as if to see whether I was really ready to do this. “It may indeed be our last opportunity to save him. But if I were to rescue him and lose you…” He swallowed hard and took my hands in his.
“And yet what if this is a door that God Himself has opened? A chance for you to bring home both a brother and a bride?” I said. If he needed to believe the Big Guy was in on it, I was up for it. And maybe He was. Maybe that was why I’d been brought here in the first place. Just for this. “Let us at least try to save him, Marcello.”
Lia stepped to our side, and Luca to the other, so that we could confer in privacy. “If we don’t do this, Fortino will surely die,” Lia said, shaking her head. “And I cannot live with that, m’lord. To not try at all is a form of murder itself. If we are to die, let us do so trying to save your brother, trying to accomplish something honorable and true.”
“Right,” Luca said. “As is our normal practice.”
He cocked a grin, and Marcello was drawn into a small smile himself. He shook his head. “Can we not settle into some semblance of peace for a while? Normalcy?” He eyed me, and I could almost read the question in his eyes. You know, settle down, get married, have a couple of kids?
“Come, beloved,” I said. “Let us make plans to free your brother. As quickly as we can. Then we can see to your desire for peace and normalcy.”
“Do you swear it? That you will settle into such things with me then?”
“Easily sworn,” I said. “Because there’s nothing I’d rather do than to live life with you, Marcello.”
Dimly I could feel Lia freeze at my words. But I ignored her. We’d deal with saving Marcello’s brother first. Then we’d figure out a way to convince my sis to sign away her forever to the republic of Siena.
While we awaited word from the Fiorentini, expected in a few days, Marcello invited us to come along with him on his official journey to visit San Galgano. The city was about fifteen miles south and east of Siena—a pretty safe area for us to go on an outing—and a good way to break everyone in to the whole idea of meeting with the Fiorentini in an effort to free Fortino. Especially Dad.
Maybe if Mom and Dad saw we could come and go and remain secure, they’d be down with our Supergirl plan to swoop in, scoop him up, and nurse him back to health in Siena.
Or yeah, maybe not.
Of course Marcello brought along a hundred of his nearest and dearest knights. You know, just to make sure we had company in case trouble came near.
Mom and Dad were excited. In all our years of visiting Tuscany, we’d never taken a day to journey out to the old abbey, which in this era was fairly new, of course. The day was crisp and cold but clear, the sunrise a pale yellow and tangerine to the east.
We rode together in a small group, the six of us—me, Marcello, Luca, Lia, Mom, and Dad—with the knights forming what amounted to protective groups on every side of us but twenty yards away. A group of servants traveled behind, hauling a mule train of supplies.
Since it was the middle of winter, the fields were nothing but furrows of overturned dirt. Smoke tendrils rose to the sky from small cottages and larger villas alike. I imagined households awaking to the day, breaking their fasts in cozy, warm little kitchens.
Dad was filling us in on the legend of San Galgano. “I have always wanted to see it for myself,” he said excitedly. “I believe it to be the true basis of the Arthurian legend of Excalibur. Medieval troubadours must have spread the legend to England, where they picked up on it and made it famous.”
“Truly, a man sunk a sword in a stone?” I asked.
“No way,” Lia said, lapsing into English.
Mom raised a brow. “Stranger things have happened, no?” she asked, referring to our being here at all—all due to two hands on an ancient stone wall. I stared at her for a long moment. My mom had always been a facts-only kind of girl. I
“And yet what if this is a door that God Himself has opened? A chance for you to bring home both a brother and a bride?” I said. If he needed to believe the Big Guy was in on it, I was up for it. And maybe He was. Maybe that was why I’d been brought here in the first place. Just for this. “Let us at least try to save him, Marcello.”
Lia stepped to our side, and Luca to the other, so that we could confer in privacy. “If we don’t do this, Fortino will surely die,” Lia said, shaking her head. “And I cannot live with that, m’lord. To not try at all is a form of murder itself. If we are to die, let us do so trying to save your brother, trying to accomplish something honorable and true.”
“Right,” Luca said. “As is our normal practice.”
He cocked a grin, and Marcello was drawn into a small smile himself. He shook his head. “Can we not settle into some semblance of peace for a while? Normalcy?” He eyed me, and I could almost read the question in his eyes. You know, settle down, get married, have a couple of kids?
“Come, beloved,” I said. “Let us make plans to free your brother. As quickly as we can. Then we can see to your desire for peace and normalcy.”
“Do you swear it? That you will settle into such things with me then?”
“Easily sworn,” I said. “Because there’s nothing I’d rather do than to live life with you, Marcello.”
Dimly I could feel Lia freeze at my words. But I ignored her. We’d deal with saving Marcello’s brother first. Then we’d figure out a way to convince my sis to sign away her forever to the republic of Siena.
While we awaited word from the Fiorentini, expected in a few days, Marcello invited us to come along with him on his official journey to visit San Galgano. The city was about fifteen miles south and east of Siena—a pretty safe area for us to go on an outing—and a good way to break everyone in to the whole idea of meeting with the Fiorentini in an effort to free Fortino. Especially Dad.
Maybe if Mom and Dad saw we could come and go and remain secure, they’d be down with our Supergirl plan to swoop in, scoop him up, and nurse him back to health in Siena.
Or yeah, maybe not.
Of course Marcello brought along a hundred of his nearest and dearest knights. You know, just to make sure we had company in case trouble came near.
Mom and Dad were excited. In all our years of visiting Tuscany, we’d never taken a day to journey out to the old abbey, which in this era was fairly new, of course. The day was crisp and cold but clear, the sunrise a pale yellow and tangerine to the east.
We rode together in a small group, the six of us—me, Marcello, Luca, Lia, Mom, and Dad—with the knights forming what amounted to protective groups on every side of us but twenty yards away. A group of servants traveled behind, hauling a mule train of supplies.
Since it was the middle of winter, the fields were nothing but furrows of overturned dirt. Smoke tendrils rose to the sky from small cottages and larger villas alike. I imagined households awaking to the day, breaking their fasts in cozy, warm little kitchens.
Dad was filling us in on the legend of San Galgano. “I have always wanted to see it for myself,” he said excitedly. “I believe it to be the true basis of the Arthurian legend of Excalibur. Medieval troubadours must have spread the legend to England, where they picked up on it and made it famous.”
“Truly, a man sunk a sword in a stone?” I asked.
“No way,” Lia said, lapsing into English.
Mom raised a brow. “Stranger things have happened, no?” she asked, referring to our being here at all—all due to two hands on an ancient stone wall. I stared at her for a long moment. My mom had always been a facts-only kind of girl. I
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