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.At the exact moment that the chieftain reached the dais, all noise stopped.He gazed at the queen and went down on one knee.But he did not bow his head, and his gaze met hers with a proud vitality.He had the bluest eyes I had ever seen, as if pieces of sky had been beaded into his head.I couldn’t look away from that fierce blue, and for a long moment, neither could she.Whole rivers flowed between them.Then he had risen and was saying something in his guttural language.A man stepped from behind the throne.I recognized him: the small, sour-faced man in black velvet that had come to the queen all those weeks ago.He was no less sour-faced now.He knelt, rose, and said, “Your Grace, Solek, son of Taryn, comes to your court, as agreed, to offer the services of his army, for the payment agreed.”Queen Caroline said, “Tell him he is welcome to the court of The Queendom.”The small man translated.She continued, “Lord Solek is—”“They do not use that title, Your Grace,” the small man said.He had interrupted the queen.One never interrupted the queen.But she let it pass, her eyes still locked with the stranger’s.“He is in my queendom now, with the title I choose to give him.Tell him that I will have rooms prepared for him and his captains in the palace, but that I deeply regret we are unable to house his entire army.”After the translation, the stranger gave a great shout of laughter, as startling in that formal room as a rampaging bear, followed by a short speech.The translator said, “The Chieftain says that, of course, his men will camp beyond the island, and he with them.”I thought of the villages that surrounded the island, each with its own neat cottages, its little green, its sheep and chickens and pretty girls.These savage warriors—so many of them! and perhaps even more outside—were the roughest-looking men I had ever seen.They scarcely looked like men at all, with their shaggy fur tunics, huge cudgels pounding like hoofs on the floor, feathered capes, and twig-topped helmets.And what were those metal sticks each man wore on his shoulder?The queen said, her voice now lowered so that even I, closer than anyone except Lord Robert, had to strain to hear.“Eammons.is there a polite way to tell him that the village cottages—and the village women—are not available to his men?”“No,” Eammons said sourly.“There is no way.It would be a gross insult.”Lord Robert said to the translator, “These savages will be of no use to us if they defeat the Blues but turn the queen’s own subjects against us!” His voice held a strange satisfaction, which in turn angered the queen.She rose from her throne and descended the steps.Immediately all of us—but none of the savages—fell to both knees.She stood beside the chieftain in her green gown, its train spreading up the steps behind her, as the translator hissed, “Don’t take his hand, Your Grace! For the sake of heaven, do not touch him!”She did not.Beside him, she looked tiny, although she was not a small woman.In a low, intimate voice she said, “Translate what I say exactly, Eammons.Exactly, word by word.‘Lord Solek, I will speak frankly.Please forgive my ignorance of your customs.Your soldiers are manly and strong.My villagers are gentle.Do your soldiers’ discipline and restraint match their strength and their ability in war? ’”“Your Grace—”“Translate!”He did.Lord Solek’s blue eyes darkened and his face went hard.I took a step backward, away from that look.Lord Robert’s hand went to his sword, but the queen did not flinch.Instead she looked up at him with a look I had never seen on her face—helpless, naked, feminine appeal.And then she curtsied.A gasp went up from the advisors, the courtiers.Lord Robert put out one hand, as if to yank her upward from obeisance to anyone—she, the queen! But she had already straightened, her curtsy done but her beseeching look going on, eyes fastened onto Lord Solek, until he threw back his head and again gave that huge, rough laugh.He turned to his captains and gave a long speech.When he was done, each captain raised his left fist aloft for a moment before letting it drop.“He said,” Eammons reported, “that his men will stay away from your villages.”Lord Solek had said a great deal more than that.The promise of punishments if his savages did not obey? Of rewards if they did? And what had Queen Caroline promised in order to bring Lord Solek’s army here in the first place?She said, “Tell Lord Solek that he is bid to come to dinner in my rooms at sunset.With whatever of his chiefs it is customary to bring.We have much to discuss.”And still her dark eyes held his blue ones, and neither looked away.18THE BUSTLE OVER the dinner was enormous [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]