“Where are you going, Gabriella?” Marcello asked me.
“I have no time to explain,” I said, pushing past him.
He caught my arm and whirled me about. “You shall explain. It may be different in Normandy, but here in Toscana, only certain sorts of women scurry about unescorted in the night.”
I wrenched my arm from his grip and resumed my flight down the stairs, Marcello right behind me. I had no time for this. With trembling hands, I searched for the right key for the door that led to the stables.
“Nay,” Marcello growled, pulling the keys from me. They clattered to the ground. “You are not leaving!”
Luca came down the stairs slowly, and glanced back up, as if wondering if our voices would draw a servant.
But Marcello only continued to stare furiously at me.
“Marcello, I need to go,” I said urgently. “It is for the best. For you. For me. Please, please let me go.”
“Where are you going? You’ve only just been introduced to the men who might aid you in your-“
“Back to Castello Forelli,” I said, feeling as if I might cry. “If your father and brother will have me. Only for a few days, until I figure out where I will go next.”
He frowned at me in confusion. “Did something frighten you?”
“Nay,” I said, pacing a bit. He had to stay here-if he showed up, back home, Lord Vannucci might take Lia away, back out of the deal. I looked back up at Marcello and chewed my lip, considering what I could tell him. “I think Lia is back there, near your home. I want to get back. I fear I might miss her, and that we shall never be reunited.”
“You asked to come here.”
“And now that I see she isn’t here, I must move on.”
He took a deep breath and held it. “We will see you to safety. You can leave when you choose. I only intend that you not come to harm.”
“You cannot accompany me. What would Lady Romana think? You are betrothed to her, remember?”
He stepped back, as if my mentioning her name had splashed cold water on his face.
“I will escort you, then,” Luca said, stepping forward.
“Nay, nay. I will draw far less attention if I travel alone.”
“Untrue! Do you not remember what became of you the last time we traveled that road?” Marcello said.
“Exactly my point. We were part of a train full of soldiers. You are like magnets, pulling your enemy forces in. They will ignore a single rider.”
“Marcello…” Luca said. He held up a piece of paper.
The note. It must’ve fallen from my waistband when I disrobed, and Luca had nabbed it from my room. Marcello looked at me out of the corner of his eye and then reached for the paper. He unfolded it and scanned it.
I closed my eyes, bracing for what was to come.
“What does it say?” He leaned toward me. “Gabriella, what does it say?”
“He knows who has my sister,” I translated softly.
“Who? Who knows?” Marcello said. “Where is she? It was Lord Vannucci, wasn’t it? He was the one who gave you this note.”
I shook my head, my eyes still closed, and then let out a gasp when he took hold of my shoulders and shook me.
“Who has her?” he ground out, suspicion making his eyes cold, studying me. “There is only one family that would make you keep her whereabouts a secret.”
I nodded, looking to the stones at my feet. It was going to look bad, any which way I cut it. “The Paratores,” I whispered. I looked up at him, misery washing through me.
“What do they want? What is their demand, for you to be reunited with your sister?”
The quickest way out of a mess is to face the truth, Dad always said.
I steeled myself and made myself look at him as I said it. “They want Castello Forelli.”
Marcello released me, almost shoving me in his frustration. He lifted his hands, and they shook with rage as he paced away from me, then clenched them into fists.
“I wasn’t going to give them what they asked,” I pleaded, stepping toward him. At least, I wasn’t going to totally sell them out. “I was going to figure out a way. Make them think I was giving them access, but allow you to know the truth in time. I could not…I would not…Marcello.”
He glanced at me, his face a mask of fury. Over and over he shook his head. His eyes moved back and forth as if he was thinking, trying to come to a solution.
I looked to Luca, hoping he might help me out a little. See what we could not.
He walked down the remaining steps slowly, gripping the balustrade pillar. “If you think about it, Marcello, it could be quite perfect.”
His master looked to him as if he might be going crazy.
Luca held up a hand. “No, think on it a moment. The Paratores believe they finally may have access to the castello. Their intent will be annihilation. All previous treaties will be null and void as soon as their men enter. We would be free to kill every last one of them. Be done with them. Storm their castle and claim it for the Sienese, making our outpost nearly invincible. Consider it, m’lord. We can arrange it all, while here.”
I shuddered at the thought of men dying.
But my feelings were clearly the only twenty-first-century ones in the room.
Marcello ceased his pacing and stood before me. “Can you maintain the charade? Truly, see it all the way through?” His tone was calmer now, as if his fear for me returned. “If the Paratores-or Lord Vannucci-discover that you intend to double-cross them, they will not hesitate to slit your throat. Or your sister’s.” He shook his head. “There will be no second chance, Gabriella.”
I stared back at him. “It is a great risk. But I am prepared to do anything-anything-to get my sister back. So please, let me be off. They’ll be far more apt to believe I could sneak away from Castello Forelli and to them if you and your men are here in Siena.”
“But why would they believe that we let you return, alone?”
“I will say I escaped, in the dark of night, while you all were still at the ball.”
“We’ve seen firsthand how good she is with a rope,” Luca said.
