‘I do.’
‘Do you take no responsibility at all? Does it not matter to you that the King broke ancient laws, dismissed pacts and agreements of long standing held by his ancestors and the Dukes?’
‘I know little of that, your Highness. I know only that this country is weak and decaying, and it is breaking apart, thanks to the injustice heaped on it by the nobility. I know only that my King tried to bring a measure of fairness and mercy to the people of this land. I know only that your mother and the other Dukes had him killed for it.’
‘If you truly want a more just rule, Falcio, a more compassionate rule, then help me. Be one of my advisors. I would – I would even consider reuniting the Greatcoats, with some compromises. I need someone I can trust, someone who isn’t simply seeking more power for their family or house. Feltock says he believes in you, despite what conventional wisdom tells him. Be loyal to me, and I swear to you we can help the very same people you claim to want to save.’
The dance was coming to a close. ‘My Lady – your Highness, this afternoon you said you would intervene for the family whose home is under siege as the Blood Week begins.’
‘I have not forgotten.’
‘Save them,’ I said in her ear. ‘Save one family.’
The last note hung in the air for a moment as we separated and she looked at me. I bowed, properly this time, not as a suitor, and waited for her sign that I should leave.
She curtsied back. Before the musicians could start again, she raised a hand in the air, and everything stopped.
‘My Lord Duke of Rijou,’ she said in a clear, commanding tone.
Her father was standing a few feet away, at the edge of the dance floor. His eyes were cold when he said, ‘Daughter?’
‘I have a boon to ask of you.’
‘This hardly seems the time, sweetling.’
‘There is a family here in Rijou; their fate is in dire jeopardy.’
He laughed, ‘It is Ganath Kalila, daughter. I should say their fate is well in their hands, as has always been the case amongst the strong people of Rijou.’
‘Still, I would ask that you put them into your care.’
The room grew cold. This was a dangerous first test of her stature.
The Duke smiled, then walked over to her, taking her in his arms. The gesture looked innocent, even loving, but I could see him holding her too hard, too close. His pelvis was pushing into hers.
‘My dear Lords and Ladies, forgive my daughter, for she is still young and knows little of the world outside her home. But we shall teach her, shall we not?’
Laughter and applause. The sound of a hundred hyenas smelling blood.
Valiana pushed away from the Duke. ‘Dearest Father, you are correct. I have much to learn.’ She knelt down in front of him, her hands by her side in a gesture of submission.
‘Of course, my dear, this is quite understandable when one—’
‘Nevertheless,’ she said.
The room went quiet again.
‘Nevertheless, I must insist that the Tiarren family be protected. They are under siege in a manner most foul by bandits in black cloth, and the city guards do not defend them.’
‘Daughter, it is the Blood Week.’
‘It was not the Blood Week when they began to barricade them in their home. The city guards should have intervened. Your man, Shiballe, should have intervened. He did not. In fact, he prevented my men from lending assistance.’
The Duke’s eyes were embers burning angrily in the shadows that had descended over his face.
‘Shiballe,’ he said, and in an instant the soft, obsequious man was by his side.
‘My Lord?’
‘See to this. My daughter has made a request, in front of me. In front of all these people, that the lives of the Tiarren household be my responsibility.’
Then he raised his voice to the assembled nobles. ‘Lords and Ladies, be most assuredly aware: the fate of House Tiarren is of great interest to my daughter, and now to me. I hold their lives dearly, as I do all my subjects, and their future has been set in my royal hands and no others. I will see that my will is done in this matter. Have you heard me, Lords and Ladies?’
Sounds of assent rung out and Valiana rose, smiling. ‘Thank you, Father, you rise even further in my heart with this compassion.’
The Duke smiled at her, this time genuinely. I found it unsettling.
*
Someone tugged at my arm: the young singer.
‘He would converse with you now,’ he said.
The boy led me to a table near the musicians’ stage. The others continued to play, but Bal sat at the table with a mug in one hand. I sat opposite him, and the boy stood by his side.
‘Bal – it’s me! Falcio—’
He didn’t reply, but put his hand on the boy’s arm and tapped something with his fingers, as I had seen him do earlier.
‘He recognises you,’ the boy said.
‘Why does he not speak?’
Bal opened his mouth wide and I saw the ruin of his tongue.
‘Saints!’ Bal Armidor had had a voice that could sneak honey from bees and had snuck many a woman from the arms of her husband in his day. ‘What happened to him?’ I whispered, aghast. Was it the barbarians?’
He began tapping again on the boy’s arm.
‘He says his tongue was the last thing to go.’
‘What does that mean?’
More tapping.
‘He came here years ago, on his way East. He stopped to play for the Duke, hoping to earn enough coin for his journey.’
‘What happened?’
‘The Duke was fond of his playing, and generous in praise and reward. He offered Bal the position of Chief Troubadour. Bal said he was grateful, but like all troubadours, his feet itched for the road.’
Bal used both his hands to lift one of his legs out of its boot. Below the shin the flesh and bone had been replaced with a wooden leg inlaid with gold.
‘The Duke generously resolved the issue for him.’
Bal placed his leg back in the boot and took the boy’s arm again.
‘Then Bal found favour in the eye of one of the ladies of the court, and she found favour in him. The Duke suggested they cease their affair, as he had his own interest in the woman. He offered Bal one of his mistresses instead and when Bal said he had eyes only for Senina, the Duke was thoughtful enough to have his eyes put out, to be offered to Senina as a gift. In his infinite generosity, he replaced the gift he’d taken.’
The gemstones in his eye sockets. Saints, I should have let Brasti murder him.
‘The Duke’s son, Tommer, took a liking to Bal, and asked that Bal be made his tutor in music and history. Being a fool—’
Bal gripped the boy’s arm hard, then tapped again.
‘Bal agreed and taught the boy. He taught him music and voice and history. He taught him about the Kings and—’
‘The Greatcoats. He taught him about the Greatcoats, didn’t he?’
‘The Duke was furious and commanded him to stop,’ the boy said. ‘But Tommer was only seven years old and he didn’t understand why he couldn’t have what he wanted. Bal loved the boy and relented, but would only tell him more stories of the Greatcoats in secret. One of Shiballe’s men overheard him one evening, and the Duke had Bal’s tongue pulled the next day.’
I reached out and grabbed Bal’s other hand. ‘I’m so sorry, my friend. I thought … I thought you’d gone East and stayed there.’
Bal removed his hand and shook his head.
‘He says he needs no pity. He says you must leave this place, tonight if you can. There is nothing here for you but pain and death. He says to go back to the Lord Caravaner, and accept Tremondi’s proposal.’
‘Tremondi’s dead,’ I said.
Both Bal and the boy were silent for a moment. Finally, Bal tapped something very short.
‘Then,’ the boy said slowly, ‘there is nothing for you anywhere but pain and death. Either way, you must go.’
‘But there’s more I need to know, so much Bal can tell me about—’
Bal slammed the table with one fist before tapping furiously on the boy’s arm again.
‘He says he cannot speak to you now, nor ever. He has two things left in this world, fingers to make music and ears to hear it. He says you must not take those away from him.’
I sat back in the chair, suddenly conscious of all the people who could see us, every one of whom could whisper into the Duke’s ear and take away all that remained of Bal’s humanity.
I rose. ‘I’ll go.’ I started to turn but then stopped. ‘Only … who are you? Are you related to Bal in some way?’
The boy shook his head. ‘No. I am simply commanded by the Duke to serve Bal whenever he performs. I must go now. I see my father calls me.’
The boy stepped out from the table and walked purposefully towards the stairs. I looked after him and saw the Duke standing there, his eyes on me.