Kushiel's Chosen - Jacqueline Carey [242]
All of this and more I wrote, suggesting allies and courses of action, debating the allegiance of Ghislain de Somerville, who may or may not have been complicit in his father's plans. I wrote too much, no doubt, for I had been alone with these thoughts for weeks on end, and putting them to paper was almost like sharing them. At last I gauged the position of the sun and saw how much time had passed, and set myself to writing the second missive.
This one was to Duc Barquiel L'Envers.
To him, I wrote only this, my hand shaking somewhat as I set pen to paper. "Your Grace, pay heed to the words of the Duchese Roxanne de Mereliot, the Lady of Marsilikos. All that I have told her is true. By the burning river, I adjure you to hold the City of Elua against all claimants, including Duc Percy de Somerville."
It was done. I sanded my writing, tilting the page to remove the excess and blowing on the ink. It was only onecity in a realm of seven provinces, but it was the City of Elua, the only place in Terre d'Ange that Blessed Elua made his own, and no one, man or woman or child, may be rightfully crowned sovereign of the realm anywhere but there. If this worked—oh, Elua, if it worked!—I owed a greater debt than words could utter to Nicola L'Envers y Aragon, who had sought in good faith to convince me that her cousin Barquiel and I threatened to tear Ysandre in twain with our mistrust of one another, who gave me the sacred password of her House as proof of her earnestness. It doesn 't matter what you. believe. Just remember it.
And Delaunay's pupil to the end, I had recorded it in memory, along with her wry smile and farewell kiss. Do me a favor, and don't put it to the test unless you 're truly in need.
I am in need now, Nicola, I thought, sealing this second letter with a wax taper, I am well and truly in need now, and whatever bargain you ask of me, I will make. Ah, my lord Kushiel, if your blood truly runs in the veins of House L'Envers alongside Naamah's and Elua's, let him heed this plea!
It was Timanthes who came for the letters. I gave them into his keeping.
"Demetrios is truly grieved that he could not grant your request in full," he said quietly to me. "I hope that you know this."
"I do." I met his calm gaze. "He's a good ruler, isn't he?"
"He ..." Timanthes took a deep breath. "Yes. He is."
It could have been like this, I thought, with my lord Delaunay and Rolande de la Courcel, who loved him. Delaunay would have been like this man Timanthes, with pride of place at his side, a steadfast beacon no matter whence his lord's whims turned, knowing he would always return in the
end. It would have been so, if Prince Rolande had wed his first intended, Edmée de Rocaille, who loved them both and smiled upon their friendship. The Lady Althaia understands as much, and asks no more, loving her brother and lord alike. Let Demetrios Asterius wed her, then, and have hisTimanthes as well; let no bitter rival come between them as Isabel L'Envers had done, setting in motion an irrevocable chain of betrayal and hatred.
Those events made Anafiel Delaunay what and who he was when I knew him, brilliant and ruthless and wise, and kind, too; Elua knows, I had reason to know it. And yet, I never knew him happy, save those few precious weeks before the end, when Alcuin won through his stern walls to offer him a measure of love—and even that, I had begrudged, with a child's jealousy.
"Love him well, then, Timanthes," I said, tears stinging my eyes. "It is a rare enough thing to find, a good ruler and a dear friend. Love him well, and let him do the same in turn, for Blessed Elua asks no more of us."