The Exiled Blade (The Assassini) - By Jon Courtenay Grimwood Page 0,113

to him . . .” The man turned away, lost in his crossness at nobles and aristocrats who refused to fight wars properly.

They had nine horses, four knights, two princes, a future duchess of Venice if she lived that long, an infant of less than eighteen months, nine krieghund sworn to defend the infant to the death, ten light infantry, Captain Weimer, who made up for in experience what he lacked in numbers, and Tycho.

He could become a demon. He could become an angel.

In recent years, in the middle of battle, he had become both. But here and now, watching the cliff top and worrying about the prickling at the back of his neck, with Giulietta and Marco having a hissed argument, he felt only sad it had come to this. When Frederick fell back, looking nervous, Tycho simply nodded . . .

“What are our chances?”

“Bleak. Unless you have a brilliant idea?”

“You’re meant to be the strategist, the man who pulls victory from defeat and work miracles . . .”

I am? “Not me,” Tycho said. He doubted he was a man at all.

“Who will win that?” Frederick meant the other battle, the one being fought up ahead in furious whispers between Duke Marco and Lady Giulietta as they hurried their mounts forward.

“Marco, obviously. He has less to lose.”

“His life? His dukedom?”

“Giulietta has Leo. Her own life and you . . .” Tycho had to grab Frederick’s bridle to keep him moving. The look in the princeling’s eyes was unreadable as he stared at the couple riding in front of them. Leaving Frederick to his thoughts, Tycho edged his horse forward. There was barely room for two animals to ride abreast and he had to nudge Marco’s horse before the duke noticed him.

“Well,” Tycho whispered. “Is it decided?”

“You stay out of this,” Giulietta hissed.

“It’s d-decided,” Marco said. “My c-cousin and Leo will t-take the horses and ride ahead. We will stay h-here to buy them t-time. If we g-get lucky and k-kill Alonzo . . .” He shrugged. “Well, we’ll just h-have to catch them up.”

Lady Giulietta opened her mouth to object.

“It’s d-decided.”

“You’re the duke,” she said.

“And you’re the n-next d-duchess.”

“That’s just a label,” she said furiously. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

Marco smiled at her. “S-see,” he said. “You’re learning. You could even r-reintroduce your b-beloved republic if you w-want to cause r-real chaos. Now let us d-dismount and you can t-take two of the knights, and all the horses. With replacements you c-can d-definitely outride h-him. We’ll m-make s-sure of it.”

“Frederick should go with her,” Tycho said.

They both turned round to look at him.

“I’d t-thought of s-sending you.”

“Frederick and the krieghund,” Tycho said firmly. “They will die to protect her, and even if they wouldn’t, they’d die to protect Leo.”

“S-so would y-you.”

“There are more of them.”

Marco looked at him sadly. “You’ve d-decided t-then?”

“Don’t worry,” Tycho told Giulietta. “We’ll deal with Alonzo and catch you up afterwards. Wait for us at Castelnuovo.” He named the port where they’d landed. The one the locals called Sveti Stefan.

“Tycho . . .”

“If I may . . .?” Tycho said.

Marco edged his horse forward to let Tycho take his place alongside Giulietta. Reaching across, Tycho took her hand and she closed her mailed fingers on his. She’s changed and so have you . . . I can do this, Tycho told himself. I can say goodbye well enough to let her ride away.

Giulietta had tears in her eyes.

Tycho felt his own spill over and tightened his fingers, not trusting himself to speak. When he looked up, Giulietta was staring at him.

“I didn’t know you could cry.”

Tycho let go her hand and reined in his mount, falling back until he was next to Frederick. “You’re to go with Giulietta,” he told the princeling.

“I’ll stay and fight . . .”

“Those are Marco’s orders. You take the krieghund and the horses and ride for the coast as fast as you can. We do everything we can to buy Giulietta and her son time.”

“This is suicide.” Frederick looked to where Lady Giulietta sat stiff-backed next to her cousin. “Does she realise you’ll all die?”

“I’ve told her we’ll meet at Sveti Stefan.”

“And she believed you?”

Personally, Tycho doubted it.

45

“Y-you could h-have gone with h-her . . .”

“No, highness, I couldn’t.”

Marco sighed and glanced up the track towards the pass through which Lady Giulietta, her son and the krieghund had vanished. The cliff rose high on one side of the track and dropped into a ravine on the other. It was just wide