Kushiel's Chosen - Jacqueline Carey [130]
I smiled faintly at his ribaldry, pitying the poor woman. After what I had seen today, I was of no mind to mock Asherat's powers.
Common sense, indeed; but I had not told the priestess my question.
THIRTY-FIVE
To my surprise, all my chevaliers and Joscelin as well had returned by the dinner hour—and with the exception of the latter, who was quiet and indrawn, all gave a good accounting of their day. Unfortunately, there was little to be gained from it. Remy had been turned away at the entrance of the Little Court; the guards had accepted my letter and sent him on his way, warning him pessimistically that the D'Angeline Prince held few audiences these days, and there was a long list of requests. He had haunted the perimeter for the better part of the day to no avail. Prince Benedicte's guards were strict on duty, and housed within the Court itself, so he had no access within.
Fortun had spent a fruitless day trailing couriers in Stregazzan livery, although he described to me with great relish the inner workings of the Arsenal, the great shipyard. There was an ongoing negotiation, it seemed, between Sestieri Dogal and Sestieri Navis. Well and fine, it might influence the election, but it meant little to me.
For his part, Ti-Philippe had been carousing with those of the Immortali who had not accompanied Severio and me. He had lost nearly a purseful of silver denari, but he had to show for it somewhat more valuable; to me, at any rate. The mother of one of the Immortali attended the Doge's wife— I'd not even known she yet lived, such was the role of women in La Serenissima—and regularly sought the services of her lady's astrologer, although the man had been disgraced and no longer served the Stregazza.
"Good," I said to him. "Find out how I might make an appointment with the man." I gazed at Joscelin. "Do you have aught to report?"
He gave an awkward shrug. "I found out the Yeshuite quarter. 'Tis much the same here as at home; they argue among themselves, and speak of a northern destination. Worse, though. Yeshuites here are confined to their own quarter, yet forbidden to own property. The men may have no congress with Serenissiman women, and those hats, they must wear at all times to identify themselves."
What he did there, I did not ask. I was sorry for the plight of the Yeshuites, but I could not afford to worry over whether or not Joscelin Verreuil had become a part of their grand prophecy. I related instead my own day's adventure.
Predictably, Joscelin was irate. "You should not have gone out without an escort! Bad enough it's soldiers and sailors, and not respectable women, like the Serenissimans have—to venture out on your own, without a single companion! Phèdre, it's folly."
"Well, and I would not have," I retorted coolly, "if you'd not left in a temper. But I did, and no harm done."
"It's stupid." Ti-Philippe scratched his healing nose. "The prophecy, I mean. You always find what you're looking forin the last place you look, don't you? Why keep looking after you find it?"
"I know," I said patiently. "The thing of it is, I never asked the question aloud, which makes me believe the answer worth considering. If I might guess, I think the meaning is more subtle. I think we will find Melisande in the place we least expect her."
"Selling fish at the market," Remy offered in jest.
"Or wiping gruel from the Doge's chin," Ti-Philippe added.
"Changing the swaddling clothes of Prince Benedicte's infant son," suggested Fortun with a trace of a smile.
I could not stop them, once they were off and running— driving mules along the salt-pans, blowing glass on Isla Vitrari, tanning hides, teaching archery. With