Castillo de Almodóvar del Rio

That morning Nasr was busy. He was running against time. The first thing he did as soon as he arrived was finishing the work on the last page of the manuscript. It was almost ready when was stolen. He had only to repeat what he had done and given the final touch in the explanations. Then he sent emissaries to go after of Ghufran and Juan Herrera. To the first, he requested his urgent presence in the Library. He also prepared an encrypted message to Juan Herrera requesting the arrival of an emissary from the Palace to receive and carry the manuscript that should be taken immediately to the custody of the Abbot. New facts demanded the withdrawal of the document from the library.

Amal was anxious, he wanted to leave even before the arrival of Chugran but Nasr urged him to wait and follow together. On the way, he would get to know his companion, to better deal with it when the time came. Nasr knew that the idea of eliminating the Confessor was not well digested and feared that the weakness of Amal in this affair could compromise it. He argued that Amal could wait a bit to go because Bahadur should be dealing with the copied part of their study that had been stolen from them. That was what it seemed because he did not have as many features as well, still had not dealt with the issue of Confessor. They did not know if their opponents had deciphered the issue involved in the Latin text. Therefore, there would be no risk to Amal if he departs for the Confessor hunting in the afternoon or even the next day.

Ghufran came to the library shortly after noon. He knew he would be offered service. It was for that sort of things that Nasr always called him in the old days. He needed money and answered without question the messenger. He was an Ethiopian eunuch of Christian origin of enormous height and weight whose family had emigrated to Tangiers in North Africa when he was still a boy. He suffered his emasculation already as an adult when he was taken to the slave during the campaigns of Al-Rahman III. Perhaps, as a result, he uses a completely shaved head and had an expressionless face like a mask. He spoke little but was smart enough to listen and understand what was expected from him.

Nasr explained what his role would be to monitor Amal, but strictly subject to his orders, a task for which would be paid with ten gold dinars. They had a conversation about the options involving the same reasons that Nasr had already exposed before.

Amal had decided to initiate the search by the most logical option. He knew he would not have to find someone on his parent's side. Neither he nor his parents had ever used confessors. So, your target would be certainly on the side of parents Jalila. The question of the Confessor was one of the most vulnerable points of the secret Muladis condition. Many who opted for this dangerous life abandoned the sacrament of confession by the danger that could bring to unravel their behavior. The mother Jalila had not been convinced to abandon this part of the Christian creed and Amal knew he had a secret confessor. Just did not know who it was. But how much folly, to confess the plan! Anyway, they were now alerted to hide at all costs the kinship with Amal, because if this link was discovered everything would collapse and the connection between Amal and Jalila would be immediate. Fortunately, they have always had the utmost discretion in this respect and, in fact, at first, he did not even know.

He would have to go to the village of Almodóvar del Río, located about twenty kilometers south on the banks of the river, more precisely start at the Parish Santa Maria La Blanca, the only one of the regions. This would be his greatest bet. It was a fact that he had advantages over Bahadur to find the Confessor but was not yet convinced of the need to use drastic measures. The presence of Ghufran bothered him.

They left an hour before the Asr , with no plans to return. The idea was to soon find the deserter priest. So, they went down in a southwesterly direction always with the river on your left. Near of sunset, they saw the towers of the Castle of Almodóvar del Río that dominated the hill above the village. Walking near the shore on this stretch of the river Guadalquivir came to sight Castle almost frontally. Amal knew very well how to orientate himself as he knew well the location of the occasions when visited Jalila. He decided to drive directly to the parish into the village at the foot of Castle Hill and then walk about three hundred meters, through narrow streets, he and Ghufran saw the tower of the church jutting out between buildings.

They entered through the front door and immediately they realized that what was taking place an evening mass, already in its final part. They sat in the background waiting for the end of the celebration. As time passed he relived in memory his investigative strategy that he intended to use with the pastor or whoever was officiating that mass. He could not raise a lot of suspicions. It had to be casual questions.

The Mass ended. He graduated from the traditional group of church-goers in the sacristy door and Amal asked Ghufran to wait and approached. When he was almost left alone with the celebrant he began a conversation about amenities stating that he had relatives in the area, was passing, could not leave to attend a Mass and would like to inquire about rumors he had heard which made him outraged by the fact that a village priest had abandoned their vows and fell in the world of drink and destruction.

He had lucky. The priest, with advanced age, was swanky and criticize it seemed to be to his liking.

- Well, how's the world! It was Father Stephen, now a former priest is not. That was a real humiliation for the parish. Think about so many people who trusted him. This situation is affecting very much our work of evangelization, especially under Moorish domination with all the constraints that our beliefs have to endure.

