So, in search of new trade routes, the Europeans were taking to the seas.

‘It’s an exciting time,’ Harry said. ‘You must have seen the new maps. The ships continue to get better too. The Portuguese, for instance, are inching their way down the west coast of Africa, seeking a sea route to the African gold mines. Some say it might be possible to go all the way down the coast of Africa and find a channel east, through to the Indian Ocean and the spice islands that way. And others are already working their way out west into the Ocean Sea. They are coming to understand how the wind blows, where the great ocean currents flow.

‘And we know there are new lands to be found out there. Like Madeira, which the Portuguese control. And the Canaries, which the Spanish have conquered, and they call the Fortunate Isles.’

Abdul said, ‘So there are solid reasons for this Dove to turn his energies west.’ He fixed Harry with a glare. ‘But you haven’t told me everything, have you, cousin? If the Dove goes east there will be war between Christians and Muslims - but there is always war between Christians and Muslims. What would be so terrible about this one?’

Harry sipped his pomegranate juice. And he showed Abdul the rest of the prophecy, the lines his sister had discovered scratched in the wall of her cell in York.

X

X

Harry read,

The Dragon stirs from his eastern throne,
Walks west.
The Feathered Serpent, plague-hardened,
Flies over ocean sea,
Flies east.
Serpent and Dragon, the mortal duel
And Serpent feasts on holy flesh . . .

‘Geoffrey Cotesford believes he now understands these words, four centuries old. This is how he has interpreted them.

‘The Dove is a strong man. Strong, clever, determined. He is a force, elemental, loose in our world. He must be, or else why would the prophecy speak of him? West or east, where he goes others will follow. If he goes west, he will surely lead the conquest of lands teeming with wealth and strange peoples - lands unknown to the ancients, and to our geographers, perhaps. On the other hand, if the Dove turns east, with the same energy and single-minded purpose, he will lead a ferocious war against Islam. And he will use the Engines of God to do it. That’s what Geoffrey argues. It all fits together, Geoffrey says.’

‘Better weapons are always an advantage,’ Abdul said. ‘But Muslims aren’t fools. Advantages tend not to endure.’