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Now that it was dusk, he couldin the stupor that sunlight imposed upon hied fro-place in the corner of the abandoned Ro flowers had an air of decay and neglect to thee in the Old Merchants&039; Quarter He was relieved that he still wore his black Byzantine dalmatica and black Persian kandys with black eh theylight had driven many of the residents indoors, away from the patrols of Umayyad soldiers with their lances and scioz kept alert to the approach of anyone still on the streets Keeping to the narrowest of alleys and the darkest of paths, he took a circuitous route to the Byzantine Monastery of the Assu near the Eastern Gate of the city he still thought of as Corduba

Fro; San-Ragoz sank into the shadows of the short transept and waited for the evening prayers to end and the monks to retire to their dormitory He reckoned these uard the altar-flao off to pray and sleep, as Greekproved calan to relax for the first ti of hts with Charis and Cyprus, and his abduction to Tunis, followed by his sale into slavery; the enorht have thrown hih for such recollection when he was out of Corduba-and to be out of Corduba he would have to achieve his goal here at the monastery His opportunity would be brief, but he was determined to make the most of it, for if he could secure one of the habits, he could leave the city as a penitent before uards of the Emir&039;s son stopped devout Christians in the practice of their faith

The oz slipped into the monastery and made his way toward the dormitory He moved with unusual swiftness and so silently that no one heard him pass, or if they did, attributed it to the whispers of dreams At the entrance to the dors; there were only three oil la from one end of the hall to another, a reminder of the Trinity What little illunify the darkness beyond it For San-Ragoz, this presented little trouble: he could see alht, and just now night was his ally Recalling other monasteries he had seen, he assessed the few, spartan furnishings, hoping to choose the one ht Finally he e chest in the alcove at the head of the corridor He opened this with care and was rewarded with a stack of rough-woven, darkcolored dalmaticas that served as habits for the monks Very carefully he took one froarn of any disturbance was noticeable He worked as rapidly as he could, knowing that he risked discovery if he brought attention to hiht, he heard a cough behind hi the corridor, one hand extended to touch the rough stones of the wall

It took San-Ragoz a longvery slowly, he went around the corner and re prayers in Greek Once the corridor was eoz waited in stillness until he was certain he could once again move without detection

When he was several streets away from the monastery, he stopped near a stable where he took his stolen dalar the stable entrance He continued to abuse the dalmatica for some little while, then removed his Persian kandys and subjected it to the saiven his penitent&039;s habit He began to fear he was risking too much tiave the habit one etic scrub on the stones, then stood up and untied the knots, then tugged it over his head, concealing the black silk daled one of the sleeves of the kandys loose and then pulled the eclipse-pattern earment near the stable midden Satisfied that he had done as much as he could to make it appear he hadsure to wipe his hands and face with soot as he went By the tirimy and smelly, just as he intended he should be

"Halt," ordered the Moorish guard as San-Ragoz approached

San-Ragoz did as he was told, reuard cauard wrinkled his nose in distaste

"I anation

"Where are you bound?" asked the guard

"I have been ordered to oz replied, adding, "I began at Gadez" Just speaking the na of his erian had not abandoned his search for hie of uard wanted to know "If you wish to pass, you will answer me"

"I profaned the Church, and uessed the guard would be syht deplore San-Ragoz&039;s appalling condition: Christians, the guard are, equated filth with saintliness

"So" The guard inspected San-Ragoz as well as he could in the darkness "Let h he knew thefor a slave-brand, he asked, "Why?" in a truculent " The last was an afterthought, a reminder that the Moors now held sway in Corduba

"If you will tell me the reason you ask this of me, you will not offend oz kept his voice even and his deuard consider his response

"A dangerous slave has escaped and we are ordered to return hiuard, reveling in thishis shoulders"

"To see if there is a burn-scar identifying hiing at the neck of his two dalmaticas so that his left shoulder was exposed "As you see, no brand" In all the years since his death, no injury had left a mark on his skin; the slave-brand had faded as soon as his skin healed

"And the right one," the guard said

San-Ragoz did as the guard required "No brand there, either"

"True enough You are not the ate when so occurred to him "Why do you travel at this hour?"

"It is required of iven orders to begin il, so that I would have to go in the dark, with only the stars and the Spirit of God to guidethe answer he had already prepared

This tiesture of approval "Your superior is worthy of the Book Profit by the lessons you are set"

San-Ragoz n of the Cross and bowed his head "Holy is God," he said

The guard lifted the brace on the gate and stood aside for San-Ragoz to pass "May you learn wisdoesture of huoz went out of Corduba, into the cool, windy night, along the old Roman road that led eastward across the plateau and eventually, after many thousands of paces, into theto put as much distance between hiht compelled him to seek out a shelter where he would not be discovered either by searchers or by mischance; he had no doubts that the soldiers of the Euard would not re inspection would list hi, and that would put the soldiers on the scent This certainty spurred hi, but he could not yet husband his strength, so he drove himself to keep on, to put as much distance between him and the soldiers of Numair ibn Isffah ibn Musa, the Emir&039;s son

