"But the podesta won't let you leave the city!" Sophia exclaimed.
Again Daoud felt that cold hand grasp his neck. Perhaps he should have left long ago. He turned from Sophia to Ugolini.
"You must demand that he let me leave, Cardinal," said Daoud, feeling less confident than he tried to sound.
Or, he thought, he could escape the way Lorenzo did. He had never truly been a prisoner here.
"I will order the servants to start packing for me," Ugolini said. "Of course, I must make arrangements for Tilia to move, too, and that might take time. Although many of her best clients are gone now." He sounded like a man who knew what he was doing and Daoud was relieved to hear it.
Daoud turned from Ugolini to Sophia. The knowledge that he would soon leave Orvieto, where he had seen too much of defeat and slaughter, lifted his spirits. He smiled at Sophia, and she smiled back. He knew she was thinking the same thought he was—that they had hours to spend together this afternoon.
Daoud and Sophia lay naked in her bed, legs entwined, her head resting on his bare chest.
"What about me?" Sophia asked. "Will I go south with you to Manfred, or north to Perugia with Ugolini?"
"With me, of course," said Daoud. At the mention of leaving her, he felt as if a cold wind had blown across his naked body. He was surprised that she was even considering staying with Ugolini.