This Rough Magic

to make sure taxes are paid and Venice's rules obeyed.'

The capitano nodded. 'They're mostly mercenaries. Dregs, signorina. I'd guess at less than a thousand on the whole island. The barracks are almost empty and several of the buildings haven't been used for some time. There are a couple of other castles—Vidos in Corfu bay, for instance. But a lot of the places have just got a local capi and a few men. All right for dealing with petty crime.

'And the mercenaries!' he spat. 'Pah. They're not worth much as soldiers, ones who would take a job like that. There's no fighting, so there is no opportunity for extra profits, bonuses or loot. But you won't get killed either. Lazy and stupid—and maybe cowards.'

'Locally recruited?' asked Erik.

'Not so as I'd noticed, milord,' said the capitano. 'If I remember right, I heard tell that the present Byzantine Emperor's father sent agents across to Corfu and stirred things up. Told them that they're Greeks, not Venetians; that Byzantium regards them as its own, and that they would be rewarded with Venetian-held positions and estates if they got rid of Venice. It's true the Corfiotes begged the Venetians to annex Corfu and protect it but . . . as is the way of things, the best jobs went to appointees of the Senate sent out from Venice. The Venetians have taken over a lot of estates. The local Greek nobility has a bit of an attitude about Venetians. As if they didn't want us in the first place! The Corfiotes are quick enough to take our money, though.'

Francesca raised a perfect eyebrow. 'And of course the Venetians are as innocent as lambs and do nothing to exacerbate the situation,' she said dryly.

The capitano laughed coarsely. 'Except treat the locals like shit. Sorry, signorina, pardon my language. Too much time at sea and not enough talking with ladies.'

'I forgive you, Capitano.' She looked at Manfred pointedly. 'I'm used to occasional lapses.'

Eneko Lopez yawned. 'Forgive me too, but I am very, very weary. This discussion is all very well, but I must get to Corfu. If Chernobog seeks to prevent it . . . then there is a reason. Even if the Citadel stands or falls, I must get to the island.'

He regarded all of them broodingly. 'That fleet was sent with one end in mind: to sink us rather than to allow any of us to reach there. That may have been because of me and my brothers, or because of the large number of armed knights on this convoy, or because of—who we carry.' He blinked, slowly. 'However, I do know this much. Before we reached Venice a similar attempt was made to stop me and my brothers. I must conclude that this was no coincidence, and that Chernobog wishes to keep us, specifically, from reaching Corfu. I don't know why Chernobog is doing this, but there must be some far-reaching reason he has scryed. He does not play for small stakes. The Holy Roman Empire or even Christianity may be threatened. You can put Diego, Pierre, Francis and me off on a beach on the north end of the island.'

Erik cleared his throat. 'Aren't you forgetting something, Senor Lopez?'

Eneko blinked at him. 'Quite possibly, Erik. The magic we worked was draining. I am exhausted and not thinking at my best. What is it?'

'They tracked you here. Chernobog tracked you previously, too. He can sense your movements, and now you tell me that you wish to land on an island occupied by his allies.' Erik was not normally inclined to irony, but Eberhard sensed the tone now. 'You are a great mage, senor. But an arrow or sword can kill you as well as it can kill me, especially if you are exhausted, as you are now. And unless you and your brothers have learned something new about turning invisible, I think this is not the wisest of plans.'

'I've seen that on the northern frontier,' rumbled Falkenberg. 'Mages can fight great magics, but when all is said and done they need ordinary men and ordinary steel to guard them against purely physical threats. I've seen a pagan mage that could blast men to ash chopped down, unresisting, because knights with cold iron and the holy cross attacked while he dueled magically.'

Eneko blinked again. 'Still, I must go,' he said tiredly. 'Danger or no danger. Forgive me. I cannot even think now. But I see my duty clear.'

Eberhard patted him on the shoulder. 'Go and rest, Eneko Lopez. You are no use to us or your duty when you're exhausted. Leave it to us ordinary soldiers to get you into the Citadel. You'll be protected there, and on Corfu. Will that do?'

Eneko stood up. 'I believe it will. But we will pray for guidance.'

'When you wake up,' said Erik, with rough kindness. 'Go and sleep now.'

The cleric nodded and stumbled out, leaning a hand against the wall.

When he'd gone, Erik shook his head. 'You may have just offered to do the impossible, Ritter Eberhard. Or volunteered us to do the impossible. We only have two hundred knights. Even with the ship crews and the squires, we muster perhaps twice that. Breaking the siege is more than we can achieve. Emeric must have at least . . . say ten thousand men there, and his siege cannon will prevent any access by water—even if we fought our way through his fleet.'

'We lost two knights and five damn-fool glory-hungry squires, in that last effort. Some injuries, too. Gunpowder should never have been invented,' grumbled Falkenberg.

Eberhard smiled dryly. 'While the prince was being bandaged and you and Erik were seeing to the men, I saw to questioning one of the pirates. It helped that Knights of the Holy Trinity have something of an unholy reputation, and that he'd just seen some very terrifying magic. We didn't even have to resort to torture. The man was a mere sailor, but he had a very good notion of just how many ships were employed in the attack on Corfu. Most of them, most of the troops and most of the cannon, are still behind us: To wit, that fleet of carracks we avoided. So right now there are, at a guess, no more than three or four thousand troops investing the Citadel at Kerkira. Actually, there will be fewer than that, as many are out ravaging Corfu's countryside. If we can reenforce the Citadel, then it can hold until Venice and the Empire will send more forces to break the siege.'

Manfred grunted. 'We'd need to send word to get them here. Maybe send one of these vessels running for Bari, and send messengers overland to Venice?'

Eberhard was dubious. 'The sailor seemed to think more vessels were on their way from Constantinople.'

'Even so, it seems a fair idea,' said Erik. 'Split up. Squeeze all the knights onto one vessel. Land as much force as possible on the western coast of Corfu. Storm the besiegers and hope that someone has the brains to let us into the Citadel before Emeric's troops can regroup.'