Race of Scorpions - Dorothy Dunnett [43]
‘Nor we can,’ said Tobie’s voice, dipped in vinegar.
He came up. Thomas, lingering in the distance, turned suddenly and made himself scarce. Astorre gazed at the doctor. ‘You’ve got a nice slash or two. Does you credit. Never recall you stubbing your toe in any of our battles before. So you’ve found out where the best army is?’ He looked happy.
‘I’ve found out where the best corpses are,’ Tobie said. He was looking at Nicholas, his lip rolled, his pupils like rivets. He said, ‘You got thrown out of Bruges.’
‘I got thrown out of the Charetty house,’ Nicholas said. ‘Different matter.’
‘And spent the night in the jail,’ said Astorre. ‘Again. I didn’t believe Thomas at first, and then I thought, it’s just like that little madam. And she’ll fall in love with some fool, like her sister did, and send the business to ruin. You’re better off here. And me. And the doctor.’
Tobie and Nicholas were still gazing at one another. Of the two, Nicholas was the calmer. Tobie said, ‘You just left them to flounder?’
‘The girls? They have Julius and Godscalc,’ Nicholas said. ‘And a good team in the yard.’
‘Thomas says she’s turning everyone off,’ Tobie said.
‘She turned off John le Grant, but I expect he invited it. Julius will see she doesn’t do anything stupid. Or they’ll tell me.’
‘Oh?’ said Tobie. ‘And where will you be?’
‘Here,’ Nicholas said. ‘You can go back to Bruges if you want to.’
‘They aren’t my step-daughters,’ Tobie said.
‘Well, thank your good fortune,’ said Nicholas tartly. ‘Or you might find yourself flung in jail too. Where is Thomas?’
Tobie’s face relaxed just a trifle. ‘Skulking,’ he said. ‘Over there, somewhere.’
He watched Nicholas go. Astorre said, ‘He’d be embarrassed to tell you. Done down by a girlie. But at least it’s shown him where his real business is.’
‘Yes. And I thought it was Katelina,’ Tobie said.
‘Katelina? Simon’s wife Katelina? No. It was some other female he’d got hold of. Or she’d got hold of him. You get the tale out of Thomas. Young Nicholas didn’t tell you that either?’
‘No, he didn’t,’ said Tobie.
‘And if he had, you’d never have come to the Abruzzi,’ said the old campaigner shrewdly. ‘And since we’ve mentioned it, why did you come?’
‘Because Nicholas coerces people, that’s why,’ said Tobie bitterly. ‘I don’t need to tell you? Only it’s more subtle now, the way he gets people to do what he wants.’
‘He wanted you with him in the Abruzzi. Well, so do I. What’s wrong with that?’ said the captain.
‘There’s nothing wrong,’ Tobie said. ‘Except that he didn’t tell me the facts. I made up my mind knowing only half of the story.’
Astorre grunted. ‘If I know him,’ he said, ‘what you’ve got is a tenth of the story, and the rest he isn’t telling you, because it would make you run for your life. Well, if you’re going, go. We’re taking that hill tonight, and the fighting will start very soon after.’
He did not, of course, go. He rode with Astorre when the combined armies moved forward and, almost without event, took strategic position on the height called Mount Cigliano. On the way, they bypassed carefully the walls of the small town of Troia, once a Byzantine fortress; now a half-empty place where the lamps glimmered before the cathedral, where people prayed for the house of Anjou. The army which had come to destroy those same Angevins spread into position and rested, their backs to the town, staring across the twelve miles of country that lay between them and Luceria Augusta, the once-Roman town with its Duomo, castle and palace; the provincial capital which Piccinino had made his headquarters. By dawn, they knew that Piccinino had left camp with his army and was approaching. A little later, reports came of his numbers. As they thought, the Angevin troops were led by Duke John of Calabria, son of King René of Anjou.
‘So,’ said Tobie later, finding Nicholas near him. ‘What precautions are you taking?’
‘If I meet a soldier