Publisher's Synopsis
Paris, France - October 13, 1307
The sky above Paris burned crimson. Thick smoke coiled through the air, carrying the acrid scent of betrayal. The mighty walls of the Temple of Paris, the stronghold of the Knights Templar, shook under the pounding of battering rams. Across the city, torches flickered like fireflies in the night, illuminating the fall of one of the most powerful orders in Christendom.
Inside the fortress, Grand Master Jacques de Molay stood firm, his aged face etched with defiance. He had seen many battles, but none as insidious as this-a war waged with parchment and ink, treachery and greed. King Philip IV had declared the Templars heretics, his men storming the Temple under the banner of false righteousness. But de Molay knew the truth.
"This is no holy purge," he muttered. "This is theft."
A heavy iron door burst open behind him. Sir Étienne de Rochefort, his most trusted knight, stumbled inside, his cloak stained with blood.
"My lord," Étienne gasped, "we are betrayed. The king's men are inside the outer walls. We must flee!"
De Molay did not flinch. Instead, he strode to a marble pedestal, where an ornate chest sat-one of the few secrets the order had managed to keep hidden. With a slow, deliberate motion, he unlatched it, revealing a rolled parchment wrapped in red silk.
Étienne's breath caught. "The Grand Oath?"
De Molay nodded grimly. "Our true legacy. Not gold, not relics-but knowledge. This must never fall into Philip's hands."
A distant explosion rattled the room. Étienne gripped the hilt of his sword, heart pounding.
De Molay pressed the scroll into his hands. "Take this, Étienne. Take it far from here. To Scotland. To Rosslyn."
Étienne hesitated. "But Grand Master-"
"There is no time!" De Molay's voice was steel. "Swear to me, on your life, that you will protect it."
Étienne knelt, bowing his head. "I swear it."
The Grand Master's expression softened, but only for a moment. Then the door burst open, and the end of the Templars began.
