*
‘It was totally unexpected,’ said Rodolfo. ‘Fabio of Fortezza sent me the news through my mirrors.’
‘Ludo has claimed the throne of Fortezza?’ said Luciano. ‘I can’t believe it!’
‘What happened exactly?’ asked Arianna.
‘According to Fabio, he just stepped forward and announced that he was Jacopo’s son by a Manoush mother and was a year and a half older than Princess Lucia.’
Luciano slapped his forehead. ‘I remember. He told us in Padavia, when we saved him and his people from the flames. He said he was only half-Manoush and his father was a di Chimici, but he didn’t know who. He said then he was ashamed to be half di Chimici.’
‘Well, he seems to have got over that feeling now,’ said Rodolfo. ‘He has put in a formal claim to the title.’
‘What about his illegitimacy?’ asked Arianna. ‘There is something in our constitution in Bellezza that says you have to be legitimate.’
‘It might be an issue,’ said Rodolfo. ‘But there is a faction in Fortezza that doesn’t believe a woman can be the ruler even if she is the legitimate heir. They might support Ludo’s claim. And I’ve never heard of a di Chimici princess or duchessa who has ruled in her own right.’
‘So they’d set aside the fact that Jacopo wasn’t married to Ludo’s mother?’ asked Luciano.
‘Some of them might,’ said Rodolfo.
‘I just can’t get my head round it,’ said Luciano. ‘Ludo of all people!’
‘Was the new Stravagante there?’ asked Arianna.
Rodolfo nodded. ‘She was with Fabio when it happened.’
Luciano thought. ‘Can you get Fabio to ask her to talk to Matt about Ludo?’ he said. ‘He was the one Ludo told about his parentage when he thought he was going to die in the fire.’
‘I can’t believe it went down well with Fabrizio,’ said Arianna. ‘He hates the Manoush – and he knows that Ludo is on the Stravaganti’s side.’
‘We don’t know that is still true though, do we?’ said Rodolfo.
Laura couldn’t wait to tell her new group of friends about what had happened in Fortezza. She couldn’t remember when she had last had a piece of news she wanted to share with someone else.
And their reaction was very satisfying.
‘Ludo? The Manoush? Are you sure?’ asked Matt.
Isabel had met Ludo briefly, but Matt was the only Stravaganti in this world who really knew him.
‘She’s not likely to be wrong about him,’ said Isabel, causing Laura to look away.
‘I thought the Manoush were friends to the Stravaganti,’ said Georgia.
‘Aurelio and Raffaella were,’ said Nick.
‘And we know the di Chimici are against the Manoush,’ said Sky.
‘Yes,’ said Matt. ‘It was the di Chimici anti-magic laws that nearly got Ludo and the others burned to death.’
‘Tell me about that again,’ said Laura, still carefully not looking at Isabel.
‘Well,’ said Matt, ‘you know the Manoush are Goddess-worshippers? Fabrizio di Chimici …’
‘I saw him at the funeral,’ Laura interrupted. ‘He’s very good-looking.’
Nick snorted. ‘So are tigers,’ he said.
‘Fabrizio, the Grand Duke,’ Matt went on, ‘invented these anti-magic laws to catch out Luciano or any other Stravagante, but when the Governor of Padavia adopted the new laws, it meant that about thirty Manoush fell into the trap, because they insisted on carrying out their rituals.’
‘You would think Ludo would have hated the di Chimici after that,’ said Laura.
‘That’s what I thought,’ said Matt. ‘He didn’t want to find out which one his father was, but he had a ring with his father’s crest on it.’
‘He must have decided he did want to know after all,’ said Isabel.
‘When his mother gave him the ring,’ said Matt, ‘it was just before she died and he told me he had never looked at it. It was in a little pouch he wore round his neck.’
‘I couldn’t have stopped myself from looking,’ said Georgia.
‘But what are they going to do in Fortezza, Laura?’ asked Nick.
‘They have to investigate the claim, apparently,’ said Laura. ‘It’s their rule.’
