ut firm.

"Know where you are going, Simon. Do not travel blindly."

Simon nodded. There was a way to find out the truth about Sophia.

He must put Sordello to work. The mere thought of that blackguard spying
on Sophia twisted his heart with anguish. But he had to know the truth.

XXXVIII

_A letter from Emir Daoud ibn Abdallah to El Malik Baibars
al-Bunduqdari, from Orvieto, 13th day of Muharram, 663 A.H.:_

O Pillar of the Faith, the gift of the ancient scroll to the
Christian scholar Tomasso d'Aquino has served our purposes beyond my
expectations. At the same time that I delivered the scroll to him, I
arranged for the allies of the Tartars to be deceived into thinking
that the priest Tomasso was already in our camp. They chose the
arrogant Cardinal de Verceuil, of whom I have told you, to bring
his influence to bear on the priest Tomasso. The cardinal's
treatment of Tomasso so offended him that he was driven to take the
side we wished of him.

This Tomasso has turned the clouds Ugolini and I stirred up into a
veritable thunderstorm. The pope cannot proclaim a crusade unless he
has the support of the Christian kingdoms and peoples. Otherwise,
they will support him only halfheartedly or not at all. I confess I
am surprised at how often the Christians of Europe choose to neglect
or even refuse to do what the pope demands of them.

As we know, the Christians of today have not the zeal to make war on
us that their forefathers had. Let time pass, and Hulagu Khan will
lose patience and recall his ambassadors. The Christians will fight
among themselves here in Europe. And, if God wills it, Islam will
know peace. Such is my deepest desire.

Time, O Malik Dahir, is our ally.

* * * * *

Daoud stood at his writing desk, smiling at the tiny Arabic characters
with which he had covered the thin square of parchment.

El Malik Dahir--the victorious king. How well Daoud remembered the day
Baibars had, with his help, assumed that title.

* * * * *

Riding back from the victory at the Well of Goliath, the Mameluke army
was camped outside Bilbeis, two days' ride northeast of El Kahira.
Tomorrow Sultan Qutuz would hold audience at Bilbeis, and soon after he
would ride into El Kahira in triumph, a triumph Baibars had earned for
him.

Baibars was alone in his tent when D