Clearly it was not some Filippeschi bravo who had somehow broken through the palace's defenses. Simon's inspiration on the battlements had been right; the Filippeschi attack had been only a diversion.
If a demon of this sort opposed the alliance, Simon felt more than ever determined that the alliance must succeed. This was the hidden enemy whose presence he had sensed since coming to Orvieto. The force determined to prevent the alliance of Christians and Tartars. The one who had incited Orvieto's people against the Tartars when they first came. Who had set that poor devil of a heretic to draw his dagger against them in the cathedral. Alain's murderer. Stalker. Enemy. Killer. Devil.
Hatred blazed up within Simon.
If only he could have killed the man in black or caught him before he escaped. Now he must guard against an enemy as evil as Satan. An enemy powerful enough to throw an army against a fortified palace, subtle enough to reach into an impregnable chamber and strike at his intended victims. A being whose strength and skills made him seem more than human. Cruel and pitiless, ready to murder anyone who stood in his way.
It was as certain as the judgment of God that they would fight again. This was war to the death.
To be concluded in
THE HOLY WAR
Book Two of THE SARACEN
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robert Shea has given his full time to writing novels since 1977. He is the co-author of the science-fiction novel ILLUMINATUS!, which won the Hall of Fame Award of the Libertarian Futurist Society and was produced as a play in the United States and in Europe. His historical novels are SHIKE, set in medieval Japan, and ALL THINGS ARE LIGHTS, which, like THE SARACEN, takes place in the era of the Crusades. He was a magazine editor for twenty years and is also a prolific magazine writer. He lives with his wife and son near Chicago.