Chapter 15

The Hawk sailed at dawn four days later. Aboard it was a full complement of the crew plus the raiding party. That number included Rashid, As-wad, and Ishmael. With them were a dozen handpicked soldiers from the factory all of whom were trained in the use of the bow. Behind them they left Ibrahim. He and Omar would run the factory and see to the day-to-day affairs of the Portuguese trading post while the captain of the Bella Rosa would command the trading fleet and the garrison. He would oversee all repairs and the transfer of the prisoners to Elmina to be sold in slavery. He would also make certain that the factory at Eko was well defended. It was the best solution that Pedro was able to come up with, given the reservations that his friends and advisors continually threw out at him. Ishmael was still opposed to him commanding the expedition, but he had relented in his protests when Pedro had put his foot down. It had helped that Pedro had agreed to let him come along as well.

The weather proved to be good and it took only three days of sailing to travel across the Gulf of Benin and then down the western coast of Africa to the mouth of the Kongo. That trip proved uneventful. The lookouts upon the Hawk spotted no craft at all, whether European or otherwise. To Ishmael that was a blessing. Of course that changed the moment the Hawk dropped anchor off the estuary of the great river, a few miles short of Mbanza-Sonyo, the regional capital. Then there were craft a plenty to keep an eye on.

"I've posted double lookouts," Ishmael informed Pedro, "and I told them to keep an eye out for trouble just in case the Condor has ships or men in this region."

Pedro was in his cabin aboard the Hawk. The cabin was small and cramped at the best of times. It was particularly cramped that evening as Pedro entertained both Ishmael and Bartholomew at his table. Their meal was a simple fare of stewed salted meat and dried fruit. Pedro sat upon his bunk and ate while his two guests sat on the carriage of the stern chaser that shared Pedro's cabin.

"That's good, although I doubt we will have trouble here," Pedro acknowledged in a thoughtful manner before picking up his wine cup and drinking from it. When he'd finished he put it down and continued. "Still one does not know, do they? Until Esteban we did not know that we had traitors in our midst and until the death of Dom Jose we did not know how far the Condor's grasping fingers went. Now we have four prisoners in chains back in Eko in addition to our good friend Captain Santiago."

"I would not call the man a friend, Dom Pedro," Ishmael stated with a scowl upon his face and bitterness in his words, "but I suppose he is a better man than the others. At least I have not had to put hot irons to his flesh to get him to speak of what he knew."

"Unfortunately Captain did not know much or we would have been here long ago," Pedro muttered in reply, "and our mission would already be completed. Still the man's testimony will serve us well when we return to Lisbon and confront the Condor before the King of Portugal. His words added to those of Esteban and the three sailors we now hold will see to it that the man's head will leave his shoulders."

"Something that I wish we could see with our own eyes," Bartholomew sighed in disgust, "but that will not be. The Spaniards will want him to stand before their king and queen to answer for his crimes and King Manuel will give him to them."

"He is an ambassador, old friend," Pedro reminded his first mate. "It would be war for Portugal to deal with him directly, regardless of his crimes against my House. I will simply be happy when he is gone."

"I would be happier if he ran instead," Bartholomew declared with a smile forming on his lips. Can you imagine that my Captain. If the Condor fled his office and turned pirate like the rogues he set upon our trading fleet. Then we could hunt him down and punish him ourselves."

"We could," Ishmael muttered in agreement, "but that will not happen. The man is a schemer and a player of games. So long as he has friends and influence in the court of both Spain and Portugal, the Condor will use it to protect himself. There is a chance he may even escape justice."

"No!" Bartholomew exclaimed in abhorrence. "Do not tell me that."

"Enough," Pedro growled looking at both men in a stern manner. "The fate of Don Hugo is a matter for another day and we will not talk of it again until that day comes about. I also pray that he flees the protection of his office, but as Ishmael has pointed out, anything is possible and Don Hugo is a crafty man. So until that day comes, let us talk instead of tomorrow."

"Agreed," Ishmael declared eagerly.

"Very well Captain," Bartholomew accepted with a sigh, "although I will still dream of what I would do to the man if he ever crosses our path. It will make my slumber peaceful."

"I imagine it will be very enjoyable," Pedro chuckled at the thought, "but now we must speak of tomorrow and our immediate plans."

"We'll need fresh water and supplies," Bartholomew began, thinking of the coming days ahead of them. "The port at Mbanza-Sonyo is well enough equipped to meet our needs. We can anchor there tomorrow and trade for what we need. Then when the Hawk is provisioned we can sail inland towards Mbanza-Kongo."

"Will it take long to reach the kingdom's capital?" Ishmael asked out of curiosity, glancing over to the man seated beside him.

"Not really," Bartholomew informed him. "The city is about fifty or so miles up the river. The Hawk could row that in two days without any great effort. Once there we will need to decide what to do next."

