Kushiel's Chosen - Jacqueline Carey [199]
I was glad Glaukos was not to go, though 'twas naught to do with me; Kazan had too much use for him here. He came to the house as promised, bearing several sheets of crudely pressed paper, a fresh quill and a bottle of ink.
Since there was no suitable desk, I knelt at a table, thinking over my words and writing swiftly—in Caerdicci and not D'Angeline, that Glaukos and Kazan might scan my words for any hint of subterfuge. " 'To Roxanne, Duchese de Mereliot and Lady of Marsilikos,' " I wrote, " 'greetings from Phèdre nó Delaunay, Comtesse de Montrève. Blessed Elua grant that this letter finds you in the best of health. I write to you from the keeping of Kazan Atrabiades of Illyria, to whom I owe a debt of ransom. I am well and hale, and commend him in all ways for tendering the courtesies due my station. This letter he bears at my request, and in exchange for its swift delivery, I have promised clemency for him and all his men. I pray you treat them gently, for if you do not, I shall be forsworn and my immortal soul forfeit. Your Grace, by the friendship you bear for me and our mutual service undertaken on behalf of Her Majesty, Queen Ysandre de la Courcel, I beg of you the boon of rendering payment of a ransom of thirty thousand gold ducats to Kazan Atrabiades: half to be paid unto the bearer of this letter, one Captain Nikanor, and half to be paid to Kazan Atrabiades after he has guaranteed my safe-conduct to a place of exchange, to be divulged by Captain Nikanor. For surety of this loan, I pray you seek out my uncle Quintilius, whom you know, and remind him of the aid he pledged to send me in La Serenissima ere I journeyed. I am grateful, for there was no loan of assistance to be had in that city. Pray convey to him my apologies that I needs must ask him to give it to the fullest extent, and please be assured that I will render remuneration in full. My undying thanks to you, my lady, and Elua's blessing upon you and your house.'"
Once done, I signed my name and sprinkled sand to dry the ink. Kazan held the letter at arm's length and ponderedit, frowning, until Glaukos took it and read it aloud. Kazan could read Caerdicci, but he was long-sighted and my D'Angeline script was hard for him to make out.
"This uncle of yours, he is rich, he?" he asked when Glaukos had finished.
"He has ships," I said. "Enough to stand surety for the loan. And he will verify the authenticity of the letter, for only he and I know of his offer to send aid."
"Good." He nodded his head briskly. "It is well thought, eh?" He said something to Nikanor in Illyrian, then grinned and clapped my shoulder. "Three weeks, no less! You will see, you, how a true sailor flies!"
The men laughed and made comments I could not understand; for once, I could have cared less. No one had recognized my "uncle" as the Royal Admiral of Terre d'Ange. I daresay any D'Angeline would have done so, for Quintilius is a Caerdicci name, and unusual among us. But it is common in Caerdicca Unitas, and raised no brows among the Illyrians.
He will know, I thought, sealing the letter with wax and blowing on it. He will remember; he must! He had promised me: If you've need of aid, Phèdre nó Delaunay, know this. Do you but send word to the Lady ofMarsilikos or myself, I will come. I will come with ships; and I will come in force. I only hoped he would understand from my words that 'twas La Serenissima I meant him to assail, and not the Illyrians. Well and so; I had written as plainly as I dared, under the circumstances. The wax having cooled, I slid the letter into an oilskin pouch and gave it to Nikanor, who accepted it with great ceremony, tying it to his belt.
It was not yet noon when the ship set sail. I went, because I could not bear not to see it, and because it was a grand occasion in the village of Dobrek. An old priest hobbled down