Between Two Fires
by Christopher Buehlman
Contents
Twenty-Seven: Of the Routiers
Overview
Thomas finds the English routiers at a bathhouse in Orange and, despite perfect advantage, spares them after an inner admonition linked to Delphine. He spends the night watchful and concludes Delphine is holy. On the crowded road to Avignon, he spots his old nemesis Chrétien d’Évreux, reigniting his quest for revenge.
Summary
Thomas reaches Orange at dusk and lingers by the famed bathhouse beneath the Roman arch. He recognizes the drunken guard’s English and the stacked longbows, realizing these are the routiers who massacred the village he swore to avenge. He silently incapacitates the sentry, then enters the steamy baths, sword poised to slaughter the naked archers.
As panic trembles through the tubs, Thomas prepares to strike, but an inner prompting—voices tied to his oath and Delphine’s influence—grips his heart and stays his hand. He measures each man, reasserts absolute advantage, then deliberately sheaths his sword and withdraws, choosing mercy without ceding strength.
Thomas sleeps in a church belfry, wary of pursuit but chiefly watching for Delphine. He longs for a horse but refuses the routiers’ mounts, again feeling her restraint. Alone with his thoughts, he wrestles with what Delphine is—saint, witch, or something else—and admits she embodies the remaining goodness he can perceive.
At dawn, heavy traffic streams toward Avignon: performers, pilgrims, and military companies. Thomas keeps to the road’s firm center, avoiding injury and delay. A troop of knights and men-at-arms passes; among the leaders Thomas recognizes Chrétien d’Évreux, the Navarrese heir who stole his land, wife, and honor, reigniting the black core of his vengeance.
Who Appears
- ThomasKnight protagonist; finds the English routiers, chooses mercy after inner prompting, reflects on Delphine’s holiness, then recognizes Chrétien d’Évreux and rekindles vengeance.
- DelphineAbsent physically but felt; her influence stays Thomas’s hand, and he wrestles with believing her a saint.
- English routiersDrunken archers in the Orange bathhouse; helpless before Thomas, spared despite his oath to avenge their massacre.
- Bathhouse womenWorkers at the Stews of the Arch; plead to avoid violence as Thomas confronts the routiers.
- Drunk English sentinelOuter guard with longbow; Thomas silently incapacitates him before entering the bathhouse.
- Chrétien d’ÉvreuxNavarrese heir; passes with a military column. His sighting reignites Thomas’s personal vendetta.