TRIALS OF A NOBLEMAN

Pierre Jean did not take long to take off his Knight Templar robe and sword before silently exiting their shared accommodation to join Ambrose Henri on his secret mission.

Meanwhile, Ambrose Henri was still conflicted on whether to sneak away alone before Pierre Jean joined him, but these ideas did not take long on his mind, because Pierre Jean came out earlier than he had anticipated.

Ambrose looked at the eager Pierre Jean, whose eyes were brimming with the excitement of being out to do something to spice up his day. "I thought you were going to take a while changing." He decided to indulge in small talk with Pierre Jean seeing that he wasn't able to shake him off.

"Come on, do not look so surprised. Just changing, why should it take me a long time. It is people like you noblemen who take long in the bathroom and bedroom changing. You have to think several times before picking an attire, and even after picking what to wear; your mind will wander on the right hairstyle for the occasion, the right deodorant to wear, and shoes. Everything is such stress. Honestly, I do not know how you people manage such a life. Personally, I could go mad if subjected to such." Pierre responded.

"Not all noblemen are the same. Some of us love simple lifestyles, we are more interested in furthering our ideals and objectives compared to the small-minded nobles who are very wardrobe conscious." Ambrose told him his point of view.

"And also, you can not bring such styles of European aristocratic dressing to the Holy Land if you really want to be comfortable. Otherwise, you will get a heatstroke." He added.

Pierre Jean shook his head in agreement, "I wholesomely agree with you, at the same time no matter how we try to compete in dressing we cannot dress better than King Solomon in his majesty and splendor."

"Speaking of King Solomon, it reminds me of the verse by Jesus Christ where he said that the clothes Solomon wore were still not as beautiful as the flowers. The exact words have skipped me. Do you know it?" Ambrose Henri asked. This reminded him of a verse he had heard some time back.

Pierre Jean nodded his head, "yes I know it, it is from Matthew 6:29, and it goes as such:"

"But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers."

"Yes, that is the exact verse." Ambrose was happy to hear that Pierre Jean could recite the whole verse. I guess this is what a true Knight Templar should be like when they commit themselves unlike me who can not find it in him to spend exaggerated times in prayer and Bible study.

They walked together through the narrow streets of Jerusalem, it was still the early afternoon and the sun was fierce. Their destination was the Jaffa gate since it was the closest to where they were staying and in direct line to the Syrian tavern outside the city.

"Tell me more about this secret mission that has been entrusted to you?" Pierre Jean asked Ambrose Henri.

Ambrose first hesitated, as he looked for the right words to use to sell the fabricated mission to Pierre Jean before thinking of something that was in line with what he had already said.

"Am going to collect information from a not-so-righteous place while pretending to be a Christian trader who is bored and needs to indulge in drinking and any other entertainment that the local Arabs have to offer." Finally, Ambrose Henri got the courage to say something close to the truth.

"Maybe you should return back. It will not be a very pleasant place for you to be. It will defile your soul." Ambrose added, trying to persuade Pierre Jean to turn back.

"If you can go there, why not me. Do not worry about me, I have your back." Pierre Jean proudly said.

"That is encouraging to hear, remember this is a secret mission so do not bring out any information or mannerism related to Knight Templars when we reach there. I trust that you can manage to blend." Ambrose Henri decided to take advantage of Pierre Jean's excitement to be of service to have him molded to his nature.

"We have to look as authentic as much as possible. I have some experience in this when I wanted to pass myself off as an ordinary Frenchman so that my noble heritage is not taken advantage of." Ambrose Henri added.

"What do mean by your noble heritage taken advantage of, I thought by exposing your nobleman status you could enjoy many privileges?" Pierre Jean was confused.

"You are still young, so you may not know this. But in most places outside Paris, the moment they know you are a noble man or woman, they smell money and will hike the prices of goods or services. You will be charged ten or twenty times what a normal person will pay."

"Can't you negotiate the price?" Pierre Jean was finding this mindset of the French nobleman confusing.

"You can, but it is demeaning to your status as a noble to begin bargaining over goods or services. It means that you are a lowly noble or your family is about to be bankrupt and that you have to spare every penny in a transaction." Ambrose Henri explained to Pierre Jean.

Pierre Jean nodded his head in agreement, "I never knew being a noble, had such an unfortunate side to it. Thank God am just a regular person and a Knight Templar who took a vow of poverty."

"Seeing that you learned to behave like an ordinary person. Can I conclude that your family was struggling financially and you have to learn the art of sparing any penny?" Pierre Jean jokingly asked Ambrose Henri.

Puh!

Ambrose Henri slapped Pierre Jean on the head.

***

Abbott Jeromy was kneeling before the altar in the monastery, in prayer.

"Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death."

His heart was heavy, from the fact the day he had been wishing to put off was approaching. Yesterday night he met with the Knight Templar sent by the Master Balian of Ibelin. He was supposed to hand over the treasure collected from the pilgrims for several years as well as the relic which had not been publicized. This pilgrim treasure had accumulated to a sizeable quantity having been in their possession for several years, that even five big travel chests could not accommodate it.

"Mary Mother of God, why has it come to this. I have no problem with handing over the pilgrim treasure, but why must it be all of it as well as the blessed relic of your son. This is too much for me to bear. When I give everything to Master Balian of Ibelin, what will happen to our church? Please guide me. I Am lost for what to choose." He prayed.

"This treasure was willingly offered to the church of the Holy Sepulchre by your children, am I not betraying their trust in me and this church by now giving out what they offered. I want to be a good steward like my predecessors before me. But it looks like I will fall short of their level if I hand over something which even them at their height never thought of giving out even to the Holy Church in the Vatican. Please guide me Mother of God, am really lost, and I don't want to annoy Master Balian of Ibelin."

"Why did this have to happen during my tenure. Why, why."

Abbott Jerome felt the hard-concrete floor painfully pressing into his aged knees but he did not want to rise. The knees had become stiff, partly numb, and painful. On another day, he could have rushed to rise up and stretch his legs, but today he felt that this pain was his penance for his indecision.

It was coming to the agreed time to meet with the Knight Yosef Gideon and they discuss the handover of the treasure and relic. But his heart was not in it. Abbott Jeromy kept on staring at the altar. Thinking of what miracle the Holy Mother could grant them to retain the full treasure and Holy relic.

How he wished he had not made an appointment with Knight Yosef Gideon to meet in the bathhouse this day and time. He felt like calling one of the altar boys to deliver the message that he was not able to turn up but he felt undecided and did not act on it.

His church needed that treasure, if not all of it. At least some of it. And the relic was already a divine blessing that was ordained to be here. The Church of The Holy Sepulchre needed to have a relic that could be called their own, unique to it. This could be beneficial, in attracting more pilgrims to this area.

"Holy Mother of God, please guide me on what to do in this situation. You know we need these treasures your children brought to us but also the blessings from being possession of the holy relic." Praying, Abbott stretched his hands on the floor while bowing until his forehead touched the cold concrete.

With his forehead still touching the cold concrete floor. An inspiration rose up in Abbott Jeromy's mind from the message of Jesus Christ in Matthew 10:16

"Look, I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves."