d
that made it easy to see why Emperor Frederic had been known as "the
Wonder of the World."

_Easy to see why Sophia loved Manfred for a time._

But as a war leader, Manfred was frustrating to work with. He seemed to
have no plan for fighting Charles d'Anjou. All over southern Italy and
Sicily, knights and men-at-arms were in training and on the alert, but
days, months, seasons, followed one another and Manfred ordered no
action.

Daoud's own goal remained the same he had set for himself a year ago in
Orvieto: To spur Manfred on to make war and to help him win a victory.

And when the war gave an opportunity, Daoud would once again try to kill
the Tartar ambassadors. They were now, Manfred's agents in the north
reported, in Rome under Charles's protection. Perhaps he could even
rescue poor Rachel.

Daoud smiled with pleasure as the riders below formed a huge circle, one
man behind the other. He was able to recognize individual men he had
come to know over the past months--Muslims from Manfred's army whom he
had picked and trained himself--Abdulhak, Mujtaba, Nuwaihi, Tabari,
Ahmad, Said, and many others. They were as eager for this war to begin
as he was.

At a shouted command from Omar, who sat on his horse in the center, the
circle began to rotate, the horses running faster and faster. Each man
balanced a lance in his right hand, and as he rode past the swinging
target ring, he hurled it. The ring was pulled from side to side with
long ropes by attendants, just as when Daoud had trained as a Mameluke.

As lance after lance flew through the moving target, Manfred gave a low
whistle of appreciation. Daoud had ordered the ring to be a yard wide
and the distance from horseman to target fifty feet. It was easier than
it looked for men who had practiced for months, but the rapidity of it
made a beautiful spectacle. Daoud's eye caught a few misses, but he
doubted that Manfred noticed.

"Like falcons, swift and fierce and sure," said Manfred. "But a bird is
just bone and muscle and feathers, Daoud. These men are lightly armed
and armored compared to Christian soldiers. These two hundred of yours
could never stop a charge of Frankish knights."

Daoud tensed. This was an opening.

"True, Sire, when Frankish knights in all their mail get those huge
armored war-horses going at a gallop, nothing can withstand them. But we
Mamelukes have defeated the Franks over and over again by not letting
them use their weight and p