The Silver Skull

CHAPTER 33

ill crept along the top of the whitewashed wall like a cat, stalking the woman who hummed a lilting melody as she took her constitutional in the orchard. Dappled by the sunlight through the leaves, her head was bowed in reflection, her white cloak caught by the cooling breeze. A glance back to the convent revealed they were alone.

Dropping silently to the grass, Will darted through the trees, keeping enough cover between him and the nun in case she looked back. It was a bright, glassy morning, shortly after dawn, already warm, and likely to get a great deal hotter.

De Groot had worked wonders in the hours of darkness. The spy admitted openly that he worked for gold and nothing more, not love of England, nor hatred of Spain. Walsingham paid him an annual stipend to pass on all the information he gained along the trade routes, and every year he threatened to go over to the Spanish, only to be bought back to the cause. It was a game that all sides understood. Will promised him a significant one-off payment, and in the early hours he had sent the local girl who cleaned his house to the convent under the pretence of arranging a donation from de Groot. After the nuns had finished their morning prayers just before first light, the girl spent an hour casually chatting until she had gathered the information Will required.

The nun never heard him until his hand was clamped across her mouth and another pinned her arms to her sides as he bundled her to the rear wall of the orchard. She struggled and tried to cry out, but he was too strong.

"Sister Adelita, I have no wish to harm you. I require your help," he whispered in fluent Spanish.

On hearing her name, she calmed a little and allowed herself to be pressed against the wall. Her eyes were large and dark as they searched his face, but steely defiance lay within them. She was beautiful, with the delicate bone structure of a noblewoman, dusky skin, and black hair pulled back beneath her head covering.

"I am about to remove my hand," he continued. "Please do not call out. I have no desire to overpower you." He allowed the hint of a threat to lace his words.

Once he had taken his hand away, she narrowed her eyes. "How dare you trespass on this sacred land? We allow no men in this convent."

"My apologies, Sister Adelita. If I could have approached you in any other way, I would have done so. But time is short, and matters urgent."

"You are English," she spat, identifying the hints in his pronunciation. "Your people were responsible for the attack on my home yesterday?"

Ignoring her, he said, "I must talk to you about lion Alanzo de las Posadas."

"My brother?"

The connection surprised Will, but he didn't show it. "He visited you here at the convent the other day."

Sister Adelita nodded, her thoughts racing. "Why do you want my brother?"

"I would know of what you spoke."

"No!" she replied indignantly. "Those are private matters between brother and sister. Who are you to ask?" She grew suspicious. "I will tell you nothing. You wish to harm him."

"Untrue. I saved your brother's life, and he mine. We are divided by our homelands, but I have only respect for him."

"Then what is your business with him?"

"A friend of mine is in great danger, a woman I have sworn to protect. She was taken by evil men who claim to be allies of lion Alanzo, but may be just as much of a threat to him. I want to save her, and take her home. If Don Alanzo said anything of her to you, please tell me." Will wondered how far he would go to get the answers he needed if she did not answer of her own accord.

Sister Adelita searched Will's face for any lies and what she saw appeared to satisfy her a little. "She is the woman you love?" A half smile ghosted her lips.

"No. She is the sister of the woman I loved," he said with such honesty she was taken aback. "There is little enough room for love in this world, Sister. It is a hard place, filled with duplicity, and violence, and loss, and we must seize our moments for comfort when we can, for they are stolen from us when our guard is down. The man I am now was forged by the loss of my love, and I will not see others go easily down that path. This woman I speak of ... she is young and filled with hope and all the opportunities for joy that life lays before her at that age. She deserves her chance to achieve them, and I will do all I can to ensure she gets it."

"Even though it might harm you in the process?" Sister Adelita pressed.

"My moment for love is gone. I am, to all intents and purposes, dead to the world. I have nothing left to lose."

"I do not believe that," she said.

"'Tis true."

