Kushiel's Chosen - Jacqueline Carey [234]
Timanthes read the letter silently, and their eyes met when he had finished. "You'll have to hear her out in a proper audience, Demetrios. This is too heavy to be decided here."
"That's what I thought." The Archon clapped his hands together, turning to address the gathered Kritians, who clustered on their benches, staring and whispering. "Thank you for coming," he called to them. "I hope you have been well entertained!" They applauded again politely, and dispersedin short order, taking their retinues of servants with them, eyeing us sidelong as they went. In the background, the other wrestlers began sluicing each other down with buckets of water drawn from the well. Demetrios Asterius touched his fingers to his lips, brows drawn in thought. "You have a ship in the harbor, yes?" he asked Kazan in Caerdicci. "I am unclear what is your stake in this matter, pirate. The law of the Temenos protects you as a supplicant, but it does not extend to matters of state if you intend harm."
Kazan looked down at him; he was a full head taller than the Archon. "What I came for, I have, son of Minos. Now I am here to see what you will do, eh, and what you will not, I will. Do you understand, you?"
"I think so." The Archon nodded briskly. "Well and so, I will hear out this request of yours, Lady Phèdre, and your ... consort, is he?"
"No," I said softly. "My lord Kazan Atrabiades and I are bound together by... mutual debts, you might say. He is not my consort."
"No?" He raised his brows again and grinned. "That's well, then. Timanthes, does her hair not shine like stars caught in night's net?" They exchanged another glance and Timanthes shook his head, smiling. "Your sister would be wroth, to hear me say such things," the Archon concluded, sounding not at all put out. "But what am I to do, hmm, when the Kore herself sends one such as this to my door? Ah, well! My dear pirate," he said to Kazan, "I suggest you find lodgings for your men in the city. I am told there are a good many inns of quality, if you have coin to pay. For your part, we will honor the dues of a supplicant who has undergone the thetalos; here, you may stay. And you, my lady." He made me a bow, the Seal of Minos banging against his bare chest as he straightened. "You, we will surely house. Timanthes, will you see it done?"
"Yes, Demetrios." Timanthes smiled at me. "It will be done."
I do not think Kazan liked the arrangements—I do not think he liked the Archon overmuch—but so it was done,and Timanthes escorted me to pleasant quarters in the West Wing of the Palace.
"The Archon will see you within the hour," he said gravely to me. "He will not keep one waiting overlong whom the Kore has sent."
"Thank you, Timanthes." I considered him. "You are very fond of him, are you not?"
One corner of his mouth rose in a smile. "Yes, my lady. I am."
I had guessed that they were lovers; rightly, it seemed. "You read the Kore's letter. Will he treat kindly with me, do you think?"
Timanthes studied the beams of the ceiling. "He will hear you out in fairness, my lady. As much would he do for any supplicant, and the children of Minos heed one another's advice, most especially when it comes from the Temenos. Will he grant you aid?" He looked soberly at me. "I cannot say. If I have read aright, you have incurred the enmity of a mighty nation, and La Serenissima lies closer to Kriti than Terre d'Ange. Consider your request wisely, my lady."
"I will," I said. "Thank you."
He left me, then. I made shift to freshen myself, washing my hands and face in a basin of water set out for that purpose, and then sat and waited, thinking on what I would say. The fine speech I had polished once upon a time had gone clear out of my head in the cavern of the Temenos, shredded to bits and lost forever by what I had undergone there. Even so, I had composed it with a very different audience in mind; I did not know what to make of this Archon, who thought nothing of receiving petitioners on the wrestling floor, whose gaze hinted at an intellect his