“When there’s time, when there’s time,” Matt soothed. “Sounds as if you don’t exactly disapprove of the Moslems.”
“How can I?” Arouetto sighed. “How can I, when they esteem learning and the arts, and it is they who have preserved so many of the Greek and Latin books I so prize?”
“That doesn’t exactly endear you to the Church, does it?”
“I do my best to be discreet,” Arouetto admitted. “After all,” Saul said sourly, “the Latrurian empire may have tolerated all religions, but after Reme fell, the Church didn’t have to be so tolerant, did it?”
“Under Hardishane, the Christian missionaries accomplished great deeds,” Arouetto said evasively. Matt shuddered at the thought of conversion by the sword and hoped Hardishane’s monks hadn’t been quite so brutal-but he didn’t ask. Saul did. “But it was just a matter of good example? It wasn’t forced?”
“Rarely.” But Arouetto wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I will own, though, that some of the conversions may have had more to do with gaining status and wealth than with true faith.”
“Of course-if you want to climb to the top, you have to be the same religion as the guys who’re already up there,” Saul said with a wry smile. “Still, it’s not exactly coercion. But once nearly everybody was Christian, that seed of corruption took root and flowered, didn’t it?”
“A rather noxious flower,” Arouetto admitted. “In truth, it did-and yielded a harvest of intolerance. Then the Emperor of Byzantium-so he styled himself, though his empire had shrunk to the size of a kingdom-began to fear a new breed of Moslems who had come out of the East, the Turks, and called on Hardishane’s heirs to join them in recapturing the Holy Land from the Infidels…”
“The Crusades.” Saul’s gaze was riveted to Arouetto. “So they are called. We must admit, in all charity, that they did keep the Turks from overrunning Europe; they still have not taken Byzantium.”
“Oh,” Matt said. “You don’t think too highly of the Crusaders?”
Arouetto sighed. “Some acted out of true religious fervor, but most went on Crusade for reasons of their own-greed for booty, or the lust for power, carving out a kingdom of their own in the East. Hardishane’s grandsons fell to squabbling over the spoils, and Christian kingdom was pitted against Christian kingdom. Evil was thus given a door through which to enter, and did-and one by one the Christian kingdoms were subverted or seduced to the rule of the sorcerer-kings under the dominion of Evil.”
“Such as Boncorro’s grandfather.” Matt turned to look out over the condottieri. “Or did he usurp from a usurper who-hey!”
“Horses?‘
Saul came to his feet, following Matt’s gaze. “I thought this army was supposed to stay off duty till morning!”
“Do the condottieri march again?” Arouetto was on his feet, face pale. “They do,” Matt said. “Apparently they’re really getting serious about this-and we’re the reason why.” He turned to Saul.“Maybe we should just get out of here, quick as we can.”
Saul shook his head. “That won’t stop them now. Up till now, they’ve only been putting up a token effort to justify their pay and keep the pope hemmed in-but now that they’re making a real push, why not go on and finish the job, whether we’re there or not?”
“If we take off running, maybe they’ll follow us.”
“The whole army?” Saul shook his head. “Not unless we can get to another fortress before their pursuit band catches us.”
Arouetto gasped. “How can we defend ourselves?”
“By bringing in the guys who got me into this in the first place.” Saul fished a bauble out of his shirt and pressed a nubbin on its side. “Witch Doctor to Black Knight! Come in, Sir Guy! Come in, and come on! I got your wizard out of stir for you- now come get us out of the crunch!”
The whole army drew to a halt as Sir Guy pulled the amulet out of his armor. “Black Knight to Witch Doctor. I hear you, Wizard Saul. In what manner of difficulty do you find yourself?”
“We’re surrounded by an army,” Saul said, “and it’s not enough to break through and escape-we have to get rid of them! Any ideas, Sir Guy?”
“Many, but they require my being with you. What did you have in mind?”
“An aerial assault,” Matt’s voice said, and Alisande’s heart leaped. He was alive and well, then, and in this world-he must be, to speak through that magical device! And there was nothing in his voice to suggest any hurt or weakness.
“Where is he?” she asked.
“Where are you?” Sir Guy asked.
“In the Vatican,” Saul answered. “Surely they must be well-protected there!” Alisande cried with relief. “Surely the Holy Father’s power must protect you,” Sir Guy said. “Other way around, actually. They were content to keep him penned in, until we showed up-but now they’re out to break through. We think they have orders to come and get us.”
“Majesty,” said Sir Guy, “I am loath to leave you, but I believe it is vital to their welfare that Stegoman and I fly to their aid.”
Alisande felt a chill at the thought of being without the support of the Black Knight and the dragon, but she felt a greater chill at the thought of losing her husband. “Go, then,” she said. “Great One, will you come?” Sir Guy asked. “Aye,” the dragon rumbled. “I could wish Matthew had not been so great a fool as to go wandering without me in the first place!”
“Wisdom and forethought are not always numbered among his virtues.” Sir Guy turned back to the amulet. “We will fly to Reme and stoop upon the enemy, Wizard Saul. We shall hail you through this amulet when we are in sight of the city.”
“Thanks, guys! Talk again when you’re near! Over and out!”
“Tell Alisande I love her,” Matt’s voice called; in fact, he didn’t quite finish the last word before the spell ceased.
“Your Majesty, I regret that we must leave you.” Sir Guy bowed in the saddle before dismounting his charger.
“Needs must, Sir Guy. Needs must.” And Alisande knew she needs must hold back the tears that suddenly welled up, tears of joy to hear Matthew’s dear voice saying he loved her. How silly she was! She had never been so subject to womanly weaknesses before. Well, rarely… But he was alive! And she was going to find him! “If you are in Venarra when we come there, Sir Guy, we shall stop. If you are not, we shall ride on to Reme.”
“Would you and all your army could go there as quickly as we!” Sir Guy sighed. “Since you cannot, though, Stegoman and I shall have to suffice. I pray you care well for my steed.”
“Be assured that we shall,” Alisande told him. “Go release the wizards!”
“Black Knight to Witch Doctor.” Sir Guy’s voice sounded awkward and stilted as it came through the amulet.
“At last!” The sweat stood on Matt’s brow. The power coming to him through the clergy who were praying in the cathedral thrummed through him as if he were a high-voltage cable, but it drained from him as quickly as it came, as he recited the same verses over and over again, manufacturing more robots to replace the ones smashed by the condottieri’s maces and catapults, and short-circuited by their iron crossbow bolts.
It had given them a nasty surprise when they had seen a squadron of metal men come clanking out to block their way, and the retreat had been a real delight to watch. It had taken them a whole half hour to regroup and work themselves up to march again-but once begun, they found that the robots were vulnerable after all, though not very. A score of dead foot soldiers and six dead horsemen testified to the effectiveness of the automatons; it had taken that many deaths before the bandits had learned to stay back and lob in missiles. Since Matt’s robot barricade kept being renewed, the bandits probably didn’t know how effective their own strikes were. Matt just hoped they wore down before he did. It would have to be soon.