“But wouldn’t they expect me to come after you? Or at least send some men?”
“Not ifyou want her gone,” Luca said softly. “She is coming between you and Lady Romana. You are unaccountably drawn to each other. And you cannot let anything break this union with the house of Rossi.”
I held my breath and kept my eyes on Marcello. Luca spoke nothing but the truth. We both knew it.
“Scorned, her heart broken, Gabriella is willing to sell out the Forellis. Her only goal is to regain her sister and flee,” Luca finished gently.
Marcello’s eyes were warm again, searching mine. He seemed to struggle to swallow, then he gently took my hands in his. “It is an enormous, grave risk.”
I let a smile spread across my cheeks. “I’m becoming accustomed to it.”
He reached up and touched my face, and Luca turned away.
“Gabriella,” Marcello whispered, shaking his head. “I’ve never known a woman like you. If we had met before-“
“When? Your betrothal to Romana has been in motion for too long for us to stop it,” I said, turning away. But he held me fast and stared at me until I dared to look back into his eyes.
“I shall never forget you.”
“Nor I, you,” I whispered back.
His handsome face a mask of anguish, he leaned down, closer, as if he intended to kiss me.
But then we all heard it.
Luca turned toward the door. Marcello straightened and released me.
People, laughing, talking, shouting. Returning.
He grabbed the keys from the ground, swiftly cycled through them, and shoved the right one in the lock. He pushed me through, but grabbed my hand and whispered, “Send me word through Cook. Trust no one else. I shall be nearby in three days. Tell Paratore to attack in four.”
I nodded, even as he shut the door in my face and t
urned the lock. I stayed still, feeling foolish for my irritation at him for shutting the door in my face, knowing it was impossible to do anything but that, listening to the men making fumbled excuses, feigning drunkenness as the rest of the household passed. “We were considering a moonlit ride,” Luca said, his words slurred. “But then we thought we might be apt to fall on our backside if we were to attempt it.”
“Lord Marcello, I am surprised to find you indisposed,” Romana said, when the rest of the footsteps receded. “I didn’t see you imbibe all evening.”
“I confess it was me and my wretched debauchery,” Luca said. “I drew my lord in, celebrating our victory over those Florentine scoundrels on the road. We quite forgot ourselves.”
“Quite,” she said icily. “You forgot yourselves so thoroughly you left me behind at the ball. It was… a horror.”
“Forgive me, beloved,” Marcello said lowly. “It shall never happen again.”
Nay, I thought. It shall not. I would see to it myself. No more interference with the man’s hopes, his family’s dreams of security. I would free my sister, and we would be away.
More people came in then, but Marcello and Lady Rossi seemed to hover. I could not bear to break away from my eavesdropping. And until the household turned in for the night, it was not safe for me to ride off down the road anyway. I would run a serious risk of interception.
“Marcello,” she said lowly, almost too quiet to hear. “Did you accompany Lady Betarrini home?”
“She was here when we arrived. A servant told us she was complaining of stomach ailments and had gone to bed.”
“Poor girl.” But her tone was more of relief than any genuine empathy.
“Romana, I’ve asked Lady Betarrini to depart before sunup.”
“Oh? Where is she going?” It sounded as if they had paused halfway up the stairs. I leaned closer, pressing my ear to the crack in the door.
“To Castello Forelli. She confessed certain… feelings toward me. I made it clear that my heart could only belong to you.”
I knew he was only taking up the story we had agreed on, soothing her fears, just as I wanted him to do, but it still stung, hearing him say it.
It was quiet then. Were they kissing? Or had they just moved too far away for me to hear any more?
I sighed sadly. Well, that was over before it even got started. Gabi’s stellar love life resumes its amazing run!
I was dragging a crate over to my horse, preparing to mount, when Luca showed up, dressed to ride. “What are you doing?” I said. “I thought we agreed it best that I go alone.”
“You thought it best. Lord Marcello and I thought it foolish.” He put a hand up, palm facing me. “With just the two of us, we’ll still not be as likely to draw attention. And if stopped, we can claim to be man and wife, traveling through the night.”
“I don’t-“
“Gabriella, they won’t let you out the city gates without me. And Marcello has charged me with the task of devising the battle plan with you.”
I hadn’t thought of the city gates. “Well then, be quick about it,” I said in irritation, knowing he had me.
He grinned and helped me mount. “Do you have your sword?”
I patted my shoulder strap. I preferred the back sheath to the one on the saddle and had found a couple of them here, on a peg. It gave me faster access and was reasonably hidden.
He had his horse saddled in quick order and led the gelding to the front of the stables, eased opened the double doors, peeked out, and waited for me to come through too. Then he closed them behind me, and we were off.
I had to admit that even riding through the streets of Siena at night, I was glad I had a companion. It warmed me that Marcello could not bear to see me off alone.
He had sent his most trusted man to watch over me.
Or was it to watch me?
Maybe both.
We encountered no one on the way home to the castello. It was almost eerie how well my plan worked. No Sienese soldiers were on patrol, nor were the bands of rogue knights or Paratores. And the road was visible enough for us in the moonlight to make good time.
