Pawn in Frankincense - Dorothy Dunnett [176]
Lymond looked up. His voice was unhurried; his brown face under the sun-bleached neat hair entirely calm. ‘It is a matter of concern to us that both the child and the girl should be returned to France unharmed, and the French King would not be niggardly in his rewards. Does it seem likely to the Baba that before they reach Constantinople, these two might be overtaken and stopped?’
They are in Stamboul,’ said the Baba. The Smyrna grapes in their celadon platter had been taken away, and he clapped his hands for the ceremonial cups of khusháf and sherbet, while scented water and towels were brought. The older one, Donati Khátún, believed there to be some risk to the boy-child in camp, so the child and the English girl were given places on a ship leaving directly for the Sublime Porte. I trust,’ said the Bektashi Baba mildly, ‘that I speak of the two which are in thy mind also? The elder one, who has since joined the blessed of thy faith, believed the child to be a son of shame, born to one of the Knights Grand Cross of Malta.’
The rosewater ran from its silver spout over Lymond’s two uplifted hands and drained between the fine fingers. He said, watching his hands being dried, ‘There is some confusion over the child’s birth which is of little importance. The child has French protection.’
‘Whatever its birth, I believe it is happy in its heritage,’ said the Bektashi Baba indulgently. ‘The Knights, I hear, have chosen a new Grand Master.’
Imperceptibly Lymond’s voice sharpened. ‘Juan de Homedes is dead?’
‘He is dead, and a French Knight, they say, has been elected.’
‘A Frenchman? Or belonging to a French Langue?’
‘A Frenchman, I believe,’ said the Baba, ruminating. ‘Claude de la Sengle was the name.’ He paused. ‘Thou knowest this man? He is of little esteem?’
Relaxed once more on his cushions, Lymond’s voice was no more than thoughtful. ‘He is worthy: he will trouble neither thee nor the Order unduly, which could be said of few others.… It seems then that if I desire to present myself to the Sultan, I should sail to Stamboul with the greatest possible speed?’
‘Tomorrow,’ said the Baba peaceably; and laying down his cap, again clapped his hands. ‘Thy ship sails tomorrow. Tonight there is music and dancing for thy delight. Dismiss thy servants. Rashid will be thy other self.’ And the eunuch, kneeling by Lymond and offering, smiling, a bowl of something which was neither khusháf or sherbet, was the last thing Onophrion and Salablanca saw before they were politely dismissed.
On the surface, nothing was wrong. On the surface, two clever and subtle intelligences had dealt, fencing, with a number of forbidden subjects and had made themselves, on the whole, remarkably well understood. But Onophrion was uneasy. Fed, though not to his satisfaction, he roamed the kitchens, peering into the ovens and prodding the carcasses. He opened a box of sugar, newly in from Alexandria, and pouring a little into his plump, shining pink palm, tasted it and expressed satisfaction. The ship it had come from was in the berth next to the Dauphiné, and the ship’s clerk, waiting for his bills to be signed, was anxious to keep him in talk.
By the time he got away the music in the selamlik had stopped, though there was much ringing of small bells and occasional laughter. The senior office-holders of the Begherbey’s government, one would gather, had joined the Ambassador and his mentor in their evening of pleasure. Onophrion found Salablanca sitting alone in silence, as close as he could get to the door of the selamlik, and said, ‘I am unhappy. I have spoken to some who have just brought in some goods from the harbour. There are men lingering outside the garden.’
Salablanca did not get up, but his black eyes did not move from Onophrion’s face. ‘They wait to rob?’
‘Had they been ordinary thieves, they would have stolen the spices. They wait, I believe, to ambush and kill.’
‘Then?’ said Salablanca. ‘He sleeps here tonight. They cannot ambush Janissaries in daylight tomorrow.’
‘They might break in tonight,’ said Onophrion.