His silence stretched on while the turmoil of the city eddied about them. She waited, trembling. He spoke. "He who taught me Islam said to me, 'To lift up a fallen swallow is to raise up your heart to God.'" Relief flooded Sophia's body. She wanted to weep. Instead, she felt herself smiling. But David did not return her smile. "Swear that this girl will learn nothing of our mission from you," he said. "And you also, Celino. Swear it by all that you hold most holy." "I swear it by Constantinople," said Sophia fervently and gladly. "I will swear it on the lives of my wife and my children," said Lorenzo. "I accept that," said David. "And when we reach Orvieto, the girl leaves us, even if she starves in the streets." "I will accept _that_," said Lorenzo. "Lest you later forswear yourselves, there is one more thing that will assure your compliance," said David. "Know that if this girl learns a word of what we are doing, she will die by my hand." He dropped his hand to the unadorned hilt of his sword. Sophia felt cold inside. He cared about one thing only, after all. They turned back. Sophia saw Rachel standing by a straw-seller's shop, looking anxiously at them, holding the gathered reins of their horses in both hands. Sophia realized that the girl might be thinking that they were going to drive her off, and she hurried to Rachel with a smile, holding out her arms. She hugged Rachel, and tentatively, fearfully, Rachel smiled back at her. "You will come with us," she said. "As far as we are going, to Orvieto. You will have to leave us there, but we will help you find a home." "Oh, thank you, thank you," Rachel cried, and she burst into tears. Lorenzo grinned reassuringly at Rachel. "I told you it would be all right." When he grinned like that, his teeth white under his thick black mustache, he reminded Sophia of a large and satisfied cat. Rachel looked up at David. "I thank _you_, Signore. I know this is your decision. May I know the name of my benefactor?" David smiled bitterly. "Benefactor? Rachel, if you had not met us, your protector would still be alive. I am David Burian, a silk merchant of Trebizond. I go to Orvieto hoping to open trade between Trebizond and the Papal States, and I have hired these people to help me." "May I also help you, Signore?" Rachel said. "I learned something of commerce from my husband." "I think," David said, looking at Sophia and Lorenzo with sour humor, "I already have all the help I need." _At least the man is human_, thought Sophia. _He can joke a bit._ She felt encouraged. She had actually been able to touch the heart of this man whose life and world were utterly strange to her. X There is so much water in this country, thought Daoud. Raindrops sparkled on every branch and leaf of the trees around him. The sky, once more a bright blue after the thunderstorm that had passed over them, was reflected in water that still streamed through the ditches beside the roadway.