Order of Darkness Read online

  ‘She was cleared!’ Luca interrupted. ‘I am an Inquirer for the Church, commanded by the Pope himself to discover the reasons for strange happenings in this world, and to see the signs for the end of days. I examined her, and I sent my report to the lord of my Order. I have cleared her of any wrongdoing. She’s not wanted by the law of the land nor of the Church.’

  The man shrugged. ‘She can be innocent of everything but she’s still the Lord of Lucretili’s sister,’ he said flatly. ‘She’s still his possession. If he wants her back then no one can deny his rights to her.’

  ‘What does he want her for?’ Ishraq asked, joining the two of them on the rail of the little ship. ‘For he was quick enough to get her out of the house when her father died, and quick enough to make an accusation which would have seen her burned to death. Why does he want her back now?’

  ‘You too,’ the man said shortly. ‘The slave, Ishraq. I am commanded to take you back too.’ He turned to Luca. ‘You have to give that one to me because she is a runaway slave and the lord is her master. And the lady has to be given to me because she is the Lord of Lucretili’s sister and as much a part of his property as his chair or his horse.’

  ‘I am a free woman,’ Ishraq spat. ‘And so is she.’

  He shrugged as if the words were meaningless. ‘You’re an infidel and she is his sister. She was at the disposal of her father and then, on his death, her brother. He inherited her like the cows in his fields. She’s his property just like a heifer.’

  He turned his attention to Brother Peter. ‘If you prevent her coming with me then you have stolen Lord Lucretili’s property: his slave and his sister, and I will have you charged as a thief. If you keep her you are guilty of kidnap.’

  Freize sighed. ‘Difficult,’ he remarked into the silence. ‘Because legally, you know, he’s right. A woman does belong to her father or brother or husband.’

  ‘I don’t belong to my brother any more,’ Isolde suddenly asserted. She slipped her hand in Luca’s arm and gripped his elbow. ‘We are married. This man is my keeper. I am his.’

  He looked from her determined face to Luca’s set jaw. ‘Really? Is this so, Inquirer?’

  ‘Yes,’ Luca said shortly.

  ‘But you are a man of the Church? Tasked to inquire into the end of days and report to your Order?’

  ‘I have broken my vows to the Church and taken this woman as my wife.’

  Brother Peter choked but said nothing.

  ‘Wedded and bedded?’

  ‘Yes,’ Luca said gripping Isolde’s hand.

  There was a moment, and then the man shook his head. He smiled disbelievingly, looking up at them both. ‘What? You bedded her? Took her with lust, had her beneath you, made her cry out in joy? You two kissed with tongues and you caressed her breasts? You held her waist in your hands, and she gladly took you into her body?’

  Isolde’s face was blazing red with shame. Ishraq looked furious.

  ‘Yes,’ Luca said unblinking. ‘We did all that.’

  ‘Kiss her.’

  ‘You can’t . . .’ Isolde began, but Luca turned to her and put a finger beneath her chin to raise her face and then he kissed her slowly and deeply, as if he could not bear to move his mouth away from hers. Despite her embarrassment Isolde could not stop herself, her head tipped back, her arms came around his shoulders, they held each other, her hand on the nape of his neck, her fingers reaching into his hair.

  Luca raised his head. ‘There,’ he said, a little breathlessly, when he finally let her go. ‘As you see. I do not hesitate to kiss my bride. We are husband and wife, she is my chattel now. Her brother has lost all his rights over her. She belongs to me.’

  Freize nodded sagely. ‘A wife must go with her husband. His rights come first.’

  Brother Peter’s face was frozen with horror at the lies spilling out of Luca’s mouth but he said nothing.

  The Lucretili man turned to him. ‘Am I supposed to believe this? What about you, Priest? Are you going to tell me you are married to the other one? Are you going to kiss her to prove it?’

  ‘No,’ Brother Peter said shortly. ‘I live inside my vows.’

  ‘But these two are truly husband and wife? In the sight of God?’

  Brother Peter opened his mouth. A little swell rocked the boat and he put his hand on the rail to steady himself.

  ‘You are their witness before God,’ the man reminded him. ‘I conjure you, in His name, to tell me the truth.’

  Brother Peter gulped.

  ‘On your oath as a priest,’ the man reminded him. ‘The truth, in the sight of God.’

  Brother Peter turned to Isolde as she stood, her arm still around Luca’s waist. ‘I am sorry,’ he said, his voice very low. ‘Very sorry. But I can’t lie on God’s name. I cannot do it.’

  She nodded. ‘I understand,’ she said quietly and moved away from Luca as he let her go.

  ‘He doesn’t have to say anything,’ Ishraq spoke up. ‘I will bear witness.’

  The man shrugged. ‘Your word means nothing. You are an infidel, and a slave and a woman. Your words are like birdsong in the morning. Too loud, and completely meaningless. Now,’ he turned his attention briskly to Luca. ‘Send both of the women over the side of the ship or I will order my men to board your craft and we will take them by force.’

  Luca looked down; there were about a dozen men in the galley, fully armed. He glanced at Freize, who stoically hefted his cudgel. Clearly, they could fight; but the odds were heavily against them. They were certain to lose.

  The commander turned to the boatman, who was grimly listening in the stern of the boat. ‘You are carrying stolen goods: these two women belong to the Lord of Lucretili. If I have to, I will board your ship to take them, and there may be damage to your ship or danger to you. Or you can give them up to me and there will be no trouble.’

  ‘I took them in good faith as passengers,’ the boatman shouted back. ‘If they are yours, they can go with you. I’m not responsible for them.’

  ‘There’s no point fighting,’ Isolde said very low to Luca. ‘It’s hopeless. Don’t try anything. I’ll give myself up.’

  Before he could protest, she called down to the man in the galley below: ‘Do you give your word that you will take us safely to my brother?’

  He nodded. ‘I am commanded not to harm you in any way.’

  She made up her mind. ‘Get our things but leave the sword,’ she said over her shoulder to Ishraq, who quickly went to the cabin and came out with their two saddlebags, tucking Freize’s knife out of sight, into the rope at her belt.

  ‘And what is to happen to me?’ Isolde demanded. She beckoned Ishraq to go with her as she went to the prow of the boat. The commander gestured to Luca and Freize that they should haul his boat alongside, so that the young women could climb down over the rail and into the waiting galley.

  ‘Your brother believes that you are trying to get to the Count of Wallachia for his help. He thinks you will try to get an army to come against him and claim your home. So he’s going to marry you to a French count who will take you away and keep you in his castle.’

  ‘And what about me?’ Ishraq asked, as Luca, Freize and Peter each took a grappling iron and, pulling on the ropes, walked the galley to the prow of the boat.

  ‘You, I have to sell to the Ottomans as a slave, in Venice,’ the man said. ‘I am sorry. Those are my orders.’

  Luca, whose father and mother had been captured by an Ottoman slaving galley when he was just a boy, went white and gripped the rail for support. ‘We can’t allow this,’ he said to Freize. ‘I can’t allow it. We can’t let this happen.’

  But Freize was watching Isolde, who had suddenly halted at the news that Ishraq would not be with her. ‘No. She comes with me,’ she said. ‘We are never separated.’

  The man shook his head. ‘My orders are clear. She is to be sold to the Ottomans.’

  ‘Be ready,’ Freize whispered to Luca. ‘I don’t think she’ll stand for that.