Shadow of the Lion hoa-1

by Mercedes Lackey

  He broke off, his expression clearly showing his unease.

  Enrico immediately understood the quandary, and slid into it with all the grace of an expert swordsman in a fencing match.

  "Petro. Naturally you would like to avoid the public embarrassment of admitting that the child is not Marco's." Dell'este saw no reason to add the obvious: even if no one in Venice except halfwits believes it anyway--and even the halfwits don't believe it once they see the bastard's hair. As always, for Case Vecchie, formalities and appearance were as important as the reality.

  "I see no problem, Petro," he continued easily. He glanced at Father Mascoli. "If Angelina has agreed to take Holy Orders, that gives another ground for annulling the marriage. One which is much less awkward, for all concerned."

  "What about the baby?" asked Lodovico. "Angelina can't very well take her with her to a nunnery. And if you give her up, you undermine the whole purpose of the subterfuge."

  Dorma smiled; again, the expression conveyed that odd mix of fondness and chagrin. "I've spoken to Marco. He immediately offered to raise the child as his own. Truth to tell, he already spends more time with the girl than does my sister."

  Dorma hesitated. Then, his innate honesty forced him to keep speaking. Dell'este was quite delighted. Venice would need an honest Doge, in the time to come.

  "I must point out the possible problem," said Petro. "An annulment due to my sister joining a religious order will take quite some time. The Grand Metropolitan will agree to the annulment readily enough, I'm quite sure. But he will insist on following the established procedures." Dorma half-turned his head, looking back toward Mascoli. "The Hypatian Order requires a one year novitiate, before the final vows can be taken. Until that time passes, the annulment will not be final. In the meantime . . ."

  His words trailed off into silence. Most of the people in the room shifted uneasily in their chairs. A year . . . And it took no great perceptiveness--certainly not for anyone who had seen Marco and Kat in each other's company over the past few days--to realize that the two youngsters were hardly likely to wait . . .

  "Can't afford another scandal," gruffed Lodovico. "Certainly not," echoed Dell'este. "We'll have to insist that they see each other rarely, and then only with a proper chaperone in--"

  "Oh, for the love of God!" snapped Petro Dorma's mother Rosanna. Since the discussion began, the old woman had been sitting against the wall tending to her point-vice embroidery. "Men! Katerina is a sensible Case Vecchie girl. She'll understand the precautions needed--and where to find them."

  The faces of all the men in the room grew pinched. Except that of Eneko.

  "Hah!" barked the Basque priest. "Of course she'll know where to find them. She's been trafficking them, I don't doubt." The faces of the other men grew very pinched. Lodovico's expression was downright vinegary.

  "And what little she doesn't know from lack of personal experience," Lopez continued blithely, "she'll have no difficulty at all learning from her close friend Francesca de Chevreuse."

  Rosanna Dorma almost cackled. "For that matter, I could--never mind."

  She and Lopez exchanged smiles. The Basque shrugged. "I see the moment of wisdom has passed, replaced by that detestable shrewdness." He made a motion with his hand which might have been that of a prophet, carving stone. "Be done with it, o ye wise men of Venice. Allow them their love in peace, in whatever manner they choose, until they sanctify it in marriage. There will be no harm done, and you have used the children quite enough. Look to your own souls."

  The Venetian grandees stared at him, their jaws a bit loose. The church had never formally condemned such practices, true; but they were much frowned upon by clerics. Not to mention fornication and adultery.

  Lopez returned their stares with his own; and his jaw was not even a bit loose. "Chernobog has seized the throne of Lithuania," he said, almost snarling. "If anything, Emeric of Hungary delves into even blacker arts. The church rots from the inside or takes on the coloration of its enemies. The rumors from Egypt--"

  He rose to his feet abruptly and began limping toward the door. "Enough! Worry yourselves sick over matters of petty shrewdness if you will, grandees of Venice. I return to the wisdom of the crowd, saluting its young champions."

  After he was gone, Dell'este looked at Dorma and Lodovico. Then shrugged and rose himself.

  "And why not? The worst that can happen is another bastard. Won't be the first in our families; and certainly not the last."

  THE PIAZZA SAN MARCO --------------------

  A few days had done a great deal to change the city and the political landscape, thought Benito, looking at the celebrating crowd.

  Horsemen had come in to report that the Scaligers were scrambling out of Fruili, with the whole countryside rising against them and imperial troops hot on their heels. A sharp merchant had brought the first pirogue-load full of fresh vegetables down the Po, past the sunken remains of the Milanese invading fleet. Venice's foes had put the bulk of their forces into that fleet, and now they were in dire trouble.

  Benito wasn't sure he wasn't in dire trouble, too. Maria hadn't given him the hero's welcome he'd rather thought he was going to get. Instead she'd said: "I fell in love with a wolf once. I'm not giving my throat to another one, Benito. And I'm not sure if what you are is fox or wolf. You're still young. It's hard to tell. But I've had enough of wishing to be something I can't be." And she'd turned on her heel and left him standing there.

  After a while, he'd shrugged. He'd try later. In the meanwhile half of the girls in Venice seemed very pleased to see him. They thought he was hero, at least.

