Race of Scorpions - Dorothy Dunnett [14]
The girl said, ‘We filled them with snow. It was Ansaldo’s idea.’
‘We in the barn, we all helped,’ said one of the Cypriots. ‘You can mould sugar with damp into anything. We planted a fortune in snowmen, knowing no one would steal it.’
‘And sent us to chase a caravan full of snow?’ Nicholas said.
‘There were men with it,’ said the Cypriot. ‘Men who gave their lives as a decoy to draw the attack from their Queen.’
‘I hope she is grateful,’ said Nicholas.
‘To those who serve her,’ said Primaflora, ‘she is always grateful.’
‘To those who serve me,’ said Carlotta, by the grace of God Queen of Jerusalem, Cyprus and Armenia, ‘I show my gratitude. You may consider yourself already a knight. You may choose what fiefs in my country you wish.’
Since she was speaking in Bologna, not Cyprus, the pronouncement had its comic side, and once Nicholas would have staggered out of the meeting, repeating the words, in perfect parody, to the delight of Julius, or Tobie, or Felix. Now, it was not even an irritation but something to be endured, on the heels of an equally arid visit to Sante Bentivoglio at his mistress’s house in Porretta. There, there had been a similar interest, well shrouded, in his immediate plans.
He had no plans. He had, however, respect for rank and position, and so had called on the Queen, as he’d promised. She had given him a casket of sugar and the prospect of endowments in an island she had yet to conquer.
The Queen continued to talk, with animation. He remembered listening in Venice and thinking that, as a commoner, she would have learned how to moderate her manner to men. Her physical vehemence – the beaked nose, the high complexion, the vigorous, well-jointed hands – was as alarming as the impact of her mental agility. She knew something, if Sante did not, of his history. She cupped her chin, leaning forward, and said, ‘You have no objection, I take it, to a woman who runs her own business?’
‘My wife did so,’ he said.
‘And successfully. But a man of the Muslim faith would have denied her her right to manage any such venture. In Muslim countries, the male is supreme; the illegitimate son takes precedence over the legitimate daughter. When we, Queen of Cyprus, sought help from the Sultan of Egypt, the robes of our envoy were ripped and the Mamelukes set up a cry. “What, deprive the male, and give the lordship to the female?” But perhaps you think that is just?’
‘I have no vote, madonna,’ said Nicholas. ‘In a perfect world the fittest would rule, irrespective of sex.’
‘Then you agree with me,’ said the Queen. ‘Yet my enemies have driven me from all but a patch of my island. Set up a puppet who has become apostate from the Christian faith, who swears the Gospel is false, that Christ is not the only one, nor Mary a virgin; who denies John the Forerunner and is already oppressing the Church of my people. Is such a blasphemer a fit person to rule?’
‘What people would accept such a person?’ Nicholas said.
She took down her hand. ‘Accept? You have seen their valour. They fight. They die. Those who are left are here with us, or defending our lord and husband the King in his castle. We, a woman, are here to claim help. Without men and artillery, without ships and horses the infidel will rule over Cyprus, and the Middle Sea be lost little by little to Christendom. You have a troop of skilled men.’
‘I had. It is under contract,’ said Nicholas.
‘The Holy Father himself would absolve you,’ she said.
‘It is fighting for the Holy Father,’ said Nicholas, ‘in his league against Anjou in Naples.’
She pursed her lips, which were shapely. ‘You need his indulgences more than rank, estates, a pension?’
He said, ‘The matter is out of my hands. The force and its captain are part of my late wife’s estate.’
‘Indeed,’ she said. ‘You said nothing of this in Venice? Your captain is Astorre, is he not?’
She was clever. ‘Yes, madonna,’ he said.
‘A famous name. A man known for choosing his employer. If he elected to leave your late wife’s business in Bruges and pay his soldiers himself, or select another patron, who could