He could see his words had touched her, but she still continued to probe. "And you believe this is the path God has chosen for you? A selfless duty to protect others on the hard, dark road?"

"I wish I had your faith, Sister. I do what I do."

She smiled tightly. "And there is no benefit in this for England?"

"I have spoken truly."

"I am sure that is correct ... of the words you have spoken. But there are many more unspoken, are there not? I know the ways of spies. Yes, I see that is what you are. I lived with my brother long enough to understand that the spaces between words are more important than the things that are said." Her voice hardened and her eyes flashed. "I understand the deceit that is set in the very fibre of your nature, and the lies you tell yourselves to do your job. I could not trust my brother. I will not trust you, even with your gentle talk of love and yearning hearts." She stared deep into his face and added, "However true that may be."

"Sister-"

"No, leave here now and this matter will be forgotten. But if you persist I will raise the authorities on you, and you will pay the price faced by all English spies found on Spanish soil." Turning without waiting for an answer, she walked back through the trees towards the convent.

For one moment, Will wondered if he should force her to speak. A part of him would do anything to get the answers he needed to save Grace; another part knew that he killed himself a little more with every step he took down that road. Finally, he relented. "Sister, I go now to the cathedral," he called after her. "If you change your mind, you will find me there."

She didn't look back.

Had he given up his best chance to understand the plans of Don Alanzo and the Enemy? Conflicted, he climbed back over the wall.

Most of Cadiz was infused with the bitter smell of burned debris. In every face, Will could only see the ravages of the plague; every woman reminded him of Grace and what she might be suffering. He was consumed by a desperate sense of time running through his fingers like sand.

Launceston, Mayhew, and Carpenter waited in the shade of a large, old tree in the centre of the plaza. In the smart but hard-wearing clothes de Groot had given them, they looked like merchants debating a deal before the start of the day's business.

"There is nothing for us here," Will said.

Launceston read Will's expression. "She did not talk. Then we should take her and offer her some encouragement."

"Torture a nun. Very good," Will replied. "Shall we then burn down the convent? Just to teach them a lesson?"

Launceston was unmoved. With a slight shrug, he replied, "She is Spanish."

"You inhabit a simple and soothing world. I am faintly jealous." Will surreptitiously eyed the first few townsfolk of the day to wander across the plaza, a couple of merchants, he guessed, a woman off to the market to buy food for one of the large houses. "We should not stay in the open too long. The cathedral and then to Seville."

"Why waste time at the cathedral?" Mayhew sounded drunk. Will had noticed he increasingly appeared inebriated and wondered if the corrosive despair of the Unseelie Court was finally seeping into him. That could make him a liability in the middle of Enemy territory.

"A man like Don Alanzo would not break his mission to visit the cathedral unless it was on an important matter. I do not see him as someone who is ruled by his religion."

"Show me a devout spy and I will show you a man about to slit a priest's throat." Carpenter's laugh had no humour.

"Where does that damned Spaniard plan to take the Silver Skull?" Mayhew continued morosely. "What does the Enemy have planned? And why are the Spanish-?" Catching himself, he flailed erratically.

Carpenter clutched his arm roughly and hissed, "Contain yourself."

"We should turn back," Mayhew said. "What can we accomplish here, apart from our own deaths? Even if we find the answer to those questions, we will never get near to the Silver Skull. All is lost here. We must find other tactics-

Carpenter drew his knife and kept it hidden in the folds of his shirt, but he pressed the tip against Mayhew's chest. "Your weakness endangers us all. Any more and I will be done with you."

"Leave him," Will interjected. "He needs some time to recover from the strain of travelling. Take him back to de Groot's house. I will go to the cathedral alone, and meet you back there. But keep him away from the wine."

Mayhew appeared devastated by Will's intervention, but he left between Launceston and Carpenter without another word, shoulders slumped in a pale reflection of the arrogant man who had survived the Unseelie Court's assault on the Tower. Will was frustrated that he had not noticed the decline earlier.

