Tributary (River of Time 3.2 Novella) (15 page)

“Do you not see?” He shook her, an odd smile on his face. “Do you not
see
? You are our own Helen of Troy, inciting our battle.” He laughed under his breath. “Well, not quite the same. But you shall serve the same purpose.”

He rose and stared down at her. “You may feel poorly at the moment, Alessandra, but you shall always know that you gave it all to serve your republic. And once the men see you, abused, shorn, used, no man in Firenze shall fail to rise up and beat the Sienese dogs into submission.” He paused and stared at her. “Only your dead body might make them more furious. So, dear Alessandra, I suggest you consider the benefits of quiet compliance.” He leaned down. “Now tell me. Tell me what you know.”

***

Castello Forelli

“I shall be with you soon,” Marcello said to Gabi, taking both her hands in his and kissing them. “Take close care. No foolish decisions,” he warned her. “You act on another’s behalf now,” he whispered.

Only I was close enough to hear it. Mom and Dad were busy getting settled on their own horses.

“You swear it? You’ll be with me soon?” she pressed.

“I swear it,” he said, bringing her hands to his chest and putting his forehead to hers. I didn’t think Marcello could look any more in love when it came to my sister, but this whole baby thing had him looking like he was ready to sing her a Taylor Swift song or something. He looked like it was killing him, sending her away. And suddenly, I remembered his face when she was so close to death, and he dragged her palm down to the handprint in the tomb…

“M’lord,” said a skinny knight, Este, entering the stables. “Scouts have located enemy soldiers, venturing across the border. We must get your family to Siena, or commit to keeping them here.”

Marcello nodded and turned to help Gabi up on her horse, gently settling her feet in the stirrups and tying her reins to Otello’s, already mounted ahead of her. He was one of Marcello and Luca’s most trusted men, a linebacker sort of dude, with a ton of meat on him, and most of it muscle. Beside him, Falito, a regular, 5’10” sort of guy, looked kind of freakishly small. But I knew he was just as fine a fighter. As were the other twelve in attendance.

“You make certain our scouts let us know if any cross the border,” Marcello called to Este. “One is to come here, to alert us, and the other is to find our party on the road and alert them.”

“Yes, m’lord.” He disappeared through the open stable doors.

“Any difficulty in bringing Pio and Sandro with me?” my dad asked Marcello, glancing at the two cute stable boys and back to his son-in-law.

Marcello smiled and ducked his head. “You really must cease adopting the children about or they shall never become the men we seek to make of them, sir.”

Dad smiled, but only stared back at him, waiting him out.

“Fine, fine,” Marcello said. “We shall make due without them.” He looked at the squires. “Go! Get your knapsacks and stuff a clean shirt in them. You must be presentable if you are to represent the Forelli household in Siena.”

The boys scurried away, even as another man slid a bit into the mouth of a mare. They were so small, they could ride together.

Marcello lifted me into my saddle. “Don’t fret, Evangelia, over Luca. He shall see this through as he has all other battles.”

I sat up straight, wanting to kick him instead of allowing him to place my heels in the stirrups. “I know,” I said in irritation. “Or I’ll simply be forced to go and rescue him again.” Was I so easy to read? Did everyone know that I was falling for the guy?

Marcello laughed. “I’ll be most eager to tell him you said that.”

“Please. Do so. Mayhap it shall keep him from further harm.”

“Take care of your sister too,” he said. He turned to a servant and took hold of my bow and quiver. He stared into my eyes as he handed them to me. I was obviously fooling no one. Every one of my companions knew I was struggling with it, even though I thought I’d been hiding it pretty well over the last year. I shouldered the bow, choosing to watch a servant as he silently handed Gabi her sheath and sword, rather than meet my brother-in-law’s knowing eyes.

“Ready, m’ladies?” asked Otello, looking back at Gabi.

Gabi nodded, granting him permission to head on out. Falito gave a low whistle and we moved out of the stables, joining our guards. I hated that we were taking men away from Castello Forelli, but understood the importance of it. Firenze specialized in using kidnapped victims for their cause, and if the wrath of our neighbors to the north was about to descend upon us again, it was best if Gabi and her baby were behind far more impenetrable walls. Me too, I supposed. Our contingent of knights would see us to Siena, and then most of them would ride back tomorrow. Hopefully before the Fiorentini arrived.

