Robert

Robert Hanicotte lived in Avignon as the cardinal's concubine, tending to the stables and secretly loving a horse named Guêpe more than anything in the city. He was tormented by a nightmare in which his brother, Matthieu, laughed in a river with a soldier before being accused of belonging to devils, a vision that left Robert sweating and angry. To escape his thoughts, he sneaked out to the marketplace and later visited the pope's red-haired falconer. At a grand papal feast, seated beside the cardinal, he observed the quiet, sober Comte d'Évreux among the honored guests. He listened as Pope Clement VI announced a crusade to Jerusalem and the imminent revocation of legal protections for Jews, a proclamation that disturbed him inwardly, though he forced a smile. His private resolve was fierce: he intended to throw himself from a tower before ever allowing his body to look like the cardinal's.

Robert lived in the cardinal's house, where he privately scorned his patron as a boring old man and vowed never to let his own body decay similarly. His only true affection was for his horse Guêpe. He attended the pope's feast, seated beside the cardinal, and was disturbed by Clement VI's call to revoke protection for Jews, though he forced a smile. His life was upended when he found the girl Delphine in Guêpe's stall. She claimed his brother had died bringing her to Avignon and compelled Robert to ride with her to the pope's vineyards at night. There, they witnessed silent, reeking corpses harvesting grapes and treading wine. When one dead vintner pointed at them, Robert fled in terror, scooping Delphine onto Guêpe as they escaped. Back at the stables, still shaken, he yielded to her demand that he arrange a private audience for the Comte d'Évreux with the pope, convinced a profound evil was emanating from the palace itself.

Robert lived in the cardinal's house in Avignon, where his secret affection for the horse Guêpe was his only true comfort. He attended a papal feast, sitting beside the cardinal, and noted the quiet Comte d'Évreux. He was disturbed by the pope's speech revoking protection for Jews, though he masked his feelings with a smile.

One night, he found a small girl, Delphine, in Guêpe's stall. She claimed his brother had died bringing her there and used his childhood nickname. Bewildered and angry, he nevertheless saddled the horse and rode with her to a vineyard outside Villeneuve. There, she showed him harvesters working by night—men who were dead and rotting, carrying grapes. Fleeing in terror, he returned to the cardinal's bed.

Summoned to the papal garden, Robert confessed a dream about a girl pretending to be the Comte d'Évreux's page. Pope Clement VI suggested it was witchcraft meant to discredit them both. Deeply moved by the pope's touch and praise, Robert felt a surge of loyalty and excitement as he was elevated to a new, unspecified position, with the cardinal instructed to act as a father to him.

Robert was a priest only briefly before being sent south by his bishop with an eye toward Pope Clement. In Avignon, he became Cardinal Cyriac's concubine, though he privately scorned the older man's body and loved his horse Guêpe more than anything in the city. He maintained a pleasant facade, attending the pope's feast and smiling at Clement's harsh decrees while inwardly disturbed. His life was upended one night in the stables when he encountered a small girl, Delphine, who claimed his brother had died bringing her to him. Bewitched and furious, he allowed her to lead him on Guêpe to a vineyard, where they witnessed the dead harvesting grapes by night.

Shaken, Robert later confided a version of these events to Pope Clement as a troubling dream, a confession that earned him the pope's touch and a promise of gratitude. He was elevated to an undetermined position, with the cardinal instructed to act as a father to him. On the eve of his formal elevation to high office, while at the cardinal's house in Villeneuve, the serving boy Vincent alerted him to intruders. Investigating, Robert peeked into the cardinal's bedroom and saw a man-shaped creature with its arm thrust down the sleeping cardinal's throat, its skin transforming to match Cyriac's. It spoke with the cardinal's voice, ordering Robert back to bed. He obeyed, dropping his knife, and by morning had convinced himself it was a bad dream, submitting to the cardinal's touch despite noticing the man now slept on his back.

Robert lived in the cardinal's house, where he loved the horse Guêpe more than anything in the city. Troubled by nightmares of his brother and disturbed by the pope's edicts against Jews, he maintained a facade of obedience. His life was upended when he found a small girl, Delphine, in Guêpe's stall. She claimed his brother had died bringing her, and compelled Robert to take her riding. In a vineyard, they witnessed dead men harvesting grapes, a sight that terrified him.

After returning, he confided a dream about a girl to Pope Clement, who saw witchcraft in it but rewarded Robert's loyalty by elevating him to high office. On the eve of his elevation, Robert saw something strange in the garden. Investigating, he crept upstairs and saw a man-shaped thing with its arm down the cardinal's throat, its skin shifting to mimic the cardinal. When it spoke with the cardinal's voice, telling him to go back to bed, Robert dropped his knife and obeyed, later allowing the transformed cardinal to pull him into the bedroom.

During the chaos in the Courtyard of Honor, Robert saw an abomination of stacked corpses enter. As devils attacked, he was pressed against the barred door of the great chapel. He watched the abomination pick up Delphine, only to unravel when it touched her. Light burst from the girl, and angels were born—Zephon, Uriel, and the Archangel Michael. When Michael swooped at a lion-faced devil, the devil crashed into the top floor of the great chapel, toppling the building onto those at the door. Robert Hanicotte was crushed and killed.