The Dark City (7 page)

‘I'll help you get over it, I promise!'

‘How?' Marco asked bitterly.

‘Well, I don't know yet, but I'll figure it out, I've got to.'

‘Why do you care?' Marco asked, sounding like a sulky kid.

‘Because I'm feeling so rubbish at everything else, being a good friend is
something
I should be able to do.'

She plopped herself down next to Marco.

‘What's going on?' he asked, his voice softening.

‘You know Master di Lombardi's will was read yesterday,' Bianca told him. ‘Duchess Catriona gave me his studio to run.'

Marco's mouth made a silent ‘O'.

‘And I don't think I can do it,' Bianca blurted out. ‘I might've been our master's secret favourite or something but I haven't got the first clue how to actually do what he did! And Cosimo and Lucia know it, and they're being horrible. So even if I
could
have managed I won't while they're around. Now our first commission is going to be late – and probably all the rest too, unless I quit.' She looked up and shrugged at Marco's stunned expression.

‘Wow,' said Marco. ‘I had no idea. Sorry.'

Bianca reached into her pocket. ‘And there's more. Master di Lombardi left me a letter.' She unfolded the letter and showed Marco its nonsensical, blurry squiggles. ‘A letter I can't read! How's that for useless?' She leaned against the furnace and stared at the letter, unfocusing and crossing her eyes, but it was no good – the writing still didn't make any sense.

‘Wait!' Marco said, springing to his feet. ‘Hold still! Freeze!'

‘What?'

Marco grabbed her hands and held them still. He squinted over her shoulder.

‘To make a  … 
storia
 …  take one bottle of
lux aurumque
,' he said slowly. ‘Add a spoonful of
animare
to a fifty/fifty mixture of water and
ether
 … '

‘What?' Bianca spun around and found herself face to face with herself. Or rather, her reflection in the dressing-room mirror.

‘It's written backwards!' Marco took the letter and turned it so the writing reflected in the mirror. Bianca stared, her mouth dropping open in amazement, as the unreadable scrawl turned into a blurry but readable list of ingredients.

‘It's a recipe!' she gasped. ‘But why? Why would Master di Lombardi leave me a paint recipe?' At first she felt a little disappointed – she was half-expecting some kind of message. But as she and Marco stood and read the letter together, her stomach twisted with excitement – she'd never seen this recipe before. Or anything like it.

To make a
storia
,
the letter read,
take one bottle of
lux aurumque
and add a spoonful of
animare
to a fifty/fifty mixture of water and
ether
. Drop in a single one of your hairs and wait until it has completely disappeared. Add two crushed, fermented Indigofera leaves, a single flake of gold leaf and two hairs from a black cat. Mix with crushed bone until the paint takes on the texture of thin cream.

Speak the words:
mio cario, narrare storia.

Paint the
storia
onto a plain canvas.

‘You have to try and make it,' Marco said. ‘Have you got all the ingredients?'

Bianca nodded. ‘I think they're all in Filpepi's storeroom  …  everything except my hair and the hair of a black cat. It's very odd, I've never used hair in a paint recipe before. I didn't know you could. And I don't know where I'm going to find a black cat that'll let me pull its hair out!' she added.

‘Oh, that's easy!' Marco grinned. ‘The master blacksmith has a fat black cat called Nimbus. She's like a friendly, furry sack of potatoes! I'll grab a couple of her hairs and meet you at the palace tomorrow.'

‘Are you sure?'

Marco shrugged. ‘You said you'd try and help me. It's the least I can do to help you. Anyway,' he added, his face falling, ‘I don't think anyone's going to miss me too much if I'm not in the show tomorrow.'

Bianca gave him a sideways smile. ‘All right. Thanks! I'll meet you in the courtyard at sunset tomorrow and we can try it out then. I suppose I'll have to be working in the studio all day.'

The two of them sighed heavily at each other, and then Bianca caught Marco's doleful eyes and they both cracked up.

‘Do you feel like you've aged about twenty years in the last two months?' Bianca giggled.

Marco snorted. ‘Make that a hundred!'

‘We'll work it out,' she said. ‘Both of us. I promise.'

‘Mistress Bianca?'

