away, in just a few moments it would burst with a single thunderous clap-likely the last sound the medicus would ever hear.
By now sparks had eaten their way along the fuse into the mill proper. The dust was so thick Simon could hear the crackling flame better than he could see it.
With a loud crash the door swung open. The air was too thick to see exactly who was there, but Simon could make out an oddly familiar figure through the haze.
“Dzoo have any idea what cheeth like that cosht?” the voice lisped. “I should really let you roasht right here, but then who’d fix my cheeth?”
“Nathan!” Simon shouted. “Good God, Nathan, here I am! The fuse! Everything’s about to blow up!”
“Then we chuddn’t waysht any chime!”
With a little knife, the beggar king severed the rope that bound Simon to the beam. Then he grabbed the medicus, threw him over his shoulder, and made for the exit. Stooped and groaning, he cleared the door and staggered another dozen steps before tossing his heavy bundle roughly behind a pile of boards.
“Ouch,” Simon shouted. “Watch what you’re doing! You want to break all my-?”
At that very moment a loud explosion shook the entire island with such force the medicus was temporarily deafened. Entranced, he watched an enormous fireball rise into the sky. Splinters of wood and stone-even entire sections of walls-flew through the air above him. The blast was so strong that even behind the pile of boards where he crouched, Nathan was blown back like a frail sapling. Hot air smothered them like a dragon’s deadly breath as beams and boards rained down on them.
“Quick, letch’s get out of here,” Nathan cried into the deadly storm. His voice was muffled, as if he were shouting through a heavy woolen blanket.
“How?” Simon shouted back. “I’m still tied up!”
Cursing loudly, the beggar king lifted him onto his shoulder again and carried him away from the fire. Hidden behind a hazelnut bush at a safe distance, they watched the conflagration. The mill was no more than a pile of rubble now, and flames rose high in the air like a bonfire on Saint John’s Eve. Even here, more than a hundred paces away, the heat was palpable.
“How-how did you find me?” Simon finally gasped after what seemed an eternity.
“I knew… damn!” Nathan poked around in his mouth for a while until he seemed half satisfied. “My people were watching you as you left for the Wohrd and alerted me right away,” he said, more clearly now. “Actually I put a price on your head. No one who punches Nathan the Wise in the face goes unpunished!” He mockingly wagged his finger at Simon, but his eyes were cool, almost threatening. “And then I was rather curious about what you might be doing down here in secret all by yourself, so I sent the boys home and followed you myself. Even a blind man could read your tracks in the sawdust. And what do I find here? This Venetian ambassador fleeing with a loaded wagon and my trusted medicus nearly blown to pieces in Regensburg’s largest mill. An explanation is in order, at the very least.”
“And if I don’t feel like explaining?” Simon replied.
Nathan shrugged. “Then I’ll toss you back into the fire, trussed up as you are. You’re not in a very good position to negotiate, are you?”
“Very well, then.” Simon sighed. “I know now what’s so special about this powder and why everyone’s been trying to get their hands on it. You probably already know the secret, too.”
He then told the beggar king all he’d learned. Nathan listened attentively, but his face betrayed nothing. When Simon finished, the leader of the Regensburg beggars just stood there for a long time, picking his nose. “As God is my witness, that’s the most insane plan I ever heard,” he muttered finally, counting off on his fingers the puzzling series of events. “So, this madman wants to poison the entire Reichstag-”
“Oh, don’t pretend you’re so surprised to hear all this!” Simon interrupted angrily. “I’m sure you knew even before I did what this powder was! I know you’re in league with the various factions at large in the city. Tell me, who ordered you to spy on us?”
Nathan raised his eyebrows, amused. “Ah, so that’s why you left so hastily! I should have guessed.” He raised his hand in a solemn oath. “I swear by Saint Martin, patron saint of beggars, I had no idea about any of this. Anyway, this is hardly the time for sermons.” He pointed at the burning remains of the mill. Guards who had begun to arrive from the Stone Bridge were immobilized at the sight of the catastrophe. It was far too late to save the mill; all that could be done now was to prevent the fire from spreading to the surrounding buildings.
“It’s only a matter of time before that pack of morons over there discovers us,” the beggar king said. “As far as they’re concerned, you’ve already set fire to half the city, and if they find you here now, you’ll most certainly be eviscerated, drawn, quartered, and burned as the infamous Regensburg arsonist. At least this way you’d go down in the city’s history, and in a few hundred years people will probably still be reading about you. That’s something to consider.”
Simon, lost in thought, mumbled something unintelligible.
“What are you muttering about?” Nathan asked. “Didn’t you hear me? We’ve got to get away from here as fast as we can!”
“I’m wondering where Silvio may have taken Magdalena and the ergot,” Simon said softly. “He was talking about some alternative plan, one that would claim far more victims. What the devil could that be?”
“Maybe he wants to make some other use of the ergot,” Nathan replied with a shrug. “He could slip it into wine or beer, or God knows what else.”
Simon shook his head. “With wine or beer, he’d have to find a willing brewer or vintner to play along, and that’s much too risky. Things didn’t work out too well with Master Baker Haberger, as you know. It has to be something much simpler. But what?”
He paused, trying to recall Silvio’s last words as he left Simon to die in the mill. What was it again the Venetian had said exactly?
What do humans need to survive? Something to eat, a roof over their heads, a fire for warmth, water…
Simon slapped his forehead. “Of course!” he exclaimed. “Everyone in Regensburg needs water! For washing, drinking, brewing… Silvio intends to dump the ergot into the city wells-it’s the only way he can really be sure everyone in the Reichstag will come into contact with it!”
Nathan shook his head, thinking. “How can he do that?” he wondered. “There are wells all over Regensburg. Will he go to each one individually and pour his poison in? Somebody would surely notice that.”
“Of course not! He’ll have to introduce the ergot into the water
“I don’t know about an aquifer,” Nathan replied. “But-”
“What is it? Speak up!”
The beggar king’s mouth stretched into a broad grin, and his one remaining crooked gold tooth sparkled in the midday sun. “Of course, it’s a real possibility. This Venetian is a sly old fox indeed.”
“What do you mean?” Simon asked. “Magdalena’s life is at stake! Speak up before I throttle you!”
Nathan gave the medicus a look of pity. “How will you do that, seeing as you’re tied up?”
He bent down to Simon. “I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll untie you and tell you where Silvio took your sweetheart. But in return, when this is all over, you’ll have a look at my teeth and make them look exactly as before. Promise?”
“I’ll personally make you a brand-new set of teeth, if necessary,” Simon promised. “Now cut these damned ropes!”
Magdalena heard the explosion as the wagon was rumbling over the Stone Bridge. Bound and gagged, she lay among sacks in the middle of the wagon and winced when she heard the first earsplitting sound. Something in her snapped.
