Race of Scorpions - Dorothy Dunnett [131]
Thomas said, ‘But the Queen had him before. He swore an oath to her.’
Tobie descended from the window. ‘She gave him the knighthood to keep him quiet until she had the means to lay him over a barrel.’
‘He’s over a barrel?’ said the red-haired engineer.
‘I’ve found out who the Fairy Melusine was. He’s over a barrel,’ said Tobie. ‘And we are with him, since we agreed to the plan. You too, Thomas. Sink or swim or get sawn in half by black men in turbans. Talking of which, do you suppose Loppe killed Vasquez?’
Captain Astorre frowned. ‘In self-defence?’
‘On the orders of Nicholas. I asked Loppe on the ride back. He wouldn’t admit to the killing. He did admit Nicholas had got him to watch the two Vasquez and Katelina. The two dead servants had been in Loppe’s pay.’ Tobie saw the engineer’s expression, and felt himself flushing with anger. He said, ‘Don’t tell me Nicholas couldn’t have stopped the Borselen woman from coming that night if he’d wanted to. Vasquez got killed, despite all the so-called precautions. And Nicholas made sure we couldn’t question the murderers.’
‘He was annoyed when I killed him,’ said Astorre. He sounded surprised, but tolerant as ever of his unprofessional colleagues. Astorre had never worried about the frequent deaths that occurred among the kinsmen of Nicholas.
‘He seemed annoyed,’ said the doctor shortly.
‘And now Diniz is still on the island,’ said the engineer, who knew little more than Astorre, but whose mind moved in more devious patterns. He embraced the knees of his working-hose. ‘But you think Nicholas wanted the boy to go home? And his aunt Katelina?’
‘Well, he couldn’t harm Diniz now, or Katelina,’ Tobie said with some satisfaction. ‘Not if he’s in Queen Carlotta’s prisons, surrounded by soldiers.’
‘But equally, Katelina can’t damage him. How annoying for her,’ the engineer said. ‘All that trouble, and she’s no better off than when she started. Do you think she got the Portuguese to stone him?’
‘Do you think she got the Genoese to rescue him?’ Tobie said. ‘I’ll wager the Genoese worried him more than the stones. They might do him a service in public, but round the next corner, what? Maybe a Doria dagger again with his name on it.’
Astorre grunted. ‘Talk! We heard he was safe.’
‘Well,’ said Tobie. ‘I suppose we should have heard if they’d killed him. But if you ask my opinion, the sooner we sail, the better for that contentious young bastard.’
‘The better for all of us, provided his calculations are right. Do you think his calculations are right?’ said John le Grant.
‘They’d better be,’ said Tobie. ‘We agreed to stay with him. It’s too late to change now.’
In a strong room of the Palace of Cyprus, Nicholas had no view of the sea, but could imagine perfectly well what Astorre and the others were talking about. The hail of stones that had greeted him as he stepped from the Grand Master’s audience had startled him as much as it must have alarmed his officers. Caught unarmed in the open, he could do nothing to protect himself. His escort, who obviously agreed with the stone-throwers, fell back and made no effort to stop them. For a moment, indeed, it seemed that this might be a feint preceding some sort of ill-advised rescue. Then Nicholas saw there were women among the gauntlet of men, and heard the threats they were shouting. They were Portuguese, and friends of Tristão Vasquez. Word had got about quickly. Then he had a chance to think of very little else, because they began to close in, and the attack began to be determined.
It occurred to him that if he ran, his escort would have an excellent excuse to dispatch him. If he didn’t run, the Portuguese would do the job for them. He retreated quickly with the idea of re-entering the castle, or at least of snatching a shield from some soldier. He was confronted with swords. Katelina,