‘We’ve all met him, I think,’ said Matt. ‘Did he sound funny to you?’
‘It was really weird,’ said Isabel. ‘But I found I could understand him OK. He was so happy about the talisman bringing me to Bellezza. And his wife was really kind. She insisted on feeding me up. Arianna said she was her aunt or something.’
‘Did you meet anyone else new?’ asked Georgia.
‘Only Silvia. Oh, and the other spotted cat, the one Arianna’s keeping,’ said Isabel. ‘He attacked me when I arrived but it was all right after a while.’
‘Did you stay all day?’ asked Sky.
‘Yes. After we’d visited Doctor Dethridge, Arianna took me to see the ships being built in the Arsenale.’
‘Warships?’ asked Nick.
Isabel nodded. ‘It was fantastic. The whole place was swarming with people. Of course they were all in a panic because their Duchessa had come on an unexpected visit.’
‘Were you on your own?’ asked Matt. ‘She always had a sort of bodyguard when she came to Padavia, though she was in disguise then.’
Isabel laughed. ‘You bet we weren’t alone! There were these sort of soldier guys with metal helmets and big pikes. It was quite embarrassing but I suppose she’s used to it. There were about half a dozen of them around us wherever we went. Oh, and Arianna’s maid, who was carrying spare cloaks with hoods in case it rained on us.’
‘Tell us about the ships,’ said Nick.
‘It wasn’t just ships,’ said Isabel, remembering that extraordinary day. ‘There were people making huge guns and cannonballs and nails and sails and rope and all sorts of things. And everything smelled of tar and salt water and the noise must be deafening on a day when the city’s ruler isn’t visiting!’
‘It sounds as if you enjoyed it,’ said Georgia. ‘Will you go back?’
‘I hope so,’ said Isabel. ‘I’d like to see all the cities.’
‘So would I,’ said Nick quietly.
Fabrizio’s messengers had been recalled from the independent city-states but were sent out again immediately back to the di Chimici ones to say that Princess Beatrice had been found and was well and happy. The letter he had hand-delivered to Filippo di Chimici in Bellona said a little more than that. After the formalities, the Grand Duke had written:
I cannot believe that my sister is now in the heart of our enemies at Bellezza! And that my brother should have conspired with her to this end. I shall not forget the insult to you and to myself. And I shall try to find you a more grateful bride.
Filippo smiled when he read the letter. He had not come out of this too badly. He had still been smarting from having failed in the mission his cousin had given him in Padavia and having let Luciano escape. But over this business of marrying Beatrice, he could not be faulted. And now Fabrizio felt indebted to him and would seek to do him favours.
It wasn’t as if he had felt any particular love for the princess, in spite of the verses he had written her and the posies he had given her. That was all just what he thought a suitor should do, but his heart was whole. And he was sure he would find another bride one day. After all, wasn’t he a di Chimici prince? And a handsome one at that, as his looking-glass told him daily.
‘There was someone else, though,’ said Isabel, once she had told the others all she could remember about the ship-building in the Arsenale. ‘When we got back to the palazzo, Arianna introduced me to some di Chimici princess who was staying there. I was a bit surprised but I had to leave soon after that.’
‘Which one?’ asked Nick.
‘Her name was Beatrice,’ said Isabel, stumbling over the Italian way of pronouncing all the syllables: Bay-ah-tree-chay. ‘She seemed nice but very sad.’
‘That was my sister,’ said Nick flatly.
Isabel was horrified. She hadn’t studied her family tree carefully enough and she’d just assumed that Beatrice was one of the distant cousins – not someone so close to Nick.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. But Nick wasn’t taking any notice of her. He was fiercely whispering to Georgia.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Sky. ‘They have issues about Talia. You were bound to meet one of Nick’s family one day. Shall we leave them to it?’
So Isabel, Matt and Sky made their excuses and left, while Georgia and Nick seemed to have got into a full-scale row.
On the way back home, they ran into Isabel’s brother, Charlie. His expression at seeing her with two of the school’s most sought-after males was pure delight to his sister.
