He
looked down at his scrap of parchment with the tiny crawling lines.

"What shall I let him do when we are together?" she asked quietly.

_I know David is jealous, and I am goading him. I want to hear his
jealousy._

He stood up abruptly and put his writing board on a table. He walked to
an open window and stood looking out, rolling his thin parchment tightly
between his fingers.

She hated this conversation. It turned him into a panderer and her into
a whore. And she sensed that he hated it as much as she did.

"Do what you think is necessary," he said coldly.

"_Necessary to what?_" she demanded through gritted teeth.

He turned toward her and held up a finger. "To win his trust." He held
up a second finger. "To hear and remember anything he may let slip." He
held up a third finger. "Most important, to tell him things."

"Tell him what?"

"Tell him that Cardinal Ugolini has persuaded Fra Tomasso d'Aquino to
oppose the alliance of Christians and Tartars."

"And if Simon believes you have won over Fra Tomasso, what will that
accomplish?"

"The unbelievers are already desperate to repair the damage I have done
to the reputation of the Tartars," David said. "If they think they have
lost Fra Tomasso, they may be provoked to do exactly the wrong thing."

"What would that be?" Sophia had heard that Muslims were devious. She
certainly could not follow Daoud's mind in this.

"Not knowing Fra Tomasso is actually trying to remain neutral, they will
use every means they have to try to win him back, as they think, to
their side. I am hoping they will try to bring Cardinal de Verceuil's
influence to bear. If de Verceuil goes to Fra Tomasso--or, even better,
to Fra Tomasso's superiors--he may well drive the learned friar over to
our side."

"What if you are wrong? What if de Verceuil and the other Franks do
persuade Fra Tomasso to support the alliance? Would it not be better to
leave him where he is, neutral?"

Daoud shook his head. "At least this way we are trying to control what
happens."

She smiled. "I thought you Muslims believed in leaving things up to
fate."

"The efforts of men are part of the workings of fate."

She would probably never understand his Muslim way of thinking. Perhaps
he would not accept her love because he saw her as an unbeliever. It
made her angry to think he might hold himself aloof from her because of
her religion, and he not even a Muslim born.

"The Turks killed your parents