Race of Scorpions (30 page)

Loppe (Lopez) brought the news to the house on the corner of St Sebastian Square which belonged once to the Queen’s cousin Eleanor, and then to the Grand Commander of Cyprus, and now, by the Queen’s special desire (and to M. de Magnac’s distress), to the leaders of Niccolò’s army.

In this house, there were no locks on the doors, and an abundance of service, of food, of amenities. Astorre was satisfied, having expected no less from the coming of Nicholas. What pleased Astorre, Thomas was unlikely to query. Only the engineer accepted the change with guarded enthusiasm and the doctor, Tobie, looked grim. ‘I don’t like it.’

‘You don’t need to like it,’ said John le Grant. ‘Look on it as a wee holiday. We’ll be back in the prison tomorrow.’

It was four months since the battle of Troia, from which Nicholas had been so suddenly spirited away. It was more than a year since John le Grant had parted from him in Venice before setting out for his own trip to Bruges. Since he arrived in Rhodes, only Loppe had seen Nicholas.

Of them all, only Astorre and Loppe might, of their own volition, have waited so long for him on Rhodes. Astorre, with the confidence of the sought-after, knew that, whatever had happened to Nicholas, he could pick up a job here at any time. He did not, in fact, believe that anything untoward could happen to Nicholas, and he was sure that, when he could, Nicholas would set out and find them. When his credentials were undermined by Katelina, Astorre was annoyed, but philosophical. He was reasonably well housed and fed at no expense to himself, barring a little reciprocal work. The interval would not exactly enhance his career or his savings, but with Nicholas, it was going to be worth it.

The doctor, and perhaps John le Grant were less sure. The hard words in Venice still rankled with Tobie, and he regretted quite often the impetuosity of his decision to leave Urbino and Ferrante for an uncertain career with this meteor. Mixed with that was an angry anxiety which would have led him, were he free, to track Nicholas to whatever sybaritic lair he was occupying in order to walk out on him all over again.

John rarely talked about Nicholas, and made his own decisions on grounds he never discussed with anybody. Astorre thought, perhaps rightly, that the engineer, sure of work, would remain like himself to seek the first interesting and lucrative contract. Tobie was inclined to think the same, for other reasons. It seemed to Tobie that John disliked being tied to anyone as unpredictable as Nicholas, or perhaps even to anyone who drew people close to him as Nicholas did. Thomas, who had never been close to anyone except Astorre, simply wished he were somewhere fighting, or somewhere where he could spend the proceeds of fighting. He liked the money, but was aware, heavily, that Nicholas complicated his life.

So, translated to their new surroundings, the four awaited news from Loppe, and wondered if they still had a leader, and when they would see him. At least, he had come and had found them. There was some grounds for optimism in that. Pleasure, even. Perhaps even an unconfessed exhilaration. Then Loppe arrived, with a ludicrous story.

He interrupted himself, giggling, while he told it. Tobie sat up. Astorre stared, then broke down into hiccoughing laughter. ‘They made the knave into a knight! Oh! Oh! Urbino’ll kill himself laughing.’

‘Well, Urbino’s a count,’ said John le Grant. His skin was as red
as his hair, although his freckled face merely looked pained. ‘Other people have got to start somewhere. So that’s what our Nicholas wanted? Who’d have guessed it?’

‘I should,’ said Tobie briefly. ‘But I didn’t. I’m going back to Urbino.’

The engineer turned his gaudy cropped head. John le Grant was neat and quick as an acrobat. ‘Oh, now. He could get you made a knight too, very likely.’

Loppe, or Lopez, poked up the brazier and, arranging some cushions, lay down in its warmth. His ears had caught a sound. He said, ‘And he’s getting married. To the lady Primaflora, Master Thomas.’

‘No, I’m not,’ Nicholas said, coming in. He unbuckled and dropped his sword upon Loppe, who lifted an indolent hand and received it. Nicholas unshackled his chain, and bestowed it and his badge upon Tobie. Tobie picked up the badge and read the lettering.

‘To stay loyal
,’ he said. ‘I always thought you ought to have it written down somewhere. And is there one for the wife?’

Nicholas looked down his nose, and then pushed back the brim of his beaver. ‘You’re jealous,’ he said. ‘Some of us are lucky, and some are just born to grind ointment. You
came
here, for God’s sake, because you thought I’d come to Queen Carlotta.’

‘No,’ said John le Grant. ‘We thought she’d been clever and kidnapped you. So what kept you then?’

