The Princess and the Captain Read online

  With a delicate touch, the daughter of Balmun lifted the dressing a little way. Malva clenched her teeth and searched feverishly under her mat for one of the paghul cakes she had hidden there. She crunched one to give herself courage. Since she had been torn from Uzmir’s protection she had chewed the seeds in the cakes all the time. They had the power to soothe her body and her mind.

  Suddenly Lei’s face brightened. ‘See!’ she whispered.

  Malva bent her leg. Incredible: the wound had almost disappeared! There was nothing left but a long white scar where the nameless monster had dug its teeth in.

  ‘You touch!’ Lei suggested.

  With a trembling hand, Malva put her fingers on the scar. She felt nothing but a gentle caress. She rubbed harder. Nothing! No pain at all!

  ‘Move it,’ Lei suggested again.

  Malva did, with obvious delight. She kicked her leg in the air several times, and finally ventured to stand up.

  ‘It doesn’t hurt,’ she breathed, eyes wide with amazement. ‘It doesn’t hurt at all! Look, Lei! I can walk! I can walk as well as ever!’

  ‘Ssh!’ whispered Lei, putting a finger to her lips. ‘You wake other girls.’

  ‘I can walk! I can walk!’ repeated Malva, deliriously happy. ‘This is wonderful, Lei! You’re a real magician!’

  She was almost dancing now. She jumped up and down on the slatted mesua wood floor so vigorously that one of the girls eventually raised her head.

  ‘You sleep,’ Lei murmured to her. ‘What you see just a dream.’

  The girl muttered, turned over and went to sleep again. But that had calmed Malva down. She sat cross-legged, her eyes riveted on her leg, marvelling.

  ‘Thank you, thank you, Lei! You’ve saved me! I don’t know how to –’

  Here the gong suddenly sounded for the first time, cutting her short. All the girls woke with a start. They leaped to their feet, picked up their sarimonos and flung them around themselves before kneeling beside their mats.

  ‘Quick,’ breathed Lei. ‘No one see us!’

  She and Malva hurried to put on their clean sarimonos. No sooner had they knelt down than the second stroke of the gong made them tremble. With a single identical movement, all the girls picked up the ivory combs beside their mats and began arranging their hair.

  Malva saw the scene with new eyes. On other mornings, concentrating entirely on her own pain, she hadn’t noticed the rest of the girls. Today she was fascinated by the perfect choreography of their movements in the dormitory. How did anyone, even if he was Emperor of Cispazia, manage to get so many people to do such things all at once? It was both very beautiful and very disturbing. And yet Malva could not help joining in the movements of the ensemble: she too combed her black hair, which had grown again now and fell to her shoulders like the wings of a crow.

  The third stroke of the gong heralded the entry of the preunuchs. They advanced in single file, silent, heads bent, with the yellow headband around their foreheads showing that they were slaves, and put down a bowl of steaming mococo milk in front of each girl.

  At the fourth stroke of the gong, the girls raised the bowls to their lips. The milk was creamy and fragrant, and, as usual, Malva discreetly added a paghul cake to it. But this morning she didn’t have time to let the delicacy dissolve in her bowl. In her haste, she slipped the remaining cakes into the pocket of her sarimono.

  At the fifth stroke of the gong the girls were ready in the cloisters, lined up in silence. When they started walking Malva felt a joy that she could hardly contain. I’m walking properly, she told herself. It’s incredible! I’m not limping at all!

  She was so relieved that she didn’t even mind the prospect of the Immersion. The salt of the first Bath of Purity might attack her skin, but now it wouldn’t sting!

  As she stood on the edge of the pool she was almost smiling.

  ‘Your face,’ Lei whispered. ‘Careful. Not smile.’

  Malva bit the inside of her cheeks and stepped into the water. The lotus petals were fragrant around her. She began swimming strongly and was first to reach the middle of the pool. It was only then that she noticed the man who had just appeared beside the Emperor Temir-Gai.

