Ugolini shuddered. "And the Filippeschi. Those who are left will be striking back. This city will destroy itself, like a rat eating its own innards. I say leave now. All of us." _Leave?_ Daoud thought. He would be less afraid for Sophia if she were in a safer place. But where should he go? "Where do you want to go?" he asked Ugolini. The little cardinal drew himself up. "I am still the cardinal camerlengo, and will be as long as Urban is alive. I am obliged to follow the pope as quickly as I can to Perugia. There is peace and order in Perugia." He looked at Daoud uneasily. "What do _you_ want to do? Stay here?" _He is hoping to be rid of me._ Daoud considered Perugia, but there he would have everything against him and no forces to help him. He must go to Manfred. Once the pope and the Tartars were safely in Perugia, only Manfred's army would be powerful enough to get at them. Manfred might not want to go to war, but war was inevitable. Clearly the pope was no longer neutral. He favored the Tartar-Christian alliance and was waiting only for the right moment to announce it. When the pope came out for the alliance, the French would come into Italy. The time for Manfred to act was now. If he marched north and seized all of Italy, including the person of the pope and as many cardinals as he could capture, the French never _would_ invade, because a Ghibellino pope would not approve a joint campaign of Christians and Tartars against Muslims. Then, for certain, there would be no alliance. "Now that the pope has moved to a place of safety," he said aloud, "only King Manfred can dislodge him." Ugolini wrung his hands. "First you incite the Filippeschi against the Monaldeschi. Then Siena against Orvieto. Now Manfred against the Papal States? Sometimes I think you are like one of the horsemen of the Apocalypse, spreading war wherever you go." All too true, Daoud thought. He turned to Sophia to see whether she agreed with the accusation. She looked at him somberly, but did not speak. He sighed. "I am fighting for my people. For my God." "I, too, for _my_ people," said Sophia quietly. Her tone told Daoud she sided with him, and he felt an inner warmth. "And what have your people to do with this?" Ugolini cried. "Have you forgotten that you are not Sicilian but Greek?" "Not at all," said Sophia. "I want to see Manfred in control of Italy. He is a friend of Byzantium. The Franks are our enemies." Ugolini shook his head. "I am the only Italian in this room. And I weep for _my_ people." Daoud strode over to Ugolini's table, pressed his hands flat on it, and stared into his eyes. "Be _strong_ for your people," he said. The hairs on the back of his neck rose with excitement as he spoke. He had wanted to try to put strength into Ugolini for such a long time. Ugolini looked bewildered. "What do you mean?" "Think what Italy would be with Manfred von Hohenstaufen ruling from the Alps to Sicily and a pope who supports him."