The Sultan's Eyes Read Free

of the words of the Gospel from Matthew.’ He closed his eyes and began to intone in Latin. ‘ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven .’ His eyes flickered open and he glared around the room. ‘I am your judge, in God’s name,’ he said. ‘Those of you without sin have nothing to fear. The rest of you — prepare to face your fate.’
    He dropped his arms and glowered at all the faces upturned towards him. Willem gulped loudly. I did, too. The entire crowd stood in shocked silence as the Doge led the councillors, monks and priests from the dais. Fra Clement walked slowly down the steps, his eyes darting this way and that, searching the room — for us, I had no doubt. Willem and I instinctively ducked down to hide behind Luis’s broad shoulders. Al-Qasim stood tall, defiant.
    The Inquisitor left and the room buzzed with people all talking at once. We stared in silence at the empty stage as if we had seen an apparition.
    Luis spoke first. ‘He certainly knows how to make new friends, doesn’t he?’
    ‘Did he spot you?’ I asked Al-Qasim.
    ‘Yes, indeed,’ he said, still gazing at the dais. The muscles in his jaw twitched. ‘And I looked into his soul and saw nothing but blackness.’
    I shivered.
    Willem pulled a face as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. ‘You notice he didn’t mention the part where Jesus says “Blessed are the merciful”?’
    ‘But he was so cordial only yesterday,’ said Pietro. ‘And now this warning shot across our bows, as they say in the navy.’
    ‘It’s more than that,’ I told him. ‘You don’t know Fra Clement like I do. That was a declaration of war. On all of us.’
    ‘Then war he shall have,’ said the signora .
    ‘My sweet,’ Pietro said, ‘keep your voice down.’
    ‘Why should I?’ she snapped. ‘He has already hurt my friends, hounded them across Europe, driven one to his death. Why should we put up with it? Here, in our home?’
    ‘Because he holds the power,’ said Luis. ‘Didn’t you see how the Doge and the Council bowed to him?’
    ‘They have little choice,’ said Pietro, shaking his head slowly. ‘They cannot be seen to argue — not now.’
    ‘Then they will have to argue with me,’ said Signora Contarini. She flung her lace shawl around her shoulders. ‘You wait until the Doge hears what I have to say on the matter.’
    ‘You can’t bother the Doge with this … this speculation.’
    ‘Don’t try to stop me, Pietro. I’ve known him since I was born. He will not deny me a meeting.’
    ‘I feel a little sorry for the Doge, really,’ said Willem. ‘First Clement appears, and now he has the signora in a fury.’
    Luis smiled ruefully. ‘He is ill, and preoccupied with this war over Crete.’
    ‘It’s not only that,’ said Pietro. ‘The glorious age of Venice is finished. If we cannot control our own clergy, if Rome is now holding a knife to our throats, we are lost.’
    ‘You read too much into it, my friend,’ said Luis. ‘The Venetian empire will last a thousand years more.’
    Al-Qasim shook his head. ‘It may last a thousand years or a thousand nights. But it seems the city cannot protect us, and that’s all that matters for the moment.’
    I feared he was right, for all the signora ’s bravado. Fra Clement,with the might of the Church behind him, would stop at nothing. He never had. Al-Qasim’s broken hands were evidence enough of that.
    ‘You are wrong about one thing, Pietro,’ Signora Contarini whispered. ‘That Inquisitor. He won’t last a week.’
    The signora fumed and roared all the way home. As soon as we got there, she tore off her shawl and threw it into the corner.
    ‘ Signora , please,’ said Luis,