‘Hey, Bel,’ he said, clearly impressed. ‘What’s up?’
She introduced him to the boys, but they said they had to head off and Isabel and Charlie ended up walking home together.
‘You OK?’ asked Charlie.
‘Fine,’ said Isabel. ‘You?’
‘Yeah. But that’s not what I’m asking. I mean, what’s going on with those guys?’
‘Matt and Sky?’ said Isabel. ‘Nothing. Why?’
‘I mean why are you always out nowadays? You’re never at home except for dinner and homework. We haven’t hung out together for ages.’
Isabel shrugged. ‘I suppose I’m growing up. At last,’ she added.
She couldn’t tell Charlie the truth about Talia so it was easier, as with Laura, to tell lies. But then she felt sorry for him. He was her only brother and she really did love him.
‘Why don’t we catch a movie on Saturday?’ she said. ‘If you aren’t doing anything.’
She had got into the habit of not stravagating on Saturdays, just to catch up on sleep. Sunday was the only day when she could lie in without feeling guilty.
‘OK,’ said Charlie. But he was still looking at her strangely.
Beatrice was getting used to being in Bellezza. She had even agreed to wear a mask when she appeared in public and rather liked the feeling of anonymity it gave her. In Giglia everyone knew the di Chimici princess; here she was just another young noblewoman with a hidden face.
And she found she really did like Arianna and admired her. Although the Duchessa was so much younger than the princess, she had been through a lot in her life, not knowing her true parentage till she was nearly sixteen and then being on trial for her life till she was revealed to be the daughter of the previous Duchessa.
And then that Duchessa had been assassinated, horribly, blown up in her glass-panelled audience room. Arianna had glossed over that part of her story but Beatrice had heard rumours that the killing had been authorised by her own father, though carried out by a hireling.
And yet here was Arianna treating her as kindly as any host could and listening to her troubles. It was hard to believe that this was the young woman Beatrice’s father had wanted to marry and who had refused him in favour of the young Cavaliere who later killed him in a duel.
Beatrice hadn’t met Luciano since arriving in Bellezza but she remembered him from a dinner her father had given in Giglia after he had been poisoned, and she saw how Arianna looked whenever she mentioned him.
‘You are happy in your engagement,’ she said. ‘And I am glad for you. That’s all I wanted for myself – to be happy at the thought of the man I should marry. Not full of dread.’
‘And why did you dread Filippo?’ asked Arianna.
‘There is nothing wrong with him – except that he is a bit weak,’ said Beatrice. ‘But he was not my choice and I do not love him.’
‘That is a good enough reason for anyone,’ said Arianna.
‘I hope my brother will think so,’ said Beatrice. ‘If not, I don’t know if I can ever go back to Giglia.’
‘Don’t think about it now,’ said Arianna. ‘You are safe here with me. Would you like to speak to Gaetano now?’ she added impulsively.
Beatrice looked at her as if she had gone mad. ‘How could I do that when he is in Giglia?’
‘You know my father has . . . certain powers?’ said Arianna.
Beatrice found Rodolfo quite terrifying and would have believed anything of him but it was one thi
ng to have suspicions and quite another to hear his daughter offer her his magic. She remembered how adamant Fabrizio had been about the anti-magic laws in Giglia. But then she thought, I am not under Fabrizio’s control any more.
‘But can he really communicate with people who are not in the same place?’
‘Did you not wonder how Gaetano was able to tell me you needed a place of sanctuary?’ asked Arianna. ‘We have a friend in Giglia who is of the same Order as Rodolfo. He is able to get in touch with my father and Gaetano went to him. I think it would be a good idea for you to speak to your brother yourself and I shall ask Rodolfo to show you how. Though you might find it difficult. It is not exactly “speaking”. But you would see his face and be able to send your thoughts to him.’
‘I should like that very much,’ said Beatrice.
Over the next few weeks, Isabel had her wish and travelled to all the cities the other Stravaganti had visited. She had become quite adept at making the transition. But she still visited Classe more often and limited her other trips to once a week, on a Friday night.
