Page 416 - Revelation

Svetlana de Rohan-Levashova. Revelation

fire... a semi-burnt boot... or even the head of a doll which rolled aside and had not
burnt away...

The short man, Hugues des Arcis, was enormously pleased. At last everything was
over. The Cathar heretics were dead. Now he could go home with a peaceful
conscience. He cried to the freezing knight on guard to bring his horse over and turned
to the warriors who sat at the fire to give them their last orders. He was in a much
elevated mood. The long mission had at last come to its "happy" end... He fulfilled his
debt and could honestly be proud of himself. A minute later the horse’s hooves rapidly
clattered on the road. The seneschal of Carcassonne hurried home, where an abundant
hot supper and a cosy fire-place to warm his frozen and tired body were waiting for
him.
Loud and sorrowful weeping resounded on the peak of mount Montsegur. It was
the eagles. They saw off their true friends and owners on their last journey... The eagles
cried very loudly... In the village of Montsegur people fearfully closed their doors; the
eagle weeping spread all over the valley. They grieved....

It was the terrible end of the Cathar’s outstanding empire – the empire of Light
and Love, Good and Knowledge...
Somewhere in the depth of the Occitan Mountains the fugitive Cathars remained.
They hid with their families in the caves of Lombrives and Ornolac, unable to decide
what to do next. On
losing the last Perfect ones, they felt like children without support and guidance.
They were persecuted.

They were the prey for which large sums of money were paid.
Nevertheless, the Cathars did not give up yet... They moved to the caves and felt
at home there. They knew every turn and every crevice; therefore it was almost
impossible to hunt them down, although the servants of king and church tried with all
their might and main, hoping to get the promised rewards. They poked about in the
caves, not knowing where to search. Many of them were lost and died there. Some of
the lost went mad, failing to find the way back into the open and
familiar sunny world...

The pursuers especially feared the cave of Sacani (Russian spelling of the cave’s
name-E.L.). It ended in six separate entrances which zig-zagged downward. Nobody
knew their real depth. There were legends that one of them led straight to the
underground city of Gods where nobody dared to descend.
The Pope waited a bit and then went mad. The Cathars refused to disappear! This
little group of exhausted people, who he was unable to understand, wouldn’t give up!
Despite the losses and privations, in spite of everything, they still LIVED. The Pope
dreaded them. He did not understand
them. What was it that moved these strange, proud and impregnable people?! Why did
they not give up, perfectly knowing that they have no chance of rescue? The Pope wanted
them to disappear. He wanted that not a single damned Cathar be left on Earth! He
could not invent anything better than ordering them to be bait in the caves...
The knights were absolutely delighted. Everything now seemed simple and easy.

They did not have to rack their bains as to how to catch the "heretics". They went to
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