My name is Roger Avery, but everyone calls me Rogerio. I’m a merchant, a wealthy merchant and one of the leading men in our town, with interests in loans, business, mining, and irrigation.
As you can imagine, with me going on and on about myself, I’ll get ahead of myself, so allow me to explain.
Let me start at the beginning, of course. It begins with our ship, the Capriccio. It was an enormous vessel with considerably more cargo space than most people in our town could afford: a sumptuous toucans to be sold in the Americas; hunks of silver to be traded in Araby; and a quantity of Aztec gold we received from our neighbor to the north, Tenochtitlan.
We were en route to our destination of Talaccac, on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. I kept a journal, which you will find of great interest. Right now, though, I was on the main deck, having dinner with the captain. He was a southern Italian, his name was Salvatore Tanus, and he was quite the charmer. I had seen him through the slave market several times, as I occasionally bought slaves for my estates. He liked my money, so he always showed up for dinner, even though it was well after the sun had set, with tickets in hand.
On that night, there were numerous guests on the Capriccio’s main deck. One of them was a thin, and rather unattractive, gentleman with a goatee. We had not had much experience with the men of this land, but based on my discussions with Tanus, and his crew members, we could only assume he was one of the keepers of the mysteries.
Tanus sat and conversed with him in different languages, the last I heard being in Greek. There were many other guests, some of whom were friends of Tanus and the others were various traders and merchants, who were on board to make the remainder of their journey and conduct business with the keepers of the mysteries.
As we ate, they talked and shared stories, while I simply watched the stars.
“Who taught you the secrets of the stars,” Tanus asked the man.
“Tutankhamun did, of course,” he replied.
“That sounds like it was a long time ago,” said Tanus. “Do you remember what he said?”
“He said, when you look up at the stars, you can learn a lot about the universe. He also said, when we are asking questions, we are learning.”
“I can always learn more about how magic works,” I said. “I am interested in it, especially after the events of last year.”
“What events?” the man asked.
“Nothing, nothing,” Tanus said. “What are you doing next?”
“Supervising the first three weeks of training.”
“That’s enough time,” said Tanus.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“The officers-in-training will become captains of ships, following our return,” he said. “Sailing around the Indies, or the Americas, or whatever it is you’re about to get into.”
“What about you?” I asked.
“I’m going to travel around covering territory. When we return, I’ll go where I’m needed.”
“I’m sorry,” the man said. “In the past two years, I have overseen slave hunts, farming, and ship construction. I have supervised more than 20 new captains. I may travel less after I return; who knows?”
“You could always escape,” I said.
“I would, if I could.”
Tanus turned to me. “What are your plans?”
“I’m going to hold court as my father told the men.”
“In the Americas?” he asked.
“Why not? That’s where all this terrible witchcraft comes from, right? I could go to the Indies, or the Americas.”
“Haven’t you always preferred the Americas?”
“Not enough space on the ships. As for the Americas, well, there's no trade there. We're not big enough to do anything substantial. If I were in the Indies, I wouldn't need to worry about such things.”
“And Europe?” Tanus asked.
“I’ve been weary lately,” I said, “I think I’ll get settled somewhere in France or Germany.”
“Oh, that is a good idea. You would be in good company.”
“Who is this European witch hunter that they speak of?” I asked.
“Who knows,” Tanus replied. “It is just a name.”
“Who is it?”
“Some professor, unmighty, and unknown.” He then looked out at the stars. “Oh, what is the name? I am certain that I have heard it in the last two years.”
“What’s the name?” the man asked.
“Cornelio Sforza,” Tanus replied.
All of us were shocked. We were silent.
“Do you know Cornelio Sforza?” he asked.
Tanus was silent.
“I have heard that name before,” I said.
“That’s not possible,” said Tanus. “You’re a merchant with no relation to the aristocracy.”
“And I have heard about Cornelio Sforza,” I said. “I have certainly read of him.”
“So you know,” Tanus said, “and Cornelio Sforza knows you, if he knows of you.”
“What do you mean?” asked the man.
“Tanus is thinking,” I said. “Isn’t he a good thinker? He is silent, too.”
“What is he thinking?” the man asked.
“I have some good arms on my crew,” said Tanus. “I have some good men in my crew. They are loyal, they are brave. I have good men working for me. Good men that have died before. They died because of books. They died because we did not have the knowledge to defeat them, and so they died.”
“Well, you’ll never catch Cornelio Sforza. He invents things that go the speed of light.”
“I would catch him,” Tanus said, confidently. “He is older than you, and doesn't believe in space or time. I will give you a few weeks, he does not know me.”
“Well that is quite a contradiction, since you have been in these very waters for 12 years.”
“I was always for the intellectual,” Tanus said. “You have to have the head on your side in order to catch him.”
I had always followed Tanus’ advice in the past. I decided to ask him his thoughts and news.
“Let me be very clear,” I said, “you have been quite active in the lands with witch hunting, and hunting and hunting captains. Tell us what you know about Cornelio Sforza.”
“I have seen Cornelio Sforza,” said Tanus. “I doubt you will find me. He is first in line. He governs the books. He governs the three seas. He governs the Americas, and he will govern the Indies.”
“Oh what?” I exclaimed. “I will list you with Cornelio Sforza and tell you that he is first in line, and that he governs the books, and all of the three seas.
“You see, until Cornelio Sforza reveals his plan, yours makes sense. He thinks that he is strong enough to lead Europe. He does not know me. He does not know what I am. I will tell you this, if he does not understand me, he is not going to understand you. He will have no explanation for why you have been in the Americas for the last two years, and why he has not charted you. Additionally, he will have to explain how he captured that one-eyed captain on his agreement. Cornelio Sforza will be left with his tail between his legs.”
“Tell us what you think of this,” Tanus said to the man.
“You don't know much about Cornelio Sforza,” the man replied. “Let me introduce myself. I am Ulrich. I am a merchant in Venice.” He then took out a large book. “This is my book of maps. It contains all of the world. It is large, and hard to use, but I have every city in it.”
He then flipped through a series of pages and handed me some more books.
“Let me introduce you,” he said. “These are my charts, showing all of the cities, ports, and islands. They will help you track them down.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“These are my books. They are about the Indians and the American Indians. Some of you know that there are more than 10 million Indians in the Americas, but only two million Spanish.” He handed me a book with a map of the Americas.
“I married into a good family,” he continued. “I am the great-grandson of Henriques, who was a knight and a great leader in the early days of our trade in the Americas. He even led a group that went to the Indies and sent back reports. I was the first to establish trade on the Magellan Strait and the Pacific Ocean.”
“Do you know where I can find Cornelio Sforza?” I asked.
“No, I don’t,” he said.
“Tell us what you know about him,” I said.
“Well, I used to be a young merchant with a sense of adventure, like you.”
“Like me,” said Tanus.
“Yes, like you.” He then flipped through his books. “I was able to crew on both the Dutch and English ships. I was in the Netherlands and then, when I was in England, I decided to work for a few years with a little book seller, who was very well known in the land – the man that published Malleus Maleficarum; for the last three years.”
“Impressive,” said Tanus.
“I went to his book shop with some herbs and treated myself to this book called Malleus Maleficarum.”
“The witch hunter?” I asked.
“Yes, this is the one that you don’t know anything about,” he said.