‘Hmm?' Bianca rolled over in bed and yawned.

‘Mistress Bianca, the Duchess requires your urgent attendance in the throne room,' said the maid, bobbing a low curtsey.

Bianca sat up, suddenly wide awake. ‘Erm, yes! Coming!' She half-fell out of bed and let the maid pour her into a blue court dress, her mind in a whirl as she tied the medallion around her neck and tucked it away inside her bodice. What was it? Had something happened to Marco, or one of the apprentices? Or could it be something good – had the Baron and Filpepi been caught and arrested?

She tried not to wear herself out with guessing as she hurried to the throne room, her thin court shoes slapping an uneven rhythm on the tiled floor.

‘Mistress Bianca, Court Artist-In-Residence!' announced the footman, opening the throne room doors. Bianca tried to catch her breath as she walked inside. The throne room was lined with courtiers, and every one turned to watch her as she approached the throne.

Duchess Catriona was sitting with her chin resting on one hand, picking at the lace on her ruby red skirt with the other. She looked at Bianca from under furrowed eyebrows. That wasn't a good sign.

‘You called for me, Duchess?' Bianca asked.

‘Yes,
Mistress
Bianca,' said Duchess Catriona. ‘I did.'

The sarcasm in the Duchess's voice stopped Bianca in her tracks.
Oh no, not you too!

‘I've been hearing some disappointing things,' the Duchess said, sitting up and leaning forward. ‘Things I don't want to believe  … '

Bianca took a deep breath and knelt before the throne. She could feel the gazes of the courtiers on the back of her neck. She hoped this would be over quickly so that Catriona could give the studio to Cosimo and they could all get on with their lives.

‘Your apprentices tell me that you arrived late yesterday and vanished after only a few hours. Is this true?'

‘Yes, Your Highness,' Bianca said. ‘But  … ' She tried to think of a way to say
But they were all being horrible to me
without sounding childish.

Duchess Catriona shook her head. ‘I didn't put you in charge of the studios so you could throw your weight around! I put you there to work! Your apprentices also tell me that all of the open commissions will be at least a week late. How do you answer that?'

‘I  …  I don't know, Your Highness,' Bianca mumbled. She could tell that her face was turning bright red and briefly felt a stab of anger. Why couldn't they have had this conversation in private?

‘Don't know?' the Duchess snapped. ‘It's your job to know!'

‘Yes.' Bianca cringed. ‘But the Cathedral commission –'

‘Yes, and what explanation do you have for that?' Duchess Catriona asked. ‘That painting was your responsibility. Archbishop di Sarvos!' She summoned the old priest over to the throne with a snap of her fingers. Bianca looked up into his sternly wrinkled face and swallowed. ‘Bianca, tell the Archbishop just how you're going to make sure his painting is found.'

‘I  … 
found
?'

‘Yes. The painting went missing on its way to the Cathedral. Whether it's lost or stolen or fallen into the canal, nobody seems to know.'

Bianca wracked her brain. How could it have gone missing? Surely it wasn't even finished? Or had the apprentices worked on it all day, only for it to vanish? ‘I'll find out who saw it last,' she said, ‘and, and  … ' Inspiration struck. ‘And if I can't find it, I'll have the studio make a new one – better than the last, more magical, at no extra cost to the Church,' she said. ‘I promise.'

‘All right. Thank you, di Sarvos,' said Duchess Catriona, dismissing the priest with a wave of her hand before he even had a chance to respond to Bianca's offer. ‘Stand up, Bianca.'

Bianca clambered quickly to her feet and bowed to the Duchess.

Duchess Catriona sat back in her throne. ‘I don't mean to be harsh,' she said. ‘I know what it's like to have to deal with a huge responsibility when you'd rather be off with your friends,' she added, meeting Bianca's eyes and flashing her a lopsided smile. Then her face turned serious again. ‘I know I could have picked one of the older apprentices, or Carlo de Seville or Laura Dexteris – her reputation especially is growing by the day. But I didn't, Bianca. I chose you. And I want you to fix this. For the sake of Master di Lombardi's legacy.'

‘I will,' Bianca said, and she meant it. The Duchess was right – she needed to do better.