‘I can’t see my brother, Fabrizio, just sitting back calmly while a goddess-worshipper tries to take a title from a di Chimici,’ said Nick.
‘But remember that the Pope is there and Gaetano too,’ said Georgia.
‘They would stop him doing anything too reckless.’
‘What does Fabio think?’ asked Sky.
Laura shifted uncomfortably.
‘He said he thought it would end badly,’ she said. ‘He talked about civil war.’
‘Should we go to Fortezza?’ asked Luciano.
‘Not yet,’ said Rodolfo. ‘The Fortezzan Signoria might just throw Ludo’s claim out. We should wait and see what they make of it. And you should go back to your studies.’
Luciano sighed. He hadn’t been able to make much of his time at the University of Padavia, what with being kidnapped and nearly murdered, having to rescue the Manoush and then taking part in both of the Battles of Classe. His professor, Constantin, had despaired of him.
‘It’s not as if I’m doing a real degree,’ Luciano grumbled. ‘It’s just a sort of finishing school for Talian nobles as far as I can see.’
‘But you cannot always see very far, even now,’ said Rodolfo. ‘And better education would help you to see further. As for finishing, that’s exactly what I want you to do – finish the course you signed up to do. You will not get another chance once you are Duke Consort of Bellezza!’
‘Go,’ said Arianna, kissing him again. ‘You have already been delayed by this news from Fortezza. Go and finish your classes and then come back and marry me as quickly as you can.’
‘I promise that if the situation in Fortezza needs us,’ said Rodolfo, ‘I will tell you and we will go there together. Is that enough for you?’
It was not, but with that Luciano had to be content.
Chapter 4
A City in Waiting
Guido Parola had been at the funeral and followed the crowd to the castle, so he had heard Ludo’s astonishing claim at first hand. As soon as the Manoush had made his move, officials had taken him into the castle and Guido had been left outside fretting.
What did this mean for Lucia? Surely the citizens of Fortezza wouldn’t let an illegitimate older half-brother usurp her claim to the throne? But even in the short time he had been in the city, Guido had heard mutterings against a woman being ruler in her own right.
To Guido, born and brought up in Bellezza, which practically worshipped its elected Duchessa, whoever she was, this was a barbaric view, but he was not confident that it wouldn’t prevail. The next day he made up his mind to go and see Ludo himself, hoping his slight friendship with the other Manoush would be enough to get him admitted.
Ludo was being housed, in some luxury, in upper rooms in the Palazzo della Signoria in Fortezza’s main square. There was a clause in the city’s constitution – never used until now – that if there was a rival claimant to the title and throne, he must be treated as a potential ruler of the city while his claim was examined. If it was found to be false, he would then be exiled from Fortezza for ever.
So Ludo the Manoush was kicking his heels in an apartment with silk hangings and velvet sofas and, for the first time in his life, apart from when he had been held in the jail of Padavia, considering sleeping under a roof. It was a relief to get a visitor who didn’t want to ask him a long list of questions.
‘I’m Guido Parola,’ said the ex-assassin when they were alone, ‘a friend to the Stravaganti.’
‘Welcome,’ said Ludo. ‘I am their friend too. At least I was. I don’t know what they will think when all of them know I am half di Chimici.’
‘But if your claim is accepted, you will be all di Chimici in effect,’ said Guido.
The tw
o men standing looking at each other could have been halfbrothers, one a redhead, the other rustyhaired. But the difference was that Guido had always known who his father was.
‘Will you sit and take some wine with me?’ asked Ludo.
‘I will,’ said Guido. ‘I have no quarrel with you as yet. Indeed, I have met other Manoush – Aurelio and Raffaella – and would call them my friends.’
‘They are my cousins,’ said Ludo, pouring them both some red wine. ‘And I think they would not approve of what I have done.’
‘Then why did you do it?’
‘It is a complicated story,’ said Ludo.
‘I have time to listen,’ said Guido, crossing his long legs.
*
Fabrizio di Chimici was in such a towering rage he could not keep still.
He paced up and down the great salone of the di Chimici castle so restlessly that it gave Princess Carolina a headache.