Gabi and I rode side by side, the knights ahead of us towing us along like tugboats with barges. I still hated the whole side-saddle thing, but at least it required little effort. I could daydream, or stare at people and places along the road in the hazy twilight, cataloguing them in my head for future sketches.

The last I’d sketched was Alessandra. Did Luca and Lord Greco have her yet? Were they heading home, even as we left the gates? If so, Marcello would hand her off in the morning to her dad, and the Fiorentini would have no rationale to attack. We’d be back within the week. The pang of missing the castello, before I’d even left, surprised me. Slowly but surely, maybe this place and these people were taking over my heart as they had, long ago, for my family. I wrapped my hand around the shank of my bow and looked up at the guards. They nodded back at me in silent farewell.
Be safe. Be well
, I thought, sending good wishes up to them.
Be here when I return
.

But as my eyes returned to the road ahead of us, I had one particular man’s face in mind.

Luca, oh, Luca. Please don’t be in trouble
…

***

“That is
not
what I wished to see,” Luca said, sliding down again beside Rodolfo. “They have guards on every corner. It’s a nest of vipers.”

Rodolfo peeked over the top of the hill. “By the colors, vipers I know well.” He crept back and turned over, looking up to the darkening sky. “Mayhap we could steal in under night’s cover.”

“As much as I love the opportunity to increase the legend of Sir Luca Forelli, I fear we’d be diced into small cubes of stew meat before the night was over.”

Rodolfo rubbed his face, trying to think of a solution. Come morning, the Fiorentini would arrive at Castello Forelli’s gates. Luca hoped their horses would be safe, back in the wood a half-mile distant. Otherwise, it’d be a long walk home…

Luca pulled some dried meat from his pack and handed Rodolfo a portion. “Eat. It shall help us think.” He pulled a skin of water out and drank greedily, then handed it to his friend.

Rodolfo ignored his offering, still searching the skies as if the emerging stars held the answer. “There are too many. We have no choice but to wait and hope they take Alessandra with them. Mayhap there shall be a juncture where we can move and rescue her.”

Luca quit chewing and grimaced. “What if they kill her tonight? Bury her within the villa’s walls?”

A wave of pain moved briefly through his friend’s face, then was carefully hidden. Rodolfo’s dark eyes met his. “We move before daybreak if they do not. If they intend to use the woman, if she still yet lives, they shall move out with her before morning dawns.”

Slowly, Luca nodded. “First watch is yours, brother,” he said, settling down happily in the grass, his hand over the hilt of his sword. He pulled a branch over him like a blanket. “For I am weary beyond dreams.”

Alessandra still struggled to accept that what she yet endured was real. “Please, m’lord. All I wish is to go home.”

“In time, my dear. In time. Right now,” he said, turning again to face her, “I want you to consider every minute of every day you were in Castello Forelli. What did you overhear? Think, Alessandra. Mayhap you overheard something…a guard…a maid…something that may have seemed like castle gossip.”

She shook her head again and this time, took a step back, the ball of potential betrayal in her belly now getting bigger, making her feel ill again.

He advanced, frowning now, his face moving into a sneer. “Think, Alessandra.
Think
. There is something else in that pretty head of yours. I’m certain.”

“M’lord,” she gasped, as he cruelly pinched her arms.

He shoved her backward, pinning her to the bed, one hand clamping down on her throat. “Tell me.”

She choked, writhing, struggling to get free, to breathe.

“
Tell me all you know
.”

She nodded then, giving in.

He immediately backed away, sitting up straight, brushing his tunic and straightening his leggings, patiently waiting while Alessandra struggled to calm herself, to take one breath and then another and then still another. She rose, sitting against the wall, her legs drawn up under her skirts like a protective wall. Celso stood morosely at the door, staring straight ahead, arms crossed. Barring her exit, any hope of escape.

“Tell me, Alessandra, and your agony shall soon come to an end.”

“Lady Evangelia Betarrini,” she began, hating each word as it left her mouth. “She cannot summon the strength to take up arms against another.”

Lord Barbato stared at her for a long moment, and then smiled, laughed. He clasped his hands together. “Truly?” he asked in amazement. “A She-Wolf, hobbled? Maimed?”