  He wore garments like those of the rich merchants who traded along the coasts of the Ochre Sea. A tall man, he towered a head above the Emperor. An embroidered hat hid part of his face. All the same, Malva felt uneasy in his presence, as if she were facing someone she already knew. Standing on the bank, the Emperor was murmuring confidentially into his guest’s ear.

  ‘That man,’ Malva breathed to Lei. ‘Who is he?’

  The daughter of Balmun examined him from a distance and shrugged. ‘Not know. But two girls sacrificed today. You take very care.’

  The gong was about to sound for the sixth time. Malva must be ready to dive, yet that man was taking up all her attention … Now his glance was wandering attentively over the girls waiting in the middle of the pool. Suddenly his steely eyes pierced Malva like two arrows.

  Her heart missed a beat and she almost cried out when she recognised him. But the gong was struck at that very moment. Lei just had time to catch hold of Malva’s hand, and all the girls dived at once.

  Malva felt bad as soon as she was under the water. She hadn’t taken enough air into her lungs. And that look of his, by Holy Tranquillity, that look! She kicked her feet out as best she could, but her tight chest was crying out for air. Air, air!

  When she came up from the water there was only one other head above the surface. The Emperor instantly pointed to her and called out orders to his preunuchs: Malva was to be given to the Emperor’s guest.

  Once again her eyes met the piercing glance of the man who was claiming her. And what she read in those grey eyes left her in no doubt: yes, he really was the Archont.

  How had he come to this place? What claim had he on Temir-Gai’s hospitality? Malva couldn’t understand it. But one thing seemed clear: he had come all this way to kill her. And he would get his chance to do it this very evening with complete impunity, in the room placed at his disposal by the Emperor.

  The preunuchs fished Malva out and immediately took her to one of the buildings in the main palace at the other end of the city. They shut her up in a small room with screens of latticework over the windows, and only a single white cushion in the middle of it.

  She stayed there, alone and terrified, for much of the day. She paced up and down, refusing to sit on the white cushion or even look out of the window. Her sarimono dried on her. She was neither hungry nor thirsty. Through the ornate latticework over the windows she saw the sun pass slowly over the sky, and when it turned red two more preunuchs came into the room and signed to her to go with them. She followed them to the entrance of a much larger room with lotus petals sprinkled over its floor. Apparently she had to undergo a ritual to prepare her for her night with the Emperor’s guest.

  Once again the preunuchs left her alone.

  Malva walked into the room. She saw a chest at the far end, with bowls of fresh fruit and a flask of some kind of liquor on it. The food and drink were obviously meant for her, but she didn’t touch them.

  All the time, all the time she saw the Archont’s grey eyes before her. Anger and disgust churned in her stomach. How had he picked up her trail? Why was he hounding her? Had something happened in Galnicia?

  Oh, Lei, she thought sadly. If only your magic could save me again! But there was nothing the daughter of Balmun could do now, and time was inexorably passing.

  A chime of bells heralded the arrival of more preunuchs. They took away the bowls of fruits and the flask, and then led Malva to a third room.

  This time she had to climb down stairs and go along the city’s hidden underground passages. At last the preunuchs pushed Malva into a bedroom. An enormous bed on carved wooden feet stood enthroned in the middle of the room. A gallows wouldn’t have made a worse impression on her. This is the end, she told herself, hearing the door close behind her. The intense fear she felt
fanned the flames of her anger and revulsion. And the waiting went on and on, so long that when the door opened again Malva was nothing but a bundle of nerves.

  She gave a start and spun round. The Archont was standing in the doorway of the room, wearing a green sarimono. Malva felt her chest contract. Violent spasms twisted her stomach.

  ‘Well, Princess,’ began the Archont. ‘You appear to be unsinkable.’

  He did not move, but leaned against the door frame, very sure of himself. Malva was unable to utter a word.

  ‘You’ve led me a pretty dance, Princess,’ continued the Archont in honeyed tones. ‘And you are causing me a great deal of trouble. So I decided to do the job myself rather than leave it to incompetents like Vincenzo.’

  With these words he untied the belt round the waist of his sarimono, ran it through his fingers and took its ends in both hands. Malva opened her mouth to scream, but controlled herself. If she was to have any chance of escaping the worst she absolutely must keep calm. She stood firm on her feet and took control of her breathing again.

