City of Swords

by Mary Hoffman

  ‘I will wait for you for ever,’ said Ludo.

  ‘Time’s up,’ yelled one of the guards. ‘The party for Romula is just about to leave!’

  Luciano came close to the bars and slipped Ludo his Merlino-dagger. ‘They won’t search you again,’ he whispered. ‘If you sense treachery, use it. Though not on Gaetano.’

  I wish I had thought of that, thought Laura. There were dozens of weapons in Fabio’s shop.

  ‘I hope you rot in hell!’ shouted Luciano at Ludo, holding up both hands with his fingers crossed.

  ‘That means he doesn’t mean it,’ whispered Laura through the bars. They kissed as best they could, a kiss full of the taste of iron and despair.

  ‘Your missus didn’t say much,’ said the Morescan guard as they left. ‘All I could hear was you shouting.’

  ‘She lost her mother, didn’t she? Because of that gypsy pig,’ said Luciano. ‘Look at her – she couldn’t say anything.’

  Tears were indeed streaming down Laura’s face and she was glad to find a handkerchief in the pocket of her blue Talian dress.

  ‘Poor bitch,’ said the guard.

  They might have got away with it if Enrico hadn’t been woken by the shouting.

  He had never seen Laura before, but something about the young man with her struck a chord with him. Perhaps Luciano was careless and his own glamour was beginning to wear off.

  ‘Cavaliere!’ Enrico called out. ‘Cavaliere Luciano?’

  At that moment the Grand Ducal party arrived. Luciano cursed himself for not having realised Fabrizio would come for a final gloat before the prisoner left Fortezza. He could feel the last of his disguise falling away as he was called by his true name.

  ‘Yes, Enrico,’ he said quietly, turning to the man in the cell. ‘I’m here. Don’t worry. We’ll look after you.’

  ‘Arrest that man!’ shouted Fabrizio as soon as he saw the young Bellezzan. The Grand Duke’s eyes were bright with triumph. ‘He is subject to a warrant in Fortezza. This is the scoundrel who killed my father, Grand Duke Niccolò. And now he will pay for it.’

  Chapter 20

  Trial and Execution

  Fabrizio was burning with excitement. After all the frustration he felt with Lucia and her refusal to go along with his plans – the second woman to reject Filippo of Volana! – here was something he could achieve. He had been hunting the Cavaliere for over a year and he had proved elusive, hiding in cities like Bellezza, Padavia and Classe, where the di Chimici arrest warrant had no validity.

  And now he had just walked into the Grand Duke’s custody!

  What the Cavaliere was doing in Fortezza was beyond Fabrizio’s guess, but he didn’t care. He had in his power at last the nobody who had dared to go hand to hand with his father, the first Grand Duke and head of the family, and had struck the blow that killed him.

  And now he could have his vengeance on the Bellezzan and on the Fortezzan rebels at the same time. It made up not only for Lucia’s intractability but for having to let Ludo go free, at least for the time being.

  ‘Send for General Tasca,’ he told his servant. ‘We will need to build a scaffold.’

  ‘Arrested?’ said Isabel. ‘Oh my God.’

  Laura had stravagated back in the middle of the night and woken her friend with the news.

  ‘How did you get away if you were with him?’

  ‘Fabrizio wasn’t interested in me,’ said Laura. ‘He was totally focused on Luciano.’

  ‘He might have been more interested if he’d known you were a Stravagante.’

  ‘I went back to Fabio’s and told him and Rodolfo. Surely they’ll save Luciano?’

  ‘I wish I could be so sure,’ said Isabel.

  And there was no more sleep for them that night.

  Gaetano didn’t want to leave Fortezza with not just Enrico but Luciano in his brother’s custody, but the Grand Duke insisted.

  ‘It’s all arranged,’ he said impatiently. ‘You must leave as planned. And I have things to get on with here so that I can get back to Giglia.’

  That was what Gaetano was worried about.

  But the small convoy set off only a little later than scheduled. Ten guards surrounded the Giglian prince and his Manoush captive. They left by the southern gate and headed east towards Giglia, their first staging post.

