Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey [252]
Alas, they brought him back, bloodier and a bit more battered.
And then it was my turn.
The captain wasn't taking any chances. He sent a half a dozen guards to escort me to an inner chamber of the guardhouse. My pack was there, all the items in it removed and placed neatly on a wooden table.
"Yours?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. After a day of silence, I'd had time to collect my wits. "Is there person speak Habiru?”
The captain arched one brow. "Habiru?”
"I speak," I said. "Better than Rus.”
He conferred with the other guards. One of them left. We stood in silence until he returned with a man in ornate robes and a richly embroidered cap. The captain bowed to him with obvious respect. The sight of him filled me with relief. If I could explain, surely they would see that the idea I'd had anything to do with the Tatar raid was absurd.
"This is the Rebbe," the captain said. "Tell him why you're here.”
"Shalom, my lord," I said to the Rebbe. "This is a mistake, a misunderstanding. I've nothing to do with the Tatars, and I didn't help the man. I was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time, that's all.”
The Rebbe didn't look particularly friendly. "Why are you here?”
"To buy a horse." I pointed to the purse on the table. "My lord, I've coins given me by Tadeuz Vral himself. I'm a kinsman of the Queen of Terre d'Ange, sent to explore Vralia. As I told the captain, send to Micah ben Ximon. He will tell you it is true." I hoped it was true. Ben Ximon had warned me he might not be able to protect me if I were caught, but I hardly thought these were the circumstances he had in mind.
The Rebbe translated my words for the captain, who shrugged and said, "Why does he have a Tatar mark?”
"I was a prisoner a long time ago," I replied in Habiru. "In Drujan. There were Tatars there. One of them did it to me.”
The Rebbe translated. The captain looked incredulous. I didn't blame him. He said somewhat lengthy. The Rebbe nodded and turned back to me. "What has Prince Fedor promised your Queen?”
I blinked. "My Queen?”
"Surely, you do not think we are all so foolish." He frowned. "Why else would you come at such a time? You went to Vralgrad to spy for Fedor, to learn Micah ben Ximon's plans, then you go east toward Petrovik, where Fedor has retreated. You have arranged to meet his wild Tatars here. So, what has he promised your Queen?”
I laughed in disbelief. "My lord, I mean no offense, but I'm not sure Queen Ysandre knows Vralia exists as a nation. I'm very sure she doesn't know Fedor Vral exists.”
"Ah." The Rebbe studied me. "If she does not know of Vralia, how could she send you to explore ?”
I could have bitten my tongue off. "Rumors," I said. "Tadeuz Vral sent a shipment of furs and amber to the Cruarch of Alba with an offer of trade. I was travelling with a companion, the Cruarch's man. He was injured in a shipwreck. He is in Vralgrad.”
"How convenient," the Rebbe observed.
I gritted my teeth. "Not really, no.”
He spoke with the captain of the guard. The captain picked up my vambraces, pointing to the flowing, stylized lines of the Black Boar of the Cullach Gorrym worked on them. I hated seeing him handle them. "This is Tatar work," the Rebbe said.
"It's Alban," I said in exasperation. "It's the Cruarch's insignia!”
"It looks Tatar," he said.
I opened my mouth to reply, and thought about the Maghuin Dhonn, who claimed to have crossed the ice to Alba many centuries ago. I thought about the stamp of their features; the set of their eyes, the slant of their cheekbones. How they claimed to have interbred with the Cruithne and taught them. If any of it were true, I realized, it was indeed very possible that the Maghuin Dhonn and the Tatars were descended from some common stock.
"Ah," the Rebbe said, watching me. "You do not deny it.”
"My wife had those made for me," I said softly. "Dorelei mab Breidaia, niece of the Cruarch of Alba.”
Another exchange in Rus. The captain shook his head in frank disbelief. "Such an important person you become," the Rebbe said. "Minute