‘That’s what King Luis was asking,’ Nicholas said. He unfastened his cloak and his doublet and, pulling a cushion from Loppe, spread himself with a sigh on the floor. ‘All through the banquet. I’m sorry you all missed the banquet. All through the banquet, he kept saying, “So why sail to Kolossi? Why not Kyrenia? And why not come to the Queen right away?” ’

‘And you said?’ asked le Grant.

‘Ask a silly question,’ Nicholas said. ‘Have you
seen
Primaflora? We got to Rhodes a month before we were ready, never mind Kyrenia.’

‘And King Luis believed you,’ said Tobie.

‘Well, I hope someone did,’ Nicholas said. ‘I went to the Palace to join the Queen’s party. I’m not going to complain if they make me King of the Bean as an extra.’

Tobie said, ‘I’m sure you aren’t. But you chose your side without consulting us. I don’t happen to be greatly interested in Carlotta of Cyprus.’

‘Well, that’s a relief,’ Nicholas said. ‘Anyone else?’

John le Grant said, ‘Have you chosen sides?’

Tobie looked at him. ‘According to Loppe, he swore fealty to the Queen and her consort.’ He turned slowly and stared at Nicholas. ‘Or were you playing again? An oath doesn’t matter?’

‘I’ve chosen sides,’ Nicholas said. ‘But I needn’t commit you. You can go home. You can stay with the Order. If it matters, you’ll be paid for all the time you have spent. I didn’t expect you to follow me. I’m glad that you did. But now the choice has to be yours.’

They all gazed at him. Tobie said, ‘In Bruges, you spoke to Anselm Adorne. He’s watching the Charetty girls. You want to befriend the Genoese for some purpose?’

Nicholas said, ‘That would be difficult. I was abducted by Venice. I’ve reached an agreement with Venice. Anyone who wants to be a rich villain will have to fight with me on the same side as the Venetian interests. Anyone who wants to be chivalrous, of course, ought to choose either the Queen or the Hospitallers. As a knight, I could explain all the finer points.’

Tobie laid down the chain and the badge and folded his pale, furry arms over his doublet. ‘May I summarise? You’ve accepted a knighthood and sworn to be loyal to Carlotta. You propose to serve not the Queen but her opponents the Venetians. Last year, you declined to work with the Venetians. The Venetians abducted you and now you’ve let them untie your buskins and marry you. What has changed? How and why are you going to serve them?’

‘I don’t propose to serve them at all,’ Nicholas said. ‘I propose to abstract their sugar trade and their dyeworks and anything else they leave lying about when they have to go off and make war on Turkey. The person I propose to be paid by is Carlotta’s bastard brother, King Zacco.’

The brazier whispered, and the voices of servants could be heard through the thick walls. Tobie said, ‘You’ve met him.’

‘Yes,’ said Nicholas.

‘And he gave you a knighthood?’

‘A fief, and a house in Nicosia. Also control of the royal dyeworks, and the sugar franchise of Kouklia and Akhelia.’

John le Grant said, ‘You’d lose the Queen’s money, your knighthood, your wife. You sealed a contract today.’

‘King of the Bean,’ Nicholas repeated helpfully. ‘Incantations, cauldrons and mirrors. It was all an illusion.’

‘Luis thought it was genuine,’ said Loppe softly. ‘And the Order will think so. She stole you from them.’

One of Astorre’s ears had been torn off long ago at the lobe. When concentrating, he proceeded, as now, to finger it. He said, ‘I’d prefer the Order to Zacco. I wouldn’t fight under Mamelukes.’

‘I’ve arranged that,’ Nicholas said. ‘You would fight under me, and I should answer directly to Zacco, as does the Mameluke leader Tzani-bey al-Ablak. That way, you won’t get the blame when I kill him.’

Astorre’s good eye narrowed as much as his sewn one. John le Grant said, ‘Really? So what has this Tzani-bey done?’

‘Killed some cats,’ Nicholas said. ‘You were willing to fight under Uzum Hasan. The Mamelukes are not very different. They’ll leave the island when Zacco possesses it. And he will. With or without us, Carlotta can’t keep it.’

Thomas looked at Astorre. He said, ‘Captain?’

Astorre grunted. ‘I don’t greatly fancy Hospitallers, and the Genoese make me sick. All things being equal, I’d sooner work to a man. That is, the late demoiselle was exceptional.’

‘I know. John? You’ve worked to a Genoese officer.’

‘And I had a grandfather who took fees from the Order in Scotland. Forbye, my mother’s a woman,’ said the engineer. ‘Maybe I ought to branch out and try this lad Zacco. I’ve a question. What about yon lord Simon’s family? The Vasquez pair? His lady wife Katelina? She got us shut up. So why did she let Queen Carlotta enrol us? And an order of chivalry, to my mind, is not what she’d like to hang round your neck.’

