The Mongoliad: Book Two

16

The cardinals were like the squirrels in the parks in Paris: they pretended indifference, but as soon as there was a hint they might be fed, they grew animated and friendly. The cardinals milled about in the odd, shadowy courtyard of the Septizodium, attempting to warm themselves in the morning air-and not succeeding. The sun, while risen, had not yet climbed to such a height that its face could look down on the trampled grass of the Septizodium’s interior.

It was, as Colonna had said, a four-walled chamber, open to the sky, but with no visible means of entrance or exit. Other than the rectangular door cut into one of the walls near the base. Rodrigo understood the nature of their confinement now. The Septizodium was their prison and yet was still nothing more than a facade. The cardinals were seemingly imprisoned in this box, but from their vantage point, the Septizodium was simply the way they communicated with the outside world. Their real prison was the confused mass of tunnels and fractured corridors that honeycombed the ruins surrounding the historic facade.

Rinaldo Conti de Segni had sought to lead Rodrigo out to the center of the Septizodium, but Rodrigo had hung back, preferring to remain in the gloom still clinging to the walls. The others were gathered in the open space, and Rodrigo was not quite ready to meet all of them. For the moment, he wanted to assess them without undue influence, without the sort of manhandling that he had suffered at Capocci’s hands.

He was uncomfortably aware that the group was aware of his presence and they were also assessing him. Your vote may well decide the election.

He did not understand why God had sent him here-on a fool’s errand-and the only explanation that made any sense to him was that God was not yet done with him. Perhaps God was giving him direction, even now, through the words of these men. What better way to discover a worthy recipient of God’s message than to be instrumental in his elevation?

In the courtyard, the buffoons, as de Segni referred to them-Capocci and Colonna-had met Robert of Somercotes, the man whom Rodrigo had seen first after awakening last night. Somercotes nodded to Rodrigo; Rodrigo, uncomfortably aware of how much he did not know about everything going on around him, thought it must mean something that Somercotes and those two were friendly with each other-but what? He had no idea.

The three of them were sitting on a makeshift stone bench, a slab of granite that had been laid across the ragged caps of several columns, and Rodrigo wondered if Capocci had been responsible for the ad hoc furniture. Once Somercotes sat, it was easy to mistake him for a graying statue, if it weren’t for the subtle movement of his head as he tracked the others wandering through the dust-laden sunlight. Capocci, in comparison, was a frenzy of movement. He sat, even though he didn’t seem to want to, and even sitting, he couldn’t keep his hands still. Beside his end of the bench was a pile of debris. Anxious for activity, Capocci scooped up a handful of stones from the pile. Without looking at them, his fingers sorted and cataloged them. He arranged them, large to small, between the fingers of one hand, like a juggler.

Nearby, a curly haired man, not much older than Rodrigo himself, plucked random notes on a highly ornamented lute. The courtyard was too big-and the man too indifferent-for the sound to carry far, and his song was like scattered rain on a thatched roof. The man’s eyes were closed, and his lips curled around a private prayer. Or a ribald stanza. It was hard to tell, though Rodrigo might have guessed the latter from the way the minstrel’s lips curved up, as if to punctuate a line of verse.

De Segni followed Rodrigo’s eyes to the lutenist. “That is Tommaso da Capua,” he said in a disapproving voice.

Da Capua, like the musical term da capo, Rodrigo made the mental note. Another easy one to remember.

“As his expression may suggest,” de Segni continued, “he is not the holiest of men.” He lowered his gravelly voice almost to a whisper. “His vote reflects that, of course.” More vulpine than ever, he looked shrewdly at Rodrigo.

Rodrigo tried to make sense of these words. His vote reflects that, of course. Disapproval. De Segni and Tommaso were on opposing sides. But who was the candidate, and why was there dissension? How could men of the cloth, leaders of Christendom, adopt an air of near enmity toward others of their kind?

Rodrigo knew what an enemy was. He had learned on the death fields of Mohi. It was impossible for anyone in Rome to truly be an enemy to anyone else in Rome. If any good Christian behaved otherwise-especially men of the Church-there was only one reason for such behavior.

The end times, Rodrigo realized. The Day of Judgment. The inevitable approach of his vision-his persistent and perpetual nightmare.

His burden.

He kept staring around at the assembly, as they kept staring at him. On the other side of the courtyard sat a small cluster of cardinal, their heads bent together in quiet conference. Two were advanced in age, faces lined and worn like the stones of the Septizodium. De Segni, still watching Rodrigo without appearing to be doing so, noted where his attention had wandered. “You are interested in our more venerable brethren?” he asked approvingly. It was the first time, Rodrigo realized with a start, that de Segni had expressed approval-of anyone.

