led shape of
Nicetas's lips. Nicetas. Even amid this moment's perils sorrow gripped
his heart for the one who was lost and could never be recovered.

As if she sensed him looking at her, Sophia turned her face toward him,
but this put her face in shadow, and he could not make out her
expression. He shrugged and looked away.

He rode with one hand holding the arbalest across the saddle in front of
him, the other on the reins, guiding his mount. The horses Manfred had
given them ran well, aided a little by the high crescent moon. Daoud
tried to maneuver his small party to skirt dark patches in the road
where there might be holes in the pavement that could trip them.

The cries of the pursuers were louder, and Daoud heard hoofbeats behind
them. He looked back and saw a dark cluster of horsemen rushing down the
road. Five or six men, he guessed. There could not have been many more
horses than that stabled at the inn.

He felt no fear for himself. The country might be strange to him, but
riding and fighting in darkness were not. But his stomach tensed with
worry about the four people with him. One of them was already badly
hurt. Could he get them away safely? They were in his care now, and it
was a duty.

Celino was the only one of his charges who could look out for himself.
And he, thought Daoud angrily, was the one who had least deserved to
survive.

_But he is carrying half the accursed jewels._

_If we survive this, it might be best for me to kill Celino._

As they rode on, Daoud kept glancing over his shoulder. Their pursuers
were gaining on them. Celino's horse, carrying two riders, was holding
Daoud's party back. But that meant the men from the inn would soon be
within the arbalest's short range. He had only three bolts left in the
box under the stock. He wished he had a heavy Turkish bow, the kind he
had used at the battle of the Well of Goliath. Almost as powerful as a
crossbow, it was easier to handle on horseback and would shoot much
farther.

_Now they will see how Mamelukes fight._

His eyes were now completely adjusted to the faint moonlight. The road
took them into a deep pine wood. They splashed through a puddle in a low
place, then clambered up a slope.

Down the other side. At the bottom of the next slope, Daoud twisted
around in the saddle. Letting go of the reins and guiding the horse with
his knees, he aimed the crossbow at the top of the hill. When the first
rider came over the crest, clea