The Dark City (18 page)

Read on for an exclusive extract from the next book in The Last Apprentice series.

THE PAINTED WAR

The museum doors splintered. The Oscuritan army was breaking through! In moments they would break out of the museum and invade the streets of La Luminosa.

The forces of La Luminosa visibly recoiled, all of the volunteers and several of the soldiers taking half a step back.

‘Stand your ground!' Captain Raphaeli shouted, turning his horse and drawing his sword. ‘Defend your homes!'

Bianca jumped down from the fountain and sprinted through the crowd to the front line.

‘Captain!' she shouted. ‘Captain Raphaeli!'

Raphaeli looked down, and his face drained of colour for a moment. ‘Bianca! Lady Bianca, what are you doing? This is a battlefield, you can't be here!'

Bianca ran up to him and grabbed the reins of his horse. She looked up at him, and then spoke quickly and quietly. ‘I  …  I'm so sorry. I couldn't find the Duchess. My mother hadn't heard anything about her being brought to Oscurita. She said she's probably being hidden in La Luminosa. And then  …  then  … ' She couldn't do it. ‘I don't know how to find her. I'm so sorry.'

‘None of this is your fault,' Raphaeli said. ‘You know that, don't you? It's because of you that we even have this number of fighters. If you hadn't warned us when the passages first reopened, we'd be overwhelmed.' He shook his head. ‘If only we'd had more time to train some of these volunteers. They don't know how to follow orders; they'll just listen to whoever shouts loudest.'

‘It should be the Duchess leading them into battle,' said Bianca.

‘I wish I could disagree.' Captain Raphaeli's horse danced a few steps away as the Oscuritans bashed into the museum doors again. Raphaeli didn't blink. ‘I hate the idea of her fighting in battle, but she'd be worth twenty soldiers if she was here. I had some people climb up to the high windows on the museum and look inside. Edita's in there on a black charger, and her people are clearly rallied around her.'

‘Is it  …  is it hopeless?' Bianca asked.

‘No!' Captain Raphaeli said firmly. ‘But I'd give my right arm for a hundred more soldiers,' he added. ‘Or for Duchess Catriona to be here. Filpepi's painted doll would do! The people need to see what they're fighting for.'

An idea hit Bianca so hard she almost rocked back on her heels from the force of it. ‘Filpepi's painted Duchess  … ' she breathed. She looked up at the Captain and forced a smile. ‘I think I have a plan,' she said. ‘I have to go.'

‘Be careful, Bianca!' Captain Raphaeli called after her as she turned and ran off. ‘Keep away from the fighting!'

Bianca hurried out of the crowd and out of the piazza, pausing as she passed the young guard who was still giving orders to new arrivals. She caught her breath and stared up at the stars, trying to think her plan through.

It was all very well to know that it was
possible
to magically create soldiers out of paint. But she had to be practical. The best supply of paint and tools was, by far, di Lombardi's secret workshop. But how could she get there? All the paintings were in the museum, and even if she could get into the passages, they would be swarming with Oscuritan soldiers.

‘Bianca!' That was Marco's voice. Bianca looked around, unable to see him at first, until suddenly the crowd parted and she spotted him waving at her. She ran over.

He was standing with his father, Master Xavier, who was carrying his big wooden staff with the round orb on the end. Bianca had never quite noticed how heavy it looked before, or how easily it could be used as a club. Most of the rest of the troupe were there too – Olivia was wearing silver-painted wooden costume armour and carrying a prop scimitar that'd been sharpened until its edge glinted, and Bianca saw the fire twins Carmina and Valentino and half a dozen others wielding weapons that looked like they'd been cobbled together from props and bits of staging.

‘Bianca, there you are,' said Cosimo. Bianca turned to see him standing beside the tumblers. Behind him, Lucia, Ezio, Gennaro and Rosa stood. They were rather worryingly well armed with palette knives, hammers, chisels and shears.

‘Where are the other apprentices? Are they safe?'

‘They've gone to the island,' Lucia said. ‘And that's where you need to go too!'

‘I agree,' said Master Xavier. He looked down at Marco with a mixture of pride and abject terror. ‘And please take my son with you – by force, if necessary.'

‘I told you,' Marco said firmly, ‘I can't go. I have to help protect the city!'

‘Actually, I do want Marco,' Bianca said. ‘Marco, where's the underwater craft?'

‘Still moored up by the Bridge of the Cats, as long as someone hasn't run off with it,' said Marco.

‘Can we use it to get into the secret workshop?'

Marco's face lit up. ‘Yes! We can go in through the trap door into the canal!'

‘We need to go, right now.'

Master Xavier's face was a picture of relief, and he and Olivia gathered Marco into a tight three-way hug. Bianca ran forward and gave each of the apprentices a huge hug in turn – even Lucia, although she saved her hardest squeeze for Rosa.

‘Good luck,' she said. ‘It's going to be OK.'

She grabbed Marco's hand and dragged him back down the street towards the Bridge of Cats.

‘What are you going to do?' Marco asked, running towards the craft.

‘Something that's never been done before,' she shouted after him. ‘It might be dangerous. I  …  have no idea if I can undo it.'

‘Do you think it might help?' Marco asked.

‘I hope so.' Bianca didn't know. But she had to try, for the sake of her beloved city and everyone in it.

Imogen Rossi grew up in London but her favourite place in the world is Venice during the Carnival. She spent most of her summer holidays in Italy, where she passed the time doodling and writing stories. She loves to paint, though she isn't very good at it, and she sings in a choir. She most enjoys stories involving mystery, magic and time travel. She has a collection of Venetian carnival masks and two cats named Leonardo and Michelangelo (Lenny and Mike for short).

With special thanks to Rosie Best

First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Hot Key Books

Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0AT

Copyright © Working Partners Limited 2014

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-4714-0251-7

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