Race of Scorpions - Dorothy Dunnett [59]
‘But, unlike the Knights Hospitaller, you are not his enemy?’ Nicholas asked.
The monk smiled. ‘We have our cats to defend us,’ he said. ‘That and Our Lord. It seems sufficient.’
Led away by his captors, Nicholas looked back once and saw the monk had remained at the church door. The white cat Otto had returned to his feet and smiling, the man swept it into his arms by one leg, addressing it softly in Greek. Then a door closed between them.
The room to which Nicholas was conducted was stone-walled and cool, with a board laid to one side with melons and plain meats, bread and a pitcher of wine. There were no servants, and none of the brethren. He counted four seats. His two silent abductors preceded him. The senior, closing the door, walked to the centre of the room and addressed Nicholas neither in French nor in Greek, but in perfect Italian. ‘We begged the abbot’s indulgence to dine with you privately here, since time may be short. Your escort for Nicosia may come at any moment.’
‘I am to learn who you are,’ Nicholas said.
‘While you eat. Sit. You too, Luigi. Vanni, will you oblige me by serving?’
The youngest of the three had already moved to the board and was filling platters. Nicholas did not take the seat he was offered. He said, ‘Luigi? Giovanni? Good Cypriot names.’ The lean man with the grizzled hair and the grim manner gave vent to a grunt, but the younger one smiled.
The man in the velvet hat said, ‘And mine is Paul. You have probably guessed which state we come from: let us proceed without quibbling over it. The elder of the signori beside you is Luigi Martini who, with his brother, has long handled the sugar crops at Kouklia and at Kolossi here in Cyprus. Vanni, who wishes to give you some food, is surnamed Loredano, and is factor to the lord Marco Corner at Episkopi, as well as being my deputy. And I am Paul Erizzo, with no post as yet, because I come to take my first appointment in Cyprus.’
‘As?’ said Nicholas.
‘As Venetian Bailie. We are all Venetians. You have realised. You are wanted by James. You will be taken by James’s men to meet James at Nicosia. We shall receive some approbration for bringing you, but James would have seized you, whether we had helped him or not. We have no power here,’ said Paul Erizzo. ‘We are here on sufferance, as traders and growers. Without us, James would find it hard to get the returns or the produce he needs, but if we push him too far, he could massacre us freely tomorrow. However, we are skilled at learning just how far to push him, and how to nurse all that we have developed so that we may thrive as he thrives, and even should he cease thriving. Although, of course, Queen Carlotta must never return. Or the Genoese would overrun Cyprus.’
‘Of course,’ said Nicholas. He thought with quiet fury of Modon. Small chance that the Bailie of Modon would have rushed to his aid, or that the Signory – the grateful Signory – would have thrown in their cohorts to rescue him. The Signory had condoned his abduction.
Paul Erizzo said, ‘So sit down, and eat. Of course you dislike what has happened. If we had told you on shipboard, you might have found violent means to escape without giving the matter the thought it deserves. We are here to talk, and to answer your questions. You left Venice for some reason that seemed good to you, but a year has gone by. You are a gifted young man, clever, vigorous, with the world to win if you rouse yourself. The moment has come to take your biggest step forward. We have chosen you to work for yourself and for Venice. We are giving you a chance you would never have had. You will emerge a great man from this venture.’
‘I prefer not to sit,’ Nicholas said. ‘Or to be in your debt, even for food. I left Venice for precisely this reason. I had been used as a tool. But not a second time.’
Paul Erizzo said, ‘You don’t know, as yet, what we are offering. Knowing what you do, how can you be anyone’s instrument? The King desires to employ you. You will answer to him. You will be paid by him, royally.