Père Matthieu Hanicotte

On the road to Auxerre, Matthieu fell into a crisis of faith, collapsing against a tree and screaming at the sky, angry that God had abandoned them. When Delphine warned of a fallen angel's approach, he climbed an oak with her and prayed silently as the creature attacked, uprooting their tree. He fell but was not seriously injured, then ran and caught Delphine as she fell, bloodying his nose before carrying her to safety. Later, in the ruins of Auxerre, he found a cask of good wine and, for the first time in months, said Mass and gave last rites to the remaining townspeople. That night, drunk, he followed a vision of a Cistercian monk and Michel Hébert, who urged him to kill Delphine with a rusty sword. He climbed to her loft with the weapon but could not do it, vomiting after the monk forced fingers down his throat. He then told Delphine he would not let anyone hurt her. Traveling south, he interpreted a Tuscan merchant's news, kissed the man's wife's letter, and invited the merchant to accompany their group.

On the road to Auxerre, Matthieu fell into despair, screaming at the sky and clinging to a tree as a fallen angel attacked. He caught Delphine when she fell and carried her to safety. In the ruined city, he found wine, said Mass, but later got drunk and followed a Cistercian monk to a stream. There, he had a terrifying vision where the monk and a specter of Michel Hébert commanded him to kill Delphine with a rusty sword. He climbed to her loft armed but could not do it; after vomiting, he swore to her he would not let anyone hurt her. Traveling south, he translated for an Italian messenger and invited the man to join them. Aboard a pirate raft on the Saône, he was given wine and fell asleep. When the captain turned murderous, Delphine shook him awake. He tried to grab an oarsman, was elbowed in the nose, but then struck the man's face with his wooden bowl so hard it shattered, disarming him. After the fight, he held Delphine, too agitated to sleep.

On the road to Auxerre, Père Matthieu’s despair at God’s perceived abandonment led him to scream at the sky and cling to a tree, from which he was thrown by a fallen angel. In Auxerre, after finding wine and performing Mass, he was led by a Cistercian monk to a vision that commanded him to kill Delphine with a rusty sword; he climbed to her loft but refused, vowing instead to protect her. Later, on a river raft, he was shaken awake during a mutiny and broke a wooden bowl over an oarsman’s face to defend her. When the raft was attacked by gelatinous, stinging abominations at a dam of corpses, he fought with salt, then, after they were thrown into the water, used his own body to shield Delphine from stings. Barely moving from venom, he held the unconscious girl up and out of the river until they reached the shore of a fallow field in Provence.

On the road to Auxerre, his despair overwhelmed him; he screamed at the sky and clung to a tree, refusing to move until a fallen angel attacked. He climbed the oak with Delphine, was thrown when it was uprooted, and caught her as she fell. In the ruined city, he found wine and said Mass for the first time in months, but later drank to excess. That night, a Cistercian monk led him to a vision where he was urged to kill Delphine with a rusty sword. He climbed to her loft but could not do it, vowing instead to protect her. Joining a raft down the Rhône, he was elbowed viciously during a fight but broke his wooden bowl on an oarsman’s face to disarm him. When gelatinous creatures attacked the raft, he shielded Delphine from their stings, flung salt to kill one, and, after they fell into the river, used his failing strength to hold her above the water as he was envenomed. Carried to a plague-stricken cottage, he died there, revealing before the end that he had a brother named Robert. Thomas buried him in a grave beside the cottage.

Matthieu Hanicotte was a priest broken by God’s silence, falling to his knees in despair on the road from Auxerre. He found purpose in guarding the girl Delphine, saving her from a fallen angel by catching her from a falling tree. Later, in a drunken vision, a monk urged him to kill her with a rusty sword, but he refused, vowing to protect her. He traveled south toward Avignon with Delphine and Thomas, joining a river raft. When brigands attacked, he fought, breaking a bowl over an oarsman’s face. On the Rhône, gelatinous creatures stung Delphine; he shielded her with his body, carried her to shore, and died soon after from the venom. Months later, his body was found in Avignon, newly minted as a cardinal the night before, crushed near a chapel entrance.