‘Upstart’, ‘charlatan’, ‘fraud’ were the politer of the names he bestowed on the rival claimant to the throne.
‘But, cousin,’ Lucia said. ‘His claim must be investigated. It is our law, as you know.’
‘Cousin? Call me “brother” rather, for so I would have been to you had the Nucci not killed poor Carlo,’ the Grand Duke replied. ‘Did we survive that terrible day only to see one of our family, the legal heir to her father – who is scarcely cold in his grave – supplanted by a … by, saving Your Highnesses, a mere mongrel bastard?’
‘We are grateful for your concern and protection,’ said Carolina wearily. ‘But Lucia is right. There is nothing we can do till we see if the Council approves his claim.’
‘Approves his claim!’ Fabrizio almost snarled. ‘What is his claim? To be a son Uncle Jacopo knew nothing of? Why, any one of us might have sired such a by-blow and not know it!’
‘You forget yourself, cousin!’ Lucia was on her feet and blazing like a torch. ‘Have some regard for my mother’s feelings.’
‘It is as if I never really knew him,’ said Princess Carolina quietly.
She had aged even further since the revelation that, if what was claimed was true, her late husband had fathered a son on some other woman while he had been already engaged to her.
Fabrizio was contrite. Only the sight of the Dowager Princess’s tears could have slowed down his relentless pacing. He knelt by her chair and took her hands.
‘Forgive me, Princess,’ he said. ‘It is only that I am so angry to think that your daughter could be robbed of her inheritance by such a nobody. And it is terrible for you that this has come on top of the shock of losing Uncle.’
‘Of course you knew him, Mamma,’ said Bianca. ‘It was a dreadful shock but it might yet turn out to be a lie.’
‘Papa loved you,’ said Lucia. ‘I know he did. Even if this Manoush’s story turns out to be true, it can’t undo over twenty years of happy marriage, can it?’
‘I think I’d like to go and lie down for a while,’ said Carolina. ‘I did not sleep much last night.’
She let Bianca lead her away.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Fabrizio. ‘You are right to chide me. I was thinking only of what that young man is doing to the family now – not of what your father might have done to bring him into the world.’
‘We’ll never know the truth, will we?’ said Lucia.
‘We can’t ask him now. But I wish Mother had never found out.’
*
Laura was already feeling the effects of living two days at a time. But she couldn’t keep away from Fortezza or from knowing what had happened to Ludo, even though she had met him only once. Something about him had burrowed into her mind and she couldn’t get him out.
In her English Literature class at school they had been studying As You Like It, where people fell in love as soon as they set eyes on each other. She had agreed with lines like, ‘Is it possible, on such a sudden, you should fall into so strong a liking?’ Shakespeare had obviously put those in because he knew how ludicrous it was for people to take one look and be suddenly smitten.
And yet, now she had met Ludo, it seemed that once was enough to set her thinking about him all day and wanting to see him again. And wondering whether there was any chance he had been as struck by her as she had by him. But she knew she must focus on finding out what her task in Fortezza was to be; the others had been quite clear about that.
Fabio’s shop was busier than Laura had ever seen it even early in the morning and, as soon as he had realised she had materialised inside it, again he took her out into the city.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked. ‘Has something happened?’
‘I am not the only one who thinks that the Manoush’s claim will be supported and that war is on the way,’ said Fabio.
‘Where is he now?’ asked Laura, trying to sound casual.
Fabio didn’t seem to think her interest unusual; everyone in the city was interested in this new claimant to the throne.
‘He is lodged in the government building,’ he said, ‘while his claim is investigated. I’ve heard he has a Fortezzan royal ring.’
‘I heard that too, in my world,’ said Laura, lowering her voice. ‘Matt – the one you might know as Matteo – says Ludo told him his mother gave him a ring belonging to his father, just before she died.’
‘Then it is true,’ said Fabio, stopping and looking at her seriously. ‘And our poor city will be destroyed.’
‘But can they do that?’ asked Laura. ‘I mean, the Princess is the legitimate heir. Can the Signoria just overturn that and evict her from the castle?’
