The Princess and the Captain (19 page)

Orpheus looked up at the main yard.

‘Haul them down, find me some yellow fabric, and I'll show you,' he said, a small smile hovering around his lips.

‘Fifty jars of herrings! Thirty-seven rations of biscuit! A kilo of olives, and I don't know what else!' cried Finopico, foaming at the mouth with fury.

The cook struck his chest and shook his mop of red hair, raising his eyes to heaven at every step he took, as if calling on the seabirds swooping around the
Errabunda
to bear witness.

‘Those young rascals have cleaned me out!' he stormed. ‘And instead of punishing them we kindly make room for them on board! This is too much!'

Orpheus tried to concentrate on the arduous task in front of him, but he had difficulty in containing his mirth. His idea really was a brilliant one: not only was he coming to the twins' rescue, he was also giving himself the pleasure of infuriating that nasty piece of work, the cook!

‘They ought to have their hands chopped off!' shouted Finopico, going over to the barrel on which the two boys were sitting. ‘Chop off their hands, that's what I say! Not their hair!'

‘Stop shouting like that,' Orpheus interrupted him. ‘You'll make my hand slip.'

With a long barber's razor in his hand, Orpheus was just finishing shaving Peppe's head. Locks of dirty hair tumbled on to the deck, making Zeph sneeze. For once the dog had dragged himself out of the cabin, enraging the cook even more. To Finocipo's way of thinking, the St Bernard and the two stowaways were nothing but useless mouths, parasites, freeloaders.

Sitting beside his brother, Hob sighed as he inspected his reflection in a scrap of mirror glass.

‘I look like an egg,' he decided. ‘It's horrible. And that silly little lock over my forehead – is it really necessary?'

‘Yes,' said Orpheus. ‘It's the Cispazian fashion.'

Once he had explained his plan to the Captain, everything began moving faster. The crews of the two frigates were actively preparing for the mission, to take place this very evening. Divers were in training around the
Errabunda
, assessing the time it would take them to swim to the harbour, while on the deck of the
Mary-Belle
the cannon were being polished up, gunpowder was brought out, and the carabins and musketoons were rubbed until they shone. For if the first phase of the operation had been meant to take place quietly, the same could hardly be said of the second …

‘And once the Captain doesn't need you any more,' Finopico threatened the twins, raising a vengeful finger, ‘I'll teach you manners!' He looked around him, and added, ‘The deck of the
Errabunda
badly needs sanding down and scrubbing with vinegar. You'll spend the whole of the voyage back on the job if necessary!'

At nightfall Orpheus, Babilas, the twins and two more sturdy sailors set off for Cispazan. They had put on dark tunics to avoid
attracting attention, and the only arms they carried were their pocket knives.

‘And remember,' said Orpheus, ‘no one's to talk! Not a word of Galnician, understand?'

‘We'll be as mute as Babilas,' promised the twins, hands on their hearts.

In spite of the risks of this expedition, they were excited to be going on dry land. It was more than two months since they had been able to stretch their legs, and now, intoxicated by their adventure, they climbed the cliffs gambolling about like lambs.

Before the party entered the city, they hid behind some bushes, and the four men tied the makeshift headbands that Orpheus had made from the fabric of the Galnician flag around their foreheads. Yellow, like the headbands worn by the Cispazians.

The men took Peppe and Hob in their midst, and then, striding out, they made for the tall wooden wall. The twins docilely lowered their shaven heads. They were acting their parts to perfection. As on the previous evening, the people out and about in the streets were staggering around and laughing as they went from tavern to tavern in the red light of the lanterns.

We pass muster so far, thought Orpheus. Let's hope it lasts …

When they reached the huge grassy space in front of the wall, they hesitated for a moment. Another group had got there just ahead of them, also consisting of men with headbands and boys with shaven skulls. They were making for the imperial city. Orpheus looked at Babilas. What should they do? Join the other group, or let them go first? He finally decided to join them, quickened the pace of their party, and caught up with the first group just as it reached the monumental gateway.

‘
Ga Tai Ma Tai!
' called the guards.

‘
Sumor Tet Ga Tai!
' replied the Cispazian leading the first group.

The guards opened the heavy gates and let them through. But when Orpheus, heart beating, tried to pass, they stopped him by raising their sword-blades.