  No sooner were they over the moat than Fabrizio returned to his more pleasurable task, consulting his General as men built the platform in the amphitheatre, where he intended to carry out his executions.

  Lucia was deeply unhappy about Fabrizio’s preparations and wished him gone from her city. But he was the Grand Duke of Tuschia and the head of her family and she couldn’t just ask him to leave. He was already so angry with her about her marriage announcement that she hardly dared to challenge him about anything else.

  ‘You must make sure he holds a proper trial for the rebels,’ said Guido.

  ‘What can I do to ensure that?’ asked Lucia. ‘I have spoken to the Signore, but he is so smitten with Fabrizio as my city’s saviour that he will do whatever he asks.’

  ‘Then let us consult the Stravaganti,’ said Guido. ‘They will be working on a plan to save Luciano so they might manage to temper the Grand Duke’s idea of justice for the others.’

  ‘I don’t want anyone killed,’ said Lucia. ‘There have been too many deaths already. I just want Fabrizio to go home and leave me to rule my city.’

  She sent for Fabio and Rodolfo and met them in the small parlour. Fabrizio was again lodging in the Rocca, with the discomfited Filippo and the other nobles, and she did not want to risk their meeting any of the Stravaganti. The Grand Duke was still unaware that the Bellezzan Senator was even in the city.

  The Stravaganti were both tense and tired.

  ‘I shall not forgive myself for letting Luciano go to the jail with Laura,’ said Rodolfo. ‘Even under a glamour. I should have gone with her.’

  ‘Or I, Maestro,’ said Fabio.

  It was obvious they had been having this argument ever since Luciano’s arrest.

  ‘Please,’ said Lucia, ‘let us waste no time in recrimination. We all want to save Luciano and the rebels. About the spy, I do not much care, but if he is important to you, I shall do anything I can to release him too.’

  ‘You are right, Princess,’ said Rodolfo. ‘We must not waste time.’

  ‘Have you told Silvia and Arianna about Luciano?’ asked Gaetano.

  Rodolfo rubbed his hands over his tired face.

  ‘I have not yet dared,’ he said. ‘I am hoping to rescue him before I speak to them tonight.’

  In Nick’s attic the Barnsbury Stravaganti had the same problem about telling Vicky what had happened to her son.

  ‘We totally should,’ said Georgia, gnawing on a torn fingernail. ‘She has a right to know.’

  ‘So does his father,’ said Ayesha.

  ‘But can we put them through that again?’ asked Sky. ‘They’ve lost him once in this world already. Can you imagine what it will do to them if they think he might be killed in Talia?’

  ‘But if it does happen and they find out we knew, what will they think?’ asked Laura.

  ‘And if it doesn’t, we’ll have upset them for nothing,’ said Matt.

  ‘Surely Rodolfo and Fabio will find a way of rescuing him?’ said Isabel. ‘They wouldn’t just let Fabrizio kill him.’

  ‘He might do it too quickly for them to save him,’ said Nick.

  It was the first thing he had said since they had all got there and Laura had dropped the bombshell.

  They all looked at him, horrified.

  ‘He’s been trying to get his hands on Luciano ever since the duel,’ he said. ‘My hunch is that he’ll dispatch him as quickly as possible so that he can’t slip through his fingers again.’

  ‘Without a trial?’ asked Ayesha.

  Nick laughed. ‘You can’t expect twenty-first-century, First World justice in Talia,’ he said. ‘The Grand Duke is a law unto himself. You won
’t come across anything like him in your Law exams unless you have a paper on Third World dictators.’

  ‘But this is terrible!’ said Laura. ‘What can we do?’

  ‘We can tell Vicky for a start,’ said Georgia.

  ‘I think we should stravagate to Fortezza,’ said Nick. ‘Perhaps I can distract my brother again.’

  The Signoria had been hastily convened and their main Council chamber converted into a courtroom. The prisoners might get summary justice but they would have some kind of show trial first.

  The first three to be tried were General Ciampi for treason, the Cavaliere Luciano Crinamorte for murder and Enrico Poggi as his accessory. The prisoners were brought from the bastion cells, where Luciano had spent only one night. Their guards led them through the amphitheatre, past a wooden platform with a trapdoor in it that was still being built. A gibbet was being hauled into position as they passed.

