Tributary (River of Time 3.2 Novella) (11 page)

She reached out and grabbed hold of my reins. “No, Lia. You can’t even get yourself to use that bow these days. You might talk me into going solo, but I’m not sending you out,
unarmed
.”

“No, I’m okay,” I said, my hand running over the smooth surface of the bow. I clenched it in my hands, striving to make her believe what even I couldn’t quite accept in my heart. It was one thing to shoot at some targets, but was I really ready to take up arms against another?

If they endangered me or mine, yes,
I decided.

“Let me go, Gabs. I can do this. For us. For all of us. We’re wasting time!”

She still looked unconvinced as I bent to retrieve the reins from her hands. Then, before she could argue with me further, I called out to the nearest squire to go and open the doors.
“Vai! Apri le porte!”

He scurried away, and I trotted through, then slowed my pace as I neared the front gates, waiting for my sister to stride up behind me. A guard, Patrizio, peered down at us. Mostly me, shouldering the bow. I knew it’d bummed the guys out in the last year, with me avoiding any time with the arrows. “Ah, out to do some hunting, m’lady, now that you’ve greased the wheel?”

“A good suggestion,” Gabi called. “But Lady Evangelia merely wishes to see the progress that has been made beyond the wall.”

I looked down, trying to hide my smile. She wasn’t lying, directly.

“No escort?” he asked doubtfully, clearly pondering his options. He knew as well as we did that we never went out without our own version of Secret Service.

“Most of our guard is directly round the castello wall,” she returned. “And the rest out on patrol. What shall happen between here and there? You can watch Lady Lia every step of the way. Let us not trifle with this any longer. Open the gates.”

He paused for another nanosecond, but there really was no arguing with the Lady Forelli. She had nearly as much power as Marcello. Only Luca outranked her.
Thank God he’s not around right now
, I thought. I shivered, remembering how harsh he’d been with Alessandra. The only people I’d ever seen him act so tough with were enemies. And Greco, when he was bent on killing himself. But Ali wasn’t our enemy. Was she?

The guards opened the gate and Gabi followed me to the center. “The guys are so gonna kill us,” I said under my breath. “Right after Mom and Dad work us over.”

“They’ll be more freaked if you don’t find Ali and get back here before her father arrives. Then we’ll all be in a world of hurt.”

I hesitated. “Maybe I should go get them now, Gabs. Tell them what’s up.”

“We can’t. Don’t you see? Then Firenze might really see our guys as evil stalkers.”

“Is it any better if they find
me
out here? Chasing her down? A She-Wolf of Siena?”

“Not really.” Gabi’s lips thinned into a thin line. “There’s a good three miles between us and the border. If you don’t find her straight off, promise me you’ll come back for the guys. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Take this,” she said, lifting a long dagger up to me.

“No.”

“
Take it
. Just in case.”

I sighed and did as she asked, just to get her off my back, slipping it into my waistband.

“Go get her, Lia. I’ll be watching for you, up on the wall.”

I moved out, circumventing the castle, half-hoping I’d discover Alessandra below her window, with a sprained ankle or something. But the road was empty. I let out a heavy sigh.

I paused beneath the tiny window of her quarters, twenty feet above the ground, and whistled, amazed she could squirm through, and make it down alive. At the bottom were two deep footprints in the dirt that softened as she obviously took off. I traced the path with my eyes, marking her direction in the forest.

What was I doing? I was no tracker. My eyes shifted over to the few men in sight, wishing I could ask Rodolfo to help me. But Gabs was right. If the Fiorentini found Alessandra with Lord Rodolfo Greco after her, they’d really come down hard on us. All of us.

I casually moved out and into an arm of the forest that had not been cleared, hoping Gabi had thought to go to the wall and distract Patrizio or whoever else had it in their head to watch me. I pretended to have spotted a rabbit and pulled my bow from my shoulder. But as soon as I was hidden from view, I found a place to double-back and hit the path that Alessandra had taken.

It was fairly easy for a while, finding clues of her path. It’d rained a couple days ago, softening the ground. And she was obviously moving fast. A turned rock here. A broken branch there.
Maybe I’m learning how to track
, I congratulated myself. But as I got farther away, it became less obvious. And I began to wonder if she had even come this way at all.

