The Golden Knight stared down with suspicion at the copper vessel in the middle of the room. It was long and narrow, with dimensions similar to that of a sarcophagus - only deeper and made from copper plates that been riveted together and the joins folded over. It was filled with a fragrant liquid that had the rich-brown colour of loch water. Wisps of steam rose from the surface of the liquid, only to vanish in the warm, evening air. "What is this?" Richard of Warwick asked.

Joshua looked down his aquiline nose at the young noble and snorted in disdain. "It is a bath. Do you not have them where you come from? And they tell me that the Angles are no longer barbarians who cling to the edge of the world."

Emrys Wledig intervened, raising his left hand to still any argument. "It is my people who live on the shore of the great ocean - and we know what a bath is." He shot a warning glance towards Richard. "Although ours are usually less opulent than this. I think that my young friend is more concerned about the contents, rather than the vessel itself."

Richard of Warwick nodded, inwardly relieved for his friend's words. "Yes. That is what I meant. It looks foul."

"It is merely a dye," Joshua replied, "that I have dissolved in the water. It will darken your skin and hair. Only the least charitable would question your origins. Emrys - does you companion speak any of the tribal tongues?"

"I do," Richard replied. "I learned some words from a hostage who was billeted with me during the Siege of Acre. We were ... ." He felt his heart grow heavy with grief. "We were friends."

"Then that will make your deception easier. Now - disrobe!"

"Here?" Richard looked around the chamber. "In front of you?"

Joshua shrugged. "It is all one to me. However, you must immerse yourself in the bath for my potion to work its effects upon you. The hot water will open your pores, making the stain easier to take. I shall leave you to it." He turned away and made for the door into the rest of his dwelling. "Emrys, will you come with me? There is a game of chess that I believe we still have to finish. I am sure we can agree upon the board."

"In a minute," the scholar responded. "There are some things that I need to discuss with my companion."

"As you wish."

When the two were alone in the small room, Emrys turned his back towards Richard. "I will not embarrass you. However, you did say that you wished to talk with me. We shall have sufficient privacy here for that."

"Good." The Golden Knight began to strip off, discarding his clothing in a heap by the side of the bath before climbing into the hot, earth-brown water. "If you wish me to help you further in whatever quest you have, then you will have to tell me what it is." The metal of the bath felt hot where it touched his skin, but not uncomfortably so. Richard lowered himself further, hoping that the water would not spill over the top of the vessel and stain the tiles of the floor. It stopped a hand's span short of the lip of the bath.

"It is not so much a quest. It is more in the nature of a vow or a geasa."

"A vow I understand. So, this is not some mere matter of curiosity. It is a matter of honour?"

"More than my honour. And more than just honour. And it is to do with the True Cross. I would not tell falsehoods about something so serious."

Richard looked up from his bath towards the old man. "I am listening."

Emrys turned round, fixing the young knight with a gimlet glare. "You have heard of  Joseph of Arimathea? He brought many relics with him when he came to Britain - relics of the Christ. He wished to rescue them from those who would have them destroyed. However, he could not bring all of those items with him."

"Why not?"

Emrys reached down and swatted Richard gently across the top of his head. "Tell me, how would you smuggle the True Cross away under the eyes of the Roman legions? No, that was one of the many sacred things he had to leave behind. However, he put certain measures in place to ensure the safety of the True Cross."

Richard regarded the old scholar with a new-found respect. "And you are its guardian?"

"I am one of a select few who have been sworn to protect these relics. And we thought that the True Cross was safe enough here in the Holy Land."

"But what about the followers of Salah ad-Din? They destroy churches, trample upon the images of Our Lord!"

"And here I thought you had learnt something of your foes while you were here." Emrys snorted in disgust. "Instead I see the same ignorance that affects the hearts and minds of too many. No - they regard the Christ as another prophet. His words and deeds are holy. But the Muslims take the First Commandment very seriously. No. The true threat comes from another quarter. And now that the True Cross has been moved from Jerusalem to Damascus, I am bound to act."

Throughout this, Richard had been washing himself in the bathwater. His skin had darkened considerably, becoming sallow and more like that of the indigenes of the Holy Land. The effect was pleasing, if not flattering, but he couldn't help wondering how long it would last. "And what do you need me for?"

"Is it not obvious?" Emrys shook his head in disbelief. "I need a man who is strong both in body and in faith. You are that man, Richard of Warwick. You have already met and defeated great evil. I am sure that you can stand firm against whatever we might find opposing us."

"But -" the Golden Knight began, but he did not get any further.

"Joshua said immersed!" Emrys declared. "And immersed you must be, lest that mop of yellow hair give us away!" The scholar leaned forward and, with both hands, pushed Richard below the surface of the bath with all his might! The young man was unprepared for this and was only able to put up the most perfunctory of struggles until Emrys let him back up again, dripping and gasping for breath. "I think that will do."