Scales of Gold - Dorothy Dunnett [182]
‘I see, perhaps,’ said Umar, ‘good reason for us to hasten back to our lodging. I confess my mistake. I gave way to my pride in my city. As it happens, our ride has been short and no one, to my knowledge, has found his faith weaker because of it. However, we shall retire. We shall await the Timbuktu-Koy’s summons.’
‘You may await it here,’ said Akil ag Malwal with a nod of his head. The armed circle opened about them, leaving a path to the gates of the command post. ‘It is a temporary expedient, of course. You led the Genoese dogs to their punishment, and your companions may be equally innocent. But their leader, I am told, is a man intent on Wangara gold. His Portuguese vanguard gave battle to our own Timbuktu traders.’
Diniz flushed. Umar-Lopez said, ‘They did, and died. Their leader, a Flemish lord, had no designs on Wangara. Some of his following disobeyed, and, as you say, have received the ultimate punishment. The Flemish lord has lodged no complaint, and the Timbuktu-Koy has been apprised of the matter. If, therefore, that is all, we should prefer to return to our lodgings.’
‘Then you shall,’ said the Tuareg captain with a smile. ‘No one, knowing your worth, would doubt your good intentions. But it is I who must answer for it if harm still befalls. The Flemish lord has made no complaint, perhaps because he intended evil, and still means to practise it. He is the leader, he is responsible. I have sent to have him arrested for questioning. We shall go to his house together. You and your companions may stay, and the Flemish lord will ride with us back to our prison. It is a comfortable one.’
‘Arrest him?’ said Umar. ‘He is sick. That is why the audience has not been held.’
‘We have reasonable doctors,’ said the commander. ‘I advise you not to concern yourself.’
‘I will concern myself!’ Diniz said, and rode forward. There was a sudden whine of drawn swords. Godscalc and Gelis crowded upon Diniz, and Godscalc seized his reins. The words had been in Portuguese, but his face was translation enough.
‘My colleague is young and hasty,’ Umar remarked, ‘and forgets in which town he is guest. I, of course, bow to your wisdom, but my learned confrères might demur. Saloum ibn Hani the marabout was freed from slavery by this very Fleming and, judging him honest, led him and his party to this place. The Timbuktu-Koy knows of this. It might also please him to know that, in difficult times, my lord Akil made no hasty decisions, and moreover supplied these men with an interpreter.’
‘Yourself? Well, so be it,’ said the commander Akil. ‘Stay with them. Relate to them what I have said. I am not an inclement man. Their lord shall have the best of the prison.’
They returned by the way they had come, except that this time they had a corps of two hundred armed horsemen escorting them. There were no bystanders, now, who cared to call out to Umar: the alleys were clear as if scoured by a ramrod. They entered the narrow lane between walls where their lodging was.
Diniz bit his lip. Against such force, they were helpless. Vito would be there, but unarmed. The physician, an Arab, was useless, and Nicholas, crazed or oblivious, could defend neither himself nor them. Bel, whom he had thought beyond speech, said, ‘Umar? What can we do?’
‘Pretend,’ Umar said. His eyes elsewhere, he spoke flatly.
Gelis flung back her veil and said, ‘Look!’
The gates to their courtyard stood open, and a crowd had gathered, attracted by some spectacle. The wall hid what it was. Godscalc said, with anxiety, ‘Mary Mother of God!’ and tried to hurry.
The commander Akil was not in the same haste. He held up his hand and his cavalcade slowed, Godscalc and his companions with it. They drew level with the crowd, which fell back. Then they moved up to the gates and saw what was happening.
Nicholas, manhandled or safe, was not there. The yard between the gates and their house was full of soldiers. Different soldiers. Soldiers who were clearly not Akil