Conquest

It had been announced that, following the ceremonial rites, the Pope would say mass in the open air, after which the congregation could file past for a blessing. Einar and the three women were in position early, to be close to the front, but Martin and Hereward watched from a distance, feeling rather more cynical about the sanctity of Rome.

The worshippers were brought forward in large groups and knelt before the Pope, heads bowed, to receive the papal anointing. When it came to the turn of Torfida’s group, instead of moving on after the blessing, she stood, genuflected, and spoke directly to the Pontiff.

It was unheard of for anyone to speak to the Pope without being spoken to first. The papal guards moved forward to apprehend Torfida; Einar, who was just behind her, looked back towards Hereward and Martin with an anxious glance. Pope Nicholas looked bemused and turned to his companions, Desiderius and Hildebrand, both of whom were smiling wryly. He also began to smile and signalled to his guards to relent. Torfida had spoken in impeccable Latin and had asked him, in the most humble of ways, if he had ever read the writings of the Venerable Bede, the Anglo-Saxon scholar-monk, especially The Martyrology of the Birthdays of the Holy Martyrs.

There were a few moments of agonizing silence, as Torfida waited to hear if the Pope would respond. She kept her head bowed as far as it would go, her eyes firmly closed. Hereward shifted uneasily. He was desperate to be by her side and thought back to his moment of truth in front of Macbeth’s army.

This was Torfida’s moment.

Pope Nicholas spoke clearly and confessed that although he had heard of Bede, he had never studied his works.

‘But I have,’ interrupted Hildebrand.

‘And so have I,’ said Cardinal Desiderius. He turned to Torfida. ‘How do you know the writings of Bede, my child?’

Torfida was at least ten yards from the three holy men and had to project in a clear and loud voice. ‘My father read them to me when I was a little girl, your Eminence, I know them by heart.’

‘But there are hundreds of pages.’

‘His words are wise and easy to remember, and my father was an excellent teacher.’

The Pope, now charmed by Torfida’s exemplary Latin and, no doubt, her beauty, spoke again. ‘Who was your father?’

‘A priest of Winchester, your Holiness, a scholar and confessor to Queen Emma, mother of Edward, King of England.’

‘What became of your father?’

‘That is a long story, your Holiness. One which would delay you unnecessarily and prevent these good people from receiving your blessing.’

‘Yes, indeed. Thank you for reminding me about the works of Bede; I will be sure to read them.’

Torfida bowed deeply and moved on.

Einar, Ingigerd and Maria rushed her away from the crowds and they later rendezvoused with Hereward and Martin in a quiet part of the city. Little was said between them; they were shocked that Torfida had been so foolhardy in a strange world so far from home.

Hereward thought he understood — Torfida felt she needed to grasp every opportunity, no matter how intimidating, to find the path that would reveal their destiny.

That evening, Robert Guiscard presided over a grand feast in the Great Hall of Melfi. It was an evening of much merriment, with an inebriated Duke doing most of the talking; minstrels played and there was a clever display of juggling and trickery by a troupe from Venice.

As soon as it was polite to do so, the Pope withdrew to his rooms. He had already made inquiries about the bold young woman who had spoken to him during the day and had sent word to her that he would grant her an audience.

Hereward had insisted that he accompany her. He looked around now at the ostentatious trappings of the Pope’s quarters in wonder; he had not seen such treasures since he had had his private audience with King Edward at Winchester. Only five years had passed in what was becoming an ever more eventful life. He was still only twenty-four, Torfida just twenty. The young English couple knelt as the Pope and his companions entered the room.

For over an hour, they conversed with three of the wisest men in Europe. The men were intrigued by the story of Hereward’s turbulent life, and enchanted by Torfida as she recited from the Gospels and talked at length about Bede. She asked them about dogma, probed them about morality within the Church and queried the lack of separation between Church and State. They seemed not to be in the slightest offended or discomforted and treated her as an equal. Hildebrand, in particular, seemed to admire her broad knowledge and her grasp of theology.

Finally, with some trepidation, she raised the subject of the Talisman and, as she began to describe it, saw the benign look on the face of Cardinal Desiderius turn to consternation.

‘If the Talisman you speak of is the one I think it is, you should be careful what you say to us here. Not only that, you should hand it to us immediately, so that it can be locked away deep in the crypt of the Vatican.’

‘Why, your Eminence?’