Heretic

Heretic
Bernard Cornwell

The eagerly anticipated follow-up to the number one bestseller Vagabond, this is the third instalment in Bernard Cornwell's Grail Quest series.In 1347 the English capture Calais and the war with France is suspended by a truce.But for Thomas of Hookton, the hero of Harlequin and Vagabond, there is no end to the fighting. He is pursuing the grail, the most sacred of Christendom's relics, and is sent to his ancestral homeland, Gascony, to engineer a confrontation with his deadliest enemy, Guy Vexille.Once in the south country Thomas becomes a raider, leading his archers in savage forays that will draw his enemy to his arrows. But then his fortunes change. Thomas becomes the hunted as his campaign is destroyed by the church. With only one companion, a girl condemned to burn as a heretic, Thomas goes to the valley of Astarac where he believes the grail was once hidden and might still be concealed, and there he plays a deadly game of hide and seek with an overwhelming enemy.Then, just as Thomas succeeds in meeting his enemy face to face, fate intervenes as the deadliest plague in the history of mankind erupts into Europe. What had been a landscape of castles, monasteries, vineyards and villages, becomes death's kingdom and the need for the grail, as a sign of God's favour, is more urgent than ever.

Copyright

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First published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2004

Copyright © Bernard Cornwell 2004

Bernard Cornwell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Source ISBN: 9780007310326

Ebook Edition © JULY 2009 ISBN: 9780007338801

Version: 2018-04-20

‘The battle scenes, as always, are masterful; and the vignettes of everyday living, in times of extreme hardship, have the ring of simple truth’

Sunday Telegraph

HERETIC

is for Dorothy Carroll,

who knows why

CONTENTS

Cover (#uab3e5231-f96d-50ae-99b3-4d97258ede0d)

Title Page (#ucae84534-45da-59de-87e8-46701e1acb19)

Copyright (#u9f35c217-6ecb-5de2-96a1-7f50ec3f14a0)

Praise (#u5c4b8a6d-38a3-5dec-b009-66d7d003eaa4)

Dedication (#ue6996b1f-911c-5555-8254-3e04da070e2b)

Prologue: CALAIS, 1347 (#u376fe57a-7682-5169-b44e-76e0cf4d9d3c)

Part One: THE DEVIL’S PLAYTHING (#u27fa43bf-b69a-560b-b37b-1f5968ed19ff)

The Count of … (#uae1279f8-dcf8-5fe3-a9c9-9fb091a17ceb)

It had not … (#uc717a305-6136-56f0-85f1-bb07b047fbaa)

Thomas spent his … (#litres_trial_promo)

Thomas and his … (#litres_trial_promo)

In the name … (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Two: FUGITIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

It rained all … (#litres_trial_promo)

Thomas woke with … (#litres_trial_promo)

Sir Henri Courtois … (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Three: THE DARKNESS (#litres_trial_promo)

The search of … (#litres_trial_promo)

Sir Guillaume, the … (#litres_trial_promo)

It was on … (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue: THE GRAIL (#litres_trial_promo)

Historical Note (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by Bernard Cornwell (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

PROLOGUE