‘Water,’ Sim declared, pushing through the veil of blossoms to the pool.
It was almost all blood, the pool, drained from the gently swinging nakedness of Piculph, hanging from the sorrowful bend of a willow-tree bough.
He had been hard used so that death had come as a mercy to him, but not before he had suffered the shrieking terror of being whipped to a flayed ruin. Nor had he been dead long enough for all the life to have drained away; it fell, viscous and soft as cat’s paws, drop by ticking drop from the dangle of his arms and head.
The slamming door whirled them round and Sim gave a sharp cry as something whirred like a dove wing through the air, curved round his neck and jerked him off his feet; he flew forward and was dragged, choking.
Hal, with reflexes even he did not know he possessed, slashed out with the sword and the black, thin snake that seemed to have leaped out and grabbed Sim round the neck whipped away; there was a curse and Hal sprang to Sim’s side as the man rolled over, coughing and choking.
He had time to see that it was no snake but the remains of a leather thong – a whip, he realized, remembering Piculph’s ruined body – and then a voice cut the air.
‘Quick, for an old man. You have spoiled my surprise – and I had spent a deal of time perfecting that lash; I did not know how many would come and needed an advantage.’
De Grafton stepped into the moonlight like a verse in black and silver, the limp dangle of the whip in one hand, the flash of steel in the other. He wore black Templar robes and it seemed as if the dark had eaten him.
‘Two only? Then Piculph told it true.’
He shrugged ruefully.
‘Pity. I did not believe him. I thought this Ruy Vaz would send his host at least – two old men is not a little insulting.’
‘Enough for you,’ Sim managed, but his voice was hoarse and the throat burn in it palpable.
‘Ruy Vaz and his men are on their way,’ Hal added, hoping it was true.
De Grafton moved, sudden as an adder, the tongue of ruined whip flicked and a dove veered off and flew away, calling alarms. De Grafton frowned.
‘You have severed enough to ruin my aim,’ he said and tossed the whip away with disgust. It was that, more than anything so far, which drove a cold steel blade of determined hate into Hal, suddenly revolted by a man who had spent the long, hot afternoon practising his whip on an innocence of doves while his human victims marbled in the heat.
‘Wee birds and women,’ Hal answered, finding his voice at last. ‘This seems your strength, de Grafton.’
He moved as he spoke, between the fronds of a palm, crushing the jade-pale stems and heads of some flowers, so that a cloying perfume rose up.
‘The lady? She believed this Piculph, thought to go with him and throw herself on the mercy of Ruy Vaz.’
De Grafton’s lip curled with revulsion.
‘Thought to use her women’s ways’, he said, ‘to slither out from punishment and leave me to bear the brunt of wrath. I killed her as you would the snake in Eden and then found out what was needed from Piculph.’
‘Who was no great fighter,’ Hal answered, sidling closer.
‘A Serjeant of the Order of Alcántara,’ de Grafton sneered. ‘If they are all like that, the Moors will be in this port within the year.’
‘You will never ken,’ roared Sim, bulling up from the floor, even as Hal shouted at him to stay.
De Grafton slid to one side, the sword flicked, fast as the whip, and there was a dull clang and a splash which curdled Hal’s blood; he sprang forward, but recoiled to a halt as the sword flicked out at him. From where he stood he could see Sim sprawled on the far side of the pool where the blow had flung him, half in and half out, covered in blood and not moving; Piculph’s disturbed body swung and turned while doves mourned in the moonlight.
‘You have a key I need,’ Hal said, trying not to look at Sim, while de Grafton cocked his head to one side like a curious bird.
‘I am charged with delaying you – preventing you entire if I can,’ he replied, almost sadly. ‘I gave my oath to my lord Percy and his English king, as a Poor Knight.’
‘The Poor Knights are no more and your oath is as worthless as your honour – you are long fallen from any grace,’ Hal replied, moving a bough of fragrant blossoms from in front of his face. ‘Piculph did not die because you wanted to know how many were coming here – he died because you wanted to know if Rossal was. Himself and the Templar writ he carries. Which you would take from his whipped body after he had revealed the secret word.’
There was silence, broken only by the gory drip and the flutter of terrified doves.
‘Did you work out that you alone had not been party to the knowledge? They did not trust you, de Grafton, even though they could prove nothing. Yet Rossal knew – perhaps God told him.’
He shifted slightly for advantage, poised and ready for a strike.