‘
Ma Tai Ga Tai?
' one of the guards asked.

Orpheus's forehead was bathed in sweat. He gulped, and in what he hoped was a firm voice repeated what he had just heard. ‘
Sumor Tet Ga Tai!
'

The guards immediately lowered their swords and stood aside to let the little party in. As he passed them Orpheus was trembling all over, but when the gates closed behind his back he heaved a great sigh. The first stage of his plan had gone successfully. Now came the most difficult part: finding the Princess. Always supposing, of course, that she was still in this harem. Orpheus hoped so.

All was quiet on the other side of the wall. In the moonless night, the lanterns and torches along the avenues and over the doors of buildings shone like hundreds of glow-worms, and other lights fell from the tops of the towers, casting pools of yellow light over the gardens. A chorus of croaking frogs could be heard, and further away a kind of lament that sounded like singing.

‘We mustn't be separated,' Orpheus whispered. ‘Follow me.'

They went along the avenues in silence until they reached a strange kind of hall open to the sky, lined with pillars. They followed the pillars and came to a long, sandy path. Here Orpheus stopped, his mouth dry. Nothing was stirring anywhere, not even the leaves on the trees. The eerie calm made him nervous.

‘This way,' he decided.

His instinct told him to go on along the path he had chosen. The sand underfoot muted their footsteps, and they could see where they were going.

Further on, they found a gate with two white lanterns hanging over it, and to one side there was a window with ornamental shutters. Orpheus went up to the window and cast a quick look inside. He saw a dimly lit room where dozens of girls were sleeping on bamboo mats on the floor. Orpheus felt his heart leap. If the Princess really is in this harem, he thought, she must be here.

The door of the dormitory was not locked. Orpheus pushed it gently open, and signalled to his companions to follow him in.

Once inside, they dispersed and separately went in search of the Princess. Like all Galnicians, they would have known her among a thousand other girls. Her magnificent flowing black hair made her unmistakable.

They passed between the rows of sleeping girls, leaning cautiously down to look at them, noting every face. At the end of one row Orpheus saw an empty mat. A girl lay face down on the mat next to it, sobbing quietly. Intrigued, he went closer. She was not the Princess; this girl's hair was as fair as wheat in August. He was about to move on, but as he retreated he trod on a comb lying on the ground and broke it with a sharp crack.

The girl sat up. ‘Amun Lin?' she whispered, looking at Orpheus in terror.

He put a finger to his lips, to show that he didn't want her to cry out. ‘It's nothing,' he murmured. ‘We mean you no harm.'

The blonde girl looked at him intently. ‘You Galnician speak?' she said in amazement.

Orpheus knelt down beside her. ‘I'm looking for someone. A girl with hair like ink. Her name is Malva.'

At these words the little blonde girl leaped to her feet and grasped Orpheus's tunic. ‘You come rescue Malva? You not preunuch?' she asked, pointing to Orpheus's yellow headband.

‘It's a disguise,' he said. ‘Do you know Malva? Where is she?'

‘You friends of her?'

‘Yes, yes,' said Orpheus in urgent tones. ‘Where is she?'

‘In Cage of Torments!' breathed the girl. ‘You come with me, quick!'

She hastily flung a garment of some kind round her, crossing it over her breast, and made for the doorway on tiptoe. Orpheus followed, alerting his companions with a snap of his fingers.

When they were all out in the cloisters, Lei examined the odd group before her with great surprise. She felt that she could trust Babilas and the two sailors, but the young man didn't look much like a warrior. As for the two boys, they were as thin as incense sticks.

‘You have weapons?' she asked.

‘No,' said Orpheus. ‘Only knives.'

‘Too dangerous!' groaned Lei, aghast. ‘Many difficulties leaving harem!'

‘Take us to Malva,' Orpheus told her, ‘and then we'll see.'

Resigned, Lei led them through the gardens. As they walked on they heard that strange, song-like moaning rising into the dark night more and more clearly.

When she saw the platform of the ‘slaughterhouse', Lei stopped dead and hid behind a hedge.

‘Malva there,' she whispered. ‘Locked in Cage of Torments. And guarded by Galnician man, guest of Temir-Gai.'

