by Mary Hoffman
When Ludo had launched his challenge, enough of the army had fought their way to the Rocca under General Bompiani to be able to defend both walls from any further attack. A handful of them had been killed and the injured were cared for inside the castle walls by the princesses themselves and those servants who had been indoors when the attack came.
There was only one entrance to the castle: a gateway in the south-west with two towers and a drawbridge, now raised, over a moat that filled the space between inner and outer walls. The route between the two was another curtain wall to the west of the gate, and even when that had been negotiated, the inner gateway was set in the east, so that all the entranceways could be defended at every point.
So Lucia was not afraid. But she was deeply worried. Her position as future ruler had been severely weakened by this revolt even if it was, as she fully expected it to be, crushed by a di Chimici army. It had shaken her to realise how many of the citizens and soldiery believed her unfit to rule, even though they had shown nothing but loyalty up to that point.
Guido Parola was her rock, armed to the teeth and not leaving her side. He slept on a pallet outside her door, his fiery hair blazing like a beacon as a warning to any enemy who might conceivably approach her room.
‘Not that I think anyone could,’ he reassured her nightly.
‘My father always told me that the Rocca of Fortezza was impregnable,’ Lucia had told him.
But it did enable her to sleep better, knowing he was on watch.
‘The only thing we have to fear is treachery from within,’ said Carolina.
‘Or if Ludo decides to use me to bargain with the besieging army,’ said Lucia calmly.
Her mother looked at her in horror. ‘But surely he would not do that!”
‘He might if he was losing,’ said Lucia. ‘It’s nearly a week since he forced us back into here. Which means it can’t be long till Fabrizio gets here with an army. And it’s not going to be a small one.’
‘Fortezza can hold out against a long siege,’ said Carolina.
‘But not for ever, Mamma,’ said Lucia. ‘There will come a time when he might be forced to come to terms with the besiegers. And that will be the most dangerous time for me.’
‘I never thought I would be sorry that our defences and provisions were so strong,’ said Carolina.
‘If I may interrupt, Your Highness,’ said Guido, who had been listening to them. ‘It is not only the city that is well provisioned. Here within your castle walls you could be safely defended by fewer men than we have. We have a good water supply and the storerooms are full.’
‘Yes, Jacopo never relaxed his guard,’ said his widow. ‘Even though we lived all our lives together here in peace, he never stinted on such precautions.’
Guido tried not to show it, but he was more worried than he sounded. They were safe enough within the Rocca with the drawbridge up but the outer curtain wall was surrounded by a division of Ludo’s men. No one could get out to seek news in the city or the wider world. Guido longed to get a message to Fabio so that he could communicate with the other Stravaganti, but it was impossible.
What they needed was a Stravagante here in the castle, who could set up a mirror and talk to the others. Day after day Guido hoped that Laura would come but there was no sign of her.
He dared not voice his fears to Lucia. But he wondered if Laura was still on their side or, driven by feelings too strong to resist, had thrown in her lot with Ludo.
No Stravagante from the other world had ever done such a thing, but then there had never been such a rapid and deep attachment formed between a Stravagante and someone who had proved himself an enemy.
For now all that Guido could do was watch and wait.
*
On the plain below Fortezza a great army was mustering. It was too far away for lookouts on the city walls to see but when they did it would surely strike terror into their hearts.
The Grand Duke had his own tent pitched in the centre and daily strode up and down outside it, looking important in his shiny silver armour. Actually, he was important. His own army owed him allegiance as their paymaster, but the soldiery gathering on the Fortezzan plain were from all over north Talia, nominally in the pay of their various di Chimici princes and dukes, but needing an overall leader to pay homage to.
And the shining young Grand Duke outside his pristine tent where the pennant of Giglia fluttered cut a very romantic figure.
The day-to-day business of planning the siege was being done in a grubbier tent nearby, where Prince Gaetano studied maps rolled out on a rough trestle table by General Tasca.
