Ilario, the Stone Golem (58 page)

Majesty told me to come down here and meet the book-buyer. I won’t be

arrested again if I keep to my curfew.’

Rodrigo
asked
him
for
his
parole
, I realised.

Little enough chance Honorius will ever break it.

I caught sight of Orazi and Tottola in the shadows of the nearer

warehouses; the German lifted his hand in acknowledgement.

‘Master Rekhmire’ . . . ’ I strove for formality, and finally persuaded

myself to look up at the Egyptian. His arm still lay heavily about my

shoulder.

Rekhmire’ signalled with his other hand. One of Jian’s men handed up

a snapsack.

‘Zheng He sailed south at the King’s request, and picked me up

further down the Via Augusta,’ Rekhmire’ observed, dark eyes hidden

by shadow. Even so, I could see the corners crease. ‘For some odd

reason I didn’t desire to ride to Taraco in the company of Aldro

Rosamunda . . . ’

Dryly, I said, ‘I wonder why.’

My
supposition
was
exactly
right!

‘Were you in the cathedral?’ I added.

I felt the Egyptian shrug, rather than saw it.

‘Forgive me: I didn’t desire to see it. I would have throttled the insolent

barbarian.’

It was unclear whether he meant Videric, King Rodrigo, or any other

man; the true accent of Alexandria reminded me that we are all

barbarians in that city’s eyes.

285

A scent of pitch and a flare of light let me know that Orazi had fired a

torch. Honorius glanced at the stars on the horizon.

‘We should get back.’ He glanced at me, and at the book-buyer, and I

thought I saw him smile.

Rekhmire’ kept his arm over my shoulder, using me as well as his stick

to propel himself along at a reasonable rate. The torchlight showed

irregularities in the ground; his concentration was on those.

‘No hunting accidents?’ I observed.

He smiled without looking at me, giving him a profile that might well

have appeared in one of Ty-ameny’s bas-reliefs.

‘That depends on your definition of “accident”.’ He scowled, mood

changing. ‘And hunting. The wild boar on Aldra Videric’s estate are

tame enough that they come to a whistle. It’s not sport.’

The rising white light brought Sulva clearly into my mind’s eye, the

massive wild boar attentive to her aulos flute. I thought suddenly,
I

should
have
confessed
to
Father
Felix
that
I
regret
how
badly
I
treated
Sulva
Paziathe
.

‘I had crossbow bolts sent too close to me for my liking,’ Rekhmire’

observed, shooting a glance up at the Sanguerra castle’s black bulk. ‘If I

had thought of myself as a hunter rather than prey, I might have come

back more battered even than I went.’

He means his knee, I realised.

Before I could say anything rational or comforting, I saw other torches

approaching us down the dock steps.

Honorius and Orazi exchanged a wordless look.

Only two torches, and – I squinted, now the night had fully fallen; the

moon was not yet bright – only three men visible. Two guards, and one

man who dressed like a knight.

‘I have a message for you!’ the leading figure called.

Under the flickering yellow light, I recognised his lugubrious features.

‘That’s Safrac de Aguilar – King Rodrigo trusts him,’ I muttered

briskly to Honorius.

We were four or five men to three, in any case – and I wondered when

it had become natural for me to think that way in my home city.

Aldra de Aguilar evidently recognised Honorius in the torchlight. His

voice became much less loud. ‘Greetings, my lord. The King desires to

see you, urgently.’

Honorius nodded and fell in beside the Iberian knight. I registered

Tottola bringing up the rear, eyes scanning the darkness of the town as

we made our way through black streets.

There should be words to say to Rekhmire’, but for the moment, I

could find none of them; I merely enjoyed his presence, and the

assistance I could lend him.

King Rodrigo Sanguerra sat in his private chambers, the night wind

blowing the scent of the city through the rooms, along with a firefly or 286

two. He sat with his head down over a clutch of maps, not lifting it when

his page announced us, but only waving a hand to gesture that we should

be allowed in.

Not having been given permission to sit, I spent my energies in being a

prop to the book-buyer, whose injury clearly – to my eyes, at least –

pained him.

The King pushed a map aside and leaned back. Hooded black eyes

surveyed us all, settling at last on Licinus Honorius.

Rodrigo Sanguerra beamed.

‘Aldra Honorius,’ he said. ‘I’m pleased to have released you from

confinement. If you will, I have a task that you may do for your King.’

My father’s expression said
You
do?
, but his voice smoothly managed,

‘Yes, Your Majesty?’

‘Yes.’ King Rodrigo looked at Rekhmire’, and at me, and back at

Honorius. ‘You’re going to Carthage.’

287

11

‘I’m doing
what
?’ Honorius didn’t give his King the chance to do so much as draw breath. ‘
Carthage!
Sire! You suspected me of conspiring with Carthage! Wanting to take your place as Carthage’s governor! And

now you
want
me to go there?’

His incredulity could have burst eardrums. I opened my mouth, a

suggestion forming in my mind. King Rodrigo signalled forcefully for us

to sit down at the table.

I loaned Rekhmire’ my arm. ‘But you’re going to Carthage, in any

case? For Ty-ameny?’

Rodrigo Sanguerra caught my low-voiced comment.

‘If I understand it correctly . . . ’ He pushed maps back as his page

brought wine, and took a glass of Falernian. ‘The Pharaoh-Queen desires

you to go to Carthage, Master Rekhmire’, to instruct the King-Caliph

that the devil-ship is now your ally, and they should be duly alarmed?’

Rekhmire’ inclined his head in agreement.

