Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey [155]
I mopped the sweat from my brow and glanced around. "Blessed Elua left us with a single precept," I said. "Love as thou wilt. What do you love best? Your country? Your honor? The gods? A woman? A man? Truth? Whatever it be," I said. " That is the worst betrayal."
They fell silent, then, thinking; all save Eamonn, who beamed at me.
"But some people have impure loves." It was a young man I had not met who reasoned through the flaw in my argument; Umaiyyati, by the look of him, with fierce brows meeting over a hawk's nose. "What of gluttons who exist for gluttony's sake? What of those who seek power or wealth above all things?"
I shrugged. "Even they may serve a greater good without knowing it."
He blinked at me with a hawk's stare. "You believe this?"
I thought about Daršanga, and how I had ended there through my mother's treachery, though it was no fault of hers, for once. I thought about what might have befallen the world if the Mahrkagir's power had run unchecked, if Phèdre and Joscelin had not set out to rescue me. "I do," I said. "I have to."
He waved one hand. "Bah!"
"This greater good of which you speak." Brigitta, the Skaldi woman, spoke slowly, eyeing me with distrust. "What is it? Who determines it?"
I wished I had an answer for her, but I didn't; only bitter experience I was reluctant to divulge. "I don't know, my lady," I said humbly. "That's what we're here to discuss, is it not? I know only what Elua bids me do as a D'Angeline." Glancing around, my gaze fell upon Lucius Tadius, who was seated on a nearby ledge, pale and sweating. "You've been silent," I said to him. "What do you say, Lucius?"
He lifted his head. Beneath his unruly curls, his eyes were wide and staring, hazel rims around stark pupils. "I say this place is full of ghosts," he said. "Don't you feel it?" He shuddered. "Lemures, "he said. "Angry ghosts."
Someone laughed, but it was a nervous titter.
Master Piero sprang to his feet, clapping his hands. "Enough!" he said with brisk good cheer. "We have gained many things to discuss this day. Let us gather in the lecture hall tomorrow and continue our conversation without distraction. It will please my fellow Masters for once." At that he smiled with impish glee, and his students chuckled, eased. As our gathering began to dissolve, he beckoned to me. "Imriel nó Montrève. Is it still your wish to study with us?"
"It is," I said.
"Good." He nodded several times, his gaze searching. "Come tomorrow, and we will speak further. We shall see."
I had hoped for more, but it would do. I inclined my head to him. "My thanks, Master."
He waved his hand. "It is what I do. If you wish to thank me, do a kindness for someone in need."
Thus we were dismissed for the day, straggling back toward the center of the city in groups of two and three. I listened with half an ear as Eamonn rambled on about Master Piero's talk. Mercifully, Gilot had agreed not to play nursemaid to me as long as I didn't wander the city alone, reckoning Eamonn and I combined were formidable enough. Armed with advice from Eamonn, Gilot had taken on the task of finding us permanent lodgings in an insula today, and I wondered how he was doing. I didn't entirely trust him not to rent an entire townhouse.
From time to time, I glanced over at Lucius Tadius, whose companions were teasing him mercilessly. He had regained his color, but the set of his mouth was grim. Whatever the reason, he'd been genuinely frightened beneath the shadow of Tarquin Rock.
I thought about Master Piero's injunction.
"Lucius!" I called to him. Excusing himself to his friends, he came over. His eyes were wary. I knew the feeling. I hated for anyone to see me afraid. I clapped a hand on his shoulder. "We barely got to talk yesterday. Can I stand you a jug of wine? I owe you for your generosity."
Eamonn looked surprised by my overture—I wasn't known for being outgoing in matters