- But what happened? Was some personal tragedy? And he is still around, asked Amal.

- I do not know, was suddenly despite having started with strange behavior, frequent strange questions about our faith. I talked to him, but over time became aggressive. He is not so young, has about 40 years, but I think not matured their vocation, perhaps failures in training. In these times it is very difficult. For a while, he remained here, yes. He lived here in the church. But he had to leave. I think he has gone mad, lost faith and according to some really sunk into the drink. I heard he was there by the bands of the Capital in Cordoba, consecrating wine at the taverns, he said so by expressing a laughing stock to smile then did try to apologize blessing himself and saying; God forgives me, I hope he finds again his way and comes back to the flock. Jesus will always have a place in the heart for the return of prodigal sons.

Amal thought that already knew enough and started to bid farewell to the old priest when this said something that left him surprised.

- Funny, this week it seems that people have come to remember and worry about it again. You're the second person today, asking questions wanting to know of his whereabouts.

Amal was about to pull away but decided to return and considering that he suspected that was not anymore necessary any description, asked:

- Who searched for him, could you describe the person?

The old priest seemed not surprised by the question and briefly described someone that Amal could clearly identify as one of Bahadur followers. So, he was wrong, had no advantage. Bahadur was running in parallel. There was why staying in Almodóvar del Río. He needed to return to Cordoba. It was when he got startled by the question of Ghufran that he had not perceived be at his side:

- And how would you describe Stephen?

The priest seemed to be at ease to report on his former pupil made a very detailed description of the deserter of the Christian faith.

Amal, thinking about the return trip asked his companion, who spoke little if he wanted to eat something somewhere in the village and take the road back that night.

Nasr and Amal evaluated the results of the day. They'd had good and bad developments for the situation. Ghufran had insisted with Amal to return to meet with Nasr and was still on the premises of the Library, although he was not attending the meeting with the two.

The manuscript was safe, although taken off from Library in a more anticipated way than predicted, even without a plan, but at least it was no longer within reach of the wrong hands. On the other hand, the result of the trip to the Confessor hunt was fruitless. There was still a sword over their heads although Amal sought to minimize the fact.

How quickly Bahadur had arrived in Almodóvar del Río had surprised Nasr and was an example that the enemy should not be underestimated and was quite determined. Or he had been very lucky, looking first at the place where Jalila's parents lived, not Amal's, or, more likely, he has sent emissaries to both towns.

Therefore, he decided to act despite Amal's concerns.

He left his boss delivered to his business and went to find Ghufran and found him in the yard that used to be called Library's Patio.

- It was very smart to have come back to the Palace, but deep down I think what you want is the compensation for the services, even if still incomplete, but you know that they just are not yet finished do not you?

- You know me Nasr. I'm not leaving unfinished work and know you and I know that in this case, your opinion and of Amal do not match. He's scared, but it is naive in this type of situation. He thinks it resolves itself. We know that is not so. We have already noticed that the opponents are fast and know what they want. I took a description of our man and some questions here another there and you know I can find it.

- That's why I called you and I count on you. Take here half the combined five gold dinars and if you need for expenses let me know. Find him soon and finish him. Amal did not need to know. I will say that things get solved by itself, he said swaging one smirk, while he said goodbye to Ghufran combining any new contacts by messengers, did not want him to appear again in the Library.

Nasr returned to consider: Amal needed him more than he imagined.

***

Like his opponents, Bahadur analyzed his latest moves and only had reason to be with hopes of unraveling the whole problem in front of him.

He had in hand a document that proved that Amal was conspiring in the Library and that piece was certainly part of something much bigger. He was not able to analyze in depth what he had in his hands, but he knew he could use against Amal to investigate a charge of apostasy. The "questions" made to the aide Hamid had given good fruits, and the Christian was in his hands. They would know all the future agenda of Hamid and learned quite interesting facts that linked Hamid to Jalila and an important fact that Hamid was a fervent Muslim, which would benefit the strategy to be used against Amal. The search for the Confessor had not produced results, but the findings were promising. The thesis of renegade priest was proven, which gave to Bahadur surer yet that was on track.

His next steps involve Hamid. He thought about confronting him with Amal forcing him to investigate the existence of impure documents in the Library. I would do it over the top, through the Hajib. He could be able to reach Almanzor and take advantage of the situation. Had not the regent did make a spectacle in the library long ago? It was obvious that he would surely know that the cleaning was not complete. All were tied tightly in his head; it would be the perfect snake coup in order to inoculate the poison. He would show the Hajib why he was considering that the meetings of Subh could wrap suspicions of which she herself could even be innocent. Why the library? Why gather together those members without any affinity with poetry? Amal had to be behind it all and he still had other serious crimes to prove.

