"What is it?" "Abbot Suger, forgive me." "There's something wrong with that stone." " It pisses at night." " It what?" "During the day, it looks like all the others." "But when night comes, it weeps." "The Devil is in that stone." "Perhaps." "Who are you?" "What are you looking at?" "Nothing, sir." "You're an Englishman." "Get back to work." "Abbot Suger, forgive me." "I want to learn here." "The light is magnificent." "The walls..." "The walls are so high." "How do they bear that weight?" "You know Euclid, the father of geometry?" "No." "Then you know nothing." "Excuse me, I'm looking for an English mason with red hair who may have passed through these parts." "Have you seen him?" "He left a year ago." "Do you know where he went?" " Yes, Prior?" " You have a visitor." "You look lost." "Of course, you are." "No longer prior, your dream demolished." "You must sometimes think" "God is punishing you for your sins, your willful pride." "Yes." "But perhaps he's guiding you in another direction, towards me." "I admire you, Philip, in spite of what you think." "You're a clever man, determined and a good priest." "I want to make you my archdeacon." "Your Eminence..." "Hear me out." "In recompense for not naming me archbishop, the King has agreed to send me as his representative to Rome." "And I'll need a trustworthy man to handle diocesan affairs in my absences." "And you were the first and, to be frank, the only man I could think of." " I don't think I'm..." " I'm not finished." "When I advance, as I hope one day to do, perhaps you will take my place." "As Bishop of Kingsbridge, you could build your cathedral, punish the Hamleighs, do whatever you want." "Until then, I simply ask for honest diligence and obedience in all things." " In all good things." " Of course." "I don't need your answer tonight, but I will need you living within my palace in two weeks." "Prior Remigius will reluctantly give you leave." "I look forward to our partnership, Philip." "The mouth is too small." "Aliena!" " Is it really you?" " Yes." "I followed your work." "You left Alfred?" "He's mine?" "He's mine." "He won't break." "Aliena, he's beautiful." "What's his name?" "I haven't chosen one yet." "Shall we call him Jack?" "No, no." "No, Jack's the father I never knew." "Let's name him after the father I did know." "Tom." "Tom dreamed of light, of churches filled with light, but he didn't know how to build them." "And now I know, not only that it's possible, but how it can be done." "How's Ma?" "She misses you." "And Prior Philip, how's he?" " Philip isn't prior anymore." " What?" "There was a terrible accident." "The vault fell in." " Alfred's vault fell?" " The vault that Philip sanctioned." "Waleran called for another election, and now Remigius is prior." "Philip..." "Philip isn't Philip." "He's lost his spirit." "The construction has stopped and the relic was crushed." "Waleran says that without a relic to perform miracles, there can be no pilgrims, and without pilgrims, there can be no church." "We're going home." "We've got just enough." "We travel tomorrow." "No, don't let him move." "He can't not move." "He's a baby." "Gabriel!" "Gabriel, come here!" "Leave the man alone." " Oh my God!" " What is it?" "He's the spitting image of my brother at that age." " Your brother?" " Yes, Jacques Cherbourg." "He was a jongleur who died at sea." "Jacques Cherbourg." "Of course, this is Cherbourg." "Jacques." "Your father was my only son." "He was a..." "A storyteller and singer and my close friend." "He taught me French when I first came here, and I taught him English." "The prince, King Henry's son, hired him to sail with him across the channel." "Prince William?" "Your father called him the Phoenix Prince because of a ring he wore." "Was it a signet ring?" "Cut in the shape of a bird rising from fire." "Prince William was accompanied by his wife and many people of his court, including your father, and they were never seen again." "That was the White Ship." "It was the ship that sunk with Prince William, King Henry's heir." "I thought no one survived that sinking." "My father survived it." "He was on that ship." "Brother Philip." "Welcome." "I'm glad to see that you have come to a happy decision." "Yes." "Yes, I have, Eminence." "May we have a word alone?" "Your offer took me unawares." "And you were right." "I've never..." "I've never felt so lost." "Satan tempted Christ at his weakest, after 40 days without food or water." "I haven't Christ's strength to resist, Eminence, but you, you do not have Satan's cunning." "You have taught