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she didn’t open her eyes.
    The latches that secured the door rattled as loudly as cannons when I undid them with trembling fingers.
    I slipped into the garden. The clouds had hidden the moon, and I had to run my fingers along the wall of the house to guide me as I made my way around it. Though I had walked it countless times, in the dark it seemed strange and new.
    The fragrance of the oranges hanging from the boughs sweetened the air. A figure clad in dark clothing stepped out from behind the trunk of the tree, making me jump. A cloud danced away from the moon, revealing Yonah’s face.
    “I was afraid that you wouldn’t come,” he whispered.
    “I had to wait until everybody was asleep.”
    He was standing so close that I could feel his breath on my face.
    “Tell me about your betrothal,” he said.
    We sat down on the ground under the heavy boughs and I recounted the events of the last few days. I even told him how the memory of Luis’s lips on my cheek sent a chill down my spine. The words tumbled out of my mouth. I could not stop them any more than I could have stopped the flow of a river. Then, I found myself repeating what Mama and Papa had told me. The minute the words escaped my lips I wished that I could take them back. My parents had made it very clear that their secret was not mine to share.
    It was as if Yonah could read my mind. “Your secret is safe with me. I understand now why I felt as if I had always known you the minute my eyes fell upon your face. You are one of us.”
    I swept away a tear. I was happy that the darkness covered my distress.
    “I don’t know where I belong,” I said. “I have always believed in the Lord Jesus. Now … I don’t know what I am supposed to believe.”
    “You belong to God’s chosen people. You are oneof us,” he repeated. “It is your duty to discover this. I will help you do it.”
    I looked into his eyes. “How?”
    “Do you know anything about being Jewish?”
    I shook my head. “Nothing. You are the first person of the Jewish faith I have ever met. Your people keep apart.”
    “We have no choice. But it wasn’t always so. My father told me that Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived peacefully side by side for centuries in our kingdom. We were good neighbors and all the children played together. We respected each other’s beliefs and traditions. All that has been wiped away during the last hundred years. The Christians became our masters. They made slaves of the Muslims. They converted some Jews to Christianity by the sword. The rest of us were forced into ghettos, called
Juderias
. We had no choice. We still don’t. We must still live in them.”
    “I’ve seen Jews with red and white badges on the streets, but I have never spoken to one of your race.”
    “
Our
race?”
    I didn’t know how to reply. Was I really one of those Jews … reviled and hated by all and doomed to go to hell? How could that be? After all, I was Doña Isabel, the daughter of the queen’s favorite physician, respected and admired by everyone. “You are mistaken, Yonah. Ihave nothing in common with your people!” I stood up and dusted off my skirts. “I must go.”
    “Think about what I’ve told you,” he called after me. “I can help you to become one of us.”
    I clamped my hands over my ears to shut out his voice, but I couldn’t shut out the thoughts crowding my head as I fumbled my way back to my chamber. I did want to learn about my family’s old religion, but if I did, would I be punished with eternal damnation for my curiosity? I couldn’t forget about the young woman and her baby marching to their deaths in the dreadful procession I’d witnessed. If the Inquisitors discovered my interest in the old ways, would I share the girl’s fate – or even worse?
    Safe in my room, I dropped to my knees, as I always did when anything disturbed me. I prayed to the Virgin for guidance. I prayed for her to help me make the right decision.
    The choice was taken out