The Spring of the Ram - Dorothy Dunnett [221]
“The snag being,” Tobie said, “that there are three hundred Turkish ships between us and the neck of the Bosphorus, and we’ve made a silly undertaking, in your absence, to send the galley on a trip in the opposite direction.”
“Silly?” said Nicholas. “The suggestion came, I’m told, from Violante of Naxos.”
The question in Godscalc’s mind had been asked before. He repeated it. “Working for whom?” he said mildly.
“Well, by God, for all of us,” Astorre said, staring. “If the Empress can get a few thousand Georgian soldiers out of her son-in-law and his atabegs, then I’m not for holding her back. Not with the Turk at our back door.”
“Working for Trebizond, then?” Godscalc said. A red head turned slowly.
Nicholas paused for the first time. Then he said, “All I can tell you for certain is that Violante of Naxos is not working against us, and she is not working for Doria. Her affiliation is wholly Venetian.”
Godscalc said, “Her husband is Venetian. Her blood connections are with Trebizond and with Uzum Hasan. One could imagine occasions on which she has to choose which of the three deserves her loyalty.”
“I can imagine them, too,” Nicholas said. “I spent three weeks imagining them, if I may remind you. I’m not complaining.” His eyes and those of John le Grant briefly met. Nicholas said, “I went to Erzerum to find out what I could. Violante of Naxos didn’t stop me. Her kinsmen rescued me from Doria. I was able to talk to her great-aunt. About Georgia among other things, certainly. Astorre is right. An appeal to the King of Georgia is important for everyone. We send the galley to Batum with the Empress Helen, replacing Astorre’s oarsmen with Venetians, if that’s what she asks for. It could be back in two weeks if she makes do with seeing Mamia in Imeretia, or even if she goes as far as Akhalziké, and Quarquaré can give undertakings.”
Godscalc said, “I suppose these are regional governors. If she goes to her daughter in Tiflis, it might be a while before the galley is able to bring back any message.”
“Then we put a time limit on it,” said Nicholas.
Tobie said, “The ship might be safer at Batum, if the Turks come. For that’s the point, isn’t it? Even if the galley were loading at Kerasous today, how could you sail it past the Turkish forts on the Bosphorus, and the guns at Constantinople and Gallipoli? How can you possibly tell when it’s safe to set out? And if you don’t get the Ciaretti out of the Black Sea by the end of the summer, you’ve doubled the length of your venture and half eaten your first profit and missed the whole of your second. You ought to have this ship turned round at Pisa and back here by next April, if you’re going to run a trading station that pays.”
Nicholas gave a sudden smile; and despite himself, Godscalc felt his own lips relax. Familiarly, the conference had turned into an argument. Nicholas said, “That’s the second part of the lecture. Tobie, be quiet and listen. All our profit depends on our judging this Turkish campaign correctly. The Charetty company and the Medici have invested in us, and we have a duty to get our cargo away, no matter what happens. We have also undertaken to set up a trading station for the term of a year, and to allow the Empire the use of our skilled soldiers.”
There was a little silence. Then Astorre said, “You mean you’ve given Julius orders to take the cargo home if he gets the chance. If he uses our galley, we’re stranded.”
“There are no other galleys,” said Nicholas. “And when this one sails back from Batum, I’m proposing that it doesn’t stop at Trebizond. I’m proposing that it sails straight on to Kerasous, and waits there until the Turkish fleet has gone home, or else passed it.”
Astorre said, “They’ll burn it, or sink it, or take it as they pass.”
John le Grant said, “No. There’s a plan for that. It would be safe. And it would have the Venetian seamen to crew it.” His voice, broad and even, was restful. Before, he had been withdrawn. Before the talk about Violante of Naxos. Another worshipper?