The King sipped at his wine. ‘I had occasion to speak with the foreign

Admiral, over the rendezvous to bring you back to Taraco. A very

amiable man in many ways.’

I bit my tongue, managing not to tactlessly ask what my King and

Zheng He might have in common – or what they might have discussed.

‘In any case,’ Rodrigo Sanguerra turned to Honorius, ‘I desire you to

travel to Carthage on the devil-ship, and do precisely the same thing.’

Honorius’s eyebrows went up.

‘Claim to be the Chin’s allies, as well?’

‘Claim them to be
our
allies,’ Rodrigo corrected.

His hooded eyes watched my father, with a combination of amuse-

ment and judgement.

‘I desire you to travel as my kingdom’s Captain-General,’ he added.

Honorius pushed his hand across his face, wiping sweat out of his

eyes, and downed his wine in one swallow. ‘If I wanted to stay a captain,

I’d have stayed in Castile!’

‘If I wanted a war, I’d appoint a Captain-General who wanted to

fight!’

Rekhmire’ broke out in a light tenor laugh. My father and the King

stared at him. He shook his head apologetically.

‘Pardon me, Your Majesty. What else would you wish Aldra Honorius

288

to convey, officially, to the King-Caliph? Perhaps the news that First

Minister Videric has recovered from his illness and resumed his position

at court?’

Rodrigo watched the book-buyer for a moment.

He smiled.

‘An excellent idea.’

‘Oh, I see where this is going . . . ’ Honorius’s moroseness was not

particularly convincing.

I nodded agreement. ‘So do I!’

King Rodrigo Sanguerra linked his fingers on the maps of the

Hesperides, and showed me his teeth. ‘You tell us then, Ilario.’

Rekhmire’’s look informed me I might have kept my big mouth shut

with more advantage; Honorius merely beamed proudly.
The
King
may
as
well
know
his
Freak
has
a
mind
, I thought.

‘You want Lord Honorius as Captain-General because every Frankish

kingdom will be afraid to fight him,’ I said. ‘Even if all he ever does is stay on his estate and breed war-horses! You want him to go to Carthage

as your Captain-General because that would make it very difficult for

him to ally himself with Carthage. Especially if he’s the one who tells

King-Caliph Ammianus that Aldra Videric is back – the King-Caliph

won’t be pleased with whoever brings him that message!’

I did not add,
It
nails
Licinus
Honorius’s
colours
to
your
mast
, because no man at the table appeared to need that confirmation.

Rodrigo grinned like a boy.

‘I should have sent you away before, Ilario. You’ve learned much.’

I’ve
learned
to
be
wary
of
compliments
from
powerful
rulers
.
.
.

‘You understand, Ilario,’ King Rodrigo added, ‘that I need to send you

away again. For a year or two, until there’s no scandal attached to the

resemblance between you and Licinus Honorius.’

That might mean anything from two years to ‘don’t come back until

Pirro Videric is dead’, but I saw I had no current choice, and nodded.

‘I have business in Carthage, too,’ I added, ‘if you won’t think it

suspicious, sire. It’s personal and to do with being a painter.’

King Rodrigo nodded absently. Most of his attention was on

Honorius, which I had counted on.
At
least
I
have
my
place
on
Zheng
He’s
ship
.

Rekhmire’ gave me a sideways look, but had to abandon the query

when Rodrigo Sanguerra beckoned the page to fill his wine glass and

addressed the Egyptian again.

‘As I understand it, your Queen desires you and Pilot Sebekhotep to

return at some time to Constantinople?’

‘The Admiral will put into Gades,’ Rekhmire’ volunteered. ‘That

would be the nearest friendly port from which we could return to

Alexandria.’

289

Rodrigo thoughtfully nodded. I wondered if he perceived that Admiral

Zheng He would leave the Middle Sea.

I know the man: certainly he’s thinking of
some
thing!

‘Captain-General Honorius, you may return via Gades, or otherwise,

depending on how long your business takes in Carthage.’ King Rodrigo

saluted him lightly with the wine glass. ‘But I’m ahead of myself. Licinus

Honorius. Will you accept this position at my court?’

My father caught my eye, and I glimpsed a grin. Almost demurely, for

such a battle-hardened man, he murmured, ‘Yes, sire. Of course.’

‘Very well.’ Rodrigo thrust a map across the table at him. ‘When the

celebrations attendant on Ilario’s penitence and Videric’s return are over,

you may leave.’

Admiral Zheng He appeared to have no objection to my presence

continuing on board his ship.

‘We leave here in a . . . week?’ He glanced at Sebekhotep, who

nodded. ‘A week. You may come.’

The Admiral cut off my thanks with a sharp gesture. A glance passed

between him and Commander Jian.

‘The sailors say you’re good luck,’ Jian ventured. With another look at

Zheng He, he added, ‘They find a eunuch clerk comforting, and familiar.

It’s what they take you to be. But that is not quite correct, is it?’

The Admiral signalled for wine. At Zheng He’s gesture, I sat down

again. One of the Admiral’s clerks dodged in, with paper, brush, and ink-

block on his wooden case. Commander Jian looked at me questioningly.

I
suppose
an
explanation
is
a
reasonable
price
for
a
voyage.

I regarded the Chin Admiral, and managed not to smile. ‘Not a

eunuch, my lord, no . . . ’

Silverpoint is delicate, but I needed to give what I drew more body. If I

had little enough left in the way of pigments now, I could still use tinted

paper as a mid tone, and the earths for dark values, and white lead for highlights.