1632 Snippets

Council Of Fire - Snippet 30 "I might ask with whom I am speaking," Boscawen said. "My name is Takyi, which you whites pronounce as 'Tacky.' I command here." "By whose authority?" The black man laughed derisively, as if it was the most ridiculous question. "Why, by my own, of course! Among the Fante people I was a king, before cowardly men sold me with many others to labor here. But we are free now, free!" "That is not your decision to make," Boscawen answered. "I may have something to say about that." "I doubt that," he said. "Obeah makes us...

1636 The Flight Of The Nightingale - Snippet 06 Chapter 4 Sabatini awoke at a nudge. "Marco," he heard Francesca say as he was opening his eyes. "Time to go." He shook his head to clear the cobwebs from his thinking, and rolled to his feet in a limber motion. "Oh, to be young again," Renata murmured. She pointed toward a door. "Chamber pot's in there." Sabatini took advantage of it, making sure the door closed firmly and that he threw the latch. He was glad to see the latch, actually, but he figured that actors being both lively and often...

Council Of Fire - Snippet 29 Chapter 21 This was without doubt a war zone Jamaica Before they raised anchor at Kingston, Admiral Thomas Cotes paid a call to Namur. The visit of the admiral on station gave Boscawen the opportunity to order a thorough deck-to-hold cleaning of his vessel, turning out the crew and officers in their best uniforms, and attending to rigging and fittings to make certain that Namur was seaworthy. As with Haldane, Boscawen knew Cotes, though again not well; still, they shared their joint service in the Royal Navy....

1636 The Flight Of The Nightingale - Snippet 05 Chapter 3 Francesca looked up at Barbara. "And what was that in aid of?" "One of the best ways to appear to be someone different is to change the way you walk. Take the shoes off, please." After Francesca kicked them off, Barbara picked them up and held them out before her. "But even trained actors have trouble remembering which leg to limp with over a long performance, so the best way to do it and make sure you don't draw unwanted attention is to do something to the shoes. Some actors put a...

1636 The Flight Of The Nightingale - Snippet 04 "Barbara," Francesca said. It took a moment for Sabatini to recognize the other woman as a popular actress in the Mediceo theatre company who was usually proclaimed as "Isabella." Of course, probably every fourth actress in northern Italy used the stage name "Isabella", as a link to the famous actress of the previous generation, Isabella Ardeini, who had trod the boards before every noble family of Italy and France in her time. Her name still carried a certain weight in theatre circles. The...

Council Of Fire - Snippet 28 Chapter 20 We are at war Jamaica Namur had a sounding chart of Kingston harbor, courtesy of--well, Boscawen thought as he examined it, with the grudging generosity of--Governor Pinfold. It was scarcely adequate, more landsman's decorative cartography than a sailor's chart, but it at least gave some notations for soundings and the shoals near the entrance. Kingston itself was protected from the open sea by a long finger of land called the "Palisadoes," at the end of which lay the ruins of Port Royal--a notorious...

Council Of Fire - Snippet 27 Chapter 19 It is no place to go Albany To most residents of the colony of New York, "Albany" meant "the rest of the colony"--everything upriver from Manhattan, the great wilderness where trappers caught beavers and savage Indians lurked with their scalping-knives. The troopers of the 40th were on edge during the entire journey upcountry, but Prince Edward was welcomed by gentleman farmers--patroons, in the half-Dutch half-English parlance that prevailed out in the country--and met no trappers (or knife-wielding...

1636 The Flight Of The Nightingale - Snippet 03 Chapter 2 They watched the two men pass the wineskin back and forth, until it was empty enough that Ercole held it above his face and let the last few drops drip onto his tongue before he threw it to one side and began to curse Giuseppe for drinking the lion's share of the wine. "How long will it take?" Sabatini murmured. "Not long," Francesca whispered back. "The opium is strong." "And will they stay asleep?" Francesca smiled. "There was enough in the wine that they could sleep for two days."...