Revelations

SIXTY-SIX

The journey back to the coast was fast and mercifully uneventful.

“You’re early,” said Piri Reis, when Ezio appeared at the foot of the gangplank of the red dhow.

“And it’s good that I am. We must return to Kostantiniyye as soon as possible.”

“Do you have the fifth key?”

Ezio smiled and patted the pouch at his side.

“It is well,” said Piri, returning his smile. “And Manuel?”

“Manuel will trouble us no more.”

“Better and better. They will make you a sovalye at this rate.”

“But the battle is far from won. We must make haste.”

“The ship has to be victualed, and we must wait for a favorable tide. But we can deal with one while we attend the other.” Piri turned and issued terse orders to the ship’s master, who had joined them. “The crew will have to be rounded up as well. We did not expect you to finish your business at Derinkuyu quite so fast.”

“I was fortunate in having extraordinarily good assistance.”

“I have heard of the chief of spies put in place there by the Sublime Porte. Her reputation goes always before her,” said Piri.

“Then I have reason to thank the Ottoman government.”

“Under Bayezid, the Sublime Porte has become a model of practical administration. It is fortunate that it continues to operate unhindered by the squabbles of the Royal Family.”

“Speaking of them, I think we must keep a careful eye on Ahmet,” Ezio said quietly. “I have discovered that he has some very undesirable friends.”

“The Assassins should not meddle in Ottoman affairs.”

“These friends of Ahmet’s make those affairs ours, too.”

Piri raised an eyebrow but said no more on the subject. “Your cabin is ready for you,” he said. “No doubt you will wish to rest until we are ready to sail.”

Once alone, Ezio divested himself of his equipment and cleaned and honed his arms. Then, when all was in readiness, he secured the cabin door, took out the fifth key, and placed it on the foldaway table, seating himself before it. He was curious to see whether it would behave in the same way as the others. He needed to know what more of Altair it might impart, especially as he had no means of telling whether it had performed any kind of mystical revelation to the Templars who had first discovered it. What knowledge might it already have imparted to them? Or had it some power to know, as it were, when to speak and when to be silent?

His mind was troubled, too, by thoughts of Sofia, and he was impatient to be back in Constantinople. To protect her and to ensure the safety of the other four keys. But for the moment he had to force himself to be patient, for he was at the mercy of the sea and the wind.

This key was similar to the others-the exact diameter and proportion of its fellows, decorated, as they were, with strange, indecipherable symbols and rutted with precise but mysterious grooves. He braced himself and reached out to touch it. It did not disappoint him. Soon, the soft light of the cabin seemed to sink into further gloom, and, by contrast, the glow that began to emanate from the obsidian disc grew greater and greater…