A small, amused smile played about David's lips. "Do you not think I have prepared myself for such a conversation? We need a respected man who can write letters and give sermons warning Christendom against the Tartars. If Fra Tomasso can be convinced the Tartars are dangerous, and if I can offer him something he wants badly enough, he might be the man." "He and his fellow Dominicans will eat you alive," Ugolini moaned. "I can accomplish nothing hiding here in your palace." David gazed down at the cardinal, unruffled. Sophia sat perfectly still, hands folded in her lap, looking down at Ugolini's beautiful Persian carpet. But the quarreling made her writhe inwardly. If they could not agree, if they were not careful in their planning, if they started to hate one another, they surely would end by being torn to pieces on the public scaffold. "Let us speak about the young French count," she said. "He, too, might be a man we can use. I did my best to attract him to me today." _If he thinks there is hope of my seducing Simon, he will not be so quick to want to kill him._ David's eyes held hers for a long moment. "That is what I want you to do. That was why I was angry, not understanding this courtly love." His face was somber. "That is what I brought you here for." She nodded, thinking, _If only you could be my lover. There would be nothing courtly about it, and it would bring us both great happiness._ But only a moment ago, had she not been thinking of Simon, fearing for Simon's life? Had she not almost felt love for him? _What is happening to me?_ Her hands in her lap clutched at each other. She felt dizzy. It had happened so easily, so quickly. Was she becoming more than one person, like someone possessed by spirits? How could you know who you were unless you had a place and were firmly attached to other people? Now, looking at David, she was aware of the feelings Simon had aroused in her as if they were the feelings of another person. Sophia Karaiannides wanted David. Her longing for him had been growing in her ever since their eyes first met in Manfred's audience hall months before. "What is troubling you?" David said, frowning. She felt flustered. "Nothing." When he looked skeptical, she added, "I am not certain how he feels about me." David glowered at her. She tried to read his expression. He looked angry. Was he angry at her for being willing to take Simon as a lover? _He probably thinks I am nothing but a whore._ She liked to think of herself as a woman who was able to move easily in many circles, a woman who involved herself in affairs of state. But was she not deceiving herself? Was it not that all men valued her for was her body in bed? And David did not even want that; he just wanted to use her body to ensnare Simon de Gobignon. Then why did he look at her so angrily? "How will you find out what he feels for you?" David said. "Will you wait for him to make the next move?"