He understood that had to be cautious. Subh was involved. Therefore, he would suggest to the Prime Minister a subtle intervention via Hamid, in order to make sure that those meetings were exclusively to organize the Literary Contest without any agenda from Amal. For this, he needed unravel what Amal was plotting in the library through an audit. It would be enough to get the nod to intervene and he would draw himself the plan of action, combining with Hamid and bringing the results to Almanzor without him even having to wear with the Sultana.

His connections in the police sector of the Islamic faith would lead to Almanzor and he started working in that direction. For two days pressed his contacts to get infiltrate a hearing on safety issues in Cordoba with the Chief of Police.

His interview with Almanzor was fast, but his subject interested him because everything that could be a security breach of its status as a governor could get your attention. Bahadur spoke about his suspicions for about a quarter of hour, emphasizing the possibility that there was a serious problem in the Library, but superficially passed the question of revenge plan explaining that the actions were not yet clear, but that could soon bring strong evidences, he was working hard in search of such pieces of evidence and the prospects were good. Almanzor seemed to be more interested in the plan history and surprising Bahadur when asked him:

- What is your immediate interest in overthrowing the current head of the library? I do not give to this business books the same importance as Al-Hakam gave, but all references that I get, especially from Subh, it is that deals very well with the business. You are aiming to take his place?

- No oh, Victorious! What I want is just be sure that there is an ongoing action against the teachings of the Prophet, "Peace be upon him."

- But you should. That's what I would do in their place if I am safe and determined. You are not? Of course, you are, said the Minister himself. Otherwise, you would not strive so much to come to bring this problem to me without routine access to Al-Zahira. In view of what you told me I'll authorize your suggestion regarding what you asked me about to organize actions with Al-Hamid that you point as one of the strange participants of the organizing meetings for the Subh's Contest. I'm going to issue a request for cooperation signed, so you handed to him, but I hope you know what you're doing. You are raising suspicions and serious charges against servers that nobody raised any restrictions, at least so far, and worse, you are indirectly involving Sayyda Al-Kubra. Watch out boy, now go, my secretary will give you the written order I mentioned.

Bahadur greeted the prime minister and left the courtroom to await the promised document. His face was livid, pale, surprised and frightened. She had forgotten the critical detail that the story of Almanzor with eunuchs like him was not the most harmonious. After all, it had been since the Caliph's brother's murder, following the Vizier Mus-hafy orders shortly after the death of Al-Hakam, that he aborted the plan of the eunuchs Fayik and Jaudhar to prevent possession of Hisham II. Preventing the strategy of eunuchs, he had begun also the amazing growth of his power. Cordoba, after Al-Hakam had disdained with an open chest, without further fears, the court eunuchs.

But he took a deep breath and finally managed to get what he had come to. He had no doubt that he was right and would not run into risks, he need not fear anything realized that the library's master office would fall into his hands as he wished. Received the order of cooperation and went quickly to the Al-Hamid office.

Al-Hamid listened with attention and astonishment the story of Bahadur often looked at the paper in his hands, a virtual order of cooperation that made him to distrust and fears the bizarre figure of the librarian who had before him. If he ever imagined what was discussed at those meetings! My God! He imagined. What a complicated situation! The terrain was rocky and extended by the edge of an abyss. I had to walk carefully choosing each step.

On the other hand, this time the story of Bahadur was much more elaborate and full of speculative details that he had not used with Almanzor. Explored the information it had about Hamid and emphasized aspects of risk for the Islamic faith. He went into more detail about the plan of revenge that had been trying to unravel, intentionally omitting the part that he suspected that the woman involved could be Jalila. He did know that Hamid had no suspicion of a possible family connection between Amal and Jalila. In this regard, it took also into account the certainty that would have more difficulties with their collaboration if he knew that any action which he would undertake could affect the woman whose heart he seemed to want to win back, a past that their staff had recently discovered and compatible with what he had in memory and could not remember the first time I heard the name of Hamid.

Hamid heard all in complete silence, surprising himself after every revelation and really he was very uncomfortable with the mention of the document, which seemed to involve an attack on Islam, according to his interlocutor.

- But what you saw at this document? He asked after seconds of silence.

- It's just a copy of a study, is not the original document which I think is hidden in the Library and under work for some time for reasons that he could not know, but cannot be good for the faith. What I propose is an audit of the library, we have the authorization to act, and you read the Almanzor's document.

- Yes, I know, but we need to be cautious. I think I should raise this matter at the next meeting of the contest organization group. It is an excellent opportunity. Amal will be there. He said this with an imperceptible tremor in his lips. Okay, now for what I read in this document the sword is in my hands. You should expect to hear from me.