Читать книгу The Darkness and the Dawn - Thomas B. Costain - Страница 23

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Giso came back to announce an early visitor. “The best one,” he said, “your favorite—and mine.”

It was Aja who followed him into the room. She had come in such a hurry that there had been no time to apply any of the customary aids to appearance. Her face looked gray and old. Her robe hung limply on her plump frame and did nothing to conceal the fact that she waddled.

“O Mighty Lord of All the Earth,” she began, “we regret you have suffered the misfortune of which I must speak. It is in no sense the fault of anyone——”

“Speak up!” commanded Attila, sharply, when she did not continue. Then, his mind leaping quickly to a conclusion, he said, “You are trying to tell me that the girl is dead.”

Unable for the moment to command the use of her tongue, Aja did no more than nod.

Attila stared at her so long and with such a fixed and somber air that the woman found it hard not to scream with terror. When he spoke, however, it was to say no more than, “I have been expecting this.” A few moments more of silence followed and then he asked, “Had my orders been followed?”

Aja compelled her tongue to resume its function. “Yes, Great Tanjou. She was so overcome with grief that she wept for hours. I had her watched as you had instructed. Two women remained with her until she fell asleep from exhaustion.”

“Then how did it happen?”

“It must have been that she wakened during the night and tried to escape. It was no more than a quarter of an hour ago that her body was found under the wall. She had been struck by an arrow and it had gone right through her body. The sentry knew nothing about it. He swears that he heard nothing and it is true, O Great Tanjou, that his quiver is still full. He did not shoot the arrow.”

Onegesius drew his master to one side. Attila seemed stunned by what he had heard. His face was the color of tallow and his eyes were dull. “This is the work of those who juggled with the slips in the drawing. They have found a way to kill her as well as her father.”

The Hun leader muttered, “It may be as you say.”

“The time has come for speaking openly. This is the work of one of your wives who has borne you a son, and her dependents who count on his favors later. They have seen to it that this most dangerous of all new rivals has been removed from their path.” He took a quick look at his master’s face to see how far he dared go. “Four of them have borne you sons. Do you believe any one of the four capable of this?”

Attila nodded his head slowly. “Yes. Any one of the four. They are all full of pride and ambition and as fierce as a lioness with a single cub. Even Cerca—perhaps more likely my quiet Cerca than any of the others. We must find the guilty one at once.... Onegesius, get all the evidence and bring the guilty ones to me. We must be very sure before we act.” He was speaking in a low and almost breathless tone. “I must be certain which is the guilty one. And when we are certain, we must act quietly. I do not want any open scandal about this. I do not want the world to know that one of my wives could plot so against me. The guilty one and her brothers—or whoever may be involved—will disappear and never be heard of again. It will be a mystery and it will never be explained. The sentry must die at once.”

“Yes,” said Onegesius. “I will see to that first.”

“It will be supposed we are convinced he shot the arrow.” Attila paused for a moment as though conjuring up in his mind the scene which had resulted in Swanhilde’s death. “See that he is put to death quickly and easily. It is likely he has been a good soldier. His death will lull suspicions and make it easier for you to get at the truth.”

Attila had been holding the blue tunic in one hand. Now he turned and tossed it on the bed. “I cannot dress in my finery when that little creature lies dead with an arrow through her pretty body.” He walked over to face Aja directly. “Do they think I can be prevented from choosing new wives as I see fit?” he cried in a sudden fury. “Take this word back to those scheming, treacherous women who abide with you in the Court. The one who brought about the death of this innocent child must hear the news at once. I am going to take a new wife. Can you guess who she is? It is the sister of the emperor of Rome! Tell them that from this hour forward things will be different. There will be only one wife, my illustrious and patrician bride, the Princess Honoria. She will sit beside me and have a palace of her own, with ladies to attend her and a huge staff of servants. She will have her own company of guards. The rest of you will be no better than concubines. Tell all that to them, my Aja, and watch how their covetous faces will turn white and how dread will come into their spiteful eyes. Go, and spread the tidings among them at once.”

When Aja had taken her departure, in such a hurry that she did not pause for the customary obeisances, Attila’s mood changed. He looked sad and tired. “I meant what I said, Onegesius,” he declared, with a nod. “I am going to have one wife, to rule beside me in proper State. She will be the empress of the world, my true yen-chi. If what Micca says about the princess is in any sense true, she will be the one. But I think instead this new wife will be someone you will find for me.” He laid a hand on his assistant’s shoulder and gave it a peremptory shake. “Yes, you are going to find her for me.”

“I? Where am I to find her?” cried Onegesius.

“I am laying an injunction on you. You must find for me a wife who will so chain my fancy that I shall be able to forget the little one who was killed last night. Search the whole world over if necessary. Look everywhere. Send the word out that we will give a great reward to anyone who can tell us where she is, this beautiful woman we seek. It is a difficult task I have entrusted to you, Onegesius, for the memory of Swanhilde will be hard to drive from my mind.

“She will need to be even more beautiful,” he went on, after a pause. “Her hair must be fair. It must be as bright and golden as the light of the sun. I will have none of your girls from the East with their lively black eyes. The Court is full of that kind now. She must have blue eyes, as blue as the sky. She must be slender. I am weary of your full-breasted pigeons. Do you know where you can find me such a wife, Onegesius?”

The officer shook his head. “I know of none such, O King of Kings,” he said. “But I shall find her for you.”

For the first time Attila’s voice took on a grim and menacing note. “Find her quickly then. I will tolerate no delay. It must be made possible for me to forget.”