"We take on more fresh provisions," Pedro muttered absentmindedly, "and then we continue inland. Santiago showed me on his charts where the Condor's secret base was and how to get to it. While the Hawk cannot carry us all the way, it can get us within striking distance. Then we will transfer to the canoes we brought along with us and when we cannot use them any longer, we will walk the rest of the way."

"And with luck," Ishmael stated in a low voice, "we will reach the enemy undetected."

"I pray so my friend," Pedro said in agreement. "I most certainly do."

"Where is she?"

Don Hugo looked up from his desk, startled by the voice that addressed him. His eyes narrowed and his face darkened as he recognized his niece, Dona Isabella.

"What are you doing here?" Don Hugo asked tersely. "I commanded that you remain in your chambers for the time being."

"I escaped," Isabella declared rebelliously as she strode into her uncle's study. "It has been over two weeks since I spoke to you last and I have heard no news regarding Sister Angelique. What has happened to her?"

"She is dead," Don Hugo said flatly, sitting back in his tall-backed chair as he spoke so he could see his niece's expression as her mind accepted the words that he had just spoken. "She was murdered."

"No!" Isabella muttered in protest, bringing her right hand up and crossing herself as she did.

"Yes foolish girl, so you had best accept it," Don Hugo sneered back at his niece, "She was brutally raped and murdered by Dom Roberto. The man left her body in his bed and then he fled, taking his family and his entourage with him. The King of Portugal is enraged."

"No, that cannot be!" Isabella exclaimed in protest, her face frantic with denial. "The Count de Alvarez would not do such a thing. He is an honourable man."

"The Count de Alvarez is a murderer and a criminal," Don Hugo declared sternly, "and one day I am certain that his body will be found, slain by righteous men."

"I do not believe you Uncle," Isabella cried back at Don Hugo. "I know Dom Roberto and he is not that kind of man."

"You know him do you?" Don Hugo stated more as an acknowledgement of fact and not a question. "I am certain that you do, although I am also certain that you know very little about him except that he is the uncle of that whelp who pirated my ship. Beyond that you know nothing."

"I know as God is my witness that Dom Roberto is a kind man and not a murderer like you!" Isabella blurted out at her uncle, forgetting herself in the fit of anger and despairs that she was experiencing at that moment.

"You know do you?" Don Hugo chuckled softly. "You know nothing child, but I will hear you out and listen to your accusations. Tell me who I have murdered, so that I may protest my innocence."

"You murdered Don Sebastian de Sousa while he was a guest under the protection of your roof," Isabella threw back into her uncle's face.

"The man died in his sleep, drunk on wine," Don Hugo responded dismissively. "Everyone in this house knows that, as do the King of Portugal and their royal majesties, the King and Queen of Spain."

"That is a lie Uncle," Isabella shouted out, now standing in front of Don Hugo's desk. "You sent Alfonso to slay him so that Dom Roberto could not tell him of the schemes that you have involved yourself in here in Lisbon."

"And you know this how foolish girl? Don Hugo asked with a mocking smile upon his lips. "Did a little angel tell you this?"

"No," Isabella declared with a shake of her head, "Sister Angelique heard you give the order."

"Did you hear that Alfonso?" Don Hugo asked loudly, looking past his niece towards the door that gave entrance into his study. "The little whore confesses to being a spy."

"I did indeed Excellency," Alfonso stated in reply, a twisted laugh clinging to his voice.

Isabella spun about on hearing the man's voice. The man was standing in the doorway to the study with a look of evil upon his face. Behind him and still outside the chamber there stood two members of Don Hugo's household guard.

"My niece has escaped her chambers Alfonso," Don Hugo growled with some annoyance in his voice, "and that is not a situation that I will accept. You are to punish her attendants for failing in their duties."

"I will do that your Excellency, with pleasure," Alfonso responded, bowing his head in a curt salute as he spoke. "And what should I do with Dona Isabella? I doubt that you wish her escaping again."

"You are correct my good Captain," Don Hugo answered, his voice filled with malevolence. "I think that instead of the fine chambers that she has occupied as of late, that she now be placed in the dungeon beneath this residence."

"No!" Isabella cried out in disbelief. "You cannot do that to me. I am your niece."

"You are a fool and a meddlesome child," Don Hugo snapped back at his niece, "and as for being my niece, I do not care. I hated your father and I despised your mother. She was a meddlesome whore just like you are."

"How dare you?" Isabella gasped aloud. "In God's name do you have no respect for the dead?"

"I have neither respect for the dead or the living child," Don Hugo chuckled with amusement. "I loathed my brother, your father, and I murdered him if you must know the truth. I also raped and murdered your whore of a mother. As for your accusation of me killing Don Sebastian, it is true. I ordered the man killed and Alfonso did the deed as he did my bidding in the villa of Dom Roberto."

"No!" Isabella exclaimed loudly in protest. "He didn't?"