  * * *

  Later in the afternoon, someone took Benito by the arm and drew him away from a young female admirer. Oddly enough, he didn't feel any urge to resist even before he saw that it was Petro Dorma.

  "I've got news I felt you should hear right away. A crew that arrived this morning came upon a shipwreck in the gulf the day of the fighting. I just got the word. Caesare Aldanto's galley, it was."

  "Are they sure?"

  Dorma nodded somberly. "They say there were big seas that afternoon. Probably stirred up by the gale that blew the fog away. They saw a galley in bad trouble and were heading for a rescue when a double wave came through. The galley snapped in two and broke up. By the time they got there--the waves were very severe . . . it was all over. No survivors.

  "After the sea calmed, they recovered some of the bodies. Caesare's was not among them, and they say it was much too far from land for anyone to have a hope of swimming ashore."

  Dorma took a deep breath. "There's more. Part of the wreck was still floating. The captain had a look and they've hauled that section out and brought it back. Someone had hollowed out a great chamber in the keel. When it hit the waves, it snapped. We think this must be how the other galleys were lost. We'll be checking them all now."

  Benito closed his eyes briefly. The smuggling scheme . . . now he wondered if it had really been a smuggling scheme, and not just Caesare's way of sabotaging Venice's commerce. Whichever it had been: Caesare's own mischief had come back to sink him.

  * * *

  After Dorma left, Benito wandered through the huge throng aimlessly. He was trying to decide how he felt about Aldanto's death. On the one hand, he'd planned to kill him anyway, if he could. On the other . . .

  He sighed, remembering all the little ways in which Caesare Aldanto had helped him. For his own purposes, to be sure. But . . . not always, perhaps. And even if it had all been done for nothing but mercenary reasons, the help itself remained.

  Benito had long known that life couldn't be separated into neat blacks and whites. Now, he was discovering that gray is also a much more confusing color than it looks at first glance.

  Out of that welter of confusion, one thought came clearly. I want to see Maria.

  * * *

  The piazza was redolent with the smells of feasting. Not a few of the Arsenalotti had already been dipping deep in the casks of good Venet
o red that Petro Dorma had caused to be set among the tables. Benito found laughter, smiles, and winks from pretty girls and even snatches of song amid the laden trestles. What he didn't find was Maria Garavelli. It worried him. He'd been looking for her for quite a while.

  The afternoon was rich and golden. Everybody was full of happiness. Everybody except Benito Valdosta, it seemed. And Maria, maybe. He thought there'd been a tear in her eye when she left him earlier. Or maybe . . . he just hoped so.

  Only, where the hell had she got to? Ah. A familiar face. "Hey Tonio. You seen Maria?"

  The bargee nodded. "Yeah. Saw her heading for the moorings down by the side of the Marciana."

  "Thanks!" Benito quickened his pace and walked off towards the moorings beside the library.

  * * *

  She was sitting on a bollard, staring out across the gently bobbing rows of gondolas and the forests of masts in Bacino San Marco. A lonely figure--sheltered from the noise and laughter of the piazza. Here only the occasional gull shrieked and squabbled overhead.

  "So what's wrong now?" He knelt down next to her and put an arm over her shoulder. She shrugged it off.

  "I just want to be alone," she snapped. "You wouldn't understand."

  "Try me."

  She lifted that square jaw. "It's not a Casa Vecchie problem. Now go away."

  "What's this Casa Vecchie stuff? I'm Benito!" He stood up and backed away a pace, raising his hands in protest.

  She looked him up and down. Benito was acutely aware of his velvet and lace. "It's a poncy outfit," he muttered. "But Dorma insisted."

  Maria stood up and turned to face him, hands on her hips, her dark eyes fulminating. "Oh. The next Doge insisted. You poor thing."

  Benito flushed, acutely aware that she was slightly taller than he was. "So?"

  "I am a canaler, Benito. You, on the other hand. You're behaving like an absolute copy of Caesare, strutting about."

  Benito felt that was unfair. All right, so he'd been enjoying the victory. Enjoying the waves and . . . yeah, enjoying the kisses some of the girls had given him. Maybe that was it. "What's wrong with you? Why are you biting my head off?"

  "I'm not. I just asked you to leave me alone . . . seeing as you only seem to want to see me when it suits you."

  Benito felt his mouth drop open. "Give me a break! I've had to spend time with Marco and my grandfather and Dorma. And there just hasn't been much time. And I've been to see you . . . twice. And you were with Kat. Or out."

  "Twice!" said Maria. "Oh, I am sorry. I should have stayed in just in case you came to call. I'm a canaler, Benito Valdosta. I have to work, you know."

  Benito took a deep breath. "Well. That's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about. I thought--"

  What was he thinking, anyway? He'd been wandering around with a vague notion in his head of "making it all work out with Maria."

  The thought finally came into clear focus. He was too surprised to keep from blurting out the words.

  "Well, then, you and me should get married. Maybe," he added hastily, seeing the storm signals.

  There was a long silence.

