Kushiel's Chosen - Jacqueline Carey [41]
No one noticed when the scroll fell from my nerveless fingers.
"Phèdre?" Joscelin, entering the room, checked at my expression. I looked blankly at him. "Are you all right?"
"Yes." I blinked, picked up the scroll and handed it to him. "Look."
He read it quickly—it was only a couple of lines—and looked bewildered. "Does he jest?"
"No." I shook my head. "I don't think so. He didn't seem much for humor."
" 'No one outbids the Stregazza,' " Joscelin read aloud in a flat tone. " Twenty thousand in gold to be the first.'' Ignoring the collective indrawn breath of my chevaliers anda faint squeak of astonishment from Gemma, he tossed the scroll on the table. "No poetry, no protestations of desire and no pretty sentiments in honor of Naamah," he observed. "But you can't argue with the price, if that's what matters."
I looked coolly at Joscelin. "Severio Stregazza is three-quarters Caerdicci, and raised in La Serenissima. If he lacks the grace and polish to compete with half the royal D'Angeline court, at least he has the wit to know it. I promised him no pretense. He has taken me, I think, at my word."
"He's a boor," Fortun murmured.
"Yes," I said. "He is. And I am going to accept his offer."
"What—" Gemma was still wide-eyed at the figure. "My lady, what will you do with all that money?"
I smiled. "You will see."
As it happened, they learned sooner rather than later what I intended with the sum. It took the better part of two days to hammer out the terms of the assignation, with Remy serving as my representative. He had a knack, it seemed, for such things. It was necessary to explain to Severio the guild-laws that bound the terms of our contract, and the penalties for breaching them. It is a serious business in Terre d'Ange; to violate the rights of one of Naamah's Servants is to violate the precept of Blessed Elua, and is the gravest form of blasphemy. Elsewhere, I am told, courtesans are largely dependent on the whims of their patrons. It is not so among D'Angelines.
The nature and purpose of the signale needed also be explained to the Serenissiman Prince, for although I heard a group of young gallants had taken him to the Night Court, it was to Orchis House they went, for lovemaking and merriment. Valerian and Mandrake alone among the Thirteen Houses use the signale, and at Mandrake, it is for the benefit of the patrons. In the arts of pain, protestation is a part of the game; it is therefore important that a signale be established. I should know, having gone to extreme lengths without speaking mine.
Choosing the word itself was simple, for I have had the same one since first I was an adept: Hyacinthe. He was thetruest friend I ever had, and my refuge and sanctuary from childhood onward. If I chose his name in part to annoy Delaunay all those years ago—and I did—I chose it now for Hyacinthe himself, who made the greatest sacrifice of all of us on that fateful journey.
My plans kept me busy, and by the time Remy returned with the signed contract and a nervous clutch of Palace Guardsmen surrounding two laden mules, I had an appointment waiting.
"Half on signing," Remy called, grinning. "As you asked, my lady."
"Good." Standing in the doorway, I fastened the clasp of my sangoire cloak. "Now bid them take it to Eglantine House. I've a meeting with the Dowayne."
His mouth fell open and he gaped at me; the Guardsmen grumbled. "You're not—"
"It's my fee, and I'll do as I please with it," I said mildly, then raised my voice. "Joscelin! Will you do me the honor of beholding how I disperse this money that so offends you?"
If I thought to find him apologetic, I was wrong; he came at my call with an amused expression, adjusting his vambraces. "Will it please you if I admit to curiosity?"
"It would please me if you admitted to rather more," I said, "but I will settle for that. Come and see."
The Dowayne of Eglantine House was one Moirethe Lereux, a stately woman in