As he passed through the town, his unease at being alone in enemy territory was emphasised by the unfamiliar surroundings, the North African influence in the architecture from the days of the Moorish occupiers, the scents of exotic spices and unfamiliar blooms. The town had prospered from the riches brought back from the New World. After the panic of the Tempest's attack, the now-bustling market was filled with loud haggling over fish and vegetables. Beautiful women enjoyed the appreciative gazes of the traders while pretending not to notice the stir they created in their wake. Aromatic smoke drifted from the street-side food-sellers heating their charcoal to cook the seafood brought up fresh from the harbour.

Skirting the edge of the market, Will kept to quiet, shaded streets until he found the Plaza de la Catedral where the medieval cathedral looked over both the town and the sea. Painted white, it shone so brightly in the early morning sun that Will had to shield his eyes. At that hour, the large wooden doors were bolted and the cathedral was still, the plaza before it deserted.

Conscious of drawing attention to himself, Will retreated to the winding alleys that made the town feel like a mass of rat-runs. They were much cleaner than the streets of his home, and sweeter smelling. He had not gone far into the maze when footsteps echoed behind him, soon joined by two or three other pairs of feet. In the quiet around the cathedral, the sudden activity jarred.

Will ducked into a branching alley. One pair of footsteps followed. Now he could hear more feet drawing nearer ahead of him too. At the junction with the next alley, he peered around the corner. Two soldiers, swords drawn, searched every doorway and open window.

Doubling back, Will darted up another alley, only to find more foot soldiers coming towards him. A net had been cast and was drawing tighter.

He had been betrayed. Sister Adelita must have gone straight to the authorities and informed them he was on his way to the cathedral. He had looked in her eyes and convinced himself he could trust her, but it had been a stupid, naive mistake that might well cost him his life, and England its survival. Nathaniel had always told him he allowed women to make a fool of him.

The search party drew closer on every side, methodically closing off his escape routes. Will tested the handles of the nearest doors, but they were all locked.

He drew his sword, but knew that in a fight he would be overpowered within moments. As he searched for some route he may have missed, a figure stepped out before him.

He thrust his sword instinctively. When he saw it was Sister Adelita, he halted the blade a fraction of an inch from her throat. She swallowed when she realised how close to death she was. "If you wish to keep your freedom, you must follow me," she said.

"So you can betray me again?"

"If I had betrayed you once, I would not be here." Her eyes flashed.

Accepting the logic of her statement, he nodded and sheathed his sword. "Lead on."

Sister Adelita led him back down the alley towards the sound of approaching feet. Will briefly wondered once more if he was mistaken to trust her, but then she opened a rickety wooden door that led into a small, well-kept courtyard where herbs grew in stone troughs surrounded by alabaster statues. On the steps to the kitchen, a suntanned old man flashed Sister Adelita a toothless smile as she passed.

"The almshouses," she whispered, "provided by our convent for the sick and the needy."

Still wary that he was being led into some kind of trap, Will kept a close watch on the surrounding rooms as they moved through the cool house. At the front, Sister Adelita waited until all the foot soldiers had passed and then hurried Will out beyond the edge of the closing net.

"I should not be seen talking to you-" she began.

"I agree. Come with me-I have a safe haven, a house we have seized. The owner is unaware of our presence," Will lied.

Back at de Groot's, Will entered first and waved the Dutchman out of the back of the house so he would not be identified. Sister Adelita was so troubled she probably would not have noticed him. Clearly unsure whether she was doing the right thing, she clutched her rosary so hard her knuckles were white.

Launceston waited alone in the front room, keeping watch through the window.

"Where are the others?" Will asked.

"Mayhew has lost his mind. He began to curse and cry, and then ran off into the alleys. Carpenter has given pursuit."

Carpenter could have alerted the Spanish authorities-he knew of Will's destination, Will thought, but then he eyed Launceston, as unreadable as ever, who had also been left alone and had the opportunity for betrayal. Who could he trust?

