Race of Scorpions - Dorothy Dunnett [321]
‘I expect she did,’ Nicholas said. ‘But she had to reckon with Cropnose, who had other plans. And, like Cropnose, you wanted me safe, for a short term, which gave you several good reasons for disposing of Katelina. Carlotta, you saw, was now never going to recover her throne. To get back to Cyprus, you needed me. Until, at least, James of Lusignan had noticed you. The King was always your goal, failing Carlotta. You knew he was young. You thought he was vulnerable. And if he wasn’t at least you had a patron for life in your husband.’
With an uncharacteristic gesture, she put her hand to her body. She gathered herself. ‘And that, too, was inside your mind while we lay together? That I could kill you, if it happened to suit me?’
‘You wouldn’t shirk murder,’ said Nicholas. ‘One other person at least recognized that: you’ve just seen him. Perhaps I might have been safe. With Zacco, you have influence, but he shares the pleasures of his bed among many, and the starving, as we know, are not his first concern. It would please you very much to be served by us both.’
‘One for power, and one for love,’ she said. ‘You do understand. He is like one of his leopards. He waits for nothing, learns nothing. You learned too much. How to rule your heart with your head.’
‘I was trained by a baccalaureate,’ he said. ‘And, of course, you used the same skills, the same subtlety to take away life, Primaflora. I was at Kalopetra. I heard of the ambush. I saw Katelina wearing that veil and I saw what happened. Who told you that insects drove her mad?’
‘I don’t remember,’ she said; and turned and picked up his package, smoothing it.
‘So someone told you,’ he said. ‘And you know what I am speaking about. What a death you sent her to. A valley of serpents, and a shawl impregnated to drive her crazy with horror.’
‘It was the Queen’s,’ she said. ‘I left it with the Queen.’ The packet had fallen open in her twisting fingers. It was, of course, the blue and silver emblem of his Order, with its legend. To remain loyal. If he had died, that is what she would have received.
She said, ‘Which of them gave this to you? The Queen or her worst enemy, Zacco?’
It had come from both sides, and he had accepted it. He said, ‘It was a counter. A counter in the same game.’
She studied the badge, moving her thumbs over its surface. Tonight, she had dressed her hair formally. He noticed the pearls in her bent, pleated head, and the golden wisps shadowed her cheeks. She said, ‘With your mind so made up, I shan’t plead.’
He said nothing. On the nape of her neck was a mole. She had another. If you inhaled carefully, you could name each of the scents she used, and tell from where it was breathing. She sat like a child, with her knees together. She said, ‘You will tell Zacco this?’ She looked up.
Nicholas rose. She flinched as if she thought he would strike her, and he halted. Then he said, ‘No. The King’s pride would prevent him from believing me, and he would hate us both. In any case, there has been talking enough. They are all dead or gone, whom you hurt most.’
‘But you will find a way to punish me,’ said Primaflora. She stood.
‘Oh, yes,’ Nicholas said. ‘I have done so already.’
‘How?’ she said.
‘By depriving you of what you want most,’ he said. ‘A king’s house, a king’s bed, a secure future, a patron, a husband. After Zacco, you can hope for no help from Carlotta. And if you ever wanted me as I still want you, that, too, is lost to you. One word in the right place can do more harm than an axe, as you have shown. You will know when it has been spoken.’
He didn’t know whether she realised what he was going to do. She didn’t speak. There was nothing more he wanted to say, even if speech had not just become difficult. He walked to the door, leaving her where she stood. Loppe was outside. He heard her voice as he left. It said, ‘You have forgotten Jordan de Ribérac.’
Because he was full of grim anger, and a very private variety of anguish, Nicholas talked to