Starling (116 page)

doing so quite masterfully, as far as she could tell. The bookish boy
she’d once found boring now focused on honoring his father’s memory and facing off against a formidable enemy. “How did you end up
here?” she asked.
“I had made some inquiries about learning to fight, and word
must have gotten back to Maximus. He sought me out, brought me
here, and introduced me to his brother.”
“Lucianus.”
Luca spun around. Rowan was watching them. “Are you through
training for the day then?”
Luca shook his head. “No, but I must speak more with the signorina.”
Rowan nodded. He pointed, and another man took Luca’s place
up on the beam. Across the campo, Maximus leaned against the wall
of the church, looking strangely at home.
Cass pulled Luca away from the fighting circles, to the far edge of
the hill. She raised an eyebrow. “Lucianus?”
“He knows who I am, but his men do not. He will keep my secret
as long as I pay him.”
“And what exactly are you paying him with?” she asked. The
wind blew her cloak out away from her body, and she shivered. The
sun hovered just above the level of the waves, and the damp sea air
had turned chilly.
“I promised him the deed to Palazzo da Peraga.”
“Luca! Your family home?”
“My sister and father are dead. My mother barely recognizes me
when I visit. You were my family, Cassandra, and you seemed to be
in love with another man. What need did I have of a palazzo on the
Rialto?”
“Perhaps we can get it back.” Maximus could speak to his brother
on Luca’s behalf. Cass could pay the debt with some of the gold at
Villa Querini.
“I don’t want it back.”
“Then I wish to learn too,” Cass said suddenly. She imagined herself in armor wielding a sword. Attacking Dubois. Holding her blade
to his throat until he agreed to relinquish the Book of the Eternal
Rose and then running him through anyway. Was it really that different from arming herself with a dagger and sneaking into the Doge’s
dungeons?
“Cassandra, don’t be ridiculous,” Luca said. “It’s too dangerous.”
“I’m not being ridiculous.” Cass stormed up to the inner fighting
circle with the wooden beam. “I wish to learn the sword,” she announced.
Rowan was sparring with another man dressed in breeches and
chain mail. Their swords clanged together, both men navigating the
warped wood with unusual grace. He laughed, and then answered
Cass without even pausing. “Silly girl.”
“I am not a silly girl.” She bent down and grabbed the sword Luca
had abandoned. She struggled to lift it.
Caspita.
It weighed almost as
much as she did. “Teach me,” she demanded, slashing awkwardly at
the air.
Some of the other men stopped their practice to watch the unfolding developments. A small circle formed around the wooden beam.
“Yes, teach her, Rowan,” one of the men hollered. Rowan held up
a hand toward his opponent and then leapt down from the board,
pointing his sword at Cass. “Ready?”