Ever since the land battle of Classe, which had not been that many weeks before, the Giglian General had realised he must pursue a separate strategy from his leader. It was clear that Grand Duke Fabrizio knew nothing about military matters and thought it was enough to have impressive armour and superior forces.
And this even after the Giglian army had been roundly defeated at Classe by a smaller, ragged force of desperate men, many of whom had only just fought in a brutal battle at sea. And the men of Classe had lost their leader too! Duke Germano had been killed, crushed by masonry under his own city walls but yet the army, rallied by the man who became the next Duke, had beaten back the Giglians.
Fabrizio might have forgotten but Girolamo Tasca had not. He still smarted at having been led into such a bloodbath by the overconfident young Grand Duke, who had expected little resistance.
This time there would be no such mistake. Let the shiny Grand Duke be nominal head of the joint army. However many di Chimici princes were with them, General Tasca would be the actual leader of the combined forces of Giglia, Bellona, Volana, Moresco and Remora, with five reliable condottieri under him.
Prince Gaetano was studying the layout of the city, where he had so recently been a guest at ‘old Uncle Jacopo’s’ funeral.
‘My cousin Lucia should be well protected in the family’s castle,’ he said to General Tasca. ‘It will be defended by what is left of the loyal Fortezzan army.’
‘Yes, and encircled by a division of rebels,’ said the General, sweeping his hand over the semicircular walls of the castle in the map.
‘And the rest of Ludo’s forces – the remainder of the army – will be manning the walls of the city.’
‘It will not be easy,’ said General Tasca, ‘even though we have so much greater a force. We will have to use trickery and subterfuge as well as our siege-engines and cannon. We need to get spies inside the walls as soon as we can.’
‘I think we will soon be able to manage that,’ said Gaetano. ‘The Stravaganti are on their way.’
Chapter 9
Deceptions
The Stravaganti were not in fact as quick about mustering as they might have been – mainly because of a massive row in Bellezza. After Rodolfo had told Luciano and Arianna they were going to be helping Grand Duke Fabrizio, Arianna had stormed out.
A few hours later she had called an official state meeting with Senator Rossi, her mother the previous Duchessa, and Luciano her Cavaliere. Doctor Dethridge was summoned too.
Instead of her small parlour, where such an intimate family group usually met, they were in the audience chamber which had replaced the Glass Room, where a woman had once died.
They had not seen Arianna quite so ducal in manner since she had been elected Duchessa. She was sitting on the new throne and was elaborately dressed, still wearing a silver mask, though she usually dispensed with one when just with her closest intimates.
‘We are gathered here to discuss the situation in Fortezza,’ she said formally. ‘As I understand it, it is an internal, family matter for the di Chimici.’
Rodolfo made as if to speak but she held up her hand.
‘Princess Lucia di Chimici,’ she continued, ‘has been challenged as to her right to the title and her older halfbrother, Ludovico – known to us as Ludo the Manoush – is holding her hostage in her own castle. Naturally other members of her f
amily are raising an army to defeat Ludo and assert her rightful claim to the throne.’
Arianna, Duchessa of Bellezza, looked round the room. ‘Am I correct so far?’
Only her father nodded.
She went on. ‘This army is likely to be headed by Grand Duke Fabrizio himself, declared enemy of Bellezza –’ she looked at her mother – ‘of the Stravaganti –’ here it was Dethridge who got the look – ‘and in particular of my future husband the Cavaliere.’
Luciano did not feel singled out for especially pleasing notice; she hadn’t used his name.
‘Other di Chimici leaders will leave their cities and head their own military divisions,’ Arianna continued. ‘Alfonso, Duke of Volana, Ferrando of Moresco, Filippo of Bellona. And there will be soldiers coming from Remora to join them. A vast di Chimici army will almost certainly destroy the upstart without help from any other quarter.’
There was a heavy silence in the room.
‘And yet my chief adviser and sometime regent informs me – not consults with me – that Bellezza will go to Fabrizio’s aid and offer the services of himself and the Cavaliere. That is what we are here to discuss.’
