To distract herself from her pain, she tried to listen to what people around her were saying.
"To Palermo first," said Lorenzo decisively. "At a time like this, with the king gone, every family must fend for itself. I want to get to mine at once." He turned to Rachel, and his mustache stretched in one of the smiles Sophia had seen all too rarely. "My wife, Fiorela, and I would be honored to have you as a member of our family, Rachel."
Rachel gave a little gasp. "Truly?"
"Truly. I have been wanting to propose it for a long time."
Again Sophia thanked God for Lorenzo. She almost wished he would offer to take her into his family too.
Simon stared at Lorenzo. "You are—were—an official at Manfred's court, and your wife's name is Fiorela?"
Lorenzo frowned. "Yes, Count. What of it?"
Simon's interest puzzled Sophia. Could there be some connection between him and Lorenzo?
"We must speak more about her later." Simon flexed his mail-clad arms. "It will not be safe for you to try to leave Benevento until morning. I will see to it that my men guard this house from the looters till then. They will not, of course, know who is in here with me. Meanwhile, you all had better sleep, if you can."
Weary and broken by sorrow though she was, Sophia knew that to try to lie down in the dark would mean nothing but hours of suffering. She would sleep only when she fainted from exhaustion. And she dreaded the agony she would feel when she woke again and remembered what had happened this day.