"I must have words with Sister Adelita, who has proven a friend in our time of need," Will said. "If there is any sign of the soldiers drawing near, inform me immediately."

Will took Sister Adelita to a bedroom where they could have some privacy. She initially appeared uncomfortable at being in such a place with a man, but it quickly passed.

"I would thank you for coming to my aid," he said. "What made you change your mind?"

She gave him an honest look filled with such pain that he was taken aback. "I can see you are a good man, if misguided." She swallowed to damp down the emotion that was close to the surface. "We are all misguided at some time."

"I wish no harm personally to your brother, or to you," he said gently, "but there are bigger things at play that dwarf us all."

She nodded slowly. "This is not the life I would have chosen for myself. But someone had to make amends." She searched his face for a moment as she weighed her next words, and then grabbed his shirt with an edge of desperation. "You know of the night-visitors. I see it."

"Night-visitors?"

"Do not play with me! I am no girl!" Her eyes flashed with passion once more, and she pulled herself closer to him with the hand entangled in his shirt. "The ones who watch from the dark fields. The meddlers, the invisible hand that continually steers us onto the rocks, the tempters and the tormenters. The Fair Folk," she added with bitter irony.

"The Unseelie Court." He placed his hand on the back of hers; it was trembling. "They are our Enemy. It is my life's work to oppose them. A secret war has been fought between England and these damnable predators for a great many years, and now it is on the brink of becoming an open battle."

"You fight them!" Her large eyes glistening, she pressed herself against him so he could feel the shape of her body through her thin dress. "My brother forged an unholy alliance with them. Or rather Spain has, sanctioned by the king. We have grown fat on the riches from the New World, and cannot bear to lose them to England, and so we will do anything to protect our status. But the ends do not justify the means!"

He put his arms around her to comfort her, and she allowed her head to rest on his shoulder. He imagined it had been a long time since she had felt the comforting warmth of another's embrace.

"I fear for my brother," she said softly. "He is a loyal subject of the king, and will do whatever he is told in the pursuit of his business of spying. All must be sacrificed for the future of Spain! But God is greater than our country, and the king, and men, and God would not wish us to do deals with these devils to keep us in gold and silver, or even to bring the one true religion back to England."

"You discussed this with your brother?"

Nodding, she gripped him tighter. "We argued, and fought, but he would never see reason. Our father disappeared when we were young, and since then he has grown hard, and driven."

Will understood Don Alanzo a little more in that moment. Had the Unseelie Court taken their father? Was Don Alanzo now allying himself with the Enemy to get his father back?

"I was set to be wed," Sister Adelita continued, "and on the day before my marriage I told my brother he must break off all dealings with those vile things or I would be forced to do penance for the sake of my family. He refused, and so I left behind my love and my heart and came here to the convent. And still my brother continued along his path to damnation." She stifled a sob. "Does he think so little of me?"

"Men like us are pulled by greater currents. Our lives, and our desires, our hopes and dreams, become as nothing next to the demands and responsibilities placed upon us. I am sure your brother cares for you deeply. I am equally sure he feels he has no choice in the course that he follows."

She softened against him. "When my brother came to me the other day, he seemed changed ... hopeful. He told me he may soon have good news for me."

The destruction of England, Will thought.

"And he said he hoped my penance at the convent would soon come to an end."

"You would break your vows?"

"I ... I do not know. I believe ... I have given my life to God. I never expected, or hoped for, anything to change." She looked briefly into his face, and then kissed him, softly at first, but then with increasing passion.

After a moment, he pulled away, though she fought to keep him in an embrace. Gently, he prised her from him. "I am a man of easy morals, but you will regret this if we continue," he said. "I would not wish that upon you."

She bowed her head in shame, but he raised her chin and added, "There is no shame in honest emotion. This business makes us into people we are not. It ruins lives, and forces us to battle with ourselves along the road to misery. We deserve better, all of us. Do not think badly of yourself, Sister Adelita."