I had to make better time. If I got too close to the border and an enemy patrol saw me…well, let’s just say Alessandra wouldn’t be the biggest issue. What would Gabi do?

She’d ditch the stupid saddle.

In under a minute I’d stepped up onto the boulder and swung my leg across, bareback now. Free to ride at a gallop like my stubborn, willful sister would do, if she were here. And, you know, unpregnant.
Here we go
, I told myself.
I am a She-Wolf of Siena.

Part of me exhilarated in the sense of freedom and adventure. The chance to save our people from certain trauma.

The other part of me screamed that I was heading into big, big trouble.

***

Alessandra paused on the hill, listening to the forest, the sudden loss of chatter among the birds. Her eyes scanned the horizon. A quarter-mile distant, she saw ten birds abruptly rise, as if startled. Was somebody following her? She could just glimpse a corner of Castello Forelli in the distance. Castello Paratore—now Castello Greco—was closer, and quiet too. Her eyes scanned the wall, watching as bored guards made their rounds. If Castello Forelli raised an alarm, there’d be an entirely different feel here. Somehow, she was as yet undiscovered.

Or was she? Her eyes returned to the birds as they flew off, settling on another tree. She edged through a boulder field, hovering in the shadows, not wishing to catch the Castello Greco guards’ eyes. Once under the trees again, she resumed her run. She had to get to the border. From there, she’d only be an hour’s walk from home.

It must be close
, she told herself, panting as she ran in a slightly lurching fashion. She could usually run for hours. Often did, hunting, preferring the quiet. But the squeeze through the window had strained a long muscle across her back that hurt every time she moved, and in the frightening drop outside the castle wall, she’d twisted her left ankle. Both were slowing her down.

She studied the bit of forest where the birds had risen, wishing she had her horse now. But she wouldn’t have been allowed through the gates on her two feet, let alone on horseback. And now her path had been chosen. She just needed to get across it, to safety. To home. To her people.

***

It caught Luca’s attention immediately. The patrol riding into the building site, in half the number he’d sent out. He dropped the parchment to the table and strode toward them, leaving the foreman sputtering behind him, shocked at his rude departure. But Luca’s eyes were on Vanni, the leader of the patrol.

“Three Fiorentini contingents on the border, sir,” he said, dismounting. Luca took his arm in greeting, but frowned over his words.

“So Donatelli went to them. Reported his daughter is here.”

“It appears that way, sir.”

“You left the others to keep an eye on them?”

“Indeed. They’re at the old watchtower.”

Luca looked to the trees, considering. The old watchtower stood in crumbling remains at the old border—a border they’d reestablished last year when they pushed Firenze back. Three contingents. A hundred and fifty men.

Lord Greco approached, casting him a look asking silent permission to listen in. Luca waved him in closer. “The Fiorentini,” Luca said. “They’ve assembled as we feared. On the border.”

Rodolfo’s dark eyes scanned his and then looked over to Marcello, talking with Ben Betarrini and Father Tomas. He’d just spotted them and they hurried over. Together, all three men entered their circle and were told of what had transpired.

Marcello shook his head and lifted a placating hand. “’Tis only a show of force. They’ll return back to Firenze. Once the girl is in hand on the morrow. They merely wish to remind us of their slumbering might. And press their hand, if we give them just cause.”

 “’Tis likely, m’lord,” Luca returned. “But let us err on the side of caution. We must send for reinforcements.”

Marcello met his gaze. “We have done nothing wrong. Only saved the woman. Even the Fiorentini shall see that there’s nothing to quibble over if they have her back.”

“Or they shall concoct a false tale and use it as rationale to escalate to battle again,” Rodolfo said.

Marcello shook his head. “The people are still weary. Just now recovering. Not as many will rise to our call to battle. On either side. Surely they understand that as well as we.”

An alarm bell began clanging, high above them. Their heads rose as one, and two knights came running around the perimeter of the castle, Dario and Patrizio. Luca and Marcello turned, hands on hips, waiting.