Her first choice after Bellezza had been Remora. She wasn’t horsey like Georgia and Nick but she loved the idea of the City of Stars. Georgia had described very carefully the stables in the contrada of the Ram.
‘But Cesare won’t be there,’ she said. ‘He’s still in Padavia with Luciano. Perhaps you can meet him when you go there. Oh, I wish I was coming with you!’
‘Why don’t you?’ said Isabel. ‘I mean, you wouldn’t even have to use the new method. You’d stravagate to Remora anyway.’
Georgia stared at her and then started to laugh.
‘You know that Nick and I have been arguing non-stop ever since you went to Bellezza? He wants to go there too and see his sister. I’ve been telling him for days that it’s madness and he must forget all about his Talian life. And now you say “Come with me” – simple as that – and I’m suddenly thinking “Why not?” I must be mad myself.’
‘But why?’ said Isabel. ‘I can see the point about Nick – he might be recognised. But what’s to stop you?’
Georgia sighed. Isabel hadn’t been part of that whole terrible time when Nick had wanted to die again in this world and go back to Talia. He had even wanted Luciano to swap places with him and be Vicky and David’s son again. It was so complicated and difficult to explain to anyone who hadn’t lived through it.
‘I agreed to make a choice with him nearly a year ago,’ she told Isabel, aware that the other girl didn’t know about the whole state of affairs with Luciano. ‘I said he needed to live his life here and forget about the past. And I said I would too.’
‘Did that have something to do with Luciano?’ asked Isabel, startling Georgia.
‘Well, I don’t know how you know that,’ said Georgia slowly. ‘But yes, it did. Nick and I both made our choices.’
‘But there’s no chance of seeing Luciano in Remora, is there?’ said Isabel. ‘Wouldn’t you just like to see it again? I mean the flying horse and everything?’
A wave of nostalgia swept over Georgia. To see her Stravagante Paolo again and his family, and all the horses, including Merla, the miraculous black mare with wings! What harm could it do? She had suppressed her memories for so long out of love and loyalty to Nick and now they came flooding back, threatening to overwhelm her. She longed to see the red and yellow flags of the Ram again and teach someone else about the complex feuds and loyalties of the City of Stars.
She looked at Isabel and took a deep breath.
‘OK,’ she said. ‘But just once – and don’t say anything to Nick.’
So the next Friday the two girls, sleeping in their separate houses, clutched their talismans and thought of Remora. Georgia arrived first and just sat in the straw inhaling the smell of the stables that was familiar to her in both worlds. A soft whickering from one of the stalls took her to Arcangelo and that was where Isabel found her, her arms round the big chestnut horse’s neck.
‘Wow!’ said Isabel. ‘It worked. I still can’t get used to it.’
She looked round at the quiet, dusty stable; it was still quite early in the morning in Talia. They had both managed to stravagate as soon as they went to bed.
There was a sound of buckets clanking and then a burly grey-haired man came into the stable. His eyes lit up when he saw Isabel, who was wearing her green dress, just as she had in Bellezza.
‘Isabella?’ he said, putting down his buckets and coming towards her with hands outstretched in welcome. ‘I am Paolo,’ he said. ‘Welcome to Remora.’
‘Hello, Paolo,’ said Georgia, coming sheepishly out of Arcangelo’s stall. Unlike Isabel, she was wearing twenty-first-century nightclothes.
Paolo gasped. ‘Georgio! I mean Georgia. I wasn’t expecting you.’ He gripped her in a bear hug. Isabel found herself thinking that Georgia was never so emotional in their own world as she seemed to be in Talia.
‘It was a spur of the moment decision,’ said Georgia, not entirely truthfully. She had wondered about consulting Rodolfo and then decided against it. Once she’d made up her mind to return to Remora, she couldn’t have borne it if he had forbidden her.
‘Can I borrow Teresa’s red dress again?’ she asked.
‘Of course, I’m sure you can,’ said Paolo, grinning broadly. ‘Come into the house and meet her. Welcome to both of you. What a pity Cesare isn’t here.’
‘I’m hoping to meet him in Padavia,’ said Isabel.
