Kushiels Dart Read online

Page 32

 

  I wish, now, that I had known Master Tielhard's apprentice's name; I never did, and I am sorry for it now. He came through the curtain, eyes wide.

  "There is a man, Master," he said. "He insists upon seeing m'lady—upon seeing Phedre no Delaunay. The Cassiline has him well in hand. Shall I call for the King's Guard?"

  I sat up, then, wrapping a sheet about me. "Who is he?"

  "I don't know. " He swallowed hard. "He says he bears a message, which you must deliver to Lord Anafiel Delaunay. My lady, shall I call for the Guard?"

  "No. " I was too long Delaunay's pupil to turn away information; I scrambled for my gown, pulling it over my head in haste. "Send him in, and Joscelin with him. Master Tielhard . . . ?"

  The old marquist held my gaze a moment, then gestured with his head toward the rear of his shop, where he and his apprentice ground their pigments. "See him, then, anguissette, and give me no cause to regret it," he growled.

  I had barely laced my stays when Joscelin came through the curtain, driving before him at knife-point a youngish man with a sailor's queue and a discomfitted look on his face.

  "Call off your Cassiline hound," he said to me, grimacing as Joscelin shoved him into the marquist's studio. "I've word that needs be delivered to Lord Delaunay!"

  For what it was worth, I put on my sternest expression as I followed them through the far curtain. Joscelin gave the sailor one last shove, then sheathed his daggers efficiently, standing between me and the messenger. "Who are you?" I asked the man.

  He rubbed at his midsection and made a face. "Aelric Leithe, of the Mahariel. I'm oath-sworn to the Admiral, Quintilius Rousse, and here under the standard of the Comte de Brijou of Kusheth. I'm supposed to be meeting with your lord, Delaunay. "

  I paused. "How do I know this?"

  "Elua's Balls!" He rolled his eyes. "There's a password, isn't there? What is it? I swear it, on the Prince's signet, his only born. "

  The Prince's signet. I thought of the ring that Ysandre de la Courcel had showed Delaunay, and schooled my features to expressionlessness. "Very well, then. Why are you here?"

  "There are men, watching the Comte's manor. " He bent over, still trying to catch his breath. "Damn you, Cassiline, for a hasty fool! I saw 'em, and scryed out the situation at Lord Delaunay's; he's being watched too, they're waiting for me. Someone slipped up, and gave 'em word. I saw you leave, and followed you here. "

  It chilled me to realize that Delaunay's fears had merit. Motioning Joscelin to bide, I pressed the sailor. "What word, then, from Quintilius Rousse?"

  Aelric Leithe drew in his breath, and loosed his message with it. "When the Black Boar rules in Alba, Elder Brother will accede. That's my message. That's the whole of it. "

  I fumbled at my purse, trying to cover my consternation, and found a coin at hand; it was a gold ducat, but I'd no doubt Delaunay would reimburse me for it. "My thanks, lord sailor," I murmured. "I will relay your Admiral's message to my lord Delaunay, and of a surety, he will send word. "

  Aelric Leithe was no coward, I am sure of that; no man who sailed with Quintilius Rousse could be. But he was out of his element here, and fair frightened. He took the coin, bobbed a bow with fist to brow, and fled. Through the curtain I saw Master Tielhard and his apprentice staring after his disappearing figure.

  Then I looked at Joscelin Verreuil, and the terrible expression on his face.

  "The house," he said, and headed for the door.

  I had seen Joscelin move quickly, and I have seen it since; but that day, he rode as if seven devils were after him, and I have never seen him move faster. How I kept apace of him, I don't know, save that terror gave my heels wings, and Alcuin's horse, whom I rode, seemed to sense it when I mounted and laid into his sides. We laid a trail of sparks from the marquist's shop to Delaunay's door, skittering amid a shower of them into the courtyard.

  It didn't matter; it wouldn't have mattered how fast we'd ridden. We had dallied too long at Master Robert Tielhard's, the sailor, the Cassiline and I. , *•

  It was too quiet in the courtyard, and no stable-boy came to take our mounts.

  "No!" Joscelin shouted, dismounting in a flash and charging the door, both daggers drawn. "Ah, Cassiel, no!"

  I followed him into the silent house.

  Whoever had been watching it, they had been there before us.

