Naamah's Blessing - By Jacqueline Carey Page 0,215

mayhap there was hope for House Barthelme after all.

“You may also go,” Thierry said to the Comtesse de Maillet. “My stepmother Jehanne and I may have disagreed on many issues, but on this, I suspect we would be in perfect accord. Consider yourself dismissed from the service of House Courcel.”

Jehanne’s mother departed with an audible sniff, her delicate nostrils flaring; but she went.

I wondered, briefly, where her husband was.

And then I forgot, along with the rest of the realm, as Thierry took a knee and knelt before his little half-sister in an unconscious echo of the pose Balthasar had taken, hands braced on bended knee.

“Hello,” he said to her. “I don’t expect you remember me, do you?”

“No,” she said gravely. “But I know who you are. I was very, very little when you went away, wasn’t I?”

Thierry nodded. “Very little, yes. And I am sorry to have been gone for so long, little sister. But now that I have come back, do you suppose we might be friends, you and I? It would please me greatly.”

Desirée glanced up at me.

I nodded.

Bao extricated his hand from hers. “You are fortunate to have such a brother, young highness,” he said to her. “It was not easy to rescue him! He has many, many tales to tell you.”

“I would like that very much,” she said solemnly, extending her hand to Thierry, who clasped it with equal solemnity.

It was a private moment in a public setting, and I felt my throat tighten at the sight of them, the twice-orphaned survivors of House Courcel; and I daresay everyone in the throne-room felt the same way, for there were audible sighs.

“I have a great deal to do to set matters right here, little sister,” Thierry said to her. “And I fear I will be busy for a time. But I will always have time for you, I promise. We are family, you and I.”

Desirée hesitated. “You won’t hurt them, will you?”

“The Duc and his family?” he asked. She nodded. Thierry considered his reply. “It is not for me to decide. Those who have broken laws will be judged in a court of law, and if they are found guilty, there will be a price to pay. Not even the King is above the rule of law. But if you wish to plead clemency for them, you may—and nothing will be done today.” He squeezed her hand. “We will talk more about this later, all right? I promise, nothing will be done without your knowledge.”

She nodded again.

Gently releasing her hand, Thierry straightened and placed himself before the throne, turning to address the assembly once more.

“My lords and ladies, I am blessed among men to stand before you today,” he said to them. “I owe my safe return to the brave D’Angelines who accompanied me on my initial voyage. I owe it to my kinsman Balthasar Shahrizai and the valiant men who undertook this second journey. Many members of both parties perished in these efforts, and I honor their memories. I am in the debt of Emperor Achcuatli of the Nahuatl, and his representatives whom you see before you, the venerable guide Eyahue and the fearless Jaguar Knight Temilotzin.”

Hearing their names spoken, both the Nahuatl inclined their heads and flicked their fingers toward their chests and brows.

“I owe my safe return to the Maidens of the Sun in faraway Tawantinsuyo,” Thierry said softly. “And most especially to one who made a great sacrifice on behalf of her people; and to Messire Bao of Ch’in, who made a sacrifice that must have been equally difficult in its own way.”

It was so quiet in the throne-room, you could have heard a pin drop, the peers of the realm hanging on every word.

Thierry took a deep breath. “Above all, I owe my safe return to my kinswoman Moirin mac Fainche, who had the courage to have faith in her visions.” Turning toward me, he offered a courtly bow. “Never again let the name of the Maghuin Dhonn be spoken in fear and superstition, but with honor and profound respect.”

It touched me, soothing an ache so deep I hadn’t known it was there, bringing tears to my eyes.

“I know many of you did not support Moirin’s mission,” Thierry continued, overriding murmurs of protest. “Have no fear. I will hold no man nor woman to blame in this matter. It was well nigh an impossible quest, and I may well have counseled against it myself.” He gazed into the distance. “But I am