"Yes--something. Used wisely, these jewels--or their worth in gold--will gain you influence among the men around the pope. You might even pry a few of the French cardinals loose from their loyalty to King Louis." Daoud began scooping up the stones and funneling them into the hidden pocket of his belt. "You must help me to use them wisely." "Exactly what do you have in mind?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the jewels as they disappeared. "I expect Cardinal Ugolini to take some of the gold and use it to build a strong party in Orvieto that will oppose the alliance." He eyed her, trying to see into her heart. "Can he manage such a thing?" "Oh, Adelberto is an old hand at intrigue. How else do you suppose he got to be a cardinal? Indeed, he is the camerlengo for the College of Cardinals." "What does that mean?" Daoud asked as he buckled his belt. "He acts as a kind of chancellor to the pope, making announcements, calling the College together, conducting ceremonies--that sort of thing." Daoud nodded. "Good. It is my hope that he can use this money to draw cardinals and Church officials to him, one way or another. And they will join together to turn the pope against the Tartars." "With all the money those jewels will bring, you can indeed create such a faction, but I don't know what effect it will have on the pope. The Tartars offer the pope a chance to wipe out Islam once and for all." "Yes, and then after that the Tartars will wipe out Christianity," Daoud said. "I can tell those who will work with us what the Tartars are truly like. I have seen them, fought against them. I have seen what they have done to those they conquered." Like a cloud passing over the sun, a memory of ruined Baghdad darkened his mind. Tilia's eyes opened wide. "You intend to meet and talk--to bishops, to cardinals?" He touched his face with his fingertips. "This is why Baibars sent me--because I can go among Christians as a Christian. I will be David of Trebizond, a silk merchant who has traveled in the lands ravaged by the Tartars." "Trebizond?" He could see the doubt in her face. He must seem confident to her. He must not let her know that he himself wondered how he, a warrior from a land utterly strange to these people, could make the great ones of Christendom listen to him and believe in him. He could do it only with the help of Tilia and Cardinal Ugolini--and they would not help him unless they believed he could do it. "Trebizond is on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Far enough away that I am not likely to meet anyone in Orvieto who knows anything about it." "Do not be too sure. The pope makes a point of seeing people from everywhere." "Then he will probably want to meet me, since I am from a strange and faraway place." Her eyes widened and her full lips parted. Her teeth were small, bright, and widely spaced. "You even want to meet with the _pope_?"