ance dismayed Daoud. He had hoped that the mere sight of
the chamber would set Sordello to babbling and begging. He needed to be
frightened more.

"Have them chain him to the ring, Lorenzo."

Sordello aimed a kick at one of the slaves following Lorenzo's orders.
The African gave Sordello's arm a quick twist and got a howl of pain out
of him. Soon the aging bravo, arms stretched out, legs spread apart, was
suspended upright in the great hoop. The ring of iron hung from the
ceiling on a single chain wrapped around a huge beam, allowing it to
rotate slowly. Daoud imagined how helpless Sordello must feel hanging
there.

Lorenzo took hold of the ring and gave it a spin. Face and back, face
and back, face and back, Sordello whirled before Daoud. His eyes bulged.

"Figlii di cagne!" he shouted.

_Still more angry than frightened. But perhaps he is just good at
concealing his fear._

Daoud made a small hand gesture, and Lorenzo stopped the spin of the
ring so that Sordello was facing Daoud.

Daoud studied Sordello, looking for the subtle signs that would reveal
his true feelings. His eyes gleamed like a caged hyena's, full of hatred
for Daoud.

Lorenzo had kept Sordello locked in a pitch-black cubicle in Cardinal
Ugolini's mansion for a day and a night before bringing him here. Daoud
studied the man. It was obvious from his pallor, his red-rimmed
eyelids, and his sagging mouth that Sordello had lain awake much of the
time in the darkness. Daoud could see the fear, too, in the clenching
and unclenching of Sordello's jaw muscles.

Daoud flicked a finger at Lorenzo. "Read the love song you found on this
trovatore when you seized him."

Lorenzo unfolded a square scrap of parchment and read:

Your Magnificence:

On Thursday last Donna Sophia left the Cardinal's mansion alone, on
foot and heavily veiled. As she clearly did not want to be seen,
your servant thought much was to be gained by following her, and so
did. I regret to say she spent the afternoon wandering in the
craftsmen's market, shopping for gloves, purses, and other
adornments. Before Nones she went to the Church of Sant' Andrea,
where she prayed a while, then went to Confession. Your servant
attempted to approach close enough to overhear, but was unable to do
so without being seen.

Lorenzo looked up and shook his head. "What a furfante you are! Trying
to eavesdrop on penitents." He went on with the reading.