Devil's Bargain by Judith Tarr

Author:Judith Tarr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The silence stretched. The sky shifted and flowed, shimmering with myriad lights and colors. Somewhere nearby, water fell softly, drop by drop.

Ahmad’s eyes followed the sound of it. A spring welled up from the not-quite-grass, trickled down a slight slope, and gathered in a basin. The basin was silver, reflecting the too-strong green of the grass.

Ahmad approached the basin. It was half-full of water, and should have mirrored the colors of the sky. Instead he looked down into a hall of stone. The arches, the tiles, the high peaked windows, were of the east, but the court that stood in it was unmistakably Frankish. Priests were thick there, hung with crosses, and knights of Temple and Hospital, and smooth-shaven courtiers in the latest fashions from France.

She stood in the midst of them in a plain linen shift, with her black hair tumbling loose and wild down her back. Her wrists were manacled; chains bound her ankles. She was thinner than he remembered, and paler; her eyes were enormous in the delicate oval of her face. Yet she did not seem frail at all. Her shoulders were square, her back erect. She looked straight into the face of the marquis as he sat enthroned on the dais.

It was indeed a throne, that high carved chair, although he did not yet affect the crown that should go with it. His mantle was the true deep purple of Tyre, and his collar was of heavy and gleaming gold. He did not have the stature or the beauty to carry it off, not as Guy his rival did, but his bearing almost made up for the lack.

It was not given to Ahmad to hear the words of that trial, but he could see the faces of those who were there. They made him think of hungry wolves. She was no meek lamb, but she was prey; they would devour her.

“She’ll be condemned to death,” Ahmad said.

“Most likely,” said Sinan directly behind him.

He neither started nor turned. “There will of course be consequences, and likely a war. That would suit the marquis very well.”

“She is in no honest danger,” said Sinan, “nor do you need my help to spirit her away. What is it you want of me, then? Revenge?”

Ahmad set his lips together.

“There is a price,” said Sinan.

Still Ahmad said nothing.

Sinan was smiling, and not pleasantly: Ahmad heard it in his voice. “I will do as you are so subtly refraining from asking. When the price is paid, you will know.”

“You will not touch her,” Ahmad said. “She is not yours, not now, not ever.”

“I lay no claim on her,” said the Master of Assassins. “Not now, not ever.”

Ahmad kept his back erect, though he wanted to fall bonelessly to his knees. “So be it,” he said.

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