Shortly before sunrise he found a cleft in the rocks beside a s all he could to restore himself without blood or his native earth to nourish him; he sank into a deep, trance-like sleep that shut out uely aware that a flock of goats had cooatherd played an ill-tuned bagpipe to pass away the hours The oz&039;s head when the sun dropped below the western horizon, and he once again continued his trek eastward

By the third night he was fareater effort than the last, and as he trudged onward, he had to fight off the nues, and anticipated worse ahead He had seen the scars of battle across the countryside, and kneould be increasingly devastated the closer he ca; he had seen h of war to seek it out now, but he was uncertain he would be able to avoid it entirely, for he had learned fro their invasion north and eastward The thought of carnage sickened hie, white bird and take some of its blood, but this provided very little sustenance He avoided places where people lived, especially if there were any signs of soldiers about: it had been nearly eleven years since the Berbers under Tariq had defeated the western Goths and the Berbers and Moors were still consolidating their territories even as they expanded their doave testa instability of the country, and the Moorish determination to hold what they had captured: soldiers could only mean trouble

Finally,of the next day San-Ragoz came upon a ruined villa left over fros were in disrepair, with vines and flowers running riot amid the broken ardens, the large tepidariu weeds and open to the sky; San-Ragoz was keenly aware of a beating hue of that vanished time; so keen was his need that the heartbeat see as a dru, for he despised hiation to it Alone and enervated, for a oczy-it, too, was dilapidated, but just at present it was s fro in the ruin, and why

Moving silently, San-Ragoz made his way around the tepidariuidarium, for it seemed to hiidarium-thick-walled and dark to keep the water cold-he saw that a heavy, make-shift door had been constructed where the old door had been, and this one was marked with a cross Someone had ione to bathe in cold water; the realization provided hiave his attention to trying to work out so the sleeper as a dreaan to doze before he hit upon any solution to alleviating his privation without exposing hi horror and fury to the im woman in a novice&039;s habit came to the door of the tepidarium and called out to the inhabitant

"Frerer Procopios, I have brought your ratias," came the answer in a muffled bass "Why did she send you?"

"I asked for the opportunity," she said "Are you well, Frerer?" she added, concern in her voice

"I am as God wills me to be," Frerer Procopios replied

"You do not sound wholly well," the novice persisted

"That is God&039;s business," said Frerer Procopios "Whatever He send me, I will accept with humility forthrough-?" the novice said

"He will do so," said Frerer Procopios "His Angels will provide it" There was a long silence that was interrupted by birdcalls

"And if the invaders cohtened

"Die for the honor of Our Lord, as I should have done before," he said with the first enthusiasm he had shown "I would win a Martyr&039;s Croith such a death I should never have hesitated" His tone changed again, beco flat "So that splendid fate has passed me by I lost that chance six years since" He was silent for a moment "Go away I must pray"

"And you must eat as well My Sorrars have labored to make bread and cheese, and they do it for charity Surely you-God sends us food to sustain us; you must not spurn it" She sounded plaintive "For Mercy, you are my half-brother; you are the only one left alive" Now she was pleading, perilously near tears "Procopios Please One et that"

"You er" The words were abrupt

There was a longer silence this ti ratias," the novice echoed

San-Ragoz listened intently as the novice left theprayers in a rasping tone The sky was beginning to shine with the cooz knew he had to find shelter until nightfall, so he slipped away through the ruins to the old holocaust and settled into the maw of the ancient furnace, confident that he would re place He set a slab of paving stone across the opening and let hi those who had coht was that by the next time the sun rose, his appetite would be satisfied

It was the novice&039;s voice that wakened hies of sleep gone froreeted Frerer Procopios, her voice quivering a little as she spoke, as if her despondency of the ht?"

"I am as God wills me to be," he said, "That is all I ask, and all you should ask, Fountes"

"I am worried about you," she said

"That is unworthy of you," said Frerer Procopios harshly "You should pray for the conversion of the Moors and the Jews, not worry about oz felt himself drawn to the melancholy novice, Fountes He understood her sorroith the solace of empathy; he listened more closely and moved a little nearer

"I can&039;t help it," said Fountes When Frerer Procopios said nothing more, she added plaintively "You are all the family left to me"

"I am not your family," he said "You are one with the women of your community I am one with , you should leave your cohed gently "I will ask another novice to tend to your needs"

"If God wills it and your Superiora approves," said Frerer Procopios with deliberate indifference

"Of course If she approves Deo gratias" Fountes began tothe ill-defined path that led out of the ruined villa to the rutted track that served as a road for this region

San-Ragoz e place and followed after the novice, all his concentration on her He could sense her misery and loneliness as she tried to pray; as intense as his esurience was, his coreater