She had thought all westerners were savages, but Manfred amazed her with his cultivation. He knew more than many Byzantines, for whom Constantinople--which they always called "the Polis," the City, as if it were the only one--was the whole world. In the short time she and Manfred strolled together that day, he spoke to her in Greek, Latin, and Italian, and she later found out that he knew French, German, and Arabic as well.
He sang a song to her in a tongue she did not recognize, and he told her it was Provencal, the language of the troubadours.
He undid the clasp of her mantle and let it fall to the gravel. He kissed her in the bright sunlight, and she forgot Michael Paleologos.
She belonged altogether to Manfred von Hohenstaufen.
Now, with a chill, she remembered that she did indeed _belong_ to Manfred. She was not his mate but his servant.
His fingertips stroked her nipple lightly, but she ignored the tingle of pleasure. She waited for him to say what he had to say.
He said, "Remember the fair-haired Muslim who came to the court today?"
"The man from Egypt? You had him killed?"
"I changed my mind," Manfred said.
She felt relief. She was surprised at herself. She had wanted the man to live. She remembered her astonishment when, with a gesture like a performing magician"s, Manfred threw open the doors of his audience hall and the entire court saw the blond man with his dagger at Celino"s throat.
She had been surprised when Manfred told her that this man, dressed in a drab tunic and hose like a less-than-prosperous Italian merchant, was the awaited Saracen from the Sultan of Egypt.
The sight of him as he pa.s.sed through the audience hall had left her momentarily breathless. He looked like one of those blond men of western Europe the people of Constantinople called Franks and had learned to hate at sight. His hair was not as light as Manfred"s; it was darker, more the color of bra.s.s than of gold. Manfred"s lips were full and red, but this man"s mouth was a down-curving line, the mouth of a man who had endured cruelty without complaint and could himself be cruel. She wondered what he had seen and done.
As he had pa.s.sed her, his eyes caught hers. Strange eyes, she could not tell what color they were. There was a fixity in them akin to madness.
The face was expressionless, rocklike. This, she was sure, was no ordinary man, to be disposed of as an inconvenience. She was not surprised Manfred had decided to let him live.
"Why did you change your mind?"
"I think this Mameluke can help me," Manfred said. "Therefore I am going to help him. He is going to Orvieto on a mission for his sultan. I am sending Lorenzo with him."
"What did you call him?"
"A Mameluke. A slave warrior. The Turks who rule in Muslim lands take very young boys as slaves and raise them in barracks to be soldiers.
They forget their parents and are trained with the utmost rigor. They are said to be the finest warriors in the world."
_What does a life like that do to a man? It must either destroy him or make him invincible._
"The man looks like a Frank," she said.
"He comes of English stock," said Manfred. "You Byzantines lump all of us together, English and French and Germans, as Franks, do you not? So you can call him a Frank if you like. But whatever he looks like, he is a Turk at heart. I"ve learned that from talking to him. It"s really quite amazing."
They were plunged into deep shadow as the arched golden shape on the bed curtain disappeared, a cloud having pa.s.sed over the sun. Despite the summer"s heat she felt cold, and even though she did not trust Manfred she reached for him, wanting him close.
But Manfred drew away from her, preoccupied. She pulled a crimson cushion from behind him and hugged it against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.
_How alone the Mameluke must feel. Even here, where Muslims are tolerated, they have tried to kill him. And when he is in the pope"s territory, every man will be his enemy._
She remembered the harsh face with its prominent cheekbones and gray eyes and thought, Perhaps being alone holds no terror for him.
_After all, I am alone, and I have made the best of it._
"What is his mission in Orvieto?" she asked.
She listened intently as Manfred told her a tale of trying to prevent the great powers of East and West from joining together to crush Islam between them.
Manfred continued, "David hopes to influence the pope"s counselors to turn against the Tartars, that they may sway the pope himself."
"How can one man attempt such a huge undertaking?"
"He brought me an exceedingly valuable stone, an emerald, which I will trade for jewels he can carry to Orvieto and exchange for coins. It pleases me greatly that the sultan would entrust me with such a gem.
That helped to change my mind about this David. The Saracens are men of honor in their way." He smiled at her, looking pleased with the situation and pleased with himself. But she was quiet, unmoving, waiting for him to say the thing she feared to hear.
"But you are right," Manfred went on. "He cannot do it alone."
Warm yellow light once more filled their curtained cubicle. The cloud had pa.s.sed away from the sun. But her heart froze.
"I have decided I must entrust my own most precious jewel to David." He put his hand on hers.
_Oh, no!_ she thought, anguish tearing at her heart as his words confirmed her guess. She felt a terrible pain, as if he had run her through with a spear. She wanted to clutch at him, hold him in spite of himself. She had not felt so lost since her mother and father and the boy she loved were killed by the Franks.
She studied his face to memorize it, because soon she would leave him and probably never see him again. It would do her no good to let him see how she felt. She must decide what face to show him.
_I am a woman of Constantinople, alone in a country of strangers. And we are an ancient people, wise and subtle, and we bide our time._
She sat up in the bed, hugging her knees, thinking.
"How will my going with him help you?"
He grunted softly, and she looked at him. He appeared relieved. She was making it easy for him. She felt the beginning of dislike for him stirring within her.
"I thought you would be perfect for this. And you are."
His words puzzled her, and she almost let her growing anger show. "I do not see what you see, Sire."
"We are in bed. You may call me Manfred."
_But I do not want to call you Manfred._
"What is it you think I would be so good at?"
"You can mask your feelings," he said with a smile. "You are doing it now. You are very good at it."
"Thank you, Sire."
He shook his head, sat up beside her, and put an arm around her shoulders. "I meant it when I said you are precious to me. But you must go with this man. I cannot tell you all my reasons, but it is for your own safety as well."
No doubt he was being honest with her, though he was not telling her everything. Just the other day one of Manfred"s servants, whom she had cultivated with gifts, warned her that Manfred"s queen, Helene of Cyprus, was demanding that Manfred break with Sophia. Of course, Manfred would never be willing to admit that his wife could force him to do such a thing.