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De Molay gathered his emotions He was ashamed that he'd screamed He stared into the oily eyes of his inquisitor and waited for as next

Imbert stared back "You deny our Savior, say he was merely a man and not the son of God? You defile the true cross? Very well You will see what it is like to endure the cross"

The whip cas Blood splattered as the bone tips ripped skin

The world drifted away

I "Crown the master," he yelled

De Molay lifted his head and tried to focus He sahat looked like a round piece of black iron Nails were bound to the edges, their tips angled down and in

Imbert came close "See what our Lord endured The Lord Jesus Christ whom you and your brothers denied"

The croedged onto his skull and pounded down tight The nails bit into his scalp and blood oozed fro the mane of his oily hair

I him"

De Molay was dragged across the chapel to a tall wooden door that once had led to his private apartment A stool was produced and he was balanced on top One of the guards held hiht while another stood ready in case he resisted, but he was far too weak to challenge

The shackles were removed

Iuard

"His right arm to the top," Imbert ordered, "as we discussed"

The aruard came close and de Molay saw the hammer

And realized what they intended to do

Dear God

He felt a hand clamp his wrist, the point of a nail pressed to his sweaty flesh He saw the ha metal

The nail pierced his wrist and he screamed

"Did you find veins?" Iuard

"Clear of them"

"Good He is not to bleed to death"

De Molay, as a young brother, had fought in the Holy Land when the Order had made its last stand at Acre He recalled the feel of a sword blade to flesh Deep Hard Lasting But a nail to the wrist was soether worse

His left arh the flesh at the wrist He bit his tongue, trying to contain hiony sent his teeth deep Blood filled his mouth and he sed

Iht of de Molay's six-foot frame was now borne entirely by the bones in his wrists, particularly his right, as the angle of his left ar popped in his shoulder, and pain pummeled his brain

One of the guards grabbed his right foot and studied the flesh Apparently, I the insertion points, places where few veins coursed The left foot was then placed behind the right and both feet were tacked to the door with a single nail

De Molay was beyond screa

Imbert inspected the handiwork "Little blood Well done" He stepped back "As our Lord and Savior endured, so will you With one difference"

Now de Molay understood why they'd chosen a door I the door, then sla it shut

De Molay's body was thrust one way, then another, swaying on the dislocated joints of his shoulders, pivoting off the nails The agony was of a kind he'd never known existed

"Like the rack," Ies This, too, has an ele you to and fro Or I can do as you just experienced, which is the worst of all"

The world was blinking in and out, and he could barely breathe Cramps claimed every muscle His heart beat wildly Sweat poured from his skin and he felt as if he had the fever, his body a roaring blaze

"Do you mock the Inquisition now?" Imbert asked

He wanted to tell I A weak pope controlled by a bankrupt French ious organization man had ever known Fifteen thousand brothers scattered over Europe Nine thousand estates A band of brothers that had once dominated the Holy Land and spanned two hundred years The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Teood But success had bred jealousy and, as master, he should have fully appreciated the political stor, not so outspoken Thank heaven he'd anticipated some of what had already occurred and taken precautions Philip IV would never see an ounce of Teold and silver

And he would never see the greatest treasure of all

So de Molay y and raised his head Iht he was about to speak and drew close

"Damn you to hell," he whispered "Damn you and all who aid your hellish cause"

His head collapsed back to his chest He heard I, but the pain was so intense and swept into his brain from so many directions that he felt little

He was being taken down How long he'd hung he did not know, but the relaxation to his lio numbed He was carried some distance and then realized that he was back in his cell His captors laid him onto the mattress, and as his body sunk into the soft folds a familiar stench filled his nostrils His head was elevated by a pillow, his arms stretched out at each side

"I have been told," Imbert quietly said, "that when a new brother was accepted into your Order, the candidate was draped about the shoulders in a linen shroud So into a new life as a Templar You, too, will now have that honor I have laid out beneath you the shroud from the chest in the chapel" Ibone cloth over de Molay's feet, down the length of his daaze was now shielded by the cloth "I aht back here and wrapped around every Paris initiate You are now reborn," Imbert mocked "Lie here and think about your sins I shall return"

De Molay was too weak to respond He knew that Imbert had most likely been ordered not to kill hi to care for hi, replaced by an intense agony His heart still pounded and he eating frightening amounts of moisture He told hihts One that kept co to mind hat he knew his captors wanted to know above all else He was the only man alive who knew That was the way of the Order One e to the next in a way that only the next would know Unfortunately, because of his sudden arrest and the purge of the Order, the passing this time would have to be accomplished another way He would not allow Philip or the Church to win They would only learn what he knehen he wanted theue devisethdeceitfully

But then another biblical passage occurred to hiuered soul So as he lay wrapped in the shroud, his body pouring forth blood and sweat, he thought of Deuteronomy

Let me alone, that I may destroy them