She allowed herself a slight smile, but her breath was still short with passion. "One day we can all be who we are."

He nodded in agreement without really believing it. The war would never end, he was sure of that. There would be battles and bloodshed and death, but it would continue as long as men were men and the Unseelie Court were whatever they were, both sides led on by their own weaknesses. To fight without hope of victory, to fight without truly knowing the reason for that fight, was the very definition of madness, but as long as it was a shared madness there would be no end to it.

"Did your brother give you any reason for his hope? Any information that might help me?" he asked.

"He sought my aid. There is a priest in Cadiz who is known for his struggles with the Devil. He undertook the rite of exorcism for the soul of a young girl in Arcos de la Frontera and cast out several demons, and he is knowledgeable in matters of the occult and those who practice such things. Father Celino is often petitioned by the local people, but many of their requests are frivolous and so he will only consider matters on recommendation."

"And your brother asked you to recommend him to this priest?"

She nodded. "He met him at the cathedral. I do not know what they discussed, but later that night my brother left for Seville in a great hurry."

"Then I would wish to meet with this Father Celino."

Her face fell, and Will knew that if she recommended him to the priest she would be accused of aiding a foreign spy, and that would likely mean her death.

He held her for a moment longer and then guided her back to the front room where Launceston still watched the street. The door crashed open as they entered, and Carpenter burst in dragging Mayhew, who threw himself free and stalked to the corner of the room, shifting sheepishly.

"Do not accuse me!" Mayhew jabbed his finger at each of them in turn. "I needed air and some time to gather my thoughts!"

Carpenter toyed with his knife, his eyes flickering between Will and Launceston, who also had his hand on his hidden dagger.

Will stepped before Mayhew to calm the situation. "We need to know you will not drag us down to hell, Master Mayhew," Will said calmly. "Your absolute support is required in this work. We cannot afford your personal weaknesses to lead us to disaster."

"Or what? What will you do?" Mayhew raged. "Kill me? Do it! Nothing can be worse than this life!"

Without hesitation, Sister Adelita stepped by Will and took Mayhew's hand. He was surprised and unbalanced by her touch, his anger dying in his throat. "You have troubles," she said. "I have spoken to your friend here, and I understand what you do. It is God's work, and that is never easy, but the rewards are shared by all."

Tears sprang to Mayhew's eyes, and he blinked them away quickly before the others saw it as a sign of weakness. "I do not do God's work," he replied quietly. "I am weak, and I am not up to this."

Sister Adelita looked to Will and said, "Let me speak with him in private while you make your arrangements. If you wish me to make recommendations to Father Celino, I will."

Will agreed, but he had already started to formulate a plan. Once Mayhew had been led away, Carpenter said vehemently, "He will be the death of us, I tell you now."

"Then let him stand in line. There are more pressing matters that could lead us to the grave," Will said.

"How long are you going to keep protecting him?" Carpenter snapped.

"Till I am certain he is a danger to us. I am not so quick in taking the life of a fellow as you, Master Carpenter."

"No, but you are quick to abandon them."

"You know I thought you dead."

Bristling, Carpenter made to confront Will until Launceston stepped between them. "Is this how it will be? We do the work of the Enemy and the Spaniards ourselves?"

"Listen to the voice of reason, Master Carpenter," Will said.

"Besides, I can slit Mayhew's throat in an instant if he truly becomes a problem," Launceston continued.

Will sighed. "Enough talk of slitting and cutting and stabbing the people we know. Let us direct our attention to the matter at hand."

Sister Adelita emerged with Mayhew shortly after. Whatever she had said to him, he had calmed considerably and was contrite. Offering his apologies, he promised not to give in to his weaknesses. "It was a momentary lapse," he said.

