The Master of Verona

Nine

The room was disturbingly dim when Pietro awoke. The curtains were drawn and the shutters closed, and the rows of candelabra lining the far walls had all been extinguished. A lone central brazier still glowed, warming the room and casting creeping shadows of infernal light into the rafters.

Sweating and gasping for breath in the close room, Pietro winced as he shifted his joints. He wiped the damp from his brow and blinked several times. Laying on a daybed, his lower body was covered with a flannel — Florentine, he noted. Hesitantly, gingerly, fearfully, he reached out a hand to lift the coverlet…

Breath hissed out between his clenched teeth. Both legs were present. He'd feared that Morsicato might have just given up and amputated. But no, his right leg was still attached, wrapped tightly in linen bandaging with a swaddled hot brick beneath it. No wonder he was drenched in sweat.

Across the dim room came the rustle of cloth traveling over a rush-strewn floor. A figure approached, tall and regal. In the low light of the brazier it was hard to see until she was just beside him. Donna Katerina. In the warmth of the room she had released her hair. Not sun-bleached like her brother's, hers was a magnificently rich chestnut colour. It fell to the top of her thighs, draping across her back and swaying with every movement. With that luscious hair as a frame, and her face lit from below by the warm glow of the coals, she was no longer severe. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

Pietro recalled the banter before the battle when his friends had mocked the idea of going to war for a woman. In this moment it wasn't impossible to imagine.

Realizing he was holding his breath he blew it out and inhaled quickly, swallowing a gust of brazier smoke that made him choke.

Donna Katerina settled onto a stool beside him. "Are you all right?"

"Thirsty — " he choked.

A cup appeared, and though the water was warm he gulped it down greedily. "Thank you, lady."

"Shhh. Lie back."

He obeyed, settling back onto the daybed, propped up by a pillow he had been biting down on an hour before. From a bucket she produced a cloth which she wrung out then placed gently on his forehead. It felt wonderfully cool. Suddenly he was aware of just how much he was sweating. Worse, he was acutely aware of his nakedness under the flannel. He lay there, willing himself not to move as she mopped the sweat from his face and neck. It was, in the darkness, a very intimate act.

When his father had been nine years old, the poet had met a woman like no other. Donna Beatrice Portinari had inspired Dante to devote himself to her, a devotion that long outlasted the lady's life. Though he'd married elsewhere, in his mind, in his soul, Dante Alaghieri had given himself to the image and idea of a woman who was above and beyond all women. Divine.

Father — I understand.

A stirring across the room caused the lady to pause. She replaced the cloth in the bucket and glided across the room, away from him. He took the opportunity to pull the flannel a little higher. The sweat was gathering at his back, making the daybed damp. He shifted again, this time rolling slightly to his left. He'd closed his eyes, so they took several moments to adjust to the light from the brazier when he opened them again. Strange shapes swam into and out of his vision. He'd had a fever as a child. This was very like fever, but far more relaxing.

Morsicato had spoken of this during the operation, trying to distract his patient. "The room will have to be kept warm to simulate the fever, and perhaps we can convince the body that a prolonged fever isn't necessary. Hopefully we'll purge the evil humours, and restore balance to the gasses that've been lost." Gasses? He'd lost blood, not passed gas. Nothing made sense…

"Signor Alaghieri?"

He hadn't heard her come back. "Yes, Domina?" He felt the thumping of his heart in his throat, the coarseness of the wolf fur across his legs.

"I thought you might still be awake." She resumed her seat, the keys jangling gently as they fell into the folds of her lap. "Do you know where you are?"

"Yes, Domina." His voice seemed very hoarse. He closed his eyes again.

"Good. Signore Montecchio has accompanied Signore Capecelatro on a walk through the city in an effort to keep him moving. Ser Morsicato has gone on to tend other patients, leaving you to aid me in fulfilling my brother's orders." Again Pietro heard the touch of disdain in her voice. The lady's hand resumed its chore, stopping only to refresh the damp cloth. "Signor, do you mind speaking?"

"Not at all, Domina." Pietro tried to sit upright, only to be restrained by a gentle hand.

"You must rest. I should not be speaking with you at all. But I find that the time goes by more quickly in conversation. Don't you agree?"

"Yes, Donna."

"You are recently arrived from Paris, no? Do you mind if we converse in French? I get to practice less often than I would like."

"À votre plaisir," replied Pietro, eager to aid her. He shifted again, trying to remove himself from the dampest part of the daybed while not dislodging the flannel. He found a more comfortable position-reclining rather than lying on the pillows-from here he could meet her eyes and remain at rest.

"You are uneasy," she observed in French, leaning slightly forward. "Is it the wound?"

The scent of her — lavender, he thought — filled Pietro's senses like a balm. "Non, madame." It was true. In that moment, the wound was the farthest thing from Pietro's thoughts. For the rest of his life he would smell lavender and think of her, leaning over him, her gown's neckline opening… He hastened to change the topic. "Who else is here?"

She half turned to glance over her shoulder. "My brother-in-law. He, too, had to have a bolt removed from his body-but he was attempting to do the surgery himself. He had the notion that I would be angry with him for some reason. Can you imagine that? A grown man, a knight, avoiding me?" Somehow French seemed to suit her mood, carrying both amusement and scorn.

"It is beyond all comprehension."

"Quite. When my girl found him, he refused to come. I had to send several of my pages to fetch him here. As soon as Morsicato was finished with your wound he began on Lord Nogarola's. There is some doubt as to the condition of his shoulder, but evidently he will live to face my wrath. Do you fear my wrath, Monseuir Alaghieri?"

"I should fear doing anything to displease you, madame."

