Chapter 31: The Purpose of the Book
The summer wind carried the scent of dust and drying herbs through the citadel's upper galleries. Ethan stood in the vaulted hall that overlooked the Temple Mount, his silver mask faintly catching the light. He had been waiting all morning, not pacing—but still, tense, coiled. At last, the hoofbeats echoed in the stone courtyard below.
Cardinal Odo di Castellari had returned.
By the time the cardinal was ushered into the king's receiving chamber, Ethan had composed himself. He sat with quiet dignity, a wool mantle draped over his shoulders, and Gerard beside him with a scribe's board and ink.
Odo knelt briefly, then rose and withdrew a sealed scroll, bound in crimson ribbon, bearing the leaden seal of Pope Alexander III.
"The Holy Father sends his words, and his prayers," the cardinal said.
Ethan broke the seal carefully, eyes scanning the Latin with trained speed, each word weighted with centuries of ecclesiastical etiquette. His eyes stilled halfway through. Then a breath, slow and long.
He handed the scroll to Gerard, who read aloud for the others in the room.
To Baldwin, King of Jerusalem—
We have received the sacred book called Liber Throni Petri: The Book of Peter's Throne. Its beauty and clarity moved us and our brethren. The labor it represents—both spiritual and mechanical—is not lost upon us.
Let it be known: the book remains in Rome, not as a curio, but as a tool for God's greater work. It will be studied, read aloud, and placed among those works deemed worthy for teaching and contemplation.