After Will had ordered de Groot to make arrangements for their urgent departure from Cadiz, Sister Adelita guided them along a circuitous route to the cathedral that avoided all the busy areas and the plaza in front where they guessed the foot soldiers would still be watching. A side door used by the cathedral staff was open. Sister Adelita ushered them inside.

The cathedral was cool after the heat of the day, and at that time was still and quiet. Soon, Will knew, it would be bustling with merchants arranging business and the local people at their devotions or lighting candles for loved ones at sea. The stained-glass windows cast jewels across the flagstones, and the great vaulted roof high overhead caught and magnified every sound with the perfect acoustics of the medieval builders. Will silently cautioned the others to move with extreme quiet.

Like all the Catholic cathedrals Will had seen, the chapels were filled with paintings and relics, gold chalices, crosses, and other iconography that showed the great wealth of the Church.

Mayhew, Carpenter, and Launceston slipped into hiding places along the nave, while Will waited in a small chapel close to the high altar. Nodding to Will, Sister Adelita stood in the nave and called loudly for Father Celino. He emerged with a lazy gait, a tall man with a Roman nose, heavily tanned, and with jet black hair despite being in his fifties.

"Sister Adelita, is there a problem?" he asked with a note of concern. "I did not expect to see you here."

"Yes, Father. It is about my brother," she replied, her head bowed.

"Don Alanzo? Is he well?"

"I am worried about him, Father. I have not heard from him and I would know where he is so I can seek him out."

"Your brother is in Seville, Sister," Celino said with an aloof manner. "As always, he is engaged in important matters. He would not wish to have his affairs intruded upon by one such as you."

"Then you cannot tell me who he sees?"

"Of course not!" Celino snapped.

Will caught Launceston's eye, who waited like a spectre in the shadows behind a stone column, and he passed on the sign. Instantly, Carpenter, Mayhew, and Launceston darted from their hiding places and grabbed Sister Adelita, who screamed as she attempted to fight them off.

"What is this?" Celino raged. "Leave her alone! Help! Help us now!"

Drawing his knife, Will glided silently to Celino's side and whispered, "Silence, Father, or it will not only be her blood that stains the flags."

Celino fell silent. "Who are you?" he asked gravely.

"English cutthroats who think nothing of spilling Spanish blood."

Celino blanched.

"Kill her," Will said.

"No!" Celino cried, but Launceston and Carpenter were already dragging Sister Adelita into one of the chapels. Her screams rang off the walls, until a moment later there was only silence.

"Lock the doors," Will instructed Mayhew, "so we are not disturbed."

Grabbing the priest roughly by his cassock, Will threw him across the altar. His head bounced off the table and his eyes grew wide with fear as he began to intone a prayer.

"Do not waste your breath, Father," Will said. "No higher power will save you, and none on Earth either."

Blood pumped through Will's head as he stared into Celino's face. All his repressed fears about Grace rushed up, and his rage at the suffering heaped on an innocent person, and his frustration that he could not move faster and harder to find her.

"You would dare harm a servant of God in His very house?" Celino uttered.

"There is a woman under my protection whose life is at risk. I would dare anything, Father."

"What about your eternal soul?"

"My soul was lost long ago."

"But God-"

"I care not for God!" Will snapped. "The things I have seen ... the pain that has been heaped on the people I know ... If there was a God, would he allow such things to exist? This religion tears us apart when we should be joining together to fight greater threats."

"The word of the Lord brings comfort-"

"And pain and suffering to many who have suffered the whip of the Catholics, or the persecution of King Henry's church. This world will be consumed by the flames of hell and you will still be arguing over whose Bible is stronger."

Celino saw something in Will's face that made him even more terrified. He began to intone another prayer until Will cuffed him forcefully across the face.

"I have questions, Father, and I am not in the mood to be resisted." Will moved the tip of his knife slowly across Celino's cheek to touch his lower eyelid. The priest's breath caught in his throat. "If the answers I receive are not to my liking, I will cut out this eye," Will continued. "And if you continue to live out your fantasy of being a martyr, I will cut out your other eye. And then I will whittle you down little by little until there is nothing left. We shall see whose will is stronger."