‘It is a wonder what the Dottore has accomplished with the talismans,’ said Paolo.
They went into the warm kitchen that Georgia remembered so well and Paolo’s wife, Teresa, gave a little scream when she saw them both. Georgia let herself be kissed and fussed over and asked after the little children she had last seen a year and a half ago.
‘There’s no Stellata to prepare for at the moment, is there?’ Isabel was asking Paolo.
‘It doesn’t happen till August,’ he said. ‘But we say in Remora that the Stellata is run all year round. We are always preparing for the next one, from the minute the last one is over.’
The girls stayed long enough to share the family breakfast but then Georgia wanted to show Isabel the city. Paolo had many jobs to do in the stables, with Cesare away at university, but he promised to take them to visit Merla in Santa Fina later in the afternoon. The winged horse lived in the stables there now, with her mother, to protect her from the overwhelming attentions of the Remorans.
Isabel was as enchanted by the city as Georgia had hoped. They were in the circular campo, where Georgia was explaining again the astrological symbols and the complex web of alliances and rivalries between contrade that dominated the city. Suddenly Georgia grabbed her arm and hissed, ‘That’s Rinaldo di Chimici!’
Isabel saw a thin, bony-faced man with a scarlet hat and soutane striding across the campo. The girls were completely exposed, with nothing to hide behind in the open campo. Georgia spun Isabel to face her and pretended to engage her in deep conversation while the Cardinal passed by. She was shaking.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Isabel. ‘Is he very dangerous?’
‘Oh, he wouldn’t stab you in public,’ said Georgia. ‘But he’s captured Luciano twice and Matt once and was behind Cesare being kidnapped. And he gave the orders for the assassination of the last Duchessa – twice!’
Isabel caught Georgia’s mood. Up till then being in Talia had felt a bit like a role-playing game, even in Classe, even when being kidnapped by a pirate. But now she was looking at the retreating back of a genuinely ruthless man and she felt in real danger for the first time.
‘What if he had looked at us and seen we didn’t have shadows?’ she whispered to Georgia.
‘We’ve got to be more careful,’ said Georgia. ‘Let’s go and visit the Lioness’s stables. It won’t matter not having shadows when we’re indoors.’
The rest of their stravagation passed without incident. And Isabel saw the flying horse, something she thought she would never f
orget. As it began to get dark, the two girls climbed into Paolo’s hayloft and settled down holding their talismans. Isabel admired the little model that looked so like Merla.
‘It’s been great,’ she said. ‘I’m so glad you came with me. I wouldn’t have known that was Rinaldo in the campo and he might have spotted I was a Stravagante.’
‘You haven’t been doing your homework,’ said Georgia. But she was smiling. And Isabel felt at last that Georgia was her friend.
Chapter 12
The Life Aquatic
Isabel got out of meeting the other Stravaganti the next day, on the grounds that she was going out in the evening with Charlie and needed to do her homework. She knew she wouldn’t be able to look Nick in the eye if he asked her about Remora and she was amazed that Georgia thought she could get away with it. But Isabel would have to meet them on Sunday; she hoped Georgia would have got used to lying to Nick by then.
All day, while she wrestled with her English essay on The Woman in Black, Isabel couldn’t help remembering Remora and the stables where she had seen the flying horse. There hadn’t been time to ride Merla, and she wouldn’t have dared to get up on her if there had been, but just seeing her, with her glossy black wings folded down on her back, had been enough. Merla had even spread them out when she realised that Georgia was in her stable.
Isabel knew that Georgia had ridden Merla once. It had been a gift to her from Paolo after Rodolfo had been angry with her. It had been something to do with Nick and smuggling him away from Talia to their world. The more time Isabel spent stravagating, the more she realised what a huge step that had been – for Nicholas and the people who helped him.
She might have problems with her family from time to time but to leave them all and go and live with strangers in a world hundreds of years in the future! That took guts. But she remembered that Nick had needed medical help to lead a normal life, help that hadn’t been available in his world. And she wondered if Luciano would have done such a brave thing in search of a cure for his cancer.