twoscore gentleman adventurers. The Maltese militia number a little over five thousand."
"I hear Suleiman sends sixty thousand
gazi
to drive us into the sea."
"Including seamen, labor battalions, and supports, many more than that," replied La Valette. "The Dogs of the Prophet have pushed us back for five hundred years-from Jerusalem to Krak des Chevaliers, fromKrak to Acre, from Acre to Cyprus and Rhodes-and every mile of our retreat is marked with blood and ashes and bones. At Rhodes we chose life over death, and while to all the world it is an episode bathed in glory, to me it is a stain. This time, there will be no 'surrender with honor.' We will retreat no more. Malta is the last ditch."
Le Mas rubbed his hands. "Let me claim the post of honor." By this La Mas meant the locus of greatest danger. The post of death. He was not the first to request it, and must have known this, for he added, "You owe it to me."
To what this referred, Starkey did not know, but something passed between the two men.
"We'll talk of that later," said La Valette, "when Mustafa's intentions are better known." He pointed to the edge of the fortifications. "Here, at the Kalkara Gate, is the post of England."
Le Mas laughed. "An entire post for one man?"
The Ancient and Noble Tongue of England, once among the Order's greatest, had been destroyed by the bloated philanderer and heresiarch Henry VIII. Starkey was the only remaining Englishman in the Order of Saint John.
La Valette said, "Fra Oliver
is
the English langue. He is also my right hand. Without him, we'd be lost."
Starkey, embarrassed, changed the subject. "The men you brought with you, how do you rate their quality?"
"Well trained, well equipped, and all devoted to Christ," said Le Mas. "I squeezed two hundred volunteers out of Governor Toledo by threatening to burn his galleys. The rest were recruited on our behalf by the German."
La Valette raised one brow.
"Mattias Tannhauser," said Le Mas.
Starkey added, "He who first forewarned us of Suleiman's plans."
La Valette glanced up into space, as if to conjure a face. He nodded.
"Tannhauser brought the intelligence?" said Le Mas.
"It wasn't an act of charity," said Starkey. "Tannhauser has sold us a colossal quantity of arms and munitions with which to prosecute the war."
"The man is a fox," said Le Mas, with no small admiration. "Little takes place in Messina that escapes his notice. He has a way with men, too, and would surely make a stiff companion in a fight, for he was a
devshirme
, and spent thirteen years in the Sultan's corps of janissaries."
La Valette blinked. "The Lions of Islam," he said.
The janissaries were the most ferocious infantry in the world, the elite of Ottoman arms, the spearhead of their father the Sultan. Their sect was composed entirely of Christian boys, raised and trained-through a fanatical and unforgiving strain of
Bektasi
dervish Islam-to crave death in the name of the Prophet. La Valette looked at Starkey for confirmation.
Starkey rifled his memory for the details of Tannhauser's career. "The Persian conquest, Lake Van, the crushing of the Safavid rebellions, the sack of Nakhichevan." He saw La Valette blink a second time. A precedent had been set. "Tannhauser gained the rank of janitor, or captain, and became a member of the bodyguard of Suleiman's firstborn son."
La Valette said, "Why did he leave the janissaries?"
"I don't know."
"You didn't ask him?"
"He wouldn't give me an answer."
La Valette's expression changed and Starkey sensed that a plot had been born.
La Valette embraced Le Mas by the shoulders. "Fra Pierre, we will talk again soon-of the post of honor."
Le Mas understood he was dismissed and walked to the door.
"Tell me one more thing," said La Valette. "You said Tannhauser had a way with men. How is his way with women?"
"Well, he has an admirable bevy of nubiles working for him." Le Mas colored at his own enthusiasm, for his occasional lapses into debauchery were well
"I hear Suleiman sends sixty thousand
gazi
to drive us into the sea."
"Including seamen, labor battalions, and supports, many more than that," replied La Valette. "The Dogs of the Prophet have pushed us back for five hundred years-from Jerusalem to Krak des Chevaliers, fromKrak to Acre, from Acre to Cyprus and Rhodes-and every mile of our retreat is marked with blood and ashes and bones. At Rhodes we chose life over death, and while to all the world it is an episode bathed in glory, to me it is a stain. This time, there will be no 'surrender with honor.' We will retreat no more. Malta is the last ditch."
Le Mas rubbed his hands. "Let me claim the post of honor." By this La Mas meant the locus of greatest danger. The post of death. He was not the first to request it, and must have known this, for he added, "You owe it to me."
To what this referred, Starkey did not know, but something passed between the two men.
"We'll talk of that later," said La Valette, "when Mustafa's intentions are better known." He pointed to the edge of the fortifications. "Here, at the Kalkara Gate, is the post of England."
Le Mas laughed. "An entire post for one man?"
The Ancient and Noble Tongue of England, once among the Order's greatest, had been destroyed by the bloated philanderer and heresiarch Henry VIII. Starkey was the only remaining Englishman in the Order of Saint John.
La Valette said, "Fra Oliver
is
the English langue. He is also my right hand. Without him, we'd be lost."
Starkey, embarrassed, changed the subject. "The men you brought with you, how do you rate their quality?"
"Well trained, well equipped, and all devoted to Christ," said Le Mas. "I squeezed two hundred volunteers out of Governor Toledo by threatening to burn his galleys. The rest were recruited on our behalf by the German."
La Valette raised one brow.
"Mattias Tannhauser," said Le Mas.
Starkey added, "He who first forewarned us of Suleiman's plans."
La Valette glanced up into space, as if to conjure a face. He nodded.
"Tannhauser brought the intelligence?" said Le Mas.
"It wasn't an act of charity," said Starkey. "Tannhauser has sold us a colossal quantity of arms and munitions with which to prosecute the war."
"The man is a fox," said Le Mas, with no small admiration. "Little takes place in Messina that escapes his notice. He has a way with men, too, and would surely make a stiff companion in a fight, for he was a
devshirme
, and spent thirteen years in the Sultan's corps of janissaries."
La Valette blinked. "The Lions of Islam," he said.
The janissaries were the most ferocious infantry in the world, the elite of Ottoman arms, the spearhead of their father the Sultan. Their sect was composed entirely of Christian boys, raised and trained-through a fanatical and unforgiving strain of
Bektasi
dervish Islam-to crave death in the name of the Prophet. La Valette looked at Starkey for confirmation.
Starkey rifled his memory for the details of Tannhauser's career. "The Persian conquest, Lake Van, the crushing of the Safavid rebellions, the sack of Nakhichevan." He saw La Valette blink a second time. A precedent had been set. "Tannhauser gained the rank of janitor, or captain, and became a member of the bodyguard of Suleiman's firstborn son."
La Valette said, "Why did he leave the janissaries?"
"I don't know."
"You didn't ask him?"
"He wouldn't give me an answer."
La Valette's expression changed and Starkey sensed that a plot had been born.
La Valette embraced Le Mas by the shoulders. "Fra Pierre, we will talk again soon-of the post of honor."
Le Mas understood he was dismissed and walked to the door.
"Tell me one more thing," said La Valette. "You said Tannhauser had a way with men. How is his way with women?"
"Well, he has an admirable bevy of nubiles working for him." Le Mas colored at his own enthusiasm, for his occasional lapses into debauchery were well
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