Celino began to whimper and struggle in the panic that consumed him. Slipping the tip of his knife into the priest's nostril, Will ripped up through the flesh. Celino howled as blood spurted across his cassock and onto the altar.

"Pay heed to that pain," Will said. "It is nothing compared to what is to come. Are you ready to answer my questions?"

Trembling, the priest nodded.

"Don Alanzo de las Posadas visited you here at the cathedral this very week. What did he want?"

Celino swallowed, his eyes darting towards the chapel where Sister Adelita had been killed.

"Yes, we forced her to ask you these questions. You could have saved her life if you had answered them then," Will said. "Her death is on your conscience. Now ... what did lion Alanzo want?"

Blinking away tears, Celino replied, "To find the most knowledgeable man in all of Spain on matters of the occult, and ancient mysteries, and the secrets of the past."

"And you helped him?"

"Yes-there is such a man in Seville, a great philosopher and alchemist who knows the languages of the ancient Greeks and the Moors and the Arabs, and who owns the most extensive library of occult volumes in existence. His reputation is known only to a few, but I have consulted with him on more than one occasion."

Why would lion Alanzo want to contact such a man so urgently? Will wondered. The Spanish had all the knowledge they needed to use the Silver Skull in the invasion, if not the Shield that allowed protection from it. "Who is he and where do I find him?" Will drew a bubble of blood from Celino's eyelid with the tip of his knife.

"He is of mixed Moorish descent and he has taken the name Abd alRahman after the emir and caliph of Cordoba, a prince of the Umayyad dynasty in the Moorish occupation of our land. His true name is not known." Celino tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry. "You will find his shop in the Barrio de Santa Cruz, the Jewish quarter, on Susona Street, just north of Real Alcazar, the royal palace," he croaked.

As Will withdrew the knife, Celino was convulsed by a shudder of relief. "Very good, Father. You live to pray another day."

At his command, Launceston and Carpenter emerged from the chapel dragging a still-living Sister Adelita. They threw her onto the flags before the altar. Gaping in shock, Celino stumbled down to put his arms around her.

"They held a hand over my mouth so I would not call out," she gasped. "I wanted to, Father. Oh, I did ..."

She was a good actress, Will noted.

"You are the Devil himself," Celino growled.

Shrugging, Will returned his knife to its sheath and indicated to Mayhew to begin scouring the rooms along the nave as they had agreed earlier.

"Do you think four Englishman can attack the heart of Spain with impunity?" Celino continued angrily. "We are the most powerful nation in this world and you ... you are nothing but dogs. Your deaths will be upon you before you know it."

"My invasion of Spain is built on more solid foundations than your attack upon England," Will replied, "and I will not be turned away by prayers or curses or all the swords you can muster."

When Mayhew returned, Will gave the signal and Launceston and Carpenter roughly dragged Celino to a small, dark room near the altar that contained the tabernacle. Will and Mayhew accompanied Sister Adelita. As they walked, she kept her eyes ahead and her chin raised defiantly, but she secretly felt for Will's hand and gave it a brief squeeze of support. He returned her touch.

Once Celino and Sister Adelita were in the room, and Will had the large iron key to lock it, he said, "Take heed, Father. No lives have been lost here this day. But if you raise the alarm before we leave Cadiz, I will make it my last act on this Earth to return here and slay you both."

As he closed the door, the last thing he saw was Sister Adelita's face, pale in the growing gloom, and filled with a look of such yearning, it caught him by surprise. He held her gaze for a moment before locking the door.

Slipping the key into his pocket, he led the way to the side door through which they had entered. "We must move fast," Will said. "Celino will be discovered in no time, and he will have the authorities on our heels before the sun has started to move down to the horizon. We must be into Seville and out in a flash. Are you ready for the flight, and the fight, of your lives? Then let us depart!"