"I fear for you, uncle, I really do. Not only are your knights undisciplined, but you are so few in number." He instantly regretted saying that. It would give Charles an opening to ask him for help. Charles smiled complacently. "And you think Manfred von Hohenstaufen, with his host of Saracens and Sicilians, will march up here and chew me up, is that it?" "Well--perhaps." Charles swirled his wine cup and drank from it. "A bigger army would have cost me far more to ship and far more to pay, feed, and quarter while I am here. I needed this much of an army to establish myself in Rome. I do not need more until I actually make war on Manfred, and that may be as much as a year from now. Tomorrow I will enter Rome in triumph, and I will have myself declared chief senator of Rome. Eventually Guy le Gros--Pope Clement, he is calling himself--will crown me king of southern Italy and Sicily. As my renown spreads, fighting men will come flocking from all over to join my cause. And they will have to come in on my terms. Then I will be ready to march south." The whole reason Charles had first sent Simon to Italy--to engineer the conquest of the Saracens by Christians and Tartars--was that no longer important to him? Charles had said nothing about the Tartars since Simon arrived in Ostia last night. "The new Holy Father has already proclaimed his approval of the Tartar alliance," Simon ventured. "Excellent," said Charles, nodding. He stood up and poured more wine for himself and Simon. Sitting down again on his camp bed, he went on. "Your guardianship of the Tartars, too, has been superb, Simon. You proved that I judged wisely in picking you for that task. I am delighted." Feeling pleased with himself, Simon took a long drink of the heavy red Roman wine. "Then, since the pope has publicly given his approval, shall I escort the Tartars to your brother the king, so they can plan the crusade?" "The crusade?" Charles lay back on his cot, propped up on one elbow, and stared into his wine cup and said nothing further. "Would it not be safest to conduct them to the king at once?" Simon pressed him. "Our enemies may still try to kill them, even though the alliance is proclaimed." Charles shook his head. "The last attempt to kill them was many months ago." True, Simon thought. The stalker in black seemed to have given up or disappeared. "Yes, but that Sienese attack on Orvieto--" Charles interrupted. "De Verceuil got the Tartars out of Orvieto safely. And that attack was aimed at the pope, not the Tartars. After all, who has been trying to kill the Tartars, and why? Manfred's agents, because they knew that if the pope approved the Tartar alliance, my brother would then give me permission to march against Manfred." Simon remembered King Louis saying he wanted to be ready to launch his crusade by 1270, now only five years away.