ere to
Perugia was a journey of at least two weeks, through difficult,
mountainous country. Urban might get there safely, but he would not live
there long. The election of a new pope would take months; it had been
known to take years. And Urban's successor might be even more reluctant
to join forces with the Tartars than Urban had been. What if it were
Cardinal Ugolini--he was as eligible as anyone--or someone under his
influence? The little they had accomplished so far might be wholly
undone.

Time. Time was the most terrible enemy of all. The more time passed, the
less likely that the alliance would be formed, the joint attack on the
Saracens launched. Simon saw time as a black river in flood, sweeping
away everything he had worked and fought for.

_I must prevail upon him to give his permission--now. But how can I sway
a man three times my age--the pope himself?_

The only way to keep from giving in to despair was to plunge in, as if
this were a tournament, or a fight to the death. Simon plunged in.

"Your Holiness, before you leave Orvieto, I beg you to recognize that we
must join with the Tartars to crush the infidel."

Urban sighed. "You think just as your King Louis does." He held up an
admonitory finger. "Europe first, Simon. The Church must be strong in
Europe before our princes go adventuring in Outremer."

"But it was the popes who preached the Crusades in the first place,"
Simon answered, baffled.

Urban's eyes grew wide and he leaned forward. "And I will preach yet
another crusade, Simon. Against Manfred the Antichrist. That is why I
would have sent for you if you had not come here. You must make the
journey to King Louis and tell him that this crusade that I will preach
is the most important war of his lifetime. He must come to my aid. I
will make his brother Charles king of southern Italy and Sicily. I will
write the letter to King Louis, and you will carry it to him."

_Now I must make my effort._

"He will heed your appeal if you give him what he wants, Your Holiness.
Write that letter. But in it give your permission for King Louis to ally
himself with the Tartars and begin preparations for a new crusade."

Urban looked slyly up at Simon. "Surely you suspect that it was I who
persuaded Fra Tomasso d'Aquino to change his colors where the Tartars
are concerned. I saw to it that the possibility of an alliance was kept
alive, so that I might have something Louis and I could haggle over.
Louis is