“Your Highness, I’ll come quietly,” I said to Prince Caonabo, “if you will agree to let these people go free, no questions asked, no grudge held, no charges brought.”

“So have I already agreed,” the prince replied. “All but your brother may go without prejudice.”

“Kofi, just go,” I said, for by the gritting of his teeth I could see his frustration building.

His eyes flared as he gestured for his kinfolk to depart, but he went. Luce flung her arms around Rory, who peeled her off and pushed her after the others. The soldiers made an opening for them to push out their carts. A crowd had begun to gather on the jetty, mostly laborers headed for work or women carrying wood or water to their homes.

“An ugly crowd,” said Camjiata. “Best we make our way to Council Hall quickly, Your Highness. We need only leash the girl. The young man will follow her.”

No longer pretending to smile, he dropped the noose over my neck. The coarse sailor’s hemp chafed my skin.

The prince’s open carriage rolled out from behind Nance’s. I clothed myself in as much dignity as I could gather and stepped up into it. Rory walked behind the carriage to keep an eye on everyone. I wondered if it was his usual position in the hunt when he and his mother, aunt, and sisters prowled the spirit world in search of their next meal.

Prince Caonabo sat facing me. Camjiata sat next to me, holding the rope.

As the driver snapped the reins and the horses moved forward, the Taino soldiers paced in disciplined ranks. The general’s Iberian veterans had more of a swagger. Sailors and laborers gathered at slips and quays to stare, and women and wagons moved aside to let us pass. A gaggle of young toughs shadowed us.

“Why have you involved yourself in this inquiry, General?” I asked politely, even if I really wanted to bite and claw.

“Cat, I am not your enemy. Please be assured that Tara Bell’s child will always have a home with me if she needs shelter. I want only to protect you.” I had never met a man who could speak in such sentimental platitudes and yet have it sound so genuine and unforced. It was one of the most irritating things about him.

“Protect me? You betrayed me!”

“The cacica was required by law to exile you to Salt Island. What you don’t understand is that Salt Island was the safest place for you at that time.”

“That you can say so with a straight face and such sincerity is almost admirable! Everything I did here in Expedition was machinated by you.”

“Perhaps not quite everything. Things are not as simple as you believe they are. But this is not the place to discuss them.”