Sophia gave him a crooked little smile. "Michael will never let him even
get near Constantinople. I hope I can help with that."

"If ever I can do anything for you--"

Her smile grew wider. "Do not be too quick to promise that, Simon. If we
ever meet again, we may be on opposite sides." In a softer, sadder tone
she added, "Again."

He took a step closer to her. "If so, I will not be so easily deceived.
Now I know the real Sophia, the one who did not love me."

Her smile fell away. "I think the real Sophia did love you, Simon. Every
time you told me how you loved me, it was as if you were taking me up to
a mountaintop and showing me a beautiful land I could never enter. And
the worst of it was that because I could not enter, neither could you.
We were both barred forever from happiness."

The look on her face made him want to burst out weeping. He held his
breath and pressed his lips together hard to stifle the sob.

When he was able to speak, he said, "I think I would have loved the real
Sophia if I could have known her."

She shut her eyes as if in terrible pain and pressed the palms of her
hands against her stomach.

He reached out to take Sophia in his arms, but she stepped back from
him, and he saw that the tears were streaming down her pale cheeks. She
held out her hand.

He clasped her cold hand in both of his and said, "I will never forget
you."

* * * * *

The sun was setting in the desert to the west of El Kahira, the Guarded
One, giving a red tint to the white dust that drifted above the many
roads that led to this city. Tilia Caballo sat on a silk cushion by the
pool in the vast interior garden of the palace of the sultan, known as
the Multicolored Palace because its walls and floors were inlaid with
many different kinds of marble and its ceilings painted in azure and
gold. Tilia dabbled her hand in the pool and breathed deep of the scent
of jasmine. A fountain threw white water high in the air, and orange and
black fish circled in the rippling pool. In the shadows nearby a peacock
screamed.

She heard footsteps behind her. The merest glance over her shoulder told
her who it was, and she swiftly turned and knelt, pressing her forehead
and the palms of her hands against the cool blue tiles.

She saw the pointed toes of scarlet boots before her. She raised her
head a bit and saw the boots themselves, gem-encrusted leather.

"Tilia." The voice made her shiver.

"