me, you see." "Politics may be a bargain between beggars, but compromise between good and evil is never possible." "God's work does not blend with power or greed." "Your moral mortar is corrupt." "And the walls of your church will crumble, and the roof will fall." "And you and everyone who worships with you will be crushed." "I would sooner live out the rest of my days feeding pigs at the monastery than feeding your ravenous ambition." "You're damned." "Robert of Gloucester!" "Richard of Kingsbridge!" "I thought you were a knight, not a foot soldier!" "A poor knight, My Lord, but soon I'll be a wealthy one!" "In the name of Queen Maud, I ask you for mercy." "Then God grant you peace." "Good man!" "I am not yet defeated." "I still have you, Henry." "Gloucester was my muscle, but you, you are my heart." "And I swear upon his butchered body, one day you will be king." "God told me this would happen." "In a dream, Your Majesty?" "Heavens, no." "He told me over dinner last night." "You have my undying gratitude." "Thank you, Your Majesty." " I humbly ask..." " I have no title to give you." "Yet there's to be a crusade, and I need volunteers." "I'll give you horse and armor and a squire or two if you kill some Saracens for me." "When you return, we'll see what we can do about your father's title." "As you wish, Your Majesty." "You see, Eustace, Maud's bastard brother is dead." "He was her strength." "She's defeated now." "And I swear on his traitorous head, one day you will be king." "The workers are gone." "Nothing's been done since the collapse." "What is it, Brother?" "Is something wrong?" "It's Jack!" "He's come home!" "Hey!" "Jack Jackson's home!" "He's in the cathedral!" "Welcome home, Jack." "Last time we saw you, you were locked away in our dungeon." "Have you returned to serve out the rest of your sentence?" "I was locked up to keep me away from Aliena." "It's too late for that now." "I was wrong." "As I recall, my predecessor forbade you from stepping foot on these holy grounds, except as a monk." "You're consorting with a married woman and living in sin." "You must either leave the whore or leave Kingsbridge." " I've come to finish the cathedral." " The cathedral is dead, Jack." "There are no more relics, miracles or pilgrims." "Which is why I bring you this." "A miraculous statue, a holy relic from France." "We've heard about these fake relics traveling from village to village, supposedly curing the sick." "However, there's always a charlatan behind it." "She weeps for the world's ambitions." "It's a trick, Your Eminence, but I don't know how he does it." "Where did he get it?" "He made it himself, it's obvious." "Rumor has it, it's carved from the True Cross, but it's far too new for that." " And the miracles, are they real?" " Who's to say?" "Cripples walk, the dying are revived, but witchcraft does the same." "One thing is certain, more and more pilgrims come every day, giving money for the cathedral." "That's the greatest miracle of all." "Ma!" " Ma!" " My boy!" " I missed you!" "I missed you so much!" " I missed you, too." "You're thinner than ever." "You look exactly the same." "You're a father now." "You have to take care of yourself." "We've named him Tom." "Give him here." "He looks like he eats well." "And constantly." "How is married life?" "We're not married yet, not in the eyes of the Church." "Why should you care what the Church says?" "I'm gonna ask Alfred for an annulment." "He'll never give it." "Come." "I intend to rebuild the cathedral, Ma, but they won't hire a man who's living in sin." "That would eliminate everyone in their eyes." "Ma, I met my father's family." "Somehow, Father got that ring, and it must've been a sign that he intended to give the King, but they silenced him before that could happen." "A sign of what?" "That he was there, Ma, that he knew the prince, or that the prince told him something or he saw something, something that cost him his life, Ma." "Who were the other two?" "What other two?" "The men that condemned Father, who were they?" "I curse you, all three of you." "Your church, dear Prior, shall burn to the ground." "Prior James was one, the Prior of Kingsbridge before Philip." "Your children, My Lord, shall die on the gallows." "Who is the Lord?" "He's dead." "There's nothing you can do to him anymore." "Lord Percy." "Percy Hamleigh." "And the priest?" "The one you confessed to." "And you, good Father, the confessor whom I trusted, you shall one day climb very high, only to fall." "Waleran." "I told him that I'd found a man on the beach." "He needs