  ‘Hanging!’ said Enrico to Luciano. He sounded almost relieved. ‘That’s not so bad, they say.’

  ‘It won’t come to that,’ said Luciano.

  ‘No talking!’ said one of the guards, jerking the chains that held the three men linked together, so that they all stumbled and nearly fell on the sandy floor.

  The Signore was presiding over the trial, at least nominally, and he was very nervous. Not only would the Grand Duke of Tuschia be in his courtroom with a very clear idea of the verdicts and sentences he wanted, but Princess Lucia was also in attendance with her future consort.

  It took a long time for the members of the Signoria to be seated and all the nobles and citizens to be found suitable places. All the di Chimici were there, Cardinal Rinaldo prominent among them. It had been hard enough for him to see Guido Parola, the assassin he had employed to kill the Duchessa of Bellezza, elevated to the position of Prince Consort of a di Chimici city. The red-headed ruffian still owed him half the fee for the bungled assassination apart from anything else.

  But here also were Enrico and Luciano, one his ex-employee, the other his enemy. It would be wonderful to be rid of them both. And perhaps he could somehow convey to the Grand Duke the unsuitability of Guido Parola, without giving away too much of their earlier dealings.

  It had been decided – or rather, Fabrizio had insisted – to take the trial for the murder of Grand Duke Niccolò first. The two prisoners were led in together and put in the dock.

  The herald read the charges and the first witness was called. It was Fabrizio di Chimici, Grand Duke of Tuschia.

  Rodolfo and Fabio, sitting in the first row, were grimfaced. The mirror-contact with the Bellezzan Duchesse had been quite as gruelling as Rodolfo had feared.

  Fabrizio had looked forward to his moment of glory testifying against Luciano. But before he could launch into his account, an official hurried into the chamber and handed a piece of paper to the Signore.

  ‘One moment, Your Grace,’ said the Signore, holding up his hand while he read. ‘Ah, there seems to be a new legal point on which I must take advice. I shall call a short recess.’

  Fabrizio stepped down from the stand with a face like thunder.

  As he read on, the Signore felt his heart sink. If what it said was true, the Grand Duke was going to be very angry with him indeed.

  The Princess Lucia caught his eye. He crossed over to her and made a deep bow.

  ‘Your Highness,’ he said. ‘I think you know what this means.’

  Lucia inclined her head. It had taken hours of trawling through the city’s laws but they had found the loophole they were looking for. She handed the Signore a scroll.

  ‘And I think you will know what this means,’ she said. ‘I am invoking my right to overturn a previous edict by virtue of my position as ruler.’

  The Signore clutched his head. This was going to be much worse than he had feared. He wondered if his plentiful black hair was turning grey under his hands.

  *

  ‘How can I possibly stand still?’ demanded Arianna. ‘It was bad enough when all I had to worry about was Rodolfo and Luciano in a war zone. But now my fidanzato is on trial by Fabrizio di Chimici, a man who wants him dead. And I am supposed to stand for another bridal fitting? Send the dressmaker away.’

  ‘The dressmaker, as you call her, is your grandmother, let me remind you, and you will treat her with respect,’ said Silvia icily.

  Arianna crumpled.

  ‘Of course. I’m sorry. I’m so used to all these women who come to the palazzo. Where is Nonna?’

  ‘She is being well entertained while you indulge your tantrum,’ said Silvia.

  ‘But she must know I can’t be bothered with dress fittings when my groom might be dead by tonight!’

  Having said it out loud, Arianna burst into a storm of weeping. A terrible feeling of dread hung over her. And by the strain on her mother’s face, she knew she was not the only one to feel it.

  ‘We should carry on as normal,’ said Silvia. ‘There is nothing else we can do.’

  ‘Yes, there is,’ said Arianna. ‘We can call a halt to the wedding preparations until we know if there is going to be someone left for me to marry. Nonna will have to understand.’

  *

  The little convoy had reached a hill town where they stopped to water the horses and eat the food in their saddlebags.

