Doctor Who_ Bunker Soldiers - Martin Day [57]
Dodo nodded. ‘She never has anything but praise for you.’
Nahum looked troubled. ‘She is full of virtue... and forgiveness,’ he said vaguely. ‘But the one thing that surprised her was when we became more than friends.’
‘I don’t blame you for keeping it quiet,’ said Dodo. ‘Yevhen isn’t exactly my favourite person round here either.’
‘We will tell him... one day, when the season is right. I believe my father knows, though he keeps quiet and gentle counsel. But Lesia’s father...’
‘He’d go ballistic!’
Dodo wet a square of linen with water from a pitcher that had been left at the side of the bed, and dabbed Lesia’s forehead with it. She wasn’t sure this was terribly helpful, but it seemed to be the height of medical intervention as far as she could perceive. That, and leeches.
‘I do think he cares for Lesia,’ said Dodo. ‘He just doesn’t know how to show it.’
Nahum nodded. ‘We all express our deep feelings in ways that are true to our inner character,’ he said.
‘Sorry?’
‘A phrase of my father’s. We are all consistent, in line with our virtue, our measure of received and expressible love.’
‘I asked Yevhen for permission to sit with Lesia,’ said Dodo.
‘Actually, I ran into him in a corridor and I didn’t want to do anything to cause him further irritation. You know, he seemed genuinely happy that I was so concerned. He told me what a fine girl she was, how like her mother, and how proud he was of her.’
‘She died in childbirth.’
‘Who?’
‘Lesia’s mother. She died bringing Lesia into the world.’
Dodo paused. ‘Is that why Yevhen is so awful to everyone?’
Nahum shook his head. ‘He has always been self-seeking,’ he said, with remarkably little malice in his voice. ‘But now he has another reason to rail against the iniquities of the world.’
‘That’s one thing I don’t understand,’ said Dodo. ‘Ever since we arrived, you can feel the fear in the air. Most people are just waiting for the Mongols to show up and kill them.’ She got to her feet, drawn to the window and the grey vista beyond. ‘And yet you carry on as if nothing is the matter. You joke, and you laugh... You fall in love.’
Nahum did not reply instantly. When she turned to look at him, his face showed only puzzlement. ‘But that is how this world is.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘I do not understand what you are saying.’
‘I suppose...’ Dodo sighed. ‘I suppose I’m just saying that where I come from, life is pretty much a doddle. Women rarely die in childbirth, diseases don’t wipe out entire cities – Mongol hordes aren’t forever waiting around the next corner for the right time to invade.’
‘Then you and your people must be truly blessed, and the streets must resound with singing!’
‘Hardly,’ said Dodo. ‘If anything, it makes people worse.’
‘Then it is as I said,’ concluded Nahum. ‘By our actions, and not by our circumstances, do you see the true colour of our hearts.’
Dodo smiled. ‘Do you say this sort of thing to Lesia?’
‘If she allows me.’
‘No wonder she fancies you something rotten.’
The room was a mess with papers, books and writing materials covering every possible surface: the floor, chairs, a low table set just in front of the window. But despite this, it was opulent: one wall was dominated by a great tapestry showing a hunting scene, and gold-coloured cloth hung in costly cascades from the canopy over the bed. The man could not believe how quickly the chamber’s new occupant had brought it down into a mire of untidiness and dirt. It only confirmed his worst suspicions.
The man glanced down at some of the parchments, and saw arcane symbols and satanic language captured in ink. He averted his eyes, lest the meaningless written languages of Babel corrupt him, then strode towards the window and pulled the shutters together.
Without warning, the door on the far side of the room opened. The old Jewish adviser stepped