The girl tried to run at Shiballe, but Kest gently held her back and sat her on the bench again.
‘Duke Jillard would kill a woman and her family because adultery so distresses him?’ I asked, my voice tight and my hand sliding to the hilt of my rapier.
Shiballe smiled. ‘No, not that. It was the choice of lover the Duke found distressing.’
‘Come, girl, come with me. We’ll find a way out of this for you,’ Kest said to her.
‘No,’ she said, very firmly.
He stared at her. ‘What do you mean, “no”?’
The girl put her hands on the back of the bench and pushed herself up. ‘It is true: it is the Blood Week. If I do not attend the Duke’s ceremony at the end of the week, my family’s name, everything we have, becomes the property of the men who did this. My name – my rights of blood – will be gone for ever.’
She looked up at me, desperate. ‘I won’t do that,’ she said. ‘I won’t run away.’
‘Then you’ll be killed,’ Kest said, as kindly as he could.
‘I’m smart,’ she said, ‘and I’m pretty small. I’ll hide in the city – I’ll move around a lot. I just need to last the week and then be there to place my name on the Duke’s list.’
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This child, no more than twelve or thirteen, had just lost everything, her entire family, and now, as if that wasn’t enough, she was going to be killed by the Duke’s men or Shiballe’s men or someone else for an offence she’d had no hand in at all. And yet her answer was that she would stay and fight.
‘What’s your name, girl?’ I asked.
‘Aline,’ she said. ‘Aline Tiarren.’
My heart stopped and I felt my eyes darken. Kest put a hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off. It was a name, that’s all – a very uncommon name, true, but a name nonetheless. A stupid name, given to a little girl who knew no better.
I knelt down in front of her. ‘Do you know what I am?’ I asked.
‘You’re a Greatcoat,’ she said. ‘You’re one of the King’s Magisters.’
‘And do you know what we do?’
‘Falcio …’ Kest warned.
I raised a hand and ignored him. ‘Do you know what we do?’ I asked again.
‘You hear cases,’ she said. ‘You give verdicts. You fight.’
‘We hear cases, we give verdicts and we fight. A crime has been committed, Aline. Do you want me to hear your case? Do you want me to give a verdict?’ I paused. ‘Aline, do you want me to fight?’
The girl looked into my eyes as if measuring my sincerity. Then she said, ‘I want you to fight.’
‘Falcio,’ said Kest, ‘you can’t do this. The Covenant—’
‘Fuck the Covenant,’ I said, rising and pushing him back. ‘And fuck you if you don’t know any better, Kest. What’s your solution? What’s your answer? Look,’ I whispered fiercely into his ear, ‘we don’t even know what’s going on. What if the Tiarrens were killed so that they couldn’t tell us where the King’s jewels were? What if this girl knows something about it? Keeping her alive is the only way we can figure out how to stop the Dukes. She’s part of it, I’m sure of it.
‘My Lady,’ I said to Valiana in a clear voice, ‘I feel a cramp in my leg. I am afraid I would delay your journey if I came with you. I beg your pardon to rest my leg and then I will join you all presently.’
‘When?’ she asked.
‘In about nine days,’ I said. ‘I’m confident my cramp will disappear by then.’
She looked at Feltock, at Kest, at Shiballe. Whatever answer she sought from them, she didn’t find it.
‘You are inconvenient, Trattari. My Lord father has made it clear I am to take my Patents of Lineage and make all speed north to begin preparations for my coronation. I cannot afford any more delays on your account.’
‘Your Highness—’ Shiballe began.
‘Silence. I’ve heard your instructions clearly enough: I cannot stay; I cannot take the girl. Very well then. Falcio val Mond, I order you to stay here until you are fit to travel.’
‘Yes, my Lady.’
‘Your Highness,’ Trin said, her expression full of concern, ‘it is too dangerous. They will have the entire city trying to kill them. Go instead to your father, the Duke; beg him to let you take the girl away. You can save her, give her a home, as your beloved mother the Duchess did for me.’
‘You forget yourself, Trin,’ Valiana said without looking at her.
‘Ah, yes,’ Shiballe said. ‘Consulting with your father would be the wisest course.’
I wondered if Trin was really so na?ve as to believe that the Duke would ever be persuaded by Valiana after he had twisted her request already. More likely he would rub her nose in it.
‘Furthermore,’ Valiana said, ‘I have developed a special fondness for this girl. I would like to know her better. Should Ganath Kalila be completed by the time your leg is healed, then I instruct you to bring the girl to me.’
‘Yes, my Lady.’
‘You still work for me, tatter-cloak. If any of my special friends here in Rijou are inconvenienced by the poor manners of others, you will censure them on my behalf.’
We locked eyes. ‘Of that you can be assured, my Lady.’
She looked back at me. ‘Very well then. Feltock, get the men ready and let us be away. I am growing restless to complete my journey.’
‘Aye, your Highness,’ Feltock said.
He turned to me briefly. ‘It was nice knowing you, Trattari. But you’re a damned fool.’
Kest, Brasti, the girl and I were out of earshot of Shiballe and his men, who were standing a few feet away.
As the fat man gave instructions to his men, Brasti said quietly, ‘You can’t win at this. There’re too many of them – this whole town is a nest of snakes, and each and every one of them will be biting at you for the Duke’s favour.’
‘I’ll fear no blade,’ I said, my voice tight.
‘Falcio, they’ll kill you, and they’ll kill the girl!’
‘I’m not running, Brasti. You said it yourself – all we’ve done is run, and it’s got us nowhere.’
‘How then? Tell me how: even if you do somehow manage to survive the Blood Week, they’re never, never going to let you get away with it. What are you going to do then?’
‘I’ll reach the Rock,’ I said. I looked at Kest. ‘You’re quiet.’
He started pulling something from his pack. ‘Here,’ he said, passing me a small package. ‘It’s what I’ve got left of the hard candy. Maybe it will keep you awake.’
‘Oh, for the Saints’ sake – you think he can do this? Could you do it?’
‘No, I don’t think so,’ Kest said, ‘but I’ll wait the full Blood Week and five days more to find out. Falcio, if you haven’t returned by then, I’ll kill the woman. She won’t sit on the throne of Castle Aramor; that I promise you.’
He turned and walked towards the carriage. I picked up a small rock and threw it at him, striking him in the back of the head. He spun back around, ready to fight.
‘Just wanted to remind you that I do surprise you occasionally,’ I said calmly.
He didn’t smile.