ever thinking he might. Now I’d almost got Stoyan killed, though who those men had been and why they had attacked him I could not imagine. I could not blame that on Duarte; his crew had saved Stoyan’s life. I should cut my losses and concentrate on getting us both off the boat and back to Father as quickly as possible. He might still be asleep. He might not need to be told.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I said as Duarte shifted restlessly, his eyes on the activities of his crew. “Listen to me! They look as if they can sail the boat pretty well without you. Now tell me, if you’re not fleeing from punishment for what you did, why are you in such a hurry?”
He leaned on the rail, and behind him the shores of the Bosphorus passed, a soft, leafy parade of green banks dotted with the white walls of dwellings. Now a fortress tower…Dear God, we were already passing Rumeli Hisari.
“Duarte,” I said, trying to suppress a hysterical note in my voice, “you must put in to shore and let Stoyan and me get off the ship. We need to go back to Istanbul.”
A wary look had appeared in his dark eyes. “I can’t,” he said.
“You have to!” Now I sounded shrill, but I couldn’t help it. With every moment that passed, we were less likely to be back in the city by nightfall. Father might think I had been beaten and left for dead, as he had been. He might think Stoyan and I had run off together. No, probably not that; he knew both of us too well. But I suspected that would be what everyone else would believe. The news of our disappearance would spread like wildfire through the trading community of the Galata quarter. Father would certainly be distressed and anxious. What if the shock proved fatal to him in his weakened state?
“You have to,” I repeated. “Why would you want to abduct us? We have absolutely nothing to offer you.”
He smiled. It was not the mischievous smile he used when flirting, nor the rapacious one he had turned on the traders of the carsi, but a smile that seemed genuinely apologetic. He shrugged, gesturing helplessness. “I can’t do it, Paula,” he said. “There are reasons, very good ones, which I will explain to you in due course; that’s if you are prepared to stop shouting at me long enough to hear them. In brief, I believe it’s possible we may be pursued. We must make what speed we can to avoid being overtaken. I hope to stay far enough ahead so we can lose them once we reach the Black Sea.”
“Pursued?” This was not what I had expected. “By whom? And why?” I wondered who else he had injured, what other property he had obtained by devious means, what other innocent folk he had kidnapped.
“Later,” Duarte said. “You were right, my crew can do the job without my interference. But when I put them under exceptional pressure, it seems only right to take my share of the responsibility. It’s not simply a matter of tricky sailing. It’s the need to tolerate passengers on board. I hope you are a quick learner.”
I stared at him, unable to interpret this.
“If all you can offer are insults and false accusations,” Duarte said coolly, “you should keep your mouth shut. My men are loyal. They won’t take kindly to a barrage of invective.”
“I’ll make sure I don’t do it in Portuguese,” I said. “Anything else?”
“My cabin is at your disposal. I’ll move my things elsewhere. Be careful with the door; it has a tendency to stick. Don’t go anywhere else. You can’t use the crew’s facilities for washing and…er…”
“If you stop and set me ashore, you’ll have no need to bother with such embarrassing details, senhor.” My heart shrank at the prospect of spending a night on board while the
“What are you wearing under that?”
I felt my face grow hot. The question seemed grossly inappropriate.
“Never mind.” Duarte was showing signs of exasperation. “Without the robe, you’ll get cold. And if you keep it on, you won’t be safe on the ladders. Pero, my first mate, will find you some clothing. When he does, don’t argue, put it on. Now you’re to go to the cabin and keep quiet until further notice. Don’t slow me down, Paula, or I’ll throw you over the side as a treat for the fish.”
After a moment I said, “I want to see Stoyan.”
“You will find him in the adjacent cabin, which is Pero’s. Cozy for you. Go on, and I don’t want to see either of you on deck again until you’re called for.”
Stoyan had a dressing on his forehead and another on his left arm, which was in a sling. A sailor with a tattooed chin was tying this neatly at the shoulder when I came in. The man grinned at me and said something in Portuguese. As soon as the knot was fastened, Stoyan stood up, hitting his head on the ceiling, and conveyed by gestures that he and I were to be left alone.
“How could you do that?” he said as soon as the man was out the door. His voice was shaking with fury. “What on earth possessed you?” A moment later he added, “Kyria.”
I had expected him to be angry. I had not expected to be so upset by it. Perhaps it was knowing I was in the wrong that hurt so much. “Are you all right?” I asked him. “Who were those men?”
“That is unimportant. What were you doing, Paula? How could you leave the han on your own?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” I said. “Truly sorry. If I’d known you were going to come running after me and get yourself half killed, I would have…” I paused. Even that would probably not have stopped me. It had seemed so important to make Duarte see the error of his ways before he traveled out of reach, taking Cybele’s Gift with him. “I had to talk to him, to Senhor Aguiar,” I said. “And it’s nothing to do with falling for his charms. He must be responsible for the attack on my father. He’s got Cybele’s Gift on board, in that cabin through there. He made no attempt to deny it. Father was beaten to stop him from getting to the blue house in time. He was attacked because Duarte knew Father would outbid him if he was allowed to compete fairly.”
He stood there looking at me, lips tight.
“Stoyan, I couldn’t just let this go. I couldn’t let Duarte sail away without accounting for himself. I had to tell him what this meant to us, to me and Father. I was hoping he might see sense.”
“And did he?” Stoyan’s tone was deeply skeptical.
“No. He denied having anything to do with the beating.”
