Race of Scorpions - Dorothy Dunnett [124]
It was, however, said the Grand Master, not the custom of the Knights to condemn men unheard. One of them, moreover, bore the badge of another order of chivalry, and had pledged his service as soldier and pilgrim. For these reasons, he had summoned Niccolò vander Poele to answer to the accusations, and his chief officers to stand with him. Did the Knight Niccolò vander Poele wish to make a statement?
It was intended to belittle, and indeed, only the doctor could be supposed to have the learning to understand such a pronouncement. In fact, John le Grant had good Latin, and Nicholas himself had had Felix’s entire course at Louvain, with a considerable amount of subsequent practice. Before the translator could speak Nicholas replied, in the same ordinary, serviceable Latin that all the Knights used. ‘My lord prince. We appreciate the opportunity to hear our accusers, and to speak for ourselves. If it pleases you, we ask that the hearing be conducted in the Order’s second language of French.’
The Grand Master looked at him, and then at his Chancellor. He said, ‘If you wish. Proceed.’ Which made things faster, and meant that Astorre and Thomas had less time to get angry.
It was just as well that he had briefed everyone about his misdemeanours, because they began with John de Kinloch, and that sounded crazy enough. The priest himself spoke, and the man from Kolossi corroborated. The man Niccolò had arrived in Cyprus, representing to the Knights of Kolossi that he intended to serve Queen Carlotta with his company. He had duped the Queen’s demoiselle into believing the same. He had disguised from the Portuguese merchant Tristão Vasquez that there existed a long-standing feud between the man Niccolò and Senhor Tristão’s partner and relative Simon. His reason for concealing this feud was assuredly that the man Simon was deeply involved in Genoese and Portuguese trade and therefore, implicitly, a supporter of Queen Carlotta and not of her illegitimate brother, the self-styled King Zacco. When this deception was threatened by the appearance of Father John de Kinloch, who knew of it, the man Niccolò had disposed of Father John by having him tied up and imprisoned with the help of an accomplice. The man Niccolò had then left for Rhodes, revealing nothing of this to Tristão Vasquez. Fortunately, the lord Simon’s wife was in Rhodes, and able to enlighten him. Since then, as was known, the Portuguese gentleman had been killed, and his son and the lord Simon’s wife had been fortunate to escape.
At that point, Nicholas intervened. ‘My lord, my men and I helped them escape.’
The Chancellor, whom he did not know, wore no expression. ‘I am told that Senhor Tristão was dead when you arrived, and that the assassins were waiting to dispatch his son and the demoiselle Katelina, whom you did nothing to protect. I am told you killed both assassins, without witnesses. We cannot tell, therefore, who paid them.’
‘You have no proof, therefore, that I paid them,’ Nicholas said.
‘None,’ said the Chancellor. ‘But you had a motive. Or why go to such lengths to conceal your relations with the lord Simon? Father John is a priest, a chaplain of the Order and a man respected in Scotland, in Bruges and in Rhodes. He was attacked and humiliated in the Order’s own castle of Kolossi. Why? And who were your accomplices?’
‘Men I came across in Episkopi,’ Nicholas said. ‘I removed him because Tristão Vasquez, a stranger, might well have reached the same conclusion as yourselves, and have caused my company to incur the distrust of the most serene Queen Carlotta. Once acquainted with Senhor Tristão, once proved loyal servants of the Queen, there would be no need for deceit. Was Father John injured?’
‘My knee,’ said John of Kinloch. He looked livelier, brisker and more sure of himself than he had in Cyprus. ‘My knee was skinned. And my elbow. I could have had a tooth out.’
‘He was not severely injured,’ Nicholas said, his manner earnest. ‘He was treated, I hope he will agree,