‘May I speak now?’ asked Rodolfo.
Arianna inclined her head stiffly.
‘You are right to chide me,’ he said.
Luciano wondered if Rodolfo would address his daughter as ‘Your Grace’, but the Senator stopped just short of that.
‘I spoke as if the decision was mine to make, when I should have asked your permission. But I was speaking not for Bellezza but for the Stravaganti. I think we should do whatever we can to help the di Chimici restore order in Fortezza.’
‘Meaning “restore Lucia to the throne”?’ asked Luciano.
‘It wull be one from thatte familie of chymists, whichever factioune winnes,’ said William Dethridge.
‘Yes, it will,’ said Rodolfo.
‘What makes you think Fabrizio would accept your help?’ asked Arianna. ‘Even if you were free to give it?’
‘That’s what I want to know,’ said Luciano. ‘I mean he hates me and I don’t think you are his favourite person either.’
‘I don’t know that he will,’ said Rodolfo. ‘But with the Duchessa’s permission I think we should try.’
‘What do you think, Silvia?’ Arianna asked her mother. ‘You know the di Chimici history with Bellezza – better than anyone.’
‘I think that the Grand Duke will trust to his army, but that, if it fails, he will be interested in parleying with the Stravaganti.’
‘Arianna, if I may?’ said Rodolfo. ‘I did not mean you to think that Bellezza should raise an army.’
‘But we could if it was needed, couldn’t we?’ she said.
Rodolfo shrugged. ‘Yes, we could. Any city-state with enough money can raise an army. But that is not what I propose.’
Arianna relaxed her rigid posture for the first time since the meeting began.
‘Ye were afeared for their saufetee?’ asked Dethridge.
Arianna sat upright again. ‘I was afraid I would be prevented from joining them,’ she replied. ‘But if they are not going to head an army, it will be easier for me to stay here.’
‘Don’t imagine they won’t be in danger all the same,’ said Silvia grimly.
Laura had gone back to school the Monday after she had ended up in hospital, and the rumour mill was churning overtime.
‘They all think I tried to kill myself,’ she whispered to Isabel.
‘Well, they’re wrong – aren’t they?’ answered her friend. Isabel had never been a hundred per cent sure what had happened a week before.
‘I really didn’t mean to hurt myself that badly,’ said Laura. ‘But this is awful. I feel as if everyone is looking at me and talking about me.’
‘That’s just ordinary paranoia,’ said Georgia, who had joined them at the school gates. ‘Don’t worry about it. In a day or two they’ll have someone else to gossip about.’
‘Can you do me a favour?’ asked Laura. She was still a bit intimidated by Georgia. ‘Could you try to spread the word it wasn’t – you know – a suicide attempt?’
‘Sure,’ said Georgia. She had known what it was to be unhappy.
‘Have you made up your mind what to do about the talisman?’ asked Isabel.
‘I’m having my stitches out this afternoon,’ said Laura. ‘Can I meet you guys afterwards, at Nick’s?’
Rodolfo and Luciano had left Bellezza with their relationship with the women more or less restored. William Dethridge had agreed to stay behind and keep watch over Rodolfo’s mirrors so that they could get messages easily to Silvia and Arianna.
‘How many more of these crises can there be before Luciano and I are married?’ Arianna asked her mother, after they had waved the two Stravaganti off. ‘It’s only just over two weeks now.’
‘Then we should take your mind off it by seeing how your grandmother is getting on with the dress,’ said Silvia.
Arianna snorted. ‘I can’t believe you said that,’ she said, glaring at her mother. ‘Do you think I am some – GIRL, to be distracted by clothes when Luciano is going to walk up to Fabrizio, the man who wants him dead, to offer his services?’
‘Well, you are still a girl, I suppose,’ said Silvia. ‘But no. I just thought it might do you good to get out of the city and back to the islands. I know you miss your old life there.’
Arianna softened. ‘I do,’ she said. ‘Everything was so much less complicated when I lived on Torrone.’