"He did child," Don Hugo laughed back into his niece's face, "and he has done more. The sweet little nun was his work. She paid the price of betraying me as you will one day do the same. I will place you in a dungeon beneath this residence and I will leave you there until this matter is long forgotten. I may kill you one day or I may sell you to some Moorish prince. I am told they will pay a fine price for a virgin of good breeding. They love hearing their protests when they claim their prize."

"You are an evil man Uncle," Isabella sobbed openly, her face filled with disgust and horror.

"I am indeed child," Don Hugo laughed back, "and I am proud of it. I will one day soon stand behind the throne of Portugal and the treasures of their trading fleets will be mine. With that wealth I will claim my rightful place in history. I will bring down the united kingdoms of Spain and I will place myself upon that throne. It will take time, but it is certainly possible."

"You are mad!" Isabella cried out as Alfonso stepped up and laid his hands upon her.

"I may be mad child," Don Hugo snapped sharply, standing up from behind his desk as he spoke, "but I will succeed while you rot beneath this residence. Take her away!"

With that Alfonso pulled Dona Isabella back towards the door that accessed Don Hugo's study. The young woman did not resist him. What fight had been in her was now spent. All she did was cry and weep aloud. He had her half way out the door when Don Hugo halted their progress with his parting shot.

"Oh yes my child," Don Hugo called out after his niece, "I forgot to tell you one last thing that you should know before I have you tossed into the darkness of the dungeon. It is a small matter but an important one, at least to you."

"What?" Isabella managed to gasp in reply.

"I meant to tell you something about Dom Pedro," Don Hugo stated in a lowered voice, watching as his niece's face took on a look of hope. Then he dashed it. "The whelp will not be coming to rescue you child. Like his uncle and his father before him, Dom Pedro is dead. Please remember that when you are alone in the dark."

With those words Dona Isabella cried out once and then she fainted. As her body dropped to the floor her uncle just stood behind his desk and laughed. He kept laughing until Alfonso and the guards with him picked up the fainted girl and carried her off. Then the man called for wine and went back to work. He had things that needed doing.

"Nothing," Ishmael grunted as he climbed up the steps to the poop deck of the Hawk and he walked over to where Pedro stood. "I didn't learn a thing."

The Hawk had just raised its anchors and the oarsmen were below decks pulling the craft away from the shoreline of Mbanza-Sonya. As they did, the two men stood and talked.

"I sent Rashid ashore with As-wad," Ishmael continued, lowering his voice. "As-wad speaks a bit of the local tongue. He told me it was similar to what he spoke as a boy. My hope was that the two of them would learn something. Unfortunately they did not."

"I didn't expect you to learn anything," Pedro replied in a lowered voice, "but we had to ask."

"True Dom Pedro," Ishmael agreed with a sigh. "It is still frustrating."

"I know, but it was expected Ishmael so do not take it so hard," Pedro told his friend, leading him away from Bartholomew and the helmsman as the spoke. Eventually they stood at the aft railing. For a moment or two neither man said another word. They simply gazed out over the wake of the Hawk. Then when the vessel was once again in midstream of the great river, Pedro continued. "You must remember that these people do not look with the same eyes as you and me. If I spy a ship sailing past while standing on the shore at Eko, I can tell if she belongs to my House or to another or if she is a threat to us. These people do not see that. They see a foreign craft and that is it. Besides I doubt that the Condor's men fly the flag of Spain from their mastheads. Knowing the man it is more likely that they have slinked by in the night on their way up the river."

"I still do not like it," Ishmael grumbled as much to himself as to his master, refusing to let go of the issue.

"Well in two to three days we will be off Mbanza-Kongo," Pedro stated with a chuckle. "You can send them ashore there and see what you can find out there. Just be warned, I doubt that you will learn much if anything at all."

Three days later Pedro's prophecy came true. Once anchored beneath the towering heights of Mbanza-Kongo Ishmael sent Rashid and As-wad ashore once more. When they had returned they reported learning nothing new. To make matters worse, neither had the two men Bartholomew had sent ashore from the Hawk. They were men taken from the Bella Rosa because they had journeyed to the Kingdom of Kongo before under the command of Dom Jose and they had taken part in the trading with the locals. They knew merchants and traders both in Mbanza-Sonyo and Mbanza-Kongo and they spoke some of the local language. Both Pedro and Bartholomew had hoped that the men would help them gather some intelligence. Unfortunately there was none to be had. The Condor's men had taken care not to be seen.

"So what now?" Ishmael asked in a low grumble, already knowing the answer that he would get.

"We move up the river until we reach the point where the Hawk will no longer pass," Pedro told him firmly, "and then we lower the canoes that we brought with us and we move on. Captain Santiago gave specific details on how to find the Condor's secret lair as did the men we questioned from the pirate vessels that we captured at Eko. We should have no problem finding it."

"I know," Ishmael sighed in response, looking at his master pensively as he did. "I just think we should rethink our plan."