‘Zegri? Who is this man Zegri?’
Tendilla spoke then. ‘He is the leading alfaquis, and not such a simple fellow as some. He understands a little of what baptism into the Christian Faith means. He has heard what has been going on and has warned his fellow Moors that baptism demands more of men and women than the acceptance of gifts.’
‘I see,’ said Ximenes. ‘So it is this man Zegri. Thank you for your information.’
When they had left him he sent for one of his servants, a man named Leon, and he said to him:’ I wish you to take a message from me to the house of the alfaquis, Zegri.’
Zegri stood before Ximenes, while Ximenes showed him two bales of silk. ‘You may take as many of the hats as you wish,’ he told his guest.
‘No,’ said Zegri.’ I know of this baptism. I know what it means. Here in Granada we have not known the Inquisition, but I have heard what it does to Jews who have accepted baptism and go back to their own Faith.’
‘Once you were a Christian you would not wish to go back to your own Faith. Each day you would become more and more aware of the advantages which Christianity has to offer.’
‘I am a Mohammedan. I do not look for advantages.’
‘You are a man stumbling in darkness.’
‘I live very well, I am a happy man … with the love of Allah.’
‘There is only one true Faith,’ said Ximenes. ‘That is the Christian Faith.’
‘Allah forgive you. You know not what you say.’
‘You will go to eternal torment when you die.’
‘Allah will be good to me and mine.’
‘If you become a Christian you will go to Heaven when you die. Allow me to give you baptism and eternal joy shall be yours.’
Zegri smiled and said simply: ‘I am a Mohammedan. I do not change my religion for a bale of silk and a red hat.’ His eyes flashed defiance as he stood there, and Ximenes realised that argument would never convince such a man. Yet it was necessary that he should be convinced. This was a powerful man, a man who would sway a multitude. One word from him and the conversions had ceased.
It was not to be tolerated, and in Ximenes’s eyes all that was done in the service of the Faith was well done.
‘I see,’ he said, ‘that I cannot make you a good Christian.’
‘I do not believe that I could make you a good Mussulman,’ retorted Zegri, smiling widely.
Ximenes crossed himself in horror.
‘Here in Granada we shall continue in our own Faith,’ said Zegri quietly.
But you shall not! thought Ximenes. I have sworn to convert this place to Christianity, and I will do it.
‘I will take my leave of you,’ said Zegri, ‘and I will thank you for receiving me in your Palace, oh mighty Archbishop.’
Ximenes bowed his head and called to his servant Leon.
‘Leon,’ he said, ‘show my guest the way out. He will come and talk with me again, for I have yet to persuade him.’
Leon, a tall man with broad shoulders answered: ‘So shall it be, Your Excellency.’ He led the way, and Zegri followed. They went through chambers which he did not remember seeing before, down some stairs to more apartments.
This was not the way he had come in, Zegri was thinking as Leon opened a door and stood aside for him to enter.
Unthinking, Zegri stepped forward. Then he stopped. But he was too late. Leon gave him a little push from behind and he stumbled down a few dark steps. He heard the door shut behind him and a key turned in the lock.
He was not outside the Archbishop’s Palace. He was in a dark dungeon.
Zegri lay on the floor of his dungeon. He was weak, for it must have been long since food had passed his lips. When the door had been locked on him he had beaten on it until his hands had bled; he had shouted to be let out, but no one answered him.
The floor was damp and cold and his limbs were numb.
‘They have tricked me,’ he said aloud, ‘as they have tricked my friends.’
He thought that they would leave him here until he died, but this was not their intention.
Exhausted, he was lying on the floor, when he was aware of a blinding light flashed into his face. It was only a man with a lantern, but Zegri had been so long in the dark that it seemed as brilliant as the sun at noon.
This man was Leon, and with him was another. He pulled Zegri to his feet and slipped an iron ring about his neck; to this was attached a chain which he fixed to a staple in the wall.
‘What do you plan to do with me?’ demanded Zegri. ‘What right have you to make me your prisoner? I have done no wrong. I must have a fair trial. In Granada all men must have fair trials.’
But Leon only laughed. And after a while the Archbishop of Toledo came into the dungeon.
Zegri cried out: ‘What is this you would do to me?’
‘Make a good Christian of you,’ Ximenes told him.
‘You cannot make me a Christian by torturing me.’
A gleam came into Ximenes’s eyes, but he said: ‘You have nothing to fear if you accept baptism.’
‘And if I will not?’
‘I do not despair easily. You will stay here in the darkness until you see the light of truth. You shall be without food for the body until you are prepared to accept food for the soul. Will you accept baptism?’
‘Baptism is for Christians,’ answered Zegri. ‘I am a Mussulman.’
Ximenes inclined his head and walked from the dungeon. Leon followed him, and Zegri was in the cold darkness again.
He waited for these visits. There were several of them. Always he hoped that they would bring him food and drink. It was long since he had eaten and his body was growing weak. There were gnawing pains in his stomach and it cried out for nourishment. Always the words were the same. He would stay here in cold and hunger until he accepted baptism.
At the end of a few days and nights Zegri’s discomfort was intense. He knew that if he continued thus he could not live very long. Zegri had spent all his life in the prosperous city of Granada. He had never known hardship before.
What good can I do by remaining here? he asked himself. I should only die.
He thought of his fellow Moors who had been deceived by the bales of silk and the red hats. They had been lured to baptism by bribes; he was being forced to it by this torture.
He knew there was only one way out of his dungeon.
The blinding light was flashed into his face. There was the big man with the cruel eyes – Leon, the servant of the even more terrifying one with the face of a dead man and the eyes of a fiend.
‘Bring him a chair, Leon,’ said Ximenes. ‘He is too weak to stand.’
The chair was brought and Zegri sat in it.
‘Have you anything to say to me?’ asked Ximenes.
‘Yes, my lord Archbishop, I have something to say. Last night Allah came to my prison.’
Ximenes’s face in the light from the lantern looked very stern.
‘And he told me,’ went on Zegri, ‘that I must accept Christian baptism without delay.’
‘Ah!’ It was a long drawn out cry of triumph from the Archbishop of Toledo. For a second his lips were drawn back from his teeth in what was meant to be a smile. ‘I see your stay with us has been fruitful, very fruitful. Leon, release him from his fetters. We will feed him and clothe him in silk. We will put a red hat on his head and we will baptise him in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I thank God this victory is won.’
It was a great relief to have the heavy iron removed from his neck, but even so Zegri was too weak to walk.