your help, your support." "He has a secret he will tell no one but the King." "They framed your father for stealing the priory chalice and eventually they burned him." "And he never told you his secret?" "No." "But they knew." "How?" "God hear thee, mother." "Your Eminence, welcome." "Make way for the Bishop." "Your Eminence, I need to speak to you about my sister." "Holy Mary, Mother of God!" "Holy Mary!" "Please!" "Please help!" "Save me, O Blessed Virgin!" "Help me!" "Help me!" "Please help me!" "Can I come in?" " Are you alone?" " Yes." "I didn't do it to hurt you, Alfred." "I'm here to ask you, on behalf ofAliena, to apply for an annulment." "Why should I?" "You won't be able to marry again without it." "You'll be stuck with a wife who won't live with you, who fathered a child with another man, and that's how you'll be known." "I got rid of her." "I told her to leave." "I don't want her back, you can be sure of that." " Yes." " The house is mine." "When I married her, it passed to me." "Of course." "And I want money." "It'll cost you." "I have no money now, but if the church building continues, I will soon enough." " And I can give you work, too, if you need it." " They won't allow it." "No one trusts me to build for them anymore." "Well, damn them!" "I built that vault strong enough!" "I supported it well." "It wasn't my fault!" "I was cursed." " Alfred..." " I loved her!" "You knew that." "From the first moment I saw her, I loved her." "Now I'm a laughing stock." "You took my da from me." "You killed my ma." "Your witch of a mother poisoned her." "Your ma died in childbirth." "She poisoned her!" "And then she cursed me." "She made me soft, down here." "Everyone heard." "And when they saw the baby, everyone knew!" " She doesn't have those powers." " She collapsed the vault!" "She took my work from me!" "You took my wife!" "Everything I've ever had or wanted, you've stolen!" "You took something from me, too." "What?" "What?" "What did I ever take?" "My ring." "You took my da's ring." "And I want it back." "If I had it, I would melt it into a lump and piss on it." "Get out." "We know you wish Jack Jackson dead." "If only wishes had knives." "Dear Lady, I think you miss my point." "Because of Jackson's miraculous statue, there are now pilgrims in Kingsbridge." "And where there are pilgrims, there is a market." "They have a license." "They haven't had a turnout simply because your son burned the fleece fair." "That was your idea." "Is that an accusation or a compliment?" "There will be a new market, and I expect there will be a newer, grander fleece fair." "Shiring will once again get the sharp end of the stick." "Could I be clearer than this?" "We are, for better or worse, together in this." "Then let's kill him." "And Aliena." "They're living in sin." "They deserve to die, and that bastard child of theirs." "And how do you plan to do this?" "We could slip him some poison." "Mother's a witch." "An assassin perhaps." "Assassins can be caught and tortured." "Another attack on Kingsbridge." "He may run away, he may hide." "With our luck, he'll probably be visiting his mother." "Why not combine all three?" "William won't attack until we're certain Jack is present, I can see to that." "You once said you had a spy or two at the priory." "In the midst of battle, your spy will stab Jack with a dagger dipped in poison." "Who's to say he didn't die defending his church?" "There's the added bonus of course of destroying Kingsbridge." "What do you think?" "Leave it to Eve every time." "First, I must make a pilgrimage to Kingsbridge to make sure Jack's at home." "Besides, I'm curious to see the Madonna." "Give me your spy's name." "I'll talk to him." "Father, I need to confess." "Tomorrow morning, my child, before mass." "No, Father, now." "Don't be afraid." "I can't imagine any sin you've committed is as terrible as you fear." " It's not a sin, Father." " What do you mean?" "It's not a sin I need to tell you." " My husband, William..." " Yes?" "He's going to attack Kingsbridge in two days' time with an army of men." "Dear God." "Why?" "They want to kill someone named Jack." "There's a spy who's going to assassinate him during the attack." " Did they say who?" " No." "It's Remigius." "He's always been Waleran's ally." "I'll have to try and find some way to lock him up." "I'd rather catch him in the act." "How can we defend ourselves against William?" "I haven't a clue, but Aliena has a visitor who does." "We meet him in the field outside of town." "There are hundreds of us." "He'll bring 20 at most." "Monks