Kushiel's Avatar - Jacqueline Carey [107]
"Nesmut," I said gently. He met my eyes with reluctance. "Whatever it is you fear to say, I swear, I will never divulge that I learned it from you. I swear it in the name of Blessed Elua, and that is an oath no D'Angeline may break."
The boy stared into his cup, lowering his head until his hair obscured his face. "It is said," he murmured, "that the D'Angelines who came, the others, are looking for the boy. Why else would Rekhmire go to Chouma's house only then? So it is true. What is the name it is death to tell Pharaoh's men?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "Pharaoh."
It made sense, although I wished it did not. I should have thought of it myself. Terre d'Ange does not permit traffic in D'Angeline flesh. Of a surety, if Pharaoh had a fancy for a D'Angeline slave-boy, it would be a whim best concealed.
Fadil Chouma had a buyer in mind; one, only one, mind. . .
If Pharaoh had bought Imriel, it was done in secrecy, no doubt with Chouma's assurances that the lad was no one, a shepherd boy who would never be missed. I thought of the others, the children we found in Amílcar. It would have been true, had it been either of them. But no, it was Imriel, and now there was a delegation on Pharaoh's doorstep offering lucrative trade-rights, asking for the child's return.
"Elua!" Joscelin breathed. He looked ill. "If it's true, he could never admit it."
"No," I said. "He would give every evidence of cooperating. And I daresay it would be worth one's life to suggest a word otherwise. No," I sighed, "it's too late for diplomacy. We need to find out if it's true, first."
"And if it is?" Joscelin raised his brows.
"We'll have to steal him," I said. Nesmut let out a startled squeak. I glanced mildly at him. "I told you it was grave enough to warrant your oath."
From the look on his face, I daresay he agreed.
THIRTY-TWO
THE FIRST order of business was to determine whether or not Imriel de la Courcel was indeed housed within the Palace of Pharaohs.
After his initial shock, Nesmut proved a valuable ally; I'd not done ill in trusting him. The oath he'd sworn was a binding one, and Nesmut, balanced on the cusp of adulthood, regarded it with a boy's solemnity and a man's sense of duty.
Once he put his mind to the matter, he bethought himself of a considerable number of contacts within the Palace: a laundress, a cook's apprentice, a gardener, a beer-taster. The list went on and on. It was as I had seen that morning—likeable and quick-witted, the lad knew nearly half the city. And when he was not escorting foreigners about Iskandria, he ran errands and carried messages and gossip for coin.
So had Hyacinthe done.
As he became caught up in the spirit of conspiracy, Nesmut's eyes shone with eagerness and I had to remind him to lower his voice, to speak in coded reference to our plan. Whether or not any of the other patrons spoke Hellene, I did not know, but I was taking no chances. Elua, but he was young! It made me uneasy.
"No one," I instructed him, "is to take the slightest risk to gain this information, do you hear me? No one, and most especially not you." My lord Delaunay's voice echoed in my head. He'd said much the same to me, on numerous occasions. I'd usually ignored him.
"I hear you, gracious lady." Nesmut nodded vigorously. "No risk. Only to observe."
And that, too, rang familiar, with all the brash assurance of my youth. The irony of it was not lost upon me. Melisande Shahrizai taught my lord Delaunay to use people to his own ends; as he had used me,as he had used Alcuin, ruthless and guilt-ridden, honoring a vow the rest of the world had forgotten. He'd had little choice, for the doors of the society whose secrets he sought to penetrate had been closed to him.
As the doors to Pharaoh's secrets were barred to me.
And now I must needs use Nesmut to gain access to the lower echelons of Menekhetan society, to ferret out those secrets through the only avenue possible, in order to fulfill my vow to Melisande Shahrizai.
No, the