ain, gripping the skirt of her gown to hide the shaking of her
hands. "If you find me attractive, I am flattered, of course, but it is
no fault of mine."

"You do not wish to escape from Benevento? You wish to be turned over to
King Charles's judges?"

"I have nothing to fear from them."

He bared his broken teeth. "Do you think they will have trouble finding
something to accuse you of? Not if I tell them what I know." Then he
raised a finger. "It was David of Trebizond who told me where to find
you. And you keep asking about him. I always suspected, when I was
serving David at Cardinal Ugolini's, that there must be something
between you two."

"If there is any spark of mercy in you at all, do not play with me like
this. Tell me if he is alive."

She wanted to seize him by the arm, but she was afraid to get too close
to him.

The light of the one candle in the room cast shadows like black blots on
Sordello's grinning face. "Play with you? Ah, but if there is a spark of
mercy in _you_, then you will play with me. _Then_ I will tell you
everything you want to know. Being alone with you like this, I burn so
with desire, I would do anything, good or evil, to possess you."

Scipio's thunderous barks, bursting out suddenly, made her jump. She
heard male voices cry out, alarmed, then Scipio's rumbling snarls. Then
silence.

Sordello glowered at the floor. "God's beard! I almost hope they did
kill that brute."

To distract him a little longer from herself, Sophia said, "You had
better hope Scipio does not hurt _them_."

"What do I care if they suffer a few bites? The dog is worth more than
they are." He looked up at her. "Do you know anything about journeys to
paradise?"

"I do not know what you are talking about." Was that a name for some
carnal pleasure he wanted to have with her?

"Come away from that balcony door," Sordello said.

"The air is fresher here." From the street she heard swords clanging,
men screaming and cursing, and hooves pounding. There was fighting
nearby.

"Our French friends, quarreling over their loot," said Sordello. "Do you
stand by the balcony door because you fancy being rescued from _me_ by
_them_? They are animals, like that dog downstairs. What I feel for you
is far more profound than the desire to rape some conquered woman. I am
a trovatore, after all. I will prove it to you. Just let me see you
unclothed. Like Mother Eve. I will not touch you. Undress yourself, and
I will tel