Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey [248]
"Correggio, listen." Lucius grabbed his arm as he headed for the tower. "It's a trick."
Gaetano Correggio shook him off. "Let be, man!" He took a deep breath. "Lucius Tadius, I'm sorry for whatever it is that's happened to you. But you've got to get a hold of yourself and stay out of the way until this is over." He glanced at me. "You're his friend?" I nodded. "Do what you can." He raised his voice. "Guards, to me!"
He strode away toward the tower. The captain and his guards fell in behind him. Two or three of them cast dubious looks behind them. I had the distinct sense that they would sooner take orders from Lucius; or at least from Gallus Tadius.
Lucius watched them go. "I'm not in command here, am I?"
"No," I said. "You're… dead, my lord."
"Right." He frowned. "It comes and goes. Knowledge, this knowledge, the knowledge of this flesh…" He thumped his chest. "My filthy buggering grandson. Great-grandson. It's slippery as an eel, knowledge."
"You should go lie down, my lord," I said.
"Are you out of your mind?" He fixed his wintry gaze on me. "By the Triad, D'Angeline! I thought I saw an ounce of sense in you. You had the balls to come out here, and the balls to knock me down. But hell, I've begun with less. Come on. We've got a lot to do."
"We do?" I asked.
He raised his brows. "Do you want to die?"
It almost sounded like Lucius, and for a moment I wondered. But it wasn't Lucius behind those cold eyes. Still, I stood atop the high wall of Lucca while Valpetra's army began to organize a slow withdrawal, and I knew that whoever he was, Lucius or Gallus, I believed him. Unwilling bride or no, Helena Correggio gave Valpetra's claim its sole basis of legitimacy. If he meant to negotiate in earnest, he'd never risk bringing her within Lucca's walls. Gaetano Correggio was blinded by a father's furious grief.
The parley was a trick.
"All right," I said. "What do we do?"
* * *
Chapter Fifty
It was slapdash plan, cobbled together in haste. And it all centered around Lucius'—Gallus'—conviction that he knew, with absolute certainty, what Domenico Martelli, the Duke of Valpetra, would do.
"He'll try to gain control of the gatehouse," he said. "It's what I'd do."
There wasn't time for anything else. Archers. Archers in the trees atop the walls, hidden from view, positioned to assail Valpetra's escort within Lucca itself. All the openings in the guard towers looked outward; any other position atop the wall was immediately visible and vulnerable to attack from the outside. The trees would serve. It was the best Lucius could do on short notice. The only thing that aided our cause was that Gaetano Correggio and every noble of influence in Lucca was closeted in hurried discussion prior to the parley, giving us leave to lay our plans.
"I can shoot," Brigitta said tersely.
"Brigitta…" Eamonn murmured. She glared at him, and I thought it was an argument he would lose. Lucius paid no heed to their exchange.
"Good lass." He nodded in approval. "Hunting bows… whatever we have. Gather them. There's a store at the Tadeii villa. I'd sooner have crossbows, but Correggio's ordered the guard to stand down." He slapped his thigh. "Can we recruit any of the guard?"
I thought about the way they'd gazed after him, and the captain's simple comment. Good. "A few, mayhap."
"Right." Lucius said. "Anyone they can spare, we'll post in the trees. But the gatehouse is the thing. That's a damn big army out there, and whoever controls the gatehouse controls our fate. They have got to be ready for an assault."
Gilot stirred. "I'll tell them." He gave me a crooked smile. "I understand soldiers. And I might as well be good for something, Imri."
I wanted to say no, and I knew it would break his pride if I did. "Go."
He went.
"We need more," Lucius said grimly. "Jupiter's Balls! It took me the better part of a year to put the Red Scourge together. I can't resurrect it in an hour."
"Bartolomeo," I said. "What of his friends?"
Lucius held my gaze. "Bartolomeo," he murmured. "Right."
While the elite of Lucca met and