  Delaunay's men lay where they had fallen, weltering in their own gore. They'd killed the housekeeper too, and thrown her apron over her face; I couldn't look. So many servants, and I'd never bothered to know them all, why they'd chosen to share their lives with Anafiel Delaunay.

  We found him in the library.

  There must have been a dozen wounds or more on him; which had killed him, I do not know. His sword was still in his hand, blood-crusted the length of it. Delaunay's face, unmarked, was strangely peaceful, at odds with the awkward sprawl of limbs. I stood in the doorway while Joscelin knelt and felt for a pulse. His expression, when he looked up, said all that was needed.

  I stared uncomprehending, my world crumbling.

  In the dimness of the unlit library, something moved, making a scraping sound.

  Joscelin moved quicker than thought, shoving a path through the disarray, volumes and tomes strewn hither and thither. When he saw what it was, he cast his daggers aside, frantically clearing debris away from the source of the sound.

  I had seen a swatch of hair like moonlight glimmer amid the strewn books. I followed slowly.

  I saw Alcuin's eyes, dark and flooded with pain.

  Joscelin cleared away the books that had been tossed heedlessly across him, and I heard his breath hiss between his teeth to see the damage. He pressed both hands to Alcuin's stomach, to the fine cambric shirt drenched with red blood, and shot me an agonized glance.

  "Water. " Alcuin's voice was no more than a thread. I knelt beside him and fumbled for his hand. "Please. "

  "Get it," I murmured to Joscelin. He opened his mouth, then nodded, and disappeared. I held tight to Alcuin's hand.

  "Delaunay?" His dark gaze searched my face.

  I shook my head, unable to say it.

  Alcuin's gaze wandered away from mine. "Too many," he whispered. "Twenty, at least. "

  "Be quiet!" My voice came out fierce with tears. Joscelin returned with a ewer and a sponge. Dipping the sponge, he squeezed a trickle of clear water into Alcuin's mouth.

  Alcuin's lips moved; he swallowed, feebly, grimacing. "Too many . . . "

  "Who?" Joscelin's voice was low and calm.

  "D'Angeline. " Alcuin's wandering gaze sharpened, focusing on him. "Soldiers. No crest. I killed two. "

  "You?" I stroked his hair, heedless of the tears spilling down my face. "Oh, Alcuin . . . "

  "Rousse," he whispered, and grimaced. "Get him word. "

  "Quintilius Rousse?" I exchanged a glance with Joscelin. "His messenger found us. Me. He said the house was being watched. "

  Alcuin whispered something; I strained to hear, leaning close, and he repeated it. "Password?"

  "No. " My wits were utterly scrambled. "Yes, yes, he gave one. The Prince's ring. . . the Prince's signet, his only born. "

  Alcuin twitched, and gasped for air. Joscelin gave him more water, sponging his face. I saw then, incredibly, that he was trying to laugh. "Not a ring . . . cygnet. . . swan. Courcel. Delaunay . . . oath-sworn to guard her. Cassiel's oath . . . Rolande's daughter. "

  "Anafiel Delaunay stood as oath-sworn protector of Ysandre de la Courcel?" Joscelin asked quietly. Alcuin's head moved in a faint nod.

  "Swore it. . . for . . . Rolande's . . . sake," he murmured, licking his lips. Joscelin squeezed another trickle of water over them. "What. . . of. . . Rousse?"

  "When the Black Boar rules in Alba, Elder Brother will accede. " I held Alcuin's fading gaze, pleading. "Alcuin, don't go! I need you! What do we do?"

  The thread of his voice was fraying, the
dark eyes dim and apologetic. "Tell. . . Ysandre. Trust. . . Rousse. Trevalion. The . . . Thelesis knows . . . about Alba. " He stirred again, a slight cough, and blood frothed on his lip. Such beauty, ruined; I was clutching his hand too hard. "Not Ganelon . . . slipping. It's the Dauphine. " His head moved, and I knew he was looking for Delaunay. "He kept his promise. " Alcuin's voice, for a moment, rang clear; he gasped, his eyes rolled upward, and his hand clenched on mine. "Phedre!"

  How much time passed, I do not know. I held his hand for a long time, long after it lay limp in my own, and the final spasm of pain had smoothed itself from his features. It was Joscelin who pulled me away, raising me stumbling to my feet and shaking me. I let him do it, boneless in his grasp, feeling the broken pieces of my heart rattle as he shook me. Beyond the still figure of Alcuin lay Delaunay. I could not bear to look. Gone, all gone, his noble features deceptively calm in the gentle repose of death. The auburn coils of his braid, streaked with silver, lying so seemly over his shoulder, as if no pool of blood clotted beneath him.