One of the pair of elders had a drooping face, as if his skeleton were shrinking inside his skin; the other had a mane of white hair and eyebrows to match. The combination lent his face an antique, leonine aspect. “Romano Bonaventura and Gil Torres,” de Segni said, still surreptitiously measuring Rodrigo’s response (and he had none, for he did not know these men). “The two with them, the younger ones, are Goffredo Castiglione and my kinsman Stefano de Normandis dei Conti.”

These two stood literally in the shadows of their elders, subservient in manner and attention. Rodrigo shook his head, chastising himself for failing to think of mnemonics for this cluster. Collectively, he supposed he could think of them as the group fox-faced Rinaldo approved of, but that did not, in itself, tell him anything about them-or about the undercurrent of tension that permeated the gloomy cloister.

A fifth man was listening intently to the elders’ debate, a pleasant smile on his face. Of all the cardinals in the room, with the exception of the so-called buffoons, this fellow was the most at ease. His smile was neither beatific nor idiotic, but just the natural expression of a relaxed and comfortable man. “The smiling one is Riccardo Annibaldi,” de Segni said, not sharing the relaxed cardinal’s expression. “He is a…free thinker.”

Unreliable, Rodrigo translated, trying to wed the cardinal’s name to the word in a way that made sense. Anni-B, Unreli-B… It almost worked.

He realized, with a start, there was one more cardinal, haunting the courtyard’s doorway. He was watching them all-especially de Segni and Rodrigo-like a predatory beast who, having recently fed, was in no rush to take another victim but was nonetheless examining the herd for signs of weakness. He met Father Rodrigo’s gaze and smiled slightly, but the expression made the priest shiver and look away.

Without meaning to, he locked eyes with de Segni and held them, like a drowning man holds on to a piece of driftwood. De Segni allowed himself a small, private smile. “Someone you recognize?” he asked.

Rodrigo shook his head, returning his attention to the trio of Capocci, Colonna, and Somercotes. “No,” he said and stopped himself from saying any more. Just the face of evil, he thought, chiding himself for such a foolish reaction. He was just a singular presence, that was all-the sort of man who commanded a room simply by the very indifference he projected upon deigning to enter.

“Sinibaldo Fieschi,” de Segni said after looking over his shoulder. “Our late Pontiff’s right-hand man. The man who best embodies the spirit of Gregory IX’s wishes and desires. Would you like me to introduce you?” Rinaldo’s gaze-focused on Rodrigo-was so piercing, so searching, that it made the young priest dizzy.

There was a commotion from above: shouting and the creak of ropes. Praise God, Rodrigo thought and used the moment to break away from Rinaldo, pretending he wanted to better see what was happening. At the top of the walls were soldiers, bearing buckets attached to thick ropes. Hidden machinery began to let out the rope, and the soldiers guided the buckets down into the courtyard of the Septizodium. The soldiers worked swiftly, having done this same ritual time and again, their movements efficient and well rehearsed.

A man wearing a helmet with a crest of black feathers waved to the cardinals below. “Good morning, Your Eminences,” he shouted down. “You will be pleased to note that there are lemons and oranges today.”

“Very good, Master Constable Alatrinus.” De Segni made the sign of the cross for the commanding officer. “May God bless you and your men on this day.”

“Thank you, Your Eminence,” the master constable shouted. He spotted Rodrigo and threw the young priest a salute. “Your Eminence,” he said, “I trust you have been provided with a chamber and a bed.”

“Yes,” Rodrigo answered, after assuring himself that the soldier was not speaking to anyone else. “I have been made”-he glanced at de Segni-“most welcome.”

The soldier laughed and then caught himself. “It will be another hot day,” he called to de Segni, “until this afternoon, we fear. Not that you can tell yet, but the weather is about to change.” He pointed. “Clouds are building in the east. The soothsayers tell us it will rain heavily.” He put up his hands. “I suppose they can look east as well as anybody. I’ve had the men provide extra portions this morning in case we are prevented from returning this afternoon. Has there been progress?” He let the word hang in the air, with tentative hopefulness.

De Segni shook his head. “We are no closer to a decision than yesterday, my son.” The cardinal chuckled. “Believe me, you will know when we have decided.”

“I hope it happens soon, Your Eminence,” the soldier said. “For all of our sakes.”

“Of course,” de Segni replied, and though his tone was silky and smooth, it contained a note of rebuke.

The master constable, realizing he had spoken too familiarly, bowed with a grandiose wave and retired-more expediently than necessary, Rodrigo thought. Several of the soldiers retired with him, their buckets lowered. The rest stood around aimlessly, waiting for the cardinals to finish their morning meal.

De Segni strode to the wall where the buckets had been lowered, and examined their contents. “Come,” he said, satisfied by what he found. He spread his arms to encompass all of them. “Let us pray before we enjoy this bountiful meal.” He bowed his head, brought his hands together, and began to speak a Latin prayer of thanks.

