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A short time later I am at Lord Landulf&039;s supper table An old spear is fastened to the wall It is this spear that the rooned around Fros crack and shoot showers of sparks out into the room as I a woman I told you about," she says "She ca asylu companion, her uncle, has just been killed on the road Sita, this is the duke and my husband, Lord Landulf"

He is not a tall ruesome stories I have heard of hin of weakness He appears to be physically agile, and I suspect he is an accomplished swordsraying beard He has oily smooth skin, and is dressed iht sleeves, black hose, and a red and gold embroidery tunic, which comes down past his knees His hands, like those of his wife, are decorated with er is the largest I have ever seen His voice, when he speaks is cultured, educated and refined His large dark eyes are warether and bows in my direction "Lady Sita," he says "It is a pleasure"

I offer my hand "The pleasure is lances up at "

"Hidden castles are always the etable soup Lady Cia leads us in a brief prayer There are only us three at the table; we have four servants waiting on us The soup is finished when Landulf inquires aboutthe expansion of the Arab World, it is impossible to talk forto the invading Moslems At this Landulf&039;s mood turns foul

"Six of those heathen ships tried to land on a beach not five miles fro, but my scouts ary, We were able to set fire to their sails before they reached land All their people were lost in the tides"

His reht the Mosleleam in his eye as he studies me "Have you heard different?"

I lower my head "No,food Why have secrets between friends? You have obvi?ously traveled far and ith your uncle You know more of Greece than I do What have you heard of my relationship with the Moslems?"

I hesitate, then decide I ue with them"

He does not lose his temper as I fear But the air chills "It is only in Rome they would speak such lies," he says

"I have been in Roo"

"Oh dear," Lady Cia mutters anxiously "We did not know you had been exposed to such matters"

Landulf raises his hand, "It doesn&039;t matter, in the short time I have known Sita, it is obvious to me she is not taken in by every story shared by every frus?trated priest and nun"

"That is true, my lord," I say

Landulf pulls his chair back frohs "It is true that the Holy Father and I have gone our separate ways But our differences were and still are more political than spiritual Nicholas believes we should fortify our defenses, and wait for the Mosleainst our walls But I know this foe too well I have met these bloodthirsty monsters on the battlefield If we do not attack, push the war back into their own lands, they will see us as weak and never leave us in peace" Landulf stands and steps away froy, and in my own land I pursue my own counsel But to hear the talk in Roainst Christ himself" He pauses "Is that what you have heard, Lady Sita?"

I have already taken the plunge The wild tales I may as well validate, or else put aside "I have heard worse, my lord," I say "The peasants say you conjure evil forces That you are a master of the black arts and able to raise demons from the depths of hell"

Landulf isand hard His wife joins him after a tense moment "I would like to ets his information!" he exclainant At every turn they give birth tothe roads," I say carefully "He acted as if he knew you His naushes "Dante? My lord has known him since he was a child Pray tell us where you met him?"

I am evasive "When I was lost in the woods, after my uncle died But that was three days&039; journey from here" I add, "Dante seemed lost as well, and I shared food with hi else with hi to Dante&039;s leprosy

"I was careful always to keep a safe distance," I say "But when he spoke of this place, it ith fear I couldn&039;t understand why"

"Surely you must know," Lady Cia says "It is his illness Since he beca but deain Lord Landulf raises his hand "It is not so easy as that I aht him to Ro voice With?out e, the pope had hih Dante took the loss of hisurement Since I was the cause of one physical aberration, when the illness came over him, he blamed me for that as well"

"But we tried to keep Dante here, and comfort?able," Lady Cia says "It was just that our servants feared his illness and he himself felt he needed to be free to roam the world"