  "Elua curse you, Phedre, listen to me!" The sharp retort of a slap echoed in my hearing; I raised my head, dimly aware of the blow, and met Joscelin's eyes stretched wide with terrified urgency. "We have to leave," he said, his voice high and tight. "Do you understand? These are professionals, they took their dead with them. They'll trace their steps, they'll come back. We have to deliver Rousse's message to the Dauphine before they do. " He shook me again, and my head lolled. "Do you understand?" ,

  "Yes. " I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes. "Yes, yes, yes! I understand. Let me go. " He did, and I moved without thinking, clutching my cloak about me, the wheels of my mind turning remorselessly. Kushiel's chosen, but Delaunay's pupil. "We'll go . . . we'll go directly to the Palace. If we can't gain access to the Dauphine, we'll seek Thelesis de Mornay. " I dropped my hands, looking at Joscelin. "She knows me. She will see me. "

  "Good. " His face settled into hard lines, and he caught my wrist, dragging me out of the abattoir that had once been a library. "Come on. "

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  Of the ride to the Palace, I remember next to nothing. That we arrived, I am sure; but I could not say how long it took, nor what the weather, nor who we passed in the streets. Later, I saw men in battle fight on for a time after having received their death-wounds. I understood, then.

  Delaunay had laughed, saying mine was an ill-luck name. It amused him, that my mother, Night Court-taught, had been ignorant enough to choose it. He should not have laughed. He had given me his name; would that he'd given me better luck with it. Instead, I had given him the luck of mine, the same luck Baudoin de Trevalion had had of me.

  I cannot second-guess my own luck; even now, I know, had my fate not been in Elua's hand, matters might have fallen out differently. All I know is that, at that time, I would they had.

  Ysandre de la Courcel's Guard turned us away.

  In the past, I had worried about the spectacle we made, I in my sangoire cloak and Joscelin in Cassiline grey. This time, I could not have cared less, until I noted the look in the eyes of Thelesis de Mornay's servants, who politely informed me that the King's Poet was engaged, and like to remain so for some hours yet. Her verses, it seemed, soothed the King, and such sessions were not to be disturbed.

  I pressed my hands to my eyes, and remembered the mirrored passage to the Dauphine's quarters.

  There are those who map the influence of the stars, and claim that our destinies may be charted within. Doubtless such would claim this meeting was fated; but I, who know better, could have guessed that there was no chance to our encounter. It is not such a difficult thing, to set a watch on those who guard. No trouble, to have word sent whenever an audience is sought.

  So I know now; then, I merely started dumbly at the sound of Meli-sande Shahrizai's voice.

  "Phedre?"

  Joscelin's hands sought his hilts. I simply looked up, feeling her voice like a tug on a bond I'd forgotten I wore. Her brow was furrowed with concern.

  "What is it?"

  Her compassion undid me; I felt the tears rise unbidden. "Delaunay," I said at a gasp. I tried to say the words, but they wouldn't come; it didn't matter. I saw her comprehend it. "Alcuin. All of them. "

  "What?"

  I doubt many things in life. Even now, still. But I do not doubt that my news took Melisande Shahrizai by surprise. That was one emotion she never rehearsed; she had too little cause for genuine surprise. I heard the instrument of her voice in one word unstrung, untuned. Even Joscelin heard it, releasing his hilts.

  The nature of her surprise, however, was another matter.

  When she spoke again, her voice was under control, though she was pale. "You're in search of the King's Guard?"

  "No," Joscelin said, at the same time I answered, "Yes. "

  Nothing, not even this, could render me so far out of my senses as to blindly trust Melisande Shahrizai. I dashed the tears from my eyes, impatient with them. "Yes," I said, repeating it more strongly, ignoring Joscelin at my side. "Do you know where they're quartered?"

  "I can do better than that. " Melisande turned to an attendant in Shahrizai livery, standing some paces behind her. "Summon the Captain of the King's Guard to my rooms; the Captain, and no less, you hear? Tell them it's urgent. " He gave a quick bow and headed off purposefully. Melisande turned her attention back to us. "Come with me," she said gently. "They should be there in a moment. "

  I had never seen the Shahrizai appointments in the Palace. They were luxurious, I remember that; the rest is lost. We sat at a long marble table in the great room, waiting for the Guard.