‘OK then, shoo,' said Duchess Catriona, and she threw her a wink.

Bianca set off at once for the studio, hurrying through the secret passages to the painting in Filpepi's office so that she would be there before any of the apprentices arrived. She'd half-hoped that the Duchess was mistaken, that the Cathedral's painting would be on its easel where she'd left it. But it was gone. Bianca spent a few minutes tidying up the paperwork, which she wasn't even surprised to see had been scattered across the floor, and then sat down to wait.

The apprentices all arrived together. Bianca could hear Lucia giving them orders as they came down the corridor. She tried not to feel annoyed – she had walked out on them yesterday, after all. Lucia was just being a good head apprentice. Then Bianca heard her own name and stiffened.

‘ …  wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't even show – Oh.' Lucia stopped, her jaw dropping when she saw Bianca sitting in the studio.

‘Good morning,' said Bianca coolly.

‘Morning, Mistress Bianca,' Gabriella chanted in a childish sing-song voice. Bianca put down the papers she'd been reading and tried to give them all a stern look.

‘I need to know what happened to the Cathedral painting. Who saw it last?'

The younger apprentices all looked around with expressions of perfect innocence, which was pretty suspicious, but not as suspicious as Rosa, Ezio, Cosimo and Lucia's nonchalant silence.

‘Rosa, did you finish it?'

‘We all worked on it together,' said Rosa. ‘After you left. We worked all night.'

Bianca nodded. ‘And who packed it up to be transported?'

‘I did,' said Lucia.

‘And who handed it over to the courier?'

There was silence again. Bianca waited as long as she could bring herself to, hoping the uncomfortable pause would get one of the others to speak – but it was no good. Each apprentice looked as clueless as the next.

‘So we don't know whether they actually picked it up? Or who let them in? So it could have been lost, or stolen, or anything? And you have no idea what happened?'

‘I bet it was stolen,' said Gabriella.

Lucia nodded. ‘I should think so,' she said. ‘I know if I was Laura Dexteris  … ' Lucia paused and put her hand to her mouth dramatically as if she had said too much.

Bianca couldn't believe Lucia was blaming Laura Dexteris – an artist from the south of the city whose detailed religious frescoes were earning her a growing reputation and increasingly valuable commissions. It just didn't make sense that she would
steal
another artist's painting. Bianca addressed the bowed figure of Lucia with gritted teeth. ‘Please  …  go on, Lucia.'

Lucia looked up at Bianca with a cool gaze. ‘If I was Laura Dexteris I'd want to make sure the di Lombardi name was ruined. The name is all we have, after all.'

‘That's not true,' said Bianca. ‘I know Master di Lombardi has gone, but you're all wonderful artists. And di Lombardi and Filpepi's secrets are still safe with us – with me. We'd be in a perfectly good position if  … ' She swallowed back the words
if you'd all just stop fighting me at every step.
‘If we could just catch up on the schedule.'

‘You really are in your own little world, aren't you?' Lucia sneered. ‘Face it, girl. None of us would be here if we didn't owe the Duchess a debt for not throwing us all in jail when Filpepi betrayed her. Cosimo and I could've set up our own studios. The rest would've found work with other artists. But no – we stayed here, to be bossed around by an incompetent
child.
'

The blood rushed to Bianca's cheeks. She got up from her chair and stood in front of her apprentices. ‘I might not be the best master ever but I'd be a lot better if you weren't such a bully!' she snapped.

‘What, do you think the Duchess gave you this position because of your talent? Because of your experience?' Lucia's hand snaked out and she snatched di Lombardi's letter out of Bianca's pocket. She held it up to the other apprentices. ‘This is the only reason you're even here – because you were di Lombardi's pet. It's not going to help you find the Archbishop's painting, is it?'

‘Give that back!' Bianca shouted. She made a grab for the paper and it crumpled in her hand as she tugged it out of Lucia's grip. She folded it carefully and shoved it in her pocket. ‘It was you, wasn't it? You snuck down here last night, or this morning, and got rid of the painting somehow!'

Lucia crossed her arms. ‘I didn't. And I can prove it. Can't I, Cosimo?'