don't fight." "And I can't ask the townspeople to give their lives when I'm not prepared to risk my own." "Well, perhaps they'll run when they see our numbers." "And perhaps they won't." " Is there any way to avoid a pitched battle?" " Not without town walls." " Walls would do it?" " Yes, but we can't build them in two days." "They're not that hard to build." "I mean, we have the men and materials." "We don't have enough stone to wall in the entire town." "Well, does it have to be stone?" "A simple ditch with an earth rampart would be effective." "But that wouldn't hold them back for long." "Long enough." "They'd be stopped and exposed." "And when they're vulnerable, we can shoot stones, arrows." "Can you build a town wall in two days?" "Well, I've never built a town wall in my life, so it'll be the worst-built wall in England, but I think so, yeah." "What if it doesn't hold them back?" "Wouldn't it be safer to run to the forest and trust that William won't follow?" "It's not a question of safety." "If we run, we lose everything that we've worked for, the priory, the cathedral." "And I have a special reason to see William Hamleigh defeated." "One, two, three." "Come on, men!" "Keep it up!" "This wall needs to go up faster!" "And pull!" "Thank you." "That's enough!" "Ma!" "Aliena sent word." "I want to help." "Put me to work." "Tomorrow morning, when we attack Kingsbridge, don't forget that destruction, My Lord," "is the work of angels, albeit the dark ones." "Where are you?" "I want to fuck you." "Up higher." "That's it." " Are we gonna finish in time?" " At this rate, no." " What can we do to speed things up?" " We need to build faster and worse." "Well, then, let's do it!" "It's my fault you rest in unholy ground." "I should go to Hell, Kate, not you." "I love you." "Walter with me." "The rest of you over there." "Now!" "Come on!" "William!" "Come!" "My Lord?" "My Lord!" "Retreat!" "Retreat!" "Jack!" "Where is Jack?" "We're saved!" "We are saved!" " We did it!" " It was the wall that did it, Jack." "Your wall." "What's this?" "What's this?" "What's this?" "My..." "My sister..." "He promised to rebury her in holy ground." "She'd be saved, Philip." "He forgave me this." "No!" "No, no, no!" "You told Bishop Waleran about the weeping lady." "You've done everything you can to stop the cathedral." "You even knew about the attack and you didn't tell us." "Did you coerce Cuthbert into murdering Jack?" "His sister was a woman of the streets who died on the day she came here for forgiveness." "The Bishop refused her absolution and buried her in unholy ground." " Did you barter her salvation?" " That was Bishop Waleran's doing, not mine." "I told him Cuthbert's a fool, but he didn't trust me." "We don't want you prior no more." "We want Philip back." "Aye!" "Aye!" "You idiot!" "Twenty men to take a town!" " I didn't know they had a wall." " Well, they didn't as of a few days ago." "Somebody must've talked." "What did you do?" "Get drunk and brag to one of your stupid whores?" "You are as dense as your father, William, and twice the coward." "A bump on your head and you turn tail and run!" "Once again, it is up to me to save Shiring." "God knows it'll never be saved by incompetent pig slurry like you!" "Enough!" "Is my sweet William out of sorts?" "Your mother has a temper, dear, you know that." "Now tell me." "Whom do you hate the most?" "Jack Jackson." " And what would you do to him?" " Skin him alive." "And so you shall." "And whom do you love the most?" "William, whom do you love the most?" "You." "And what would you do to me?" "What the fuck are you looking at?" "What a terrible accident." "Too much wine and wandering at night." "You betrayed us, Brother." "For that, we cast you out." "Take what few belongings you have and leave." "We'll finish this church without you." "You will." "That, you will." "But that church is for your glory, not God's." "I may be a sinner, too, but you?" "You, Philip, are no better than Waleran." "It's only words, Prior." "There's truth in them." "Thanks to you, this town is saved, and because of you, we will finish this church." "I want you to be my master builder, Jack." "I hope I'm ready, Prior." "I know you are." "My fight in the crusade will get us back our title." "I'll bring back a Saracen's head from the Holy Land, just for you." "Just bring yourself back, that's all I ask." "Philip in power, Regan dead, the cathedral to be finished." "Ever your patient general, Lord God, when will I see our victory?" "Look what I have done for you." "God, why hast thou forsaken me?"