  "Drink this. " Melisande poured two glasses of cordial herself, handing them to us. "Both of you," she added, seeing Joscelin hesitate. "It will do you good. "

  I drank mine at a gulp. It had a clear fiery taste, with a faint aftertaste of honey and thyme and a hint of something else. It did seem to settle my nerves a little. Joscelin coughed at the burn of it, and a little color rose to his face. He looked better for it. Melisande refilled my glass unasked, but when she reached for his, he shook his head. "Tea, perhaps?" he asked faintly.

  "Of course. " She went to the door and summoned a servant, speaking in a low tone, then sat down, gaze dwelling on my face. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

  "No. " I started shaking, and cupped both hands around my cordial glass. "My lady, I don't know. We were . . . we were at the marquist's shop, making the final arrangements for my marque. " My mind raced desperately as I improvised; even my vision seemed out of focus. "I had to approve it, Master Tielhard had changed the design of the finial. It was . . . I don't know how long. "

  "Three-quarters of an hour," Joscelin said, supporting my story. His voice was a little unsteady, but it sounded like it was due to shock, and not the half-truth. "Mayhap a little bit longer. " The servant came with the tea, and he thanked her, sipping it. "When we arrived back at the house . . . " His hand trembled, and tea spilled into the saucer. He set it down, then willed both hands to steadiness and picked it up, taking a long drink. "There were signs of battle all over the house," he said grimly. "And no one left living to tell of it. "

  "Oh, Anafiel," Melisande murmured. She glanced toward the door, looking, I thought, for the King's Guard. I looked too, but there was no one.

  A thud sounded at the table.

  Joscelin lay slumped, his cheek pillowed on cold marble. The teacup had overturned, and steaming liquid puddled under one limp, mail-clad hand. I felt dizzy staring at him, his oblivious, unconscious features swimming in my vision.

  "No," I said. My grip loosened on the cordial glass, and I pushed it away, looking at Melisande with mounting horror. "Oh, no. No. "

  "Phedre, I'm sorry. " Her beautiful face was composed and quiet. "I swear to you, I never gave an order to kill Delaunay. That wasn't my decision. "

  "You knew. " The horror of it crawled over my skin. "You used me. Ah, Elua, I told you, I
told you myself! Rousse's messenger!"

  "No. I already knew Delaunay was awaiting word from Quintilius Rousse. " With chilling care, Melisande reached out and righted the overturned teacup, setting it neatly back on the saucer.

  "Why, then?" I whispered. "Why did you tell me about Prince Rolande, if you already knew? I thought you wanted to find out what it meant. "

  She smiled, smoothing an errant lock of hair out of my dazed eyes. "That Delaunay was oath-sworn to protect the life and succession of Ysan-dre de la Courcel? Oh, my dear, I've known that for ages. My second husband was a great friend of the King's, and a terrible gossip. Not clever enough to guess that Delaunay meant to keep his promise, but then, of that scant handful who knew it, precious few were. No, it's what he's up to that I needed to know. Why Quintilius Rousse, and what has it to do with the Master of the Straits?"

  "But why . . . why me?" It was hard to keep my head upright; whatever she had put in Joscelin's tea, there must have been somewhat in the cordial too, in a lesser quantity.

  "Do I need a reason?" Still smiling, Melisande traced the line of my brow over my left eye, the one with the dart-stricken mote. If I had known horror before, it was nothing to this; the power of her touch remained unaltered. "Perhaps I do, for Delaunay's pupil. It's a bit like flushing pheasants, you see, when they send the beaters into the brush. I wanted to see which of de Morhban's lordlings startled at the mention of your name. It wasn't hard to guess that the Comte de Brijou harbored a messenger for your lord, Phedre no Delaunay. "

  The blood ran like fire in my veins, a scalding betrayal. I struggled against it, her cord like a noose around my neck, trying to put the pieces together. Whose men, then, had killed Delaunay? Melisande's? She didn't command an army; the Shahrizai dealt in money and influence, not men-at-arms, not beyond their personal guard. Alcuin could have done it, I thought, he could have fit the pieces, and my tears were as scalding as the terrible desire. Clinging to the thought of Alcuin, I saw the shape of the pattern. "D'Aiglemort. "