Timeline

Chris falls down the cliff, but a tree breaks his fall. The boy helps him onto the path along the cliff. The horsemen are shooting arrows at him. They run along the cliff near the river. Meanwhile, Kate finds the spare marker under Gomez’s wig on her decapitated head. Suddenly, the horsemen come galloping past, and Kate and Marek jump into the bushes. Chris and the boy swim across the river to safety. While they rest, Chris tells the boy that his name is Christopher de Hewes and that he is a squire. The boy assumes that he is Irish because of the strange way he speaks. The boy is grateful to Chris for saving his life and says he will take him to the castle.

Kate and Marek head to the monastery. Nearby, they see five horses with red velvet-covered saddles. Chris gets in contact and tells Kate and Marek that he is going to the castle. Marek chastises Chris for telling the boy that he is “gentle” (219) because it means that he is nobility; this will draw unwanted attention. The boy tells Chris that the horseman in black is Sir Guy de Malegant, a man who serves Lord Oliver. At that moment, Marek sees Professor Johnston step out of the monastery. They approach him, and reveal that they have a marker. Professor Johnston tells them that Oliver is in Castelgard, but he wants to move to La Roque before the French Arnaut arrives. However, Oliver is afraid that there is a secret passage in La Roque. So, at the request of the Abbot, the professor is searching old documents for records of the passage. He is about to tell them what he has found when soldiers arrive and arrest him.

Chris and the boy enter Castelgard. A girl approaches the boy and tells him that Sir Daniel is worried because he has been gone. They walk across the drawbridge into the castle proper. The boy tells a guard that they are there to see Lady Claire; he lets them in. They go into a bedroom and are greeted by ladies in waiting who are glad that their lady has returned. The “boy” takes off a hat and reveals herself to be Lady Claire of Eltham. One of the maids tells Chris that Claire’s husband, Sir Geoffrey, is dead. Claire is under the guardianship of Sir Oliver, who wants her to marry Sir Guy de Malegant. However, she does not want to marry Sir Guy. Lady Claire tells them that Chris saved her and sends a maid off to get him better clothes.

Sir Daniel, Claire’s uncle, arrives. He asks Lady Claire if she has been to see the Abbot. She says she didn’t because she was afraid to wait to see him after the professor, whom she calls the Magister, was arrested by Lord Oliver’s men. She says that the Magister and the Abbot are friends. Claire asked the Magister about the secret passage, and he said he didn’t know where it was. Sir Daniel sends Chris with a servant boy to take a bath.

Marek and Kate follow the professor and soldiers to the castle. When the guards are distracted by a fight, they walk across the drawbridge. Chris, having bathed, now talks to Sir Daniel and tells him that he is a scholar from Oxford. Sir Daniel tells Chris that Lord Oliver wants Claire to marry Guy de Malegant in order to raise money to pay soldiers. Guy plans to pay the dowry by selling Claire’s lands. However, Claire doesn’t want to marry Malegant because it is suspected that Malegant might have poisoned her late husband, Geoffrey. Sir Daniel observes that Arnaut de Cervole’s soldiers are about 15 miles away. They will likely attack in the next day or so.

Kate and Marek enter the great hall and see Lord Oliver de Vannes at the high table. Then, the professor is announced and presented to him. Oliver asks him for information. While they talk, Sir Robert de Kere whispers something in Oliver’s ear. Oliver asks the professor if he can make Greek Fire and Dew Fire, or the fire of Nathos. The professor confirms that he can, but pleads ignorance as to the location of the secret passage to La Roque. Oliver angrily sends the professor away. Then, Lady Claire and “Squire Christopher de Hewes” (242) arrive. Sir Guy is angry to see Lady Claire with him and challenges Chris to combat by throwing down a glove. Chris unwittingly accepts by picking it up. Marek steps in and says that he will be Chris’s second. Chris and Marek prepare to joust.

Back at the ITC headquarters, Kramer tells Doniger that six employees are being sent to University Hospital in Albuquerque for their injuries. He is worried that news of the technology will be leaked before it is ready.

Chris and Sir Guy joust. On the second hit, Chris is knocked off his horse. Then, Marek jousts Sir Guy’s second, Sir Charles. He knocks down Sir Charles and then notices that Sir Guy is about to trample Chris. Sir Guy and Marek fight with swords, and Marek forces Sir Guy to surrender.

While Chris recovers, Marek points out the archers practicing in the next field and tells him that they represent the newest military technology and the end of the knight system. Chris and Marek are arrested for disgracing Sir Guy. Kate realizes what is happening and follows them into the castle. Chris and Marek are put in the castle dungeon; he professor is being held in the cell across from them.

Back at the command center, Gordon tells Stern that the team cannot return yet because there is no landing site. Gordon says there is no way to contact them.

Hiding in an unlocked cell, Kate overhears the guards talking about how Chris and Marek will likely be beheaded for disgracing Sir Guy. They see her wet footprints on the ground and chase her. She runs away and hides behind the fireplace screen in the great hall. In the prison, the professor tells Chris and Marek that he was immediately spotted by some woodcutters who thought he was a magician. He went to the monastery and found the secret entrance to La Roque noted in the documents. He says the path begins in the green chapel, but before he can tell them about the associated key, the guard interrupts.

Marek and Chris knock out the guard with the gas, and Kate takes the keys from the wall. Chris, Marek, and the professor are released, but they need a bigger space to summon the machine. They go to the second floor because Kate knows of a secret passage to the rear courtyard. As they sneak along the passage, they see Lady Claire and Sir Guy kissing in one of the bedrooms. They overhear them talking about their scheme. Lady Claire is only pretending to not want to marry Sir Guy so that people will not realize that she was complicit in the plot to kill her husband. When Sir Daniel knocks on the door, Sir Guy slips into the secret passage, where he discovers Marek, Chris, Kate, and the professor. Before they are arrested yet again, the professor tells them that Brother Marcel in the monastery has the key to the castle.

Lord Oliver and Sir Robert are in dancing class. Sir Guy arrives with the guards, the professor, and the graduate students, the “Magister’s assistants” (285). Because they have already escaped the dungeon, Sir Robert suggests locking them in the tower chamber instead. Kate, Chris, and Marek are taken away. Lord Oliver asks the professor how he should defend Castelgard against Arnaut. The professor advises him to abandon Castelgard and fight from La Roque.

Chris, Marek, and Kate plan to escape from the tower room. Marek hits the guard with a candlestick and knocks him out. Kate climbs out the window to access the other side of the door. She is looking for something to open the door with when she runs into Sir Robert de Kere. Sir Robert and his soldiers chase her. She attempts to flee up the chapel wall, but Sir Robert spots her when she warns Marek that the soldiers are coming to kill them. Kate runs along the roof of the chapel to evade the soldiers. The roof starts to crumble and the soldiers fall through.

Back at ITC labs, Gordon shows Stern the earlier versions of the teleportation machines. One is an early prototype. Stern asks if it still works.