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asked.
    ‘She was persecuted,’ Father Levonne said, ‘and her tormentors threw her naked into the street to shame her, but the Blessed Lord sent a snowstorm to cover her nakedness.’
    ‘No,’ Thomas said, ‘this was a man, and the snow seemed to avoid him.’
    ‘Saint Wenceslaus then? The king? We’re told the snow melted where he walked.’
    ‘This was a monk,’ Thomas said, ‘and in the picture I saw he’s kneeling on the grass and there’s snow all around him, but none on him.’
    ‘Where was this picture ?’
    Thomas told him of meeting the Pope in Avignon’s Salle des Herses, and of the old painting on the wall there. ‘The man wasn’t alone,’ he said, ‘there’s another monk watching from a cottage, and Saint Peter is handing him a sword.’
    ‘Ah,’ Father Levonne said in an oddly regretful tone, ‘Peter’s sword.’
    Thomas frowned at the priest’s tone. ‘You make it sound evil. Is the sword bad?’
    Father Levonne ignored the question. ‘You say you met the Holy Father? How was he?’
    ‘Frail,’ Thomas said, ‘and very gracious.’
    ‘We’re asked to pray for his health,’ the priest said, ‘which I do. He’s a good man.’
    ‘He hates us,’ Thomas said, ‘the English.’
    Father Levonne smiled. ‘As I said, he’s a good man.’ He laughed, then looked serious again. ‘It isn’t surprising,’ he said carefully, ‘that a painting of Peter’s sword should be in the Holy Father’s palace. Perhaps it just means that the papacy has abandoned the use of the sword? A picture to demonstrate that we must give up our weapons if we are to be holy?’
    Thomas shook his head. ‘It’s a story, father. Why else would another monk be watching from a cottage? Why the cleared snow? Pictures tell stories!’ He pointed at the church walls. ‘Why do we put these paintings here? To tell the unlettered the stories we want them to know.’
    ‘Then I don’t know that story,’ Father Levonne said, ‘though I have heard of Peter’s sword.’ He made the sign of the cross.
    ‘In the picture,’ Thomas said, ‘the sword had a thick upper blade. More like a falchion.’
    ‘
La Malice
,’ Father Levonne said very quietly.
    Thomas was silent for a few heartbeats. ‘The Seven Dark Lords possessed it,’ he quoted the verse that the Black Friars had been spreading through Christendom, ‘and they are cursed. He who must rule us will find it, and he shall be blessed.’
    ‘The sword of the fisherman,’ Father Levonne said. ‘It isn’t a sword, Thomas, but the sword. The sword that Saint Peter used to Christ’s displeasure, and because of that disapproval they say the blade is cursed.’
    ‘Tell me.’
    ‘I’ve told you all I know!’ Father Levonne said. ‘It’s only an old story, but the story says
la Malice
carries Christ’s curse in her blade and if that’s true then
la Malice
must be horribly powerful. Why else would the sword bear that name?’
    ‘And Cardinal Bessières searches for her,’ Thomas said.
    Levonne looked sharply at Thomas. ‘Bessières?’
    ‘And he knows I look for her too.’
    ‘Oh dear God, but you choose powerful enemies, Thomas.’
    Thomas climbed from his knees. ‘Bessières,’ he said, ‘is a devil’s turd.’
    ‘He’s a prince of the church,’ Levonne said in mild admonishment.
    ‘He’s a prince of turds,’ Thomas said, ‘and I killed his brother not a quarter-mile from here.’
    ‘And Bessières wants revenge?’
    ‘He doesn’t know who killed his brother. He knows me, though, and he’ll pursue me now because he thinks I know where
la Malice
is.’
    ‘Do you?’
    ‘No, but I let him think I knew.’ Thomas genuflected to the altar. ‘I dangled a bait in front of him, father. I invited him to pursue me.’
    ‘Why?’
    Thomas sighed. ‘My liege lord,’ he said, meaning the Earl of Northampton, ‘wants me to find
la Malice
. And Bessières, I think, is looking for the same thing. The trouble is I don’t know how to find it, father, but I want to be close to Bessières in case he finds it before I do. Keep your enemies close, isn’t that good advice?’
    ‘
La Malice
is an idea, Thomas,’ Father Levonne said, ‘an idea to inspire the faithful. I doubt she exists at all.’
    ‘But she must have existed once,’ Thomas said, ‘and why is there a picture of Saint Peter giving the sword to a monk? That monk must have possessed it! So I need to know which saint is painted kneeling in a cleared patch of