Chapter 30
February 1061 (453 from Hegira) Iqlīm from Demona
Corrado ran up and down those mountains that separate northern Sicily from the sea. He crossed valleys, ridges, woods and waded rivers, always holding his axe firmly in his hands. In the meantime, he fantasized about that meeting that he believed would materialize shortly thereafter. He would have recreated the sign of his father's house: the axe, the oak leaf and the red field shield. Corrado would then would have hoisted it high in battle.
He reached the sea and someone informed him that the Normans had come to Milazzo. Then, another said that they had passed the road leading to Rametta. Finally, Corrado found himself on the hills above Punta del Faro, a few miles north of Messina; the conclusion of an unexpected eastward j
