Naamah's Blessing - Jacqueline Carey [183]
“All right.” I dressed wearily and found Temilotzin and two other guards awaiting me in the antechamber.
Temilotzin scowled at me. “Why so tired, little warrior?” he asked in Nahuatl. “Are you ill?”
“No. What passes?”
His scowl deepened. “Your men were fighting in the fields this morning. Lord Pachacuti is displeased.”
“What does that have to do with me?” I asked tiredly.
“I suspect Lord Pachacuti wishes to ask you that very thing,” Temilotzin replied.
In the throne-room, the disgruntled Lord Pachacuti had summoned six of our men: Bao, Balthasar and Septimus, Prince Thierry and two of his companions I didn’t know by name. All save Bao were scraped and bruised, and Thierry sported a swollen knot on one cheek. It was obvious that they had been fighting, and obvious that their camp had divided into two factions since yesterday.
I suspected they hadn’t taken Bao’s news well. Catching my eye, he gave me a somber nod.
“Moirin!” Raphael greeted me, a hectic gleam in his eyes. “I’m so pleased you could bestir yourself to join us.” He gestured at the six men. “Would you care to tell me what this is all about? They don’t seem inclined to.”
“I haven’t the faintest idea, my lord,” I said.
He drummed his fingers on the arms of his throne. “Are you sure?” Reaching into his ever-present basket, he tossed a few leaves to the skirling eddy of ants at his feet. “I can resort to more… persuasive… methods.”
“Do it, then, Raphael!” Thierry shouted unexpectedly, his fists clenching at his sides. “Gods! You keep us alive only to torment us!”
“Is that what you think?” Raphael shook his head slowly from side to side. “You wound me, Thierry. I saved your life in the jungle, didn’t I? Were it not for the guidance and aid of my little friends, our company surely would have perished before we reached Vilcabamba.”
“Mayhap it would have been better if we had,” one of the others muttered.
Raphael gestured carelessly, and one of the Quechua guards promptly drew his sword and laid its edge against the man’s throat. “Is that your wish, Michel?” Raphael inquired. “I’m willing to grant you a clean death if it is. After all, I am not without mercy.”
The fellow’s throat worked. “No.”
Another gesture, and the blade was lowered. “Let’s try this again,” Raphael said in a conversational tone, circling one finger. Ants poured across the floor, scaling Bao’s legs, turning the lower half of his body into a writhing mass of blackness. A few essayed higher, crawling over his face. “Messire… Bao, is it? Moirin tells me I do not accord you your due, but see what respect I have for your courage. Few men could abide such a torment once, let alone twice. Will you not tell me why you and Thierry fought?”
Bao stood very still, his face unnaturally calm. “No.”
“I wonder that you can abide the sight, Moirin,” Raphael remarked to me. “Claiming to love him as you do.” He flicked his fingers, and the tide of ants climbed higher. “Shall I bid them to bite?”
A faint sound of protest escaped me.
“For the love of Elua, enough!” Balthasar Shahrizai took a deep, shaking breath. “We quarreled over a plot to escape, Raphael.”
Sparks flickered in his eyes. “And how in the world did you think to accomplish such a thing, my lord Shahrizai?”
Balthasar was silent.
“Ah.” Understanding dawning in Raphael’s expression. “You sought to find a way to kill me, didn’t you?”
“Do you blame us?” Balthasar asked. “My lord de Mereliot, we are desperate. And yet I know you do not keep us alive to torment us.”
“Oh?”
“No.” Balthasar shook his head, his face pale beneath the sun’s tan. “You’re sick, Raphael. Sick with madness. And the healer within you knows it. It’s what stays your hand, and keeps you from slaying your countrymen.” His voice was filled with terrible compassion. “Raphael, I beg you, listen to me. It’s not too late to turn away from this path. Pray to Blessed Elua for forgiveness, to Kushiel for mercy, and to Eisheth for healing.”
“Gods bedamned! Do you not understand that the gods failed me!” Raphael shouted at him. “Over and over!”
“Did they?” Balthasar asked steadily.