  ‘There is no need for these ridiculous chains,’ said Gaetano, and had Ludo’s shackles taken off. The Manoush stretched his back and rubbed his wrists.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘You are a civilised jailer.’

  ‘I would as soon not be your jailer at all, as I think you know,’ said Gaetano. ‘But I am determined to see you reach Romula safely.’

  The prisoner ate a little bread and drank some wine, but was clearly not hungry. Gaetano couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.

  ‘Luciano told me that you have a fondness for the new Stravagante,’ he said at last.

  Ludo looked up with the first spark of life he had shown since they set out.

  ‘She is everything to me,’ he said. ‘And I nearly got her killed.’

  Gaetano understood about love. And he also understood it was not possible for it to end happily when worlds in time and space separated the lovers.

  ‘I sympathise,’ he said, ‘and I can’t help you with that but I can tell you that cousin Lucia gave me something to give you.’

  He took a bag from his jerkin and checked that the guards weren’t watching.

  It was an order on a bank in Romula for a large sum of money.

  ‘Should I take this?’ Ludo asked, amazed.

  ‘Certainly. Lucia believes you are entitled to it as Uncle Jacopo’s eldest child. And since I am your cousin as well as hers, I advise you to accept it. It will make your life easier in Romula.’

  *

  The Signore of Fortezza addressed the reassembled court. He began with a lot of throat-clearing.

  ‘Ahem. It has been brought to my attention that there is a clause on our statute that states the following: No man may be tried for murder who has taken the life of another in a duel.’

  There was dead silence in the chamber.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ the Signore continued, ‘but this means that the Cavaliere cannot be tried for this crime. Since, in the terms of Fortezzan law, no crime has been committed, he is free to go.’

  The Grand Duke jumped to his feet, his face flushed with rage. ‘But there was a warrant for his arrest in Fortezza, as in all the di Chimici city-states!’

  ‘I’m afraid the warrant had no legality, since it is for a charge that is not a valid crime in Fortezza.’ The Signore could hardly look less comfortable. ‘And, the warrant – mistakenly issued, as it turns out – has now been withdrawn by exercise of the Princess’s royal privilege.’

  By a huge effort of self-control, Fabrizio said no more while the young Bellezzan stepped down from the stand and joined his friends in the public seats.

  ‘The charge against Poggi still stands, I assume?’ Fabrizio asked the Signore with ic
y politeness.

  ‘It does, Your Grace,’ said the Signore.

  Enrico Poggi remained in the dock, looking wretchedly alone.

  ‘Then let the trial proceed,’ said Fabrizio.

  The Signore knew he should rebuke the Grand Duke for speaking out of turn in court but he didn’t have the stomach for it.

  ‘Will you please resume the witness stand, Your Grace?’ was all he said.

  But the wind had been taken from Fabrizio’s sails.

  He answered all the questions put to him about Enrico’s involvement in the duel and his switching of the foils.

  There were no other witnesses for the prosecution because the only other one who might have been called was Gaetano, who had been Grand Duke Niccolò’s other second. Cardinal di Chimici had also had a close view, but his testimony would not have shown the Grand Duke in a good light.

  ‘Are there any witnesses to speak in defence of the accused?’ asked the Signore.

  And Luciano got to his feet, this time walking to the witness stand instead of the dock.

  *

  There was no one in Fabio’s shop but his apprentices when Laura, Nick and Georgia arrived.

  ‘He’s at the trial,’ said one of them, who recognised Laura. ‘I wish we were too.’

  Nick looked at them both. ‘I told you Fabrizio wouldn’t waste any time,’ he whispered.

  The apprentice directed them to the Palazzo della Signoria and they hurried towards it, dreading what they might find.

  They arrived just as the court reconvened. They hadn’t heard what the Signore had announced so were completely puzzled when Luciano took the witness stand, instead of being on trial.

  ‘This man is not responsible for Grand Duke Niccolò’s death,’ said Luciano.

  There was a hubbub in the court.

  ‘What do you mean by that?’ asked the Signore.

  ‘I gave the Grand Duke the death blow,’ said Luciano. ‘And Enrico Poggi switched the foils, which he had previously smeared with poison. But who gave him that poison? Grand Duke Niccolò himself.’