Read Online The Palace by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Free Book Online Page B

question that Lodovico longed to
ask. "What would the annual sum be? And how do we know we'll be paid?"
    "Carlo!" Gasparo turned on him. "Would you do this?"
    Carlo shrugged awkwardly. "As Ruggiero has said, I am without family. If
there is work for me elsewhere, and money besides, I am willing to go. I have
better skills than most of the workmen elsewhere." He refused to meet Gasparo's
eyes. "I have never seen another city. My whole life has been lived in the
shadow of il Palazzo della Signoria."
    "And for that you should fall on your knees and thank Merciful Heaven!"
Gasparo thundered. "Don't you realize—?"
    But Ruggiero interrupted him. "Gaspar', let him make up his own mind."
    "You!" Gasparo rounded on Ruggiero, seeking another target for his wrath. "Do
you tell me that Ragoczy thought I would leave Fiorenza? Did he think that a
bribe was enough to make me turn my back on my Arte and my city?"
    "No," Ruggiero said kindly. "He did not."
    This disarmed Gasparo completely. "But… you said…"
    "It is necessary that one man remain in Fiorenza, to be certain that the
others keep their word. Of course, my master wishes you to be that man. He
trusts to your honor, Gasparo."
    "And how should I trust to his? What security will he give me?" The builder
had his big hands on his hips and his face thrust forward. "Do not mistake me,
Ruggiero. I am willing to serve the Patron at any time. But I will not do so
blindly. I must have assurances, for my men as well as myself."
    Ruggiero smiled blandly but there was steel in his voice as he spoke. "My
master has never broken his word, not in all the years I have known him.
Sometimes he has risked much to keep his word. He is honorable in all things."
He met Gasparo's challenging glance calmly and then touched the tips of his
fingers together.
    "Yet you make this offer; he does not. Why should he hold himself to your
promises?" Lodovico asked almost flippantly. "Do you tell us that he'll take on
this obligation because you say he will?"
    The builders murmured a moment. Each of them shared some of the doubts in
Lodovico's question, and Carlo added, "He may leave Fiorenza without warning and
we would not see him again."
    There was a certain boredom in Ruggiero's response. "My master is known in
Venezia as well as Wien and Fiorenza. If you like, payment may be authorized
from his holdings in either of those cities."
    Gasparo had retreated from his aggressive stance and asked with new
consideration, "Why are you so certain of him, Ruggiero? It's not often a man
trusts his master overmuch."
    For an answer Ruggiero walked to the unframed window and looked down into the
courtyard. "I know of one instance when a runaway bondsman begged him for help.
There was no reason for my master to trust this man, or to endanger himself on
the bondsman's behalf. But he did. He sheltered the bondsman, restored him to
health, and though the bondsman had been declared a criminal, my master saw that
he was exonerated and that the man who had bonded and tortured his bondsman was
punished." The distant expression cleared from his eyes and he turned away from
the window. "If da San Germano would do so much for a man he found bleeding in
rags, you may be sure that he will honor his word to you."
    "Did Ragoczy tell you this, or the bondsman?" Lodovico asked, and gave
Giuseppe a surreptitious jab in the ribs.
    Ruggiero did not answer immediately. "It was in Roma, and I had hidden for
days. If he had not found me, I would have died there in the shadows of the
Flavian Circus. He cared for my wounds and brought me back to life. The
bondsman, good artisans, was myself."
    Even Gasparo was silent. Roman excesses were legendary, and he nodded grimly
at the picture of abuse Ruggiero had painted. "Well," he said in a bit, "if it
is as you say, I'm willing to learn more of what the Patron offers us. And I
will trust him for your sake, Ruggiero." He glared at the others, daring them to