LIV

The priest pushed Galileo down the tunnels ahead of him, cursing himself for not having slain the old man at once. This was not how it should have been! His vision was coming undone. The heretic Galileo had to be behind this all somehow. He had conjured that cursed man-beast abomination using his science! He should be flung into a pit of flames to see if his foul arts would serve him then. But, he mumbled to himself, he needed him for the moment. He could still turn things in his favour. His divine mission would not be thwarted.

Galileo stumbled as the priest pressed him ever onwards, first pushing him too hard and then pulling him back to his feet to stop him falling, hissing into his ear each time, “Faster.” The tunnels ahead of them branched in many directions, with the lanterns on the walls illuminating the way only faintly, but the priest never paused at each new turning, pushing the old man steadily ahead of him. Now and then he threw a quick glance back over his shoulder to see if he could see the man-beast pursuing him, for he was surely coming after him, and he wondered if it might be easier to just cut the old man’s throat and leave him. Or better still, he might slash the back of Galileo’s legs as the man-beast had done to the priest’s own followers, and that would slow him in his pursuit while he stopped to help the old man along.

But there was time for that yet, he thought. So many options, like the branches of the tunnels, and he needed to make sure he was choosing the right ones. This was surely a test, he told himself. A test of his worthiness. He had to show he had the strength of will to rise above these setbacks. That thought filled him with renewed confidence and he urged Galileo on faster still. He knew just what he had to do now. It was as simple as ignoring all the wrong turnings. They were distractions. They were put in his path to test him. But he would not be deterred.

Galileo stumbled again, and fell heavily to the ground. The priest put his knife to the back of Galileo’s neck and said, “Stand up or die.”

“I suspect if I stand up I will die anyway,” the old man replied. The priest growled and hauled him back up to his feet with great effort. And when he pointed him forward again, he saw a flickering light ahead of them that he had not seen there a moment before. He hissed in the old man’s ear. “Silence now.” He pushed Galileo forward more slowly and soon could hear the moans and calls of wounded men writhing on the ground. The priest stepped out into the chamber cautiously, looking at his followers bleeding on the ground, grasping their wounds. “They have been tested and found wanting,” he said softly. “They were not worthy.”

He scanned the chamber carefully for the man-beast. He was not there. But the young woman was, staring down the tunnel he had fled along. He smiled. She did not even see him there, she was so preoccupied with expecting to see her man-beast returning with him and Galileo from that direction. She was not even looking around to see if one of the wounded men would somehow find the strength and will to crawl across to her and enact some vengeance on her.

He strode across to her quickly and seized her by the hair. She was so startled she screamed, but he had his dagger at her face and said, “Silence!” She closed her mouth. Now another choice had been placed before him. He could only take one of the two non-believers with him, but which one was it to be? Who was the most valuable? Who would ensure his success and who would not? He looked from Lucia to the scientist. The old man was puffing from the exertion of hurrying down the tunnels. He could not walk much further. The girl was young and light. He could even carry her if he needed to. But the old man was the Medici’s scientist. He could be a bargaining tool. And the young girl was… Yes, who was she? He tugged at her hair to turn her face to better see her in the fire light. She looked at his face and he saw the surprise there as he recognised the face she looked at. Her own face. And then he knew her. She was the Duke’s daughter. He smiled again. His path was now very clear.

Without letting go of Lucia’s hair he dragged her back across towards Galileo and said, “For your sins.” And he stabbed him with his knife. He felt the blade enter the old man’s stomach easily and saw him slump to the ground. It was so easy he would have liked to pull him to his feet and do it again. “No,” the girl called but he pulled her head back and put the blade to her throat, and said, “And for your sins.” Then he noticed for the first time the scars along her neck, as if she had survived having her neck cut many times already. That thought shook him a little, as did the stubborn look on her face. She should have been whimpering for her life, but refused to. He wondered if she had arcane science at her disposal too, and almost loosened his grip, but then he saw the fear in her eyes. And he smiled. It was just another test of him. “We’ll see how well you survive another cutting of your neck,” he said. “Unless you are very, very quiet.” Then he turned and pushed her before him, down another tunnel, the bloodied knife dripping by her throat.