actions reflect on the crown
of France?"

He thrust his face into Simon's as he spoke, which made Simon
involuntarily draw back. De Verceuil was one of the few men Simon had
ever met who matched his own unusual height.

Simon felt his face grow hot. "Yes, Your Eminence."

"And how could you dismiss the trovatore Sordello from the post to which
Count Charles himself appointed him?"

"If Sordello had stayed with us, the Tartars might have taken such
offense as to go back to Outremer."

"Do not be absurd. Would they abandon a mission of such importance
because of a tavern brawl?"

Simon felt shame, but, deeper than that, resentment. He was the Count de
Gobignon, and not since he was a child had anyone chastised him like
this.

He heard a rustling as someone came down the row of vines where they
were standing. He turned to see Friar Mathieu, and hoped he was about to
be rescued.

After the Franciscan had humbly greeted the cardinal and kissed his
sapphire ring, he said, "I must tell Your Eminence that what happened
was not a mere tavern brawl. Sordello stabbed and nearly killed the heir
to the throne of Armenia, an important ally of the Tartars."

De Verceuil stared at Friar Mathieu. The cardinal had a mouth so small
it looked quite out of place below his large nose and above his large
chin. A mean mouth, Simon thought.

"Your opinion does not interest me," de Verceuil said. "I cannot imagine
why King Louis trusted a beggar-priest to conduct diplomacy with the
empire of Tartary."

The resentment Simon had felt at the cardinal's harsh speech at his
expense now flared up in anger.

_I am young and I do make mistakes_, Simon thought. _But, cardinal or
not, this man has no right to stand there in his velvet and satin and
jewels and sneer at this fine old man. No right at all._

But the old friar merely stroked his white beard with a wry smile and
said, "I said that very thing to him myself, when he ordered me to go."

Still angry, Simon took a deep breath and said, "Since Your Eminence
feels I have embarrassed the king and displeased the Count of Anjou,
there is only one course open to me. I will resign my command of the
ambassadors' guards."

Simon stared into de Verceuil's eyes, and the cardinal's eyelids
fluttered. In the silence Simon heard a blackbird calling in nearby
olive trees.

_I never wanted to come here. I let Uncle Charles talk me into it. I do
not mind the danger. And it would be exciting t