"Think what Italy would be with Manfred von Hohenstaufen ruling from the
Alps to Sicily and a pope who supports him."
"A Ghibellino pope?" Ugolini looked surprised, then nodded. "Why not? As
a Ghibellino myself, I would rejoice at that. But it will happen only if
Manfred has the College of Cardinals in his power."
"Yes," said Daoud. "And that is why I must go all the way south to
Lucera, where Sophia and Lorenzo and I started from." Ugolini's eyes
were brighter, and Daoud felt with pleasure that he had breathed new
life into the little man.
"But the podesta won't let you leave the city!" Sophia exclaimed.
Again Daoud felt that cold hand grasp his neck. Perhaps he should have
left long ago. He turned from Sophia to Ugolini.
"You must demand that he let me leave, Cardinal," said Daoud, feeling
less confident than he tried to sound.
Or, he thought, he could escape the way Lorenzo did. He had never truly
been a prisoner here.
"I will order the servants to start packing for me," Ugolini said. "Of
course, I must make arrangements for Tilia to move, too, and that might
take time. Although many of her best clients are gone now." He sounded
like a man who knew what he was doing and Daoud was relieved to hear it.
Daoud turned from Ugolini to Sophia. The knowledge that he would soon
leave Orvieto, where he had seen too much of defeat and slaughter,
lifted his spirits. He smiled at Sophia, and she smiled back. He knew
she was thinking the same thought he was--that they had hours to spend
together this afternoon.
* * * * *
Daoud and Sophia lay naked in her bed, legs entwined, her head resting
on his bare chest.
"What about me?" Sophia asked. "Will I go south with you to Manfred, or
north to Perugia with Ugolini?"
"With me, of course," said Daoud. At the mention of leaving her, he felt
as if a cold wind had blown across his naked body. He was surprised that
she was even considering staying with Ugolini.
"I want to be with you," she said, caressing his chest with a circular
movement of her palm. "I hate the thought of our being apart. But with
the pope and the Tartars in Perugia, you need someone there besides
Ugolini. Someone who has an aim in common with yours. I can help him and
make sure that what he does helps you. Helps us."
He ran his fingers through her long, unbound hair. "I will think about
what you've said. But I do not like it."
"Neither do I. But it may be necessary."
A loud knock at Sophia's door interrupted them.
Something in the urgency of the knock made Daoud spring out of bed and
reach for his sword, hanging from a peg on the wall. Putting a finger to
her lips, Sophia got out of bed more slowly and went to the door.
"It is I," the cardinal called through the door in answer to her
question. "I know David is there with you. Let me in. The podesta is
here."
The ghost that haunted him whenever he thought of himself and d'Ucello
seized Daoud's entire body in a cold, paralyzing embrace. His first
thought was of escape. But d'Ucello probably had the mansion surrounded.
Sophia and Daoud dressed quickly and opened the door for the cardinal.
"D'Ucello has come here with twenty or more men-at-arms," Ugolini said.
"He demands that you go with him to the Palazzo del Podesta, David."
"Can you not order him away?" Sophia demanded. "You are a prince of the
Church. You did that before."
"He waited until most of the power of the Church had left Orvieto," said
Ugolini.
"And until the Filippeschi had been crushed, thinking I might call upon
them for help," Daoud said.
"You must try to escape," said Sophia.
"Then what would happen to you?"
"We will escape together!"
Daoud looked at her drawn face, and at that moment he loved her more
than ever. His love warmed him, and freed him from the grip of fear.
This woman--who had spoken a short time ago so calmly of separation--was
ready to run, to dodge arrows, to hide in ditches, to climb walls, to do
whatever she had to, to be near him.
"If he finds out what you are, we are all doomed," said Ugolini. Daoud
saw that the small body was aquiver with fear.
He could imagine what Ugolini was thinking, that the evil he had dreaded
since Daoud came to Orvieto had come upon them at last. Just when he
thought he was about to escape it.
"He will learn nothing," said Daoud.
"He will torture you." Ugolini sat down on Sophia's bed and wrapped his
arms around his stomach. "We will all die horribly--me, Sophia,
Tilia--everyone who helped you." He raised hands curved like claws and
shook them at Daoud. "Oh, God, how I wish you had never come here!"
Sophia sat beside Ugolini and put her hand on his knee. "If we can stay
calm, dear Eminence, we can think of a way out of this."
"Even if he tortures me, I will tell him nothing, except that I am
David, the trader from Trebizond," said Daoud. The methods of resisting
pain that he had learned from the Hashishiyya would serve him now.
"You must not think of going with him!" Sophia cried.
"It is the only way. If I cooperate, it shows my innocence. The cardinal
can use his influence to get me freed."
She jumped up and threw herself against him, weeping. "You are going to
your death!" He held her tightly.
"D'Ucello has nothing to gain by killing me," he said. "And surrendering
to him is the only thing I can do." He looked at Ugolini. "Do you
agree?"