“You should always travel by moonlight,” I said to Luca. “It seems far safer than what we encountered en route to Siena.”
“Some days are better than others.” He pretended to sigh, as if referring to our battles as the good day.
Boys and their bravado. I had to admit, it made me laugh. And I needed a laugh about then. But my giggles were swallowed when Castello Paratore came into view with the morning light. Luca pulled up on his reins. “This is where you’re on your own. If you don’t show up by sundown, I’m coming for you and your sister.”
“Nay,” I insisted again. “Give me until sundown tomorrow.”
“Nay,” he said. “It will either work or it will not. If it works, they’ll believe you to be an ally and allow you to leave. If they don’t, you will be their prisoner. Why languish a day in their dungeon?”
“But if you’re going to defeat them, don’t I need to learn as much about their weaknesses as they wish to know about yours? That might take some time.”
He nodded, lips clenched. “Take care, m’lady. You enter the lions’ den. May the Lord shut their hungry mouths.”
I smiled, remembering the old Bible storybook our grandmother gave us. If only I might have the courage Daniel had shown….
“I’ll be at Castello Forelli, waiting. Please, don’t make me fret over you.”
I grinned. “I’ll do my best.” I wheeled my horse around, and we crossed the shallow creek that formed the border between the Paratore and Forelli lands, the border each family was forever trying to push forward.
I wound around it and eventually met up with the road that led to Castello Paratore and Firenze. It was well maintained, and I climbed the curves at a good clip, until two knights came trotting down the road toward me, Paratore crimson clearly displayed. Two other knights emerged on the road behind me. I pulled back on my gelding’s reins. He circled, agitated by the four new horses, but I made him stop, facing the castle.
“State your name and business,” said the man closest to me.
“Lady Gabriella Betarrini. Lord Vannucci sent me to speak to your master.”
The two knights shared a look. “Lord Vannucci, you said.” His eyes flicked toward my saddle, atop Forelli gold.
“Lord Vannucci,” I confirmed.
“You are alone?” His eyes moved down the road.
“I am now. But I am expected back at Castello Forelli by sundown.”
He stared at me a moment longer. “Come ahead, then.”
We rode up to the castle gates, a far steeper entry than Castello Forelli’s. But she did not boast as many towers as Marcello’s family’s home. Only two were visible from this side, but they looked formidable.
Heavy gates were cranked open, and we moved inside.
Lord Paratore was immediately striding toward me, a hulking knight and three others right behind him. I recognized them from the tombs and our battle the following day. “Ah, the lovely Lady Betarrini has at last seen the error of her ways and has come to seek shelter in a castle of real men.”
Yeah, I came because I thought you were so hot.
I stared at his green eyes, which were his best feature, avoiding his mouth, full of decaying teeth. I allowed him to reach up and assist me down, and I even managed to thank him.
“Lord Vannucci sent you?” he asked, as two of his men grabbed my arms.
“What-what are you doing?” I asked, struggling against them. But I could not free myself.
He stepped closer and slowly untied my cape, pulling it from my shoulders and dropping it to the stones at his feet. With wise eyes, he stared at my sheath a moment, then reached down to unbuckle it, sliding it from my shoulders and handing it to The Hulk. “My men returned with tales of a female Forelli warrior brandishing a sword. It appears they were telling the truth,” he said, lifting a delighted brow. He was pretty dec
ent looking, except for his teeth. But the way he talked to me made me feel sticky with sweat. Ugh. This guy grosses me out.
I was already longing for the comforting weight of the sword on my back. It had been a long shot, hoping I could get in armed. But I still had-
“Check her legs.”
Inwardly, I groaned.
A knight guffawed over his good luck and bent to run his hands up my left leg and then down my right. When he reached my right calf, he paused and grinned up at me.
I stared straight ahead as he lifted the edge of my skirt and unhooked the other dagger sheath, strapped there. He was lingering, taking too long.
“Enough,” I said, putting my left foot to his shoulder and kicking him.
He tumbled to his rear, making the others hoot with laughter. He leaped to his feet, looking as if he wanted to slap me, but Lord Paratore held up his hand to halt him.
“You have my weapons,” I said. “Keep them. I’m here for one reason.”
Paratore smiled then, and I again concentrated on looking at his eyes instead of his wretched teeth. “You are beautiful, m’lady,” he said, tucking a knuckle under my chin, “but I must say I fished the fairest Betarrini from those Etruscan tombs. I have a special weakness for women with blonde hair.”
He did have Lia. My heart sped up, and I glanced around, as if I might spot Lia wandering the ramparts. “Where is she?”
“Resting,” he said. “Come, m’lady. We have much to discuss. If you give me what I seek, you shall see your sister this day.”
He offered his arm and the guards dropped their hold on me.
After a moment’s hesitation, I laid my hand on top of his and allowed myself to be ushered inside. As the doors closed behind me, I stifled the desire to scream. Why did I feel as if I had just made a fatal error in judgment? That I should have broken away and done my best to escape?
The other men floated away down two hallways, leaving us alone in a den. Maps of Firenze and Paratore land dominated one wall, the border clearly marked by the new path of the creek. I turned away from it to face him.
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