‘She wasn’t there,’ Nicholas said. ‘After all, the Queen badly wants us, and she isn’t likely to let the lady Katelina stand in her way. I don’t know where Katelina may be, but at least the Vasquez pair are going home. I discussed it with the Queen. She thinks they can sail with Ludovico da Bologna.’

The red herring failed to work. Naturally, it failed to work because Tobie, alone of all the men there, knew exactly what he had done to Katelina. Tobie said, ‘If you’re getting rid of people, why not Katelina? She’s going to spoil your plans if she can; I can’t imagine why. Don’t you think she and that God-awful friar would be good for one another? Is he really here?’

‘There are six of him,’ Nicholas said. ‘That’s why we keep meeting him everywhere. I’ll be lucky to get rid of the Vasquez, never mind their good-sister and aunt Katelina. The lady won’t go while we’re here.’

‘So what’s she plotting?’ said John le Grant.

‘Nothing that can’t be dealt with,’ said Nicholas comfortably. He avoided Tobie’s eye, and tried not to feel anger with Tobie. ‘I’ll tell you my guess, if you like. Then you tell me if you want to join Zacco and his Egyptian hordes. Then we plan something jolly to fill in the few days before the Queen has second thoughts. And then I want your advice about my impending marriage.’

Tobie’s face was pink as a cochineal mouse. He said, ‘I’m always ready with tips. So now you want Primaflora? Astorre says she’s a courtesan.’

Nicholas said, ‘I’ve got her, haven’t I? But the Queen is insisting on marriage.’

‘I don’t suppose,’ Tobie said, ‘that the Sword is a celibate order? You could join the Hospitallers.’

‘Think again,’ Nicholas said.

‘I have thought,’ Tobie said. ‘I have the perfect solution. Introduce her to Katelina van Borselen. She’ll see you dead before she lets you remarry.’

‘I’ll think about it,’ Nicholas said. ‘It’s drastic. It might end up with a massacre, like the cats and the emir. Perhaps I ought to woo the Fairy Melusine instead and be done with it.’

‘The Fairy Melusine? Who’s she?’ said Tobie.

‘Oho,’ said Nicholas mildly. ‘Ask Ludovico da Bologna, next time you see him.’

Chapter 16

I
N HER STUFFY
, leased house in the Chora, Katelina van Borselen impatiently fulfilled her duties to Tristão Vasquez, her husband’s kinsman and partner. The boy, who was moody, she left to stay in or go out as he pleased. She felt no enthusiasm for either of them. Her mind was occupied with what was happening now at the Palace between the Queen of Cyprus and Nicholas vander Poele, who used to be Claes.

Of course, Nicholas should be in the hands of the Order and not at the Palace at all. She had made a mistake on the jetty that morning. She had invoked the help of Louis de Magnac, who was a devotee of Cyprus more than he was a Knight of the Order. As a result, he had taken Nicholas straight to the Queen instead of locking him up with his company. The Order had believed Katelina when she warned them to distrust Nicholas and the destination of his army. The Queen, too, had appeared to agree. But the Queen needed Nicholas more than the Hospitallers did. She was vain; Nicholas was plausible; she would deceive herself. Katelina was afraid that the warning she had brought was not enough. To be sure to bring Nicholas down, she needed evidence.

She and Tristão were in her small office discussing some futile matter of business when the news she wanted arrived from the Palace. Bearing it, her man was so breathless his voice was unsteady as he reported. ‘Her grace the Queen received the Fleming, demoiselle. The man has not been denounced. He and his officers go wholly free, and have been given the house of the Grand Commander de Magnac. The man has sworn to serve Queen Carlotta. And the Queen has made him a Knight of the Order.’

‘A Knight of the Order
?’ said Katelina.

He amplified quickly. ‘Of the Order of the Sword. An honour given to foreigners, implying good service and zeal against heathens. The title is empty, demoiselle.’

Katelina sat down. She said, ‘Is it known where he is to serve?’

‘In Kyrenia, my lady,’ the man said. ‘Within the month, so they say, he will set sail with his army, to make Cyprus safe from the Turks and clear out the imposter Zacco.’

He waited, and after a moment she dismissed him. Tristão Vasquez said, ‘You mistrust Senhor Niccolò’s motives. But perhaps you are mistaken? The young man spoke no ill word of Simon. He claimed the vendetta was finished.’

He was a kindly man, beneath the formality. If she had been less wracked with anger, Katelina would have felt sorry for him. She said, ‘You give him a gentleman’s title. This is a labourer who has threatened my family. Whether he gives up or not, the score between us has to be settled. Simon is in Portugal, and cannot do it. But I am here, and I can.’