‘I don’t think it’s where you live that’s the problem,’ said Silvia. ‘But can you go to the island today?’
There was nothing that could not be postponed, so later that afternoon the two Duchesse accompanied by Marco, the loyal footman, went down to the lagoon and took the ducal boat to the islands.
It was not far to Burlesca where Arianna’s grandmother, Silvia’s mother, lived. Paola was the finest lacemaker on the island and the obvious choice to make Arianna’s dress. But she was also a shrewd observer of human emotions.
‘You are not happy, child,’ she said, pinning Arianna into a lace confection like a cloud. ‘What is the matter?’
‘Luciano has gone off to Fortezza and I must stay here and play brides by myself.’
‘I thought you had a city to rule,’ said Paola. ‘Surely that doesn’t give you much time for moping and pining?’
Arianna felt completely wrong-footed. She was the one who didn’t want to be treated like a silly girl, after all.
‘Of course!’ she said, sounding petulant to her own ears. ‘But you asked what was wrong and that’s it.’
‘Mother,’ said Silvia, ‘I’m going to make an announcement in the city about what really happened to me.’
‘Really?’ said Paola. ‘And where will that leave Arianna?’
‘I hope exactly where she is now,’ said Silvia. ‘It will just mean that she was elected after my retirement rather than after my death.’
‘Let us hope you are right,’ said Paola. ‘Keep still, Arianna, or you will end up full of pins.’
Laura’s arm felt a lot better without the stitches but her most recent wound was an angry red line that would serve as a reminder and a warning to her for a long time. She pulled her long T-shirt sleeve down over it and set off for Nick’s house.
It was only just over a fortnight since she had bought the paperknife in the antiques shop and become a member of the Barnsbury Stravaganti. But already she felt as if they were like a second family to her, closer than her real family and more of them than the tight little threesome she was in at home.
She had been beginning to feel like that about Fabio and Ludo and Fortezza, before it all got too difficult and painful. And it seemed so unfair: no one else from their group had fallen in love with a Talian, if that was indeed what had happened to her. Well, Lucien had, she supposed, but that didn’t count because she couldn’t really remember him from school and had never met him in Talia.
&
nbsp; But ever since she had ended up in hospital Laura had regretted her decision to give up on Talia and now she was deeply frustrated that her talisman had been removed and she no longer had the choice.
‘Hi, Mrs Mulholland,’ she said when Nick’s mother opened the door. ‘Can I go up?’
‘Of course – Nick said to expect you,’ said Vicky. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m OK,’ said Laura. She had no idea how much Nick’s mother knew about what had happened to her. But she did suddenly remember that Vicky Mulholland knew about stravagation and Talia, and she was forever separated from her son, who lived there.
Vicky was smiling at her sympathetically and Laura felt that here was someone who would understand about Ludo.
‘Ellen told me what happened,’ said Vicky. ‘I’m sorry. I hope you don’t mind.’
They all know each other, these Barnsbury mums, thought Laura. I should have guessed.
‘No, that’s OK,’ she said. ‘I’m OK now – really.’
‘Well, if there’s ever anything I can do to help,’ said Vicky, as Laura went up the stairs.
The attic was warm and welcoming. Nick had the swing-window open to let in a breeze, but the warm May sunshine was making the atmosphere sleepy and comforting. And the group of friends were smiling a welcome to her. She sank on to a beanbag and felt herself enveloped physically and emotionally. It really did feel like having brothers and sisters.
‘Hey,’ said Ayesha. ‘How’s your arm?’
‘Really much more comfortable,’ said Laura but she wasn’t going to show any of them.
‘Coffee?’ asked Nick.
He had an electric kettle, bottles of mineral water, a little fridge for milk and a cupboard with mugs, spoons, coffee, biscuits and sugar. As Laura nodded, she wondered if his predecessor, the mysterious Lucien, had organised this set-up or if the Mulhollands had arranged it all for Nick. It wasn’t quite living as a prince but it was more luxury than the others enjoyed. Which was why they always met at his house when they weren’t at the coffee shop.