Chapter 8: The Rescue

At that moment, Tania appeared behind the guards with her hands raised.

“Gentlemen, please,” she said in Arabic.

“I was only interested in your slaves. I heard they’re of very fine quality. I tried to buy them, but your men at the entrance would not allow me to come this far.”

The soldiers looked at her in astonishment.

“Who is this Berber woman? What is she doing here?”

they began to murmur.

The one-eyed man looked at her and stepped closer.

“What do you want?”

he asked.

“The slaves. I want to buy them all,”

Tania replied.

All the men burst into laughter.

“There must be fifty people in that cave. Only Al-Mansur or the Sultan himself could afford such an outrageous number.”

Tania reached beneath her clothes, pulled out her leather pouches, and tossed their contents to the ground: hundreds of gold coins, diamonds, gemstones, and jewelry. The men had never seen so much wealth in one place.

“I’ve told you already—this should be more than enough. With it you could buy land and properties, which surely are worth more than the men inside,”

Tania countered.

“Why do you want the slaves? Tell me,”

the one-eyed soldier pressed.

“The Holy Prophet commanded us to perform acts of mercy. Is that a sin?”

the goddess answered, meeting his gaze defiantly.

“But, sir,” one of the soldiers said,

“that boy over there looks exactly like the one who attacked us this morning in Coimbra. The sketch drawn of him is almost identical.”

“Is that true? Are you the one who controls this jinn?”

the one-eyed soldier demanded, resting his hand on the hilt of his scimitar.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why would my bodyguard be a demon? He is a eunuch, deeply devoted to the teachings of Muhammad,”

the red-haired goddess tried to argue, though the soldier still eyed her suspiciously.

Tania then unclasped the golden necklace with precious stones from her neck and threw it onto the pile of treasure.

“And I’ll add this as compensation for the harm my bodyguard caused your men. Forgive him—he can be a little rough at times, but he is not a jinn, I can assure you,” she said.

The guard released the scimitar’s hilt and nodded, ordering his men to stand down. Meanwhile, Rodrigo emerged from the cavern with the freed citizens of Coimbra. The guards made no move to stop them, and Rodrigo, along with the former captives, began to walk slowly out.

“Fine,” the one-eyed guard said.

“But do not set foot in this region again—or you will pay dearly.”

Forcing as much of a smile as she could, Tania answered,

“Of course, of course, don’t worry about trouble. May Allah grant you all a long and prosperous life.”

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Rodrigo, Tania, and the others finally left the camp, tears and shouts of joy erupting among the freed people as they thanked them for saving them.

“Don’t worry, it was the least I could do for you,”

Tania replied.

“The road to Penacova is long, and we only have two horses,” Tania said with a smile.

“Can you endure the walk? It will be about five hours.”

Rodrigo noticed that, for the first time, Tania’s smile was genuine and not forced. She was truly enjoying helping others, he thought.

“Yes, we’ll carry the children as best we can,”

said the leader of the group.

“If you like, take turns using the horses for those who can’t walk far,” Rodrigo added.

“The woman and I will walk.”

It was a long journey to Penacova, nearly six hours, but the people, filled with joy at their rescue, endured the night march.

“Hey, thank you for saving me,”

Rodrigo said to Tania as they walked ahead of the caravan.

“It’s nothing. There are always ways to resolve these things in the human world,”

she replied.

Rodrigo hesitated a little before mentioning the following

“That brilliance of the moon—was that you as well?”

Rodrigo pressed.

Tania smiled but remained silent.

“And that money, where did you…?”

Rodrigo began, but the goddess abruptly cut him off.

“It was part of my savings, all right?” Tania said sharply. Then she added,

“We are not allowed to create gold or money either, since it disrupts the human economy. That wealth I’ve been saving for years. Don’t worry—it’s fine.”

Rodrigo smiled. He had thought Tania to be heartless and detached from humanity, but it seemed he had misjudged her.

When they reached Penacova, Tania went to every inn and private house, paying so that the people could be sheltered. Some, out of the goodness of their hearts, gave free lodging to the survivors of the Coimbra massacre. Tania smiled in a way Rodrigo had never seen before.

“Well, look at that—you actually made that gorgon queen smile,” Rodrigo heard behind him. Turning, he saw it was Ana.

“You know, it’s been a long time since I last saw her smile like that.”

The next morning, Tania and Rodrigo prepared to leave the village, but not before saying farewell. The townspeople thanked them, offering hugs and gifts, little though they had, to their saviors. Rodrigo felt a tug at his cloak and saw it was the little girl he had rescued outside Coimbra.

“Thank you, sir. I know you are angels sent by God to help us. Thank you, thank you,”

the girl said, tears in her eyes.

Rodrigo patted her head and urged her to be strong. The girl nodded.

“Do not worry for your dead—we will return to Coimbra and give them a proper burial, so that they may be with Christ after the End of Days,”

Rodrigo told the people, who wept and nodded in agreement.

Ana approached Rodrigo and Tania, leading a third horse she had just purchased, a dappled brown one.

“Are you ready to depart?”

Ana asked.

Rodrigo and Tania nodded.

They mounted their horses and rode out of the village amid the cheers and tears of the people.

Leaving Penacova, they headed west once more, arriving at the ruins of Coimbra, where Rodrigo buried the dead and raised crosses in honor of the fallen. Tania and Ana helped him.

Fortunately, the Muslims had abandoned the city, believing it haunted. Al-Mansur had already withdrawn the day before, fleeing in terror.

“I haven’t seen you smile sincerely in a long time, Tania,”

Ana said to the fiery-haired goddess as she helped Rodrigo set up the graves.

Tania blushed.

“It’s been a while since I felt this kind of human warmth. I suppose I must have feelings after all,”

she answered.

After Rodrigo prayed and finally said farewell to his mother’s body, they set off toward the east.