r the pope.

"Celino, you heard the contessa's servant announcing games in the next
room? See if you can draw Cardinal de Verceuil into a game with you."

"He favors backgammon," said Ugolini.

"All the French dote on backgammon," said Celino.

"Keep him entertained," said Daoud.

"To entertain de Verceuil you will have to bore yourself," said Ugolini.
"He prefers a game whose outcome is never in doubt."

Daoud and Ugolini turned to the serving table, and Daoud began
methodically to work his way through the various dishes the contessa's
servants had set out for her guests. There were eels steeped in a
strange, almost rotten-smelling sauce, there were small, tender lobsters
and large, meaty ones. There were baby birds meant to be eaten bones and
all. There was white bread and there were fine cakes. Daoud filled his
stomach, forcing himself to eat even those foods that repelled him,
while he watched Celino join the group gathered with the pope.

Daoud used his dagger to cut himself a slice of roast veal. It was juicy
and tender, and he cut himself another. The meat tasted as if the calf
had been killed that same day; it was not heavily spiced. How pleasant
to dine at the home of a wealthy woman. By the time he finished his
fourth slice, Celino and de Verceuil were in conversation.

Daoud chatted with Ugolini about astrology. In the cardinal's opinion it
was an auspicious night, and that assessment of the heavens helped calm
the bewhiskered little man somewhat.

It being harvest season, the contessa's tables were laden with fresh
fruits. Daoud enjoyed apricots and grapes, and sliced open an orange. He
watched Celino and de Verceuil move toward the galleria, where the
contessa's guests were playing games.

Daoud eyed the two brown-skinned men in their shimmering robes sitting
at their ease in the sala maggiore in the midst of a circle of curious
people. Their chief guardians, de Verceuil, de Gobignon, and Friar
Mathieu, were all elsewhere.

Daoud, as was customary among these people, dipped his hands in a basin
of water and wiped them on the table linen. Then he began to push his
way into the ring of people around the Tartars.

After a few moments he found himself staring down at them. They were
laughing together over some private joke, speaking to each other in
their chirping language.

Fra Tomasso was part of the group around the Tartars, as were several
bishops and two cardinals. A stout, middle-aged woman