  "I mean . . . you wouldn't have to work or . . . and Dorma and my grandfather said they'd set me up. Um . . . Get some experience in trade. One of the colonies . . ." he trickled off into uncertainty.

  "You're proposing to me," she said flatly. "To get me off the canals."

  "Well, yes." Benito said awkwardly, flushing. "I thought it would be best."

  "I don't."

  "But . . . but you'd be rich and comfortable and . . ."

  "And a canaler in the Casa Vecchie. No thank you. I won't marry for that reason."

  Benito was bright red. "We could go to Corfu. Or Negroponte . . ."

  "Oh, excuse me. Where Venice can't see me?" Maria's voice would have cut steel.

  "I thought you would want to marry me. You don't have to," said Benito, beginning to get angry himself now.

  His anger was nothing to her white-hot sarcasm. "Oh! What a favor the next Doge's brother-in-law's younger brother is doing me! A poor little canal-drab like me should be so delighted at his attentions. Well listen to me, Benito Valdosta . . . Va'funcula." And she turned and walked off to her gondola, leaving Benito still gawping at the obscenity. A few moments later she set off, a lone vessel heading up the Grand Canal into a virtually deserted Venice.

  * * *

  Benito wandered back. There didn't seem much point in staying here. He was not concentrating on his footsteps--or where he was going. It took severely disturbed concentration to walk into someone the size of Manfred. Benito managed it.

  Manfred looked more amused than anything else. "Ah. My crazy young friend from our visit to the Dandelos, and a little assault in court-house! Dressed like a princeling, today, not an urchin, or a Dorma servant. What are you doing walking around with a face like your girlfriend just gave you some really bad news. What's wrong?"

  Benito shrugged. "Women," he said trying to sound casual about it.

  Manfred laughed. "I know what you mean. My uncle seems too fascinated by Francesca for her to have any time for me either. Can't figure it out. He's not even staring at her cleavage." His shrug was a massive copy of Benito's. "Women, just as you say. Let's go and find some wine. Wine always has time for us. And wine doesn't mind if you have another goblet of wine either."

  THE GRAND CANAL ---------------

  It came to Maria that someone had been whistling to her for some time. She looked up. Valentina. And Claudia. With a very suspicious-looking bag.

  "Maria Garavelli, I wish the Schioppies were as dreamy as you," said Claudia from the fondamenta. "Give us a lift, will you?"

  She pulled up. They slung the bag in. It clinked. "A good time to be shopping," said Valentina cheerfully. "Everyone is at the celebration."

  Claudia looked curiously at Maria. "Why aren't you?"

  "I didn't want to stay," said Maria, curtly.

  "I would have thought Benito would want your company?"

  "There is nothing between me and . . ." Her lip quivered. "Benito. He doesn't love me. And I don't need him. Anyway, I'm going to marry my cousin Umberto. I just made up my mind. My family's been pestering me about it for weeks. They've got it all set up."

  There was a startled silence from the two thieves. "Oh. That's very sudden," said Claudia. "We thought . . ."

  "It's not exactly something that can wait," said Maria bluntly.

  Valentina and Claudia exchanged glances. "How long . . ."

  "At least two months," said Maria, shortly. "And, no--I don't know who the father is. Probably Caesare. Um. Maybe not. I always took precautions with him, after the first few days. The other thing happened too quickly--"

  She broke off, squaring her shoulders. "What difference does it make? It's either Caesare or one other, and either way if I don't get married it's a bastard."

  She shook her head. "Never mind. My cousin Mario is a sweet man--I've known him since I was a kid--and he says he doesn't mind. It'll work out. I won't marry for security and I won't marry for position and I definitely won't marry someone who still doesn't know if he's a fox or a wolf."

  She looked at Claudia and Valentina. They were staring at her. I'm babbling, she realized. And why am I telling this to a couple of thieves? "So. Enough of that. Where can I put you off?"

  "Er. Here will do fine," said Valentina. She sounded as uncertain as Maria sounded to herself.

  THE ROAD TO ROME ----------------

  When Father Eneko Lopez and his two companions recognized the three horsemen who overtook them on the road to Rome, their jaws fell. Even the Basque priest, for a moment, lost his composure.

  "Your Majesty?" croaked Diego. He glanced at Lopez, seeking confirmation. Lopez had spent time with the Emperor in private discussion; Diego hadn't.

  Eneko's jaw snapped shut, almost audibly. "This is most unwise, Your Majesty. The Holy Roman Emperor should not be traveling the roads of Italy escorted only by two bodyguards." His eyes
squinted at the costume Charles Fredrik was wearing. "Especially not disguised as a prosperous merchant."

  Charles Fredrik's scowled. "Nattering at me like Trolliger! And here I'd been looking forward to your company, too."

  He plucked at the rich fabric. "As for this, it's far more comfortable than my imperial robes--much less armor. And it's necessary, anyway, to keep my identity a secret. It is essential that I be able to meet with the Grand Metropolitan in person." Breezily: "I'll not forget to put in a good word in favor of founding your order, Eneko, be sure of it." Less breezily: "And--ah--I felt the secrecy was needed, not for only for its own sake, but because--ah--"