The images faded and, letting the knowledge of the men’s approach comfort her, she dressed, as ever, without the help of servants. Amid the dozen or more aristocratic women who graced the palace she might have been invisible, apart from fleeting glimpses caught of her around the corridors and stairways of the King’s various palaces. Wherever the King travelled she accompanied him and his courtiers, yet still was not seen. The rumour, barely whispered among the fearful, was that she took the form of a bird. How else did she appear so unexpectedly in different parts of the palace? Obviously she flew through windows and soared above the turrets. Others said not just a bird. A raptor.

Garindo, the heretic priest, stood with Don Pedro in the King’s private chambers. A celestial chart of the planets and stars lay spread out across a table. Don Pedro chewed his fingernails.

‘Sire, you can see that it is not a propitious time to attack Aragon. I urge you to wait for at least a month when the planets align more favourably.’

‘There must be retribution for the cross-border raids. Our wounds will never heal unless Aragon burns,’ said the King, his voice clear with barely a sign of his lisp.

‘But, highness,’ said the priest, ‘will you not follow my advice? I have spent hours of daylight and darkness studying the charts and I bring you details of the heavens. I have devoted myself to your endeavours but your decision can only lead to...’ He pulled himself up. To issue dire warnings was one thing, to predict defeat another. Garindo bowed his head. ‘My lord, may I implore you to consult with your closest advisers? The Pope will direct all his power against you.’

Don Pedro looked past the heretic priest to the devil’s child.

‘You are already excommunicated,’ she said. ‘Strike fear into your enemy, my lord.’

Garindo faced her and summoned his courage. ‘Your dark soul blights the radiance of my Lord Don Pedro. It would be better if a malignant creature like you plunged to earth with an arrow through her.’

She grinned. ‘You believe palace rumours?’

‘I believe in the God I have always believed in. I stand at the border between heaven and heresy because I have a skill that alarms the Church. You have nothing but venom for all mankind. I know who you are and what you are capable of.’

‘That I have the powers of flight?’ Suddenly she stepped towards him, making him retreat a pace. ‘Is that why your heart squirms with fear?’

‘Enough,’ said Don Pedro. ‘I will think how best to act.’

She turned her back to the priest. ‘Send your Moors and tell them to kill every living creature. Strike fear into your enemy and your own men. Let them bring the heads of the slain on pain of forfeiting their own. It is through displaying might that you command respect,’ she said.