

"A crusade," Parry said. "Troops will come here?"

"Yes. We are on their main route; this I have determined. Our time is limited; within a month they will be here.

I regret I was involved in absorbing research and did not survey the political situation earlier; the crisis was well developed before I was aware."

"How can we prepare?" Jolie asked.

"We must get away from here with our valuables," the Sorcerer said. "Quietly, leaving no trail. In the north the disruption will be minimal; we can survive there nicely."

"But what of the folk here?" Parry asked. "They cannot move."

"They are lost. They cannot be helped."

"But surely if the warning is given-"

"That will only make our own escape complicated. We cannot afford to alert them."

Parry knew his father. The Sorcerer was not an evil man, but a practical one; if he said the local folk could not be helped, it was surely so. Yet he had to argue. "The Lord of the Manor-he could do something! If we tell him privately of the threat-"

"I have done so. He refuses to believe there is genuine danger. He will not change."

"Change?"

"I explained to him what would be required to save his demesnes and the welfare of the villagers. He and all others must renounce the Albigensian heresy. They must swear renewed fealty to the Christian doctrine as espoused by the Church. They must pay taxes and penalties."

"But such penalties can be ruinous!"

"True. Therefore he will not budge. But he courts disaster. I gave him good advice."