  ‘Did the Coronador send you?’ she asked, hoping to gain time.

  The Archont smiled unpleasantly. ‘No one sent me. The days when I took orders from the Coronador are over. You and I still have something in common, you see: we don’t like blind obedience to the powerful men of this world.’

  He brandished the belt.

  ‘Temir-Gai is sure to understand that accidents can sometimes happen … even during a night of love, one is never quite safe from strangulation.’

  He wound the belt around his fists and pulled them sharply apart. There was a small, dry sound. Malva swallowed with difficulty.

  ‘And speaking of love,’ continued the Archont sarcastically, ‘the whole country was literally distraught with grief on learning that you had disappeared. I did try to inject some tranquillity and harmony into the chaos … but you resurfaced just a little too soon.’

  Malva tried not to tremble, tried not to flinch. But every time the Archont tensed the belt between his hands she shivered. It was strange: she had been close to this man for ten years without suspecting anything; she’d even enjoyed his company! And now, facing him, she had never been so frightened in her life.

  ‘I’ve waited ten years!’ exclaimed the Archont, as if reading her thoughts. ‘It was all so well calculated. I contrived to turn you against your parents and vice versa. You were ripe for the plucking, Princess. I had only to make it easy for you to run away … and didn’t you think it was an excellent plan?’

  ‘You can still seize the throne,’ replied Malva, never taking her eyes off the sarimono belt. ‘I won’t stop you. You’re wasting your time here. You’d do better to go back to Galnicia and finish the job there.’

  ‘I don’t need any advice from you!’ the Archont exploded, lashing the air with the belt.

  Malva took a step back in panic.

  ‘If it’s any consolation to you to know it before you die, the throne has slipped through my fingers once and for all. Your chambermaid got a message through to the Citadel. I was unmasked … and by a servant, by that …’

  The Archont was quivering with rage, while Malva, in the grip of terror, took in this information without fully understanding it.

  ‘And when I’ve finished with you,’ the Archont went on, ‘I shall deal with that girl. Wherever she is, I’ll find her. I have only one thing to live for now, and that’s revenge.’

  He took a step towards Malva. The door was still open behind him. It was now or never!

  Malva charged forward with the energy of despair. She leaped so fast and so far that she escaped the Archont’s attempt to stop her. She flew through the air, fell to the ground and rolled over. Staggering up, she managed to race through the open door. The Archont just had time to turn and see her disappearing down the long corridor.

  Malva had never run so fast in her life. Her leg, healed now, allowed her to take great strides and speed along the stairs and passageways that wound beneath the imperial city.

  But the Archont, reacting fast, uttered a cry of fury and set off in pursuit of her.

  ‘You won’t escape me again!’ he shouted. ‘I shall kill you this very evening. That’s what I came for!’

  Malva ran faster and faster. The corridors turned, branched, flights of steps went up or down to connecting suites of rooms. She took the stairs at random, without stopping to think, terrified by the shouts of the Archont hard on her heels.

  Suddenly there was a blank wall in front of her. She pressed her hands to it, hammered it with her fists. Nothing, no door! She turned. Looking this way and that, she finally saw a trapdoor at floor level. She lay down and put her head into the opening. It was a kind of tunnel sloping down, perhaps a sewer to get rid of rubbish or drain away dirty water. Using her elbows to help her, she clambered in. It was tight, but she had grown so thin since leaving Galnicia that she could get her whole body into it.

  Just as her feet were disappearing into the tunnel she heard the Archont arrive and come to a halt in front of the blank wall. Heart thudding, Malva steadied herself against the walls of the tunnel and slid further down.

  ‘There she is, naughty girl!’ said the Archont’s voice.

  His words echoed down the tunnel. Twisting her neck, Malva could see the opening through which she had escaped. It was now filled by the Archont’s bony face. He was watching her with a terrifying smile on his lips.

  ‘She’s caught herself in the trap!’ he laughed. And he put his own head into the opening of the drain.

