Pawn in Frankincense - Dorothy Dunnett [108]
‘Of course it isn’t Algiers,’ said Lymond, his voice brittle with hard-controlled temper. ‘Algiers is full of fat Turks.’
They stared at one another. Heavy bruising was evident on one side of his face, and there were cuts on his eyebrow and lip. He didn’t limp, but a stiffness suggested itself under the light Arab clothes he wore; the white cotton, loosely tied at the waist, fell clear to the ground.
‘You wish me to respect your sensibilities?’ said Güzel. ‘You behaved ill-advisedly, and your ally has been punished. You are fortunate that Dragut Rais is not here, or someone’s life would equally be forfeited for the guard whom you attacked. I make it clear now that if there is any repetition your steward Zitwitz will be bastinadoed to death. Not one of your colleagues, Mr Crawford, but your servant.’ She paused. ‘I wonder where you obtained the ring you gave to the fisherman?’
Standing still in the doorway, his eyes veiled: ‘You know, surely,’ said Lymond. ‘It came from my newly betrothed. Now let’s go and ganch him, liver, lungs, tripes and trillibubs, and add a last of seal’s fat to the commonweil?’
‘Sit,’ said Kiaya Khátún. ‘I find rhetoric tiresome.’
Lymond crossed the glass floor, paused by the shot-silk upholstery opposite her, and sank down, with some care, among the cushions. ‘But the situation breeds rhetoric,’ he said. ‘Like fleas in a bucket of pigswill.… Make thou fast, Gabriel, the gates of hell. For example.’
‘Thank you,’ said Güzel.
‘Not at all. The food, however,’ said Lymond, dispassionately, ‘is excellent. They shall not hear therein vain or sinful discourse, except the word Peace, Peace. Continue. I have been extinguished red-hot in vinegar and am tempered to talk. It’s a nice day.’
‘The King of England is dying,’ said Güzel. ‘If Mary Tudor is Queen and dies childless, Margaret Lennox will succeed her.’
Unblinking, Lymond spoke softly. ‘Who says so?’
‘The court. Of all women, she is Queen Mary’s favourite, and Elizabeth is a bastard. Then Lennox rules Scotland.’
‘He may,’ said Lymond. ‘Until I have killed Gabriel.’
‘There is more,’ said Kaiya Khátún, blandly. ‘The French army is in confusion; the French fallen back from Thérouanne, and Seigneur d’Essé slaughtered. The King, they say, speaks only to Mistress Diane and St André, and not at all to the Constable. The fate of your company is not so far known.’
‘I shall find them,’ said Lymond. ‘When I have killed Gabriel.’
‘There is more.… Hugh Willoughby is sailing for the Frozen Sea by the palace of Ivan Vasilovich, Emperor of Russia, to find the courts of the Great Cham of China. Sir Thomas Wyndham goes with two royal ships to the Gold Coast, hoping to capture Portuguese trade with the Orient. Cabot tries still to sell his secret routes to the Emperor. De Villegagnon goes to begin a new life in Brazil.… And if Gabriel kills you first?’
‘It will all go on,’ said Lymond. ‘With someone else. The waters recede, leaving a fruitful mud behind them. And I shall be immediately reborn as the son of a Brahman. Your last steady position, I take it, was with Gabriel?’
Kiaya Khátún lifted shapely black eyebrows. ‘My advice is disinterested. The price of Gabriel’s death seems a little inflated.’
‘And what of the boy?’ said Lymond lazily. ‘Three empires and a fortune in our grasp but for him! He will never appreciate it.’
Güzel said, ‘You do not even know if he is whole.’
‘He does not even know that I exist,’ said Lymond.
She rose. ‘That seems important?’
‘To me,’ said Lymond, ‘that seems equal to the sorrows of Job. I’ve enjoyed this so much. You must visit my kiosk.’ He rose, straightening his shoulders. ‘Give your masters my compliments. How did you come to look for me with the fleet?’
Kiaya Khátúm smiled. ‘Every camp has its traitor,’ she said. ‘Yours is no exception. Goodbye.’
Nursed by slaves and fed by Onophrion Zitwitz on fish wafers and coloured jellies, egg custards and stamped oranges with honey and cypress