Panting, Dario began speaking as soon as they neared. “M’lord, our guest has escaped.”

Luca’s heart skipped a beat. “Signorina
Donatelli?
How?”

“Through the window, it appears.”

Rodolfo swore under his breath, taking a step away. “Impossible. How long ago?”

“An hour. Mayhap two.”

“There is something else,” said the second, hesitating. He looked around the clearing, as if looking for someone.

Luca resisted the urge to throttle him. “Well? Out with it.”

“Sir,” he said, sending a last, desperate glance around the yard, “Is Lady Evangelia with you?”

This time, Luca stepped forward, tension clamping down on his chest. “Clearly not, man. Are you saying she left the castello?”

The guards shared a miserable look then glanced back to him. “An hour past, Captain.”

Ben Betarrini groaned and turned away, his hands on his face. Marcello, Father Tomas and Luca shared a long look. But Greco was advancing on the guards. “On horseback?” he asked.

“Yes, m’lord. We thought she was coming here, to you. That’s what the lady intimated…”

Rodolfo flung his hand out, dismissing the man’s excuse, then pointed at Patrizio’s chest. “Surely somebody was watching her from above.”

“Indeed, m’lord. She disappeared in the forest, just over there. She appeared to be hunting and—”

“Lady Forelli,” Marcello interrupted. “She is yet inside?”

Dario nodded, a little relief in his eyes that he needn’t report further bad news.

Greco’s eyes went from the castello to the forest and he put his hands on his hips, pacing. “She’s gone after Alessandra,” he breathed, looking to Luca. “Intending to stop her before it was too late, no doubt.”

“After the Fiorentini girl?” Ben asked, dark eyebrows knitting together. “
Toward
the border?”

Lord Greco simply returned his look until he understood. That was exactly what she had done. The men immediately moved toward their horses, tied to trees at the edge of the clearing. Luca shouted for all knights to assemble and await orders. He shoved down a wave of aggravation.
Why would she not come to me? After all this time?

“She must believe she can get to her,” Marcello said, striding between Luca and Ben. “I wager they were concerned that if the Fiorentini scouts saw us all chasing Alessandra down, then the battle would be reignited.”

“But she does not know of the contingents on the border,” Luca said.

“Right. That’s why we shall have to intercept her, just as she intends to intercept Alessandra. Bring them all home.” He paused. “Leave our men behind. The fewer of us there are, the better. If the scouts see our men moving out—”

“Understood,” Luca said.

They quickly mounted and rode over to where Lord Greco was already examining the footprints beneath the high window. He rose. “She hurt her left foot when she landed,” he said, following her trail across the road and into the loamy forest. “See? She’s favoring it here.”

The men—Marcello, Luca, and Ben—followed him, letting him get his bearings. He looked up, into the trees ahead and fingered a broken leaf. Then he mounted. “This way. As suspected, Evangelia is on Alessandra’s trail.”

“Can we catch up to them before they reach the border?” Ben asked.

Rodolfo looked back, regret in his eyes. “I know not.”

~EVANGELIA~

I pounded down an open road, urging my gelding faster, but then had to slow to pick my way through the forests. And I had to entirely avoid the winding riverbed and boulder field that left me exposed. I couldn’t risk the guards at Castello Greco spotting me and riding out to find out what I was up to.

The border was just a mile distant now, across an ancient creek bed that the Nine had defined as the new dividing line between Firenze and Siena, reclaiming territory that had been in Fiorentini hands for two generations. Trees had been felled on either side, widening the line. Castello Forelli sent groups of six men to spend three days at a time up here at the old watchtower, but Gabi and I had only visited once for a celebration, and when we did, we’d been surrounded by fifty of their best warriors.

I shoved down another shiver of fear as I rounded a bend in the road. I wished she could be here, with me. Beside her, I was stronger. I touched the bow on my shoulder. Especially now…

When my mare stumbled a bit, I renewed my focus on the old Roman road, knowing I had to concentrate.
Just get through this and
—

I saw them, then. Two Fiorentini knights, staring dolefully back at me, a thousand paces away.
Scouts
. My heart set into a triple-time beat as I muttered a word I’d never say around my future niece or nephew.