Crusade Against the Grail - Rennes-le-Chateau Research and ...

136 PART THREE
and the caves of Sabarthes, whose walls had just been repaired and reinforced.
The crusaders renewed their assault, but this time they were caught under a
hail of arrows, stones, boiling water, and pitch, and had no other recourse than
retreat.
"The Lord is with us," exclaimed the Abbot of Citeaux. "Look at the new
miracle! God, the Lord of the elements, has put them on our side. We have water,
because the Aude is ours; but up there in the nest of the heretics, the wells are
running dry because the Lord has forbidden the clouds to give the sinners a drink."
In the besieged city, atrocious scenes were taking place. The accumulation of
people and animals, the stench of open animal carcasses, clouds of mosquitoes,
and the horrendous lack of fresh water provoked an epidemic. Women and
children ran wailing and crying through the streets.
One day, a knight presented himself at the eastern door of the city. He said
that he wanted to parley with the Viscount; he had come from the King of France,
and he asked Raimon-Roger to go to the crusaders' camp to discuss terms under
truce. They would guarantee the Viscount safe conduct.
"Swear it," said Raimon-Roger.
"I swear by God the Almighty."
After a brief discussion with his barons and consuls, Raimon-Roger decided to
go to the crusader camp. In the company of a hundred men on horseback, he rode
to the tent of the Abbot of Citeaux. The French barons observed the most famous
and valiant knight of Occitania with curiosity and admiration. The Viscount
presented himself before the abbot of the caster: "Your Eminence desires—?"
"Arrest him and all his knights!" exclaimed the Archabbot Arnaud.
In this way, through betrayal, the Viscount of Carcassonne and his one
hundred companions were neutralized. Intentionally, the crusaders let a few escape
so they could announce the arrest of the Viscount to the city. When Carcassonne
learned of the loss of their leader, they knew that their fate was sealed—and that
the same horrible fate of Beziers awaited them. The consuls and barons met in
council, and the night fell.
The following morning, the crusaders awaited the surrender of Carcassonne.
But the drawbridges were not lowered and the doors remained closed. Oddly, there
were no lookouts on the watchtowers or