, which held all the gold and
jewelry Usun had given her, was far too big and heavy for her to carry.
And even if she could escape and take it away with her, she could not
protect herself from robbery. But it would be the worst sort of
stupidity to leave without it. It was all she had from these awful
years. It was less like a treasure, though, than like a block of stone
to which she was chained.

If she were ever to escape, she would first have to get away from the
guards, the Armenians and the Venetians, all of whom had orders to watch
her and make sure she did not run away. That Sordello, the capitano of
the Venetians, seemed to have his eyes on her whenever she went out of
her room.

She was alone in the world. Nowhere to go. There were moments when she
felt so lost and unhappy she wanted to climb out the open window of her
room and throw herself down to the rocks.

"Maybe next year, when King Charr goes to war, I will not be here," Usun
said suddenly.

"You must wish you could be back with your own people," she said.

_If I am lonely, think how he must feel. Except for Philip, there is no
one like him anywhere in this part of the world. Only a few people speak
his language. Everything looks strange to him._

"We are waiting for orders from our new master, Abagha Khan," said Usun.
"Another letter must come soon. It is now six months since his father
died."

Rachel felt her heart fluttering with anxiety. "And when Abagha Khan's
message comes, what do you think it will say?"

"He will order us either to go to the king of the Franks or to go back
to Persia." He took a swallow of wine. Rachel saw that his white beard
was stained pink from all the red wine he had spilled on it.

"Then you might go home again?" said Rachel. "Would you like that?" Her
hands trembled, and she twined her fingers together in her lap to still
them.

Usun laughed and drank. "Not home, Reicho. My home is farther away from
Persia than Persia is from here. It is so far away and there are so many
enemies in between that I may never see it again. But I do not care. My
people have a fine domain in Persia."

He drank, and held out his empty cup. She filled it with a shaking hand.
If he went back to Persia, she might be free of him. Unless her worst
fears turned out to be true.

"So, you may soon say good-bye to me." She dared not let him see how
eager she was for him to be gone.

He looked up at her, and the light from outside etched