‘A Galnician man?' repeated Orpheus, frowning.

Dismayed, he carefully parted the twigs of the hedge and looked at the scene. Four torches were burning at the four corners of the platform. He had a clear view of the row of cages. They were all empty … except one. And it was from this cage and the form crouching inside it that the moaning came. Just behind it, the tall silhouette of a man was pacing to and fro to a strange rhythm. In the torchlight, Orpheus recognised the Archont's smooth, domed head.

‘By Holy Tranquillity!' he murmured. ‘The twins were right!'

Peppe and Hob stood on tiptoe, trying to see the Princess. When they caught sight of the Archont they nudged each other. The fortune-teller who read the cards for them had not been wrong!

‘What's he doing?' asked Hob uneasily, pointing to the Archont.

‘He turn handle of Cage of Torments,' Lei told him with suppressed fury. ‘Malva soon crushed and die.'

All their faces suddenly paled.

‘We must act at once,' said Orpheus, with a lump in his throat. ‘But how are we going to get the Archont out of the way?'

A heavy silence fell on the little group. The two sailors, clenching their fists, were already preparing to fight, but Babilas calmed them with a gesture. The moment the Archont uttered a sound the guards would intervene, and all would be lost. After a moment, Lei went up to the twins. Her pearl-like eyes examined them closely, and they blushed.

‘In my land, in kingdom of Balmun, we think twins lucky,' she murmured. She put her hands on their shaven skulls, and they jumped.

‘Hey, paws off!' said Hob indignantly. ‘We're not
cornalinos
!'

Lei laughed, and took her hands away, saying, ‘Shaven heads work well. Everyone here think you two apprentice preunuchs!' She turned to Orpheus. ‘Twins go see foreign man, they take him away. Foreign man think they messengers from Temir-Gai.'

Peppe and Hob were breathing fast. ‘But … but we don't speak Cispazian! What do we say to him? And then
where
do we take him?'

‘No need speak,' Lei reassured them. ‘Preunuchs always silent, except for singing before Bath of Purity. You lead man away from Malva, that all.'

The moaning in the cage suddenly stopped. Orpheus froze. Suppose Malva had fainted? Or worse? He took the twins by the shoulders and pushed them towards the end of the hedge.

‘You must hurry! If something goes wrong we'll come and help you!'

Unsteady on their thin legs, Peppe and Hob went up to the platform. They climbed the steps and went round the cage to present themselves to the Archont. When they reached him, he was leaning all his weight on the handle with elation in his eyes.

‘Who's there?' he asked.

The boys went closer, heads lowered, and the Archont stopped working the handle.

‘Oh, two apprentice preunuchs!' he smiled. ‘Charming lads …'

Going up to them, he abruptly raised their chins. Hob and Peppe met the Archont's eyes. In the dim light, they seemed to shine like two pieces of white-hot metal.

‘What are you doing here?' he growled. ‘Can't you see I'm hard at work?'

Hob opened his mouth, but it was Peppe who murmured, ‘Temir-Gai.'

‘What do you mean, “Temir-Gai”?' asked the Archont impatiently. ‘The Emperor wants to see me – is that it?'

Peppe simply repeated, ‘Temir-Gai.'

The Archont heaved a sigh of exasperation. ‘Very well, I'll go with you. I will tell the Emperor how honoured I feel to be allowed to turn this handle myself. I owe him that!'

The Archont pushed the handle down again, bringing the walls crushing Malva a notch closer together. A cry came from inside the cage, chilling Peppe and Hob to the bone.

‘Come on, then!' said the Archont, laughing. ‘Take me to the Emperor!'

The twins climbed down from the platform, set off in the opposite direction to where Orpheus and the others were concealed, and disappeared into the night, followed by the Archont.

Lei immediately ran out of hiding. ‘Malva! You hear me?' she whispered. ‘Lei is here. We set you free!'

A faint groan came from the cage. Meanwhile, Orpheus and the two sailors had grasped the handle and were trying to reverse the mechanism.

‘It's stuck,' said the first sailor nervously.

Babilas pushed them aside. Bracing himself, he tried to unjam the interlocking wheels. At that moment a dull and distant rumble like a roll of thunder came through the air. Orpheus looked up in surprise. There was not a cloud over the stars.