  Panic-stricken, Malva climbed down with all her strength to get away from the Archont. And when she turned again, she realised that he couldn’t follow her: his broad shoulders wouldn’t fit into the opening! He was hammering the floor with his fists, his face distorted by hatred.

  Malva wriggled on along the narrow passage. The one thing she feared was coming up against a grating which would prevent her from emerging at the far end. But luckily the tunnel finally broadened out, and she found herself in a kind of dark sewer stinking of urine and decomposition.

  She rolled over on the ground and managed to get up. It was so dark that she couldn’t even see her feet. But straining her ears, she detected the presence of something there. She had a lump in her throat. What she could hear was the sound of breathing.

  Hands stretched out in front of her, Malva groped her way forward. Suddenly she seemed to have stepped on something. It was soft. She bent down. Whatever it was she had just stepped on was warm … and hairy.

  A growl suddenly broke the silence. Malva jumped back and pressed against the wall. An animal! She had fallen into an animal’s den! And the shaft along which she had come was meant to ventilate its cage!

  The animal breathed noisily. Malva heard it moving, and when she felt the ground shake she realised it was getting to its feet. With her back against the wall, she tried not to breathe.

  As the animal growled louder and moved restlessly, there was a sudden clink of keys and a light appeared, illuminating a corridor and the bars of the animal’s cage. Alerted by the noise, a preunuch with a flaring torch had come to investigate. Malva slipped down against the wall and crouched on the ground.

  Whispering a few soothing words, the preunuch raised his torch. In the orange light of its flame, Malva could finally make out the animal’s massive outline. And suddenly she saw two pairs of horns shining. Her heart missed a beat. The celestial-charioteer! By Holy Harmony! She was shut up in the monster’s cage!

  The celestial-charioteer was so big and heavy that it had difficulty moving in this small space. However, it managed to turn round, and Malva saw its terrible oblong head bend down towards her. She bit the inside of her cheeks to keep herself from screaming with terror.

  Meanwhile, out in the corridor, the preunuch was still waving his torch about, trying to see the back of the cage. But Malva was hidden by the celestial-charioteer’s enormous body. It was snuffling at her now with its slimy nostrils. She felt a long
trickle of saliva drip on her left arm: no doubt about it, the charioteer was hungry.

  Suddenly Malva remembered that she still had the paghul cakes in her sarimono. She slowly slipped her hand into her pocket. The cakes had been soaked with water during the Immersion, and had turned to a kind of mush, but she tried them anyway as a last resort. She opened the palm of her hand under the charioteer’s nostrils.

  For a few seconds the monster stopped growling and shifting about. It sniffed the cakes. Then it seemed to make up its mind. Malva felt its enormous tongue sweep over her hand, and soon she heard the spongy sounds of munching. She quickly felt in the bottom of her pocket and held out all that remained of the cakes under the monster’s muzzle. But she was trembling so much that the paghul mush fell from her hands and lay at her feet. The charioteer lowered its neck to lick them up.

  At that moment the light of the torch dazzled Malva. In lowering its head the animal had revealed her to the preunuch, and he immediately let out a harsh cry. Rigid against the side of the cage, Malva sighed with despair. This time she was trapped with no chance of escape.

  A dozen preunuchs hurried into the corridor outside, armed with torches and swords. One of them opened the celestial-charioteer’s cage and four others marched in. They seized Malva by the shoulders and took her out, while the monster went on licking the ground in search of more paghul cakes.

  From the cries of the preunuchs, Malva realised that she had just committed a terrible crime: intruding into the den of Temir-Gai’s totem animal amounted to sacrilege. Her guards dragged her roughly up and down stairs and along corridors to the bedroom of the Emperor who, alerted by more preunuchs, was waiting for the culprit, seated on his bed.

  The preunuchs threw Malva at his feet, and in their own language gave the Emperor a brief explanation. Face on the floor, Malva felt the blood beating in her temples. She didn’t understand a word of what they were saying, but Temir-Gai’s fury was so great that she needed no translation. For a moment she thought they might simply cut off her head on the spot.