They walked further, and Robert learned to read the history of al-Andalus in the slim columns of stone.

At first the Muslim conquerors had been in a minority, a few hundred thousand in a Christian population of millions. But that proportion grew quickly, thanks to massive immigration across the straits from Africa. And though tolerance of religion was practised, Islam was the religion of the state, and conversion was a useful step on the road to power. Ibn Hafsun’s family had been one Gothic dynasty who had abandoned the cross for the crescent. And as the numbers of Muslim worshippers in Cordoba grew, so the great mosque was extended several times to accommodate them - most recently by al-Mansur, the overreaching vizier who had brought the calamity of the fitnah upon al-Andalus.

They walked still deeper into the mosque. In places there were multiple arches, arches built on top of others like children standing on each others’ shoulders, all exquisitely carved. And the Mihrab, another arch adorned with gold leaf, was like a gateway to paradise. Its materials were a gift to al-Andalus from Constantinople, said Moraima.

Lost in the mosque’s cool spaces, Robert realised he hadn’t been aware of the two boys, Ghalib and Hisham, for some time.

‘Oh, they got bored long ago,’ said Moraima when he mentioned them. ‘Come. Let’s get some air.’

X

X

When Sihtric was done with the vizier, he had suggested to Orm that the two of them should take a ride, further out into the country.

Orm mounted his horse suspiciously. ‘Where are we going?’

‘You’ll see. Go ahead, boy . . . So, what of Robert? He seems drawn by the Moorish world.’

‘He’s his mother’s son, may God help him. He’s a confused young man - more confused than he knows. But it’s the fact that he’s drawn to your daughter that concerns me more. No good will come of it,’ muttered Orm.

‘He’s his father’s son too. You were just as young and foolish once, Orm.’

‘Yes,’ Orm snapped. ‘And it led to tragedy.’

Sihtric said testily, ‘But if we ban them from seeing each other they will just ignore us. We’ll have to find a way of coping with things as they unfold.’

‘So what do we do in the meantime?’

‘I suggest we pursue the business for which you came all this way.’ He grinned. ‘I think you are going to enjoy this.’

They topped a small rise, and Sihtric reined in his horse. He pointed. ‘There. What do you see, among those olive trees?’