"I want to be with you," she said, caressing his chest with a circular movement of her palm. "I hate the thought of our being apart. But with the pope and the Tartars in Perugia, you need someone there besides Ugolini. Someone who has an aim in common with yours. I can help him and make sure that what he does helps you. Helps us."
He ran his fingers through her long, unbound hair. "I will think about what you've said. But I do not like it."
"Neither do I. But it may be necessary."
A loud knock at Sophia's door interrupted them.
Something in the urgency of the knock made Daoud spring out of bed and reach for his sword, hanging from a peg on the wall. Putting a finger to her lips, Sophia got out of bed more slowly and went to the door.
"It is I," the cardinal called through the door in answer to her question. "I know David is there with you. Let me in. The podesta is here."
The ghost that haunted him whenever he thought of himself and d'Ucello seized Daoud's entire body in a cold, paralyzing embrace. His first thought was of escape. But d'Ucello probably had the mansion surrounded.
Sophia and Daoud dressed quickly and opened the door for the cardinal.
"D'Ucello has come here with twenty or more men-at-arms," Ugolini said. "He demands that you go with him to the Palazzo del Podesta, David."
"Can you not order him away?" Sophia demanded. "You are a prince of the Church. You did that before."