Fabio sighed. ‘It won’t be like that,’ he said. ‘First they’ll establish his age and that he really could be Jacopo’s son. Then the faction that doesn’t believe women should rule will hail him as their leader. That’s when the fighting will begin.’
Laura had seen the weapons Fabio made in his shop. Her stomach squirmed with fear. Real people were going to arm themselves with those swords and use them to wound and kill other real people. She knew what a small cut with a sharp blade could do, and that was nothing to what was going to happen here.
‘Do you think that was why I was brought here?’ she asked. ‘To play some part in defeating one side or the other?’
It sounded fantastic to her own ears.
‘There is no doubt about the side,’ said Fabio. ‘Ludo must be defeated. The title belongs to Princess Lucia.’
So if it comes to a fight, thought Laura, Ludo and I will be on opposite sides. She was surprised at how sad that made her feel.
‘The last Stravagante from my world took part in a sea battle,’ she said slowly. ‘And she helped the Talian side win. But this fight would be Talian against Talian. And should I be helping the di Chimici? I thought they were enemies to the Stravaganti?’
‘Not all of them,’ said Fabio. ‘The Fortezzan ones have nothing against our Order. But I don’t know what you are here to do. I only know that the talismans find the right people.’
They had arrived in the Piazza in the centre of town, where a small crowd had gathered. There were raised voices and angry gestures, as if the whole city was already dividing into two opposing groups.
‘He’ll be in there,’ said Fabio, nodding towards the imposing palazzo on one side of the square.
While they watched, a tall red-haired young man came out through the main gate. Fabio took Laura’s arm.
‘I think that is someone you should know.’
He led her towards the red-headed man, who was fending off questions from people in the crowd.
‘Parola?’ asked Fabio. ‘Are you Guido Parola?’
‘Who is asking?’
‘Fabio della Spada. A Stravagante,’ he added in a whisper.
‘Then I am glad to meet you,’ said Guido. ‘I was coming to find you. Ludo asked me to seek you out.’
‘And this is Laura,’ said Fabio. ‘She is another of our Order – from far away, if you take my meaning.’
Guido took her
hand. ‘I have heard of you too. Yours was another name Ludo gave me.’
He mentioned me, thought Laura. He remembers who I am even after one meeting. Could he possibly feel as I do?
‘We should not be talking about this on the street,’ said Fabio. ‘Let’s go in here.’
He led them into a tavern with a painted sign outside of a red horse on a white background. They were soon sitting round a small wooden table, with pewter cups of red wine. Laura sipped hers cautiously; it seemed rather sharp but the two men drank it like water.
‘So,’ said Fabio, ‘is it true?’
Guido nodded. ‘I’m sure he is telling the truth. He told me what he knew about his mother and father. She never named the city or the prince, just talked about the circumstances.’
‘Was it – excuse me, Laura, but it’s important – something she agreed to?’
‘Oh yes,’ said Guido. ‘There was no suggestion that he forced himself on her. But it was not an affair. Just one shared night in a cold winter.’
‘And he married Princess Carolina soon afterwards?’ asked Fabio.
‘He did. But Ludo thinks Jacopo never knew his mother had a child.’
‘What about the ring?’ asked Laura.
‘We can’t know why he gave it to her,’ said Guido. ‘I suppose for that one night he loved her and wanted to give her something of himself besides his body.’
‘How horrible for his wife,’ said Laura. ‘To find out like that in front of everyone.’
‘And for his daughters,’ said Guido. ‘Especially Lucia.’
‘Have you met her?’ asked Laura.
‘Yes,’ said Guido. And a pensive look passed quickly over his face, to be replaced by a grimmer expression. ‘I was there at the massacre, when she lost her husband.’
‘That family has had to bear a lot,’ said Fabio. ‘But I fear there is more to come. You know that the Manoush will have a lot of supporters in the city?’
‘I suppose that was why he felt it was worth a try,’ said Guido.
‘I don’t understand,’ said Laura. ‘From what I’ve heard, the di Chimici tried to kill him. Why would he want to become one of them?’