She nodded, unable to look at him any longer. She felt sick to her stomach. And she was already praying that such information would never cause Lady Evangelia harm. She was safe…safe behind the walls of Castello Forelli. With Sir Luca and Lord Marcello and all those fierce knights—

“What else?” he asked, leaning toward her again.

“Sir Luca Forelli. His heart belongs to Lady Evangelia.”

“Oh, that is not new information, my dear,” he said, cocking his head and sliding his hand up her arm, up to her neck, hovering where he’d so recently choked her.

Alessandra swallowed hard, tensing for attack, but refusing to drop her gaze.

“What else?” he whispered, squinting at her. “There is something else.”

He dug his thumbs in, just enough to send terror through Alessandra again. If she didn’t tell him, this would simply go on all night. All night…If she survived it. And from what he said, he didn’t truly care if she did.

“Lady Gabriella,” she whispered. “She is to bear a child.”

He lowered his head, so low she could feel his breath on her shoulder. “Now that…that is truly joyous news, is it not?”

She shivered as he backed away. How could she have done it? Betrayed the ladies who had treated her with nothing but kindness? But then, how could such things be a weapon in this man’s hands? As Lord Marcello had said, she knew nothing that wouldn’t be public knowledge in time…

She closed her eyes, ashamed of herself. Despite her attempts to rationalize, she’d acted only to save herself.

Lord Foraboshi rose and straightened his tunic, soothed back his hair. He poured water from a pitcher into the basin, cupped a hand and drank, then looked up at Celso. “That is it. We shall move against the She-Wolves of Siena. End it once and for all. With Lady Evangelia hobbled and Lady Gabriella with child…it might be our only opportunity. Our greatest opportunity. We shall bring them to Firenze. Bring them to their knees. And behind them, their republic shall be brought to their knees as well.”

“A fine plan, m’lord.”

Lord Barbato steepled his fingers in front of him. “Marcello will have sent them to Siena, to the palazzo. Thinking them safest there.”

“Undoubtedly.”

Lord Barbato paused beside Celso as he passed. “See that ‘tis done by the time I return. You have ten minutes.”

“M’lord, the others are certain to recognize her wounds as recent.”

Lord Barbato squinted up at him. “My brothers shall see what they wish to see. They shall see the advantage of backing up my claims, allowing us to attack Castello Forelli and distract the She-Wolves’ protectors. Now…must I find another to see to this task?” He cast a lustful glance in Alessandra’s direction. “It shall not be difficult to find a willing—”

“Nay,” growled the knight. “I shall see it done.”

Lord Barbato left then, closing the door behind him, and the knight advanced.

Alessandra tried to run away, dodge him, but the man grabbed hold of her arm. She screamed and dropped like a dead-weight, trying to wriggle free. “Nay!
Nay!
Unhand me!”

He dragged her up to her feet, practically off the ground, and she screamed again in terror, half-crying.

“I am your friend,” he whispered in her ear, pulling her terribly close. “
Alessandra
. You are safe.”

She cried out, confused, thinking she’d misheard. He took hold of her upper arms, holding her still. “Alessandra,” he whispered again.

“Come here!” he yelled upward, as if she’d escaped him.

“I shall not harm you,” he whispered, looking steadily into her eyes. “You are safe. But all will be lost if you don’t help me make him think his orders are being carried out. Scream.” He gave her an urgent look. “
Scream
,” he whispered, shaking her.

Alessandra cried out, tears still streaming from her eyes, trying to make sense of it.
Why? Why is he coming to my aid? What does he want? What shall be his price?

“Cease your complaint!” he yelled toward the door, his eyes containing none of the malice his master’s had. “Just give in, woman. You cannot escape me.”

He let go of Alessandra and slid toward the door. She fell against the wall, trying to stop trembling so violently. He listened for a moment and then looked over his shoulder at her. She let out a little involuntary yelp. Closing his eyes a moment, he took hold of the latch and eased it open, peering outside. He pulled a dagger from his belt then and fully yanking open the door, disappearing through it. A moment later, he dragged in a dead guard, dropping him to close the door. He immediately began stripping off the guard’s boots and leggings. “Quickly. Out of your dress,” he said.