Lorenzo nodded. “Again, I’m sorry to be hurrying you back out onto the road again, but as I said, I’m responsible for quite a few people here, and even if I wasn’t, there’s very little I can do against the military. The rank of hidalgo protects me from the tax collectors, but not from soldiers.”
“I understand perfectly,” Taziri said. I’m not asking you to fight a war for me, just to help me get my people to safety. Why is that so difficult? “I’m sorry, but I heard you speaking just now. You’re heading north today?”
“I am. A training expedition for my students, and I’m also hoping to do a little research of my own. The roads will be unpleasant, but we’ll all be safe from Magellan’s people, should they come looking for you here.”
“Safe.” Taziri nodded. “In your opinion, how difficult will it be for us to cross the Strait of Tarifa back into Marrakesh?”
The hidalgo glanced at his wife, his eyes dark with doubt. “If you could get there quickly enough, no trouble at all. But if Magellan is looking for you, then as soon as his messengers reach the ports, everyone will be looking for you. Even so, I suppose if you could find a little village on the coast and a fisherman willing to make a very long detour, you might slip across the water undetected. Maybe. For a price.”
“What my husband doesn’t want to say is that you’ll probably be caught,” the little woman said. The peacock feathers arrayed around her collar shimmered and swayed with every tiny movement of her shoulders. “I’m sorry, but it’s true. Three Mazighs traveling with three Italians? You’re far too conspicuous. And now, in the dead of winter, there will be plenty of hungry people willing to tell Magellan where you are in return for a handful of reales.”
Taziri exhaled slowly. She tried not to think of her husband and daughter in Tingis, just across the Strait, who expected her home two days ago and still wouldn’t hear from her for God-only-knew how long. No one back home knows where I am. Italia? Numidia? The bottom of the sea? And no one could seriously hope to find us even if they came looking, which they won’t. “If they capture us, what will happen to us?”
Lorenzo shook his head. “Magellan has a reputation. When I lived in Tartessos, I heard his name almost every day at court. He climbed the ranks by stealing others’ successes and passing off his failures on his rivals. He’s a hawk. Whenever he came to court, it was always to argue for more ships, more troops. A friend of mine once said that what Magellan really wanted was a shooting war with the Persians, but that he’d settle for conquering Marrakesh and Numidia. I think he just wants a really big statue of himself in Admiral’s Square in the capital.”
“Conquer Marrakesh?” Taziri blinked, thinking of the massive ship in the harbor at Valencia, already at sea, already able to fire its immense cannons. “That’s why he shot us down. Because we saw that ship of his. He couldn’t let us report it because he actually plans to use it.” Again her thoughts flew home to Tingis, the northernmost city in Marrakesh, its harbor full of cargo steamers and naval destroyers. It was the logical place to begin an invasion of the country. And her family lived less than a mile from the water’s edge.
“It’s possible,” Lorenzo said. “I’m sorry. Not all of my people go to church as often as they should.”
Taziri frowned. “You don’t need to talk to God to know that war is a bad thing.”
“No, I guess not,” he said. “But sometimes it helps.”
The tiny room drowned in the uncomfortable silence that followed. Taziri blinked back the tears that threatened to spill out. I’ve gone from “lost and presumed dead” to “hunted and soon-to-be dead” along with everyone else in Tingis. My poor Yuba and Menna. And Isoke, and her husband, and their two little boys. And all of the pilots, those young pilots I recruited and brought to Tingis. An entire city, thousands of innocent people. The vile taste of vomit washed lightly up against the back of her tongue.
“We have to get across,” she whispered. “We have to warn them.”
“You’ll be caught,” the small lady said.
Of all things, Taziri suddenly remembered the Halcyon ’s batteries and electrical leads in the bottom of her pack. When they catch me, they’ll have that, too. They’ll have the plane.
“Look,” the hidalgo said, then broke off to frown at his pitiful little shelf of books. A pained and confused look wrinkled his forehead. He looked sick. “Maybe you don’t have to go. Maybe we can hide you, at least for a little while. The navy doesn’t know who you are or what you look like, only that you’re Mazigh aviators. Right?”
“What are you suggesting?” his wife asked with an arched brow.
“They can come with us to Zaragoza,” he said to her. “It’s in the middle of nowhere, and the cathedral is enormous. The abbot is a friend of mine. We’ll all be safe there until this blows over.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Taziri said. “But I can’t just hide away somewhere. I have a duty to my passengers. And I need to report Magellan’s warship to my government as soon as possible. Lives are at stake, sir. My daughter’s among them.” Why does the world have to be so damn big? Even the best engine in the world will only take you so far before it dies, and leaves you to swim, or crawl, or die yourself. If I ever get home, I’m never leaving again.
A heavy boot thumped in the hall just behind her. “Hey, Ziri, can you see if this guy has any…oh. Right. Sorry.” Syfax leaned into the study, frowning at the little room. “Kinda dark in here. What are we talking about?”
Taziri brought the major up to speed in Mazigh, which was only slightly faster than her well-practiced Espani. Syfax nodded thoughtfully and she could see the tactical wheels grinding away behind his lidded eyes. He said, “Well, I’ll tell ya what I’d do, if this was a security situation, captain. I’d have you and the passengers trot on out of here with the Don while I go south by myself to Tingis. If I go alone, I’ll be there in no time. March all day and night. I can steal a boat and cross the Strait in the dark. They’ll never even know I was there.”
Taziri nodded. He’s right, of course. Major Zidane wasn’t good for much, but running across a country and fighting his way past enemy soldiers definitely fell within the fields of his expertise. But his plan also meant hiding herself away in some church in Espana for days, maybe for weeks. Although, if Syfax makes it through at least he can tell Yuba that I’m alive. And that might be my best option, as terrible as it is. “You’re right, major. You should go. But take Kenan with you.”
The big man grimaced. “Nah, I don’t need him.”
“Take him anyway. He’s good with languages and maps. And he has sharp eyes, so he can watch your back. If anyone asks, you can say he’s your son,” she said.
The major rolled his eyes. “Fine. But he’s not my son. He can be my nephew. My stupid grinning excuse for a nephew.”
“I can live with that,” Taziri said. And then, for a moment, she felt a small weight lifted from her shoulders. They had a plan. It was a bad plan, a flimsy plan, one based on hope and chance, and one that she would have no ability to help carry out. But it was a plan, and that was more than they had a few minutes ago.
Back in the dining room, she found the Italians and the young Eranian lady huddled in the corner while Kenan was quickly becoming fast friends with the young Espani fencers by exchanging bits of old songs and bawdy jokes filled with juvenile double entrendres. Taziri got the room’s attention with a sharp whistle and in her best Espani she told them the plan. The young fencers brightened a bit at the idea of going home for the winter, but the Italians, Shahera, and even Kenan looked slightly horrified when she said they were going north instead of south.
Taziri held up her hand to fend off their objections even as they opened their mouths. She said, “I think we’ve all realized over the last few days that this is not just some inconvenience or unfortunate detour. We’re in very real danger, all of us. And right now, instead of trying to get on with our lives we need to be focused on staying alive. Not just for a few days, but for as long as it takes for us all to get safely out of the country.”