Rodrigo noticed that neither Fieschi nor Somercotes lowered their heads during the prayer. He flushed under their stares, and he quickly bowed his head, but his neck itched during de Segni’s benediction. He peeked twice. Neither man had looked away. “Amen,” he said-too loudly, perhaps-when de Segni finished, and he dropped his hands and scurried toward the cornucopia contained in the buckets, trying to avoid looking at either of the two cardinals again.

I am one of the squirrels, Rodrigo thought as he bumped against the other men around the buckets. Nervous and fidgety, hyperaware of the possibilities of predators nearby. Scurrying to get food and then rushing back to the sanctuary of a bush or a tree branch to hurriedly eat his snatched meal.

Who was an enemy here, and who a friend? What a ridiculous idea that was-thinking of some of these men as enemies. And all of them, with the exception of Annibaldi the “free thinker,” appeared to be very invested in not trusting each other.

Fieschi, he saw, made no move toward the buckets, remaining just inside the doorway. Watching, like a hawk.

Fieschi watched the cardinals mill about the courtyard, his eyes straying more often than not to the newcomer. The man still looked very weak, possibly still feverish, but his delirium had clearly eased, and he was able to walk. Able to be exposed to the wild ideas of the others.

Or they to his.

There was nothing about him that gave any indication of his identity, and based on the way Somercotes and his lackeys were watching him too, they did not know who he was-or what he represented. By taking the satchel before any of his fellow inmates were sharp enough to notice it, Fieschi had stolen all there was to steal. He had played to Orsini’s paranoia and self-doubt, planting the seed that the priest was one of Frederick’s pet cardinals, but he wasn’t entirely sure himself. The man could be nothing more than a simple priest-one who was inflamed with heretical madness, which may be useful in its own way. But was there a way he could turn the mystery of this man’s identity to his advantage?

He had seen the priest be accosted by Colonna and Capocci, the two dangerous clowns who were wiser than they let on; he knew perfectly well what they were doing, even though de Segni did not seem to, a persistent trait of his fellow cardinal. Fools, he thought bitterly, I am surrounded by fools.

His eyes swept over the radiance of cardinals, disgusted to be reduced to living among them in squalor. Even Castiglione looked appalled and morose, as if he’d give up his position as the Papal candidate in exchange for a bath and a night of sleep on a feather bed.

Castiglione, Fieschi thought coldly, acting the role of the pious priest, trying to pretend he doesn’t know they wouldn’t allow him such humility. The damned agents of the Holy Roman Emperor were immovable in their insistence to endorse him as their candidate for Pope. Of course, it was a complete coincidence that this faction-Colonna, Capocci, da Capua, Castiglione, and especially Robert of Somercotes-had all been given the worst rooms in the makeshift sanctuary they had discovered in the maze of broken passages. Rooms with holes in their ceilings, directly under the location Fieschi had instructed Orsini to encourage the soldiers to relieve themselves. The dankest, most stinking, fetid rooms. Anything to make the cardinals desperate to get out of here. If even one of them could be made miserable enough to throw the vote against Castiglione-breaking this interminable deadlock between the two factions-Orsini would release them all. The sede vacante would be over. There would be a new Bishop of Rome-one who had a proper understanding of the necessary relationship between Rome and the Holy Roman Emperor, a role that Romano Bonaventura was only too pleased to be considered for-and things could return to normal.

Fieschi himself had the best room, the coolest, snuggest, and most secure, with the most comfortable bed; to encourage their steadfastness, the cardinals who reliably voted against Castiglione-Bonaventura (naturally, given his nomination by the others), Torres, Stephano dei Conti, and Rinaldo-were given decent lodgings as well.

God looked out for those who had His interests at heart. That was part of Fieschi’s job in Rome. They all knew that, and they didn’t care to upset that dynamic-one that had worked well enough for them over the last decade.

Then there was Annibaldi, the damned, impudently independent Annibaldi, who had so far refused to vote for either candidate, even though he had been outspoken about the Emperor in the past. For weeks now, he had, pleasantly enough, wanted to engage in actual debate, demanding evidence of either candidate’s merit, indifferent to their political alliances. Fieschi respected such integrity when it served his own purposes. When it thwarted them, however, he found it infuriating. Increasingly so.

But he could discount Annibaldi’s need for debate now. The new man would be the vote that would change the dynamic; one more for Bonaventura would be enough to convince the others that their resistance was pointless. Even if Colonna and Capocci got to him first-even if Robert of Somercotes had already started to convince him of his righteous duty to bring peace through an alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor-Fieschi was confident in his own abilities to bend the new priest to his will.

He watched the ailing priest fumble with an apple and a leg of some greasy meat. He will either serve my needs directly or I will use him to sway the others. Either way, he is the perfect tool.

It was almost as if God had sent him to Fieschi.