Bianca planted her hands on her hips, feeling more than a bit ridiculous as she looked up into Cosimo's face. He looked uncomfortable, his face flushed, and then he met Lucia's eyes and nodded.

‘Yes. Lucia didn't come down here last night. She was, um  …  she was with me. All night.'

Gabriella and Gennaro burst out into giggles, and Rosa's cheeks darkened as she stared at the ceiling.

Yuck!
Bianca met Cosimo's eyes, and her shoulders slumped. He might be bossy and annoying and way too susceptible to Lucia's bad influence, but she knew he wouldn't lie to her. Anyway, who in their right mind would say they were Lucia's boyfriend if it wasn't true?

‘Fine,' she said. ‘But there's still a rule, you know! Apprentices need to concentrate on their work,
not
their fellow apprentices!'

Lucia gave a short laugh. ‘That's a stupid rule. Are you going to fire us, girl? I'm trembling,
honestly
.'

Bianca ground her teeth together. She knew she couldn't get rid of Lucia without also firing Cosimo, and anyway she couldn't afford to lose either of them.
I'm not going to give her the satisfaction.

‘No, I am not going to fire you. You're going to help me redo the Archbishop's commission,' she said. ‘All of you. I don't think there's much chance of finding it, so we're going to work on it in sections until it's done.' All the apprentices groaned, but Bianca held up her hands. ‘It'll go quicker if we all do some. I won't slack off, either. It'll be done in no time – I promise.'

There was a general shrugging and muttering, but at least none of them seemed to actually be about to mutiny. Cosimo even helped Bianca to stretch the canvas over a new frame without being asked.

She couldn't help sneaking a look at him as they worked. She knew he was basically an adult now, old enough to marry Lucia if he'd really wanted to – though the idea gave her the creeping chills. But she still kind of wanted to ask him
why
– for the love of paint, why
Lucia
? She was a bully, and she wasn't even as good an artist as him! But she managed to control herself, deciding to focus on her work.

As the morning wore on, Bianca allowed herself to hope that the pressure was actually going to be good for them all in the end. Francesca and Sebastiano worked well together on the background washes for the sweeping hills and little dips of the golden valley, carefully copying di Lombardi's original sketches for the layout, and they seemed pleased when Bianca told them they were doing good work. Gabriella took charge of the far left hand of the painting, adding trees and the distant blue of faraway mountains, and even though Bianca didn't think she'd ever
like
her, she did at least seem to want to do the best work she could. With Ezio working on the right and Domenico in the middle, it wasn't long before Rosa and Gennaro were able to begin the pilgrims, and Rosa took Bianca's suggestion of repositioning the white-robed priest without complaint.

Bianca herself moved around the canvas, focusing on small details, trying to contribute without getting in anyone's way. She painted small white flowers that dotted the grassy hill in the foreground, then climbed up on a stepladder and animated a flock of birds that shot across the sky. Cosimo and Lucia worked around them all with the
ether
and the
shimmer
, adding space and glow to the painting. Even Lucia's work was beautiful – she certainly knew how to make it seem as though the soft golden light was pouring out of the painted sky into the room.

‘That's great!' Bianca said, standing back to take in the whole. Then her eyes fell on the rolling hills, and her pretty white flowers  …  and they were gone. They'd been painted over with swaying grass, as if they'd never been there. She looked up at the patch of sky, searching for her birds, but they'd vanished too. Her gaze flashed back and forth over the painting – every change she'd made had been rubbed out or painted over. Even the fat priest was back in his original position.

Bianca turned on Lucia, her nostrils flaring with anger. ‘Lucia, I can't believe you! Do you hate me this much? You can't even stand it if I paint a couple of flowers on this picture?'

‘I don't know what you mean.' Lucia shrugged. ‘Last I saw, Gabriella was working on that section.'

Gabriella sniggered behind her hand. Bianca sucked in a deep breath to yell at her, but then Cosimo laid a hand on her shoulder.

‘Bianca, I think you might be a bit too invested in this,' he said.

‘What?'

‘It's just  …  I know it hurts when your work doesn't make it into the final painting,' he said, ‘but it's not the end of the world. It's just Gabriella being silly. It hasn't hurt the painting.'