The soft mirthful ripple was more breath than voice. "Diplomacy is a lost art, monsieur. You ought to lend it your skills. It would no doubt undergo a renaissance."

"Oui, Madame Nogarola."

"Pietro," she said, switching back to their native tongue, "I have been informed that you have, beyond all reason, risked yourself to save my brother's life. And that you rode into a band of armed men alone and unaided, thus winning the engagement for our city. When we are in company, you may refer to me as donna, domina, or madame. In private, my name is Katerina."

Pietro looked into the eyes of this woman twice his age, knowing she could never be his. He also knew it didn't matter.

"Yes, Donna."

The conversation continued in fits and starts, pausing as Donna Nogarola checked her brother-in-law or sent servants for fresh linens and water. After each brief interval, she returned to Pietro's bedside to ask more questions. He tried to describe her brother's actions, but she seemed more interested in Pietro. He found himself being asked about his life — growing up in Florence; the exile of his father; the brilliant, ambitious little sister; the youthful deaths of two little brothers followed by the death of his older brother Giovanni, which catapulted Pietro to the role of heir. He talked of the journey two years before to join Dante in Paris, after being separated from his father for ten years. He described their return to Italy in the wake of the Emperor Heinrich, and their eventual settling in Lucca.

When he reached their arrival in Verona the night before, the lady leaned back, her eyes narrowed. "So you had never met my brother before today?"

"Yesterday," he corrected as if it made a difference.

"Ah. Yet you rode, unhesitating, to his rescue?"

Pietro shook his head. "He didn't require rescue, Donna. We probably only got in his way."

She waved his protestation away. "Nonsense. He would be dead this minute, and the city entirely in the grip of the Paduans, if not for you three. You must be very skilled."

Pietro grunted. "At being a pinchushion."

"No self-pity," said the lady firmly. "Francesco is blessed to have such inspired knights to remove his neck from the noose he made for himself."

"None of us are knights, Donna."

"Not yet, at any rate. That, at least, is something he can rectify."

"Yes, I can," came a deep voice from the doorway. "And will."

Pietro sat up, but the lady did not even incline her head. "You took your time."

"I stopped to pick you flowers, Donna, but there was a frost when I entered your hall and they all withered away." The Scaliger approached as he spoke. Hooking a bench with his foot and dragging it to rest beside Pietro's daybed, he seated himself opposite his sister's perch. "How fares my guardian angel?"

"I'm fine, my lord."

"He will live," supplied Donna Katerina. "No doubt he will follow you again someday, so you can attempt once more to cure him of that failing."

"I do what I can. No doubt Pietro will throw himself in the path of a hail of arrows next time and complete my chastisement." Cangrande's posture bespoke a tension that he had not evidenced even in battle. "It is fascinating to see you so — motherly, Donna. Perhaps the lady wishes to rectify a past error?"

"I tender my mercies on those I find deserving of them. And I am like Pietro. I loyally follow orders."

That riposte went ignored. "The room is quite warm, in spite of your chilling presence. I assume that it is Morsicato's advice?"

"Indeed, we must try to burn from these men the fever of their devotion to a false idol. We can only hope that they will regain their senses."

Cangrande glanced around the chamber. "Is that Antonio?"

"You noticed?" The lady's voice carried a mild surprise. "Indeed. He, too, turned pincushion for your cause. He was foolish enough to try to remove the pin himself. I cannot imagine why. Perhaps he heard a folk legend that inspired him."

"No doubt," said the Scaliger crisply.

Pietro couldn't believe his ears. The Capitano was losing his temper.

Katerina gazed down at Pietro. "There is a tale of a knight who was wounded thrice by his enemies and left overnight to die of bleeding and exposure."

"Perhaps Pietro has already heard the tale," interrupted Cangrande.

His sister ignored him. "As it goes, the knight removed the shaft of a crossbow and dressed his other wounds in the pelt of a wolf that had tried to dine on him. The next day he found the camp of the two attackers and gave them wounds identical to those he had borne, then left them together to fend for themselves." Finally, her eyes rose level with the Capitano's. "They did die, did they not, Francesco?"

"They did, Donna, but not from their wounds. They died because there was a frost that night and no friendly wolf came along to give them his warm fur."

Katerina held her brother's eyes without flinching. "Then it seems then that you are fortunate in your friends. They are always there to rescue you."

"I need no rescuing, Donna, when I am not in your presence."

"Then I shall relieve you of that need by removing myself." Rising from her stool, the chatelaine handed him the damp cloth. Pietro noted that they were careful not to let their hands touch. "Signor Alaghieri, if you will excuse me."

At the door she turned. "Please do not leave quite yet. I have news." With those words, she departed.

There was an almost imperceptible sagging in the great man, a release of air held tightly in his lungs. He returned his gaze to Pietro. "Are you well?"

"Yes, lord."

"Good." He gave no explanation of the interchange with his sister.

As the lady had herself noted, Pietro was adept at diplomacy. "Do you have word of the army?"

"Which? Ours or the Paduan?"

"Both."

"Ours will be here sometime in the morning — about ten hours from now, I would guess. No doubt ragged and ill-organized, but here. By then I expect the bulk of the Paduan army will have reached home and started the fortifying process."

"Oh." Pietro was fighting the desire to ask the next question.

The Capitano knew the look for what it was. All innocence he asked, "Is there something on your mind?"

"No, lord."

"You're wondering why I'm not riding headlong towards Padua and taking them unawares." Pietro nodded. "I tried that already this summer — you weren't here."

The Scaliger allowed Pietro to sit upright. "I heard about it."

"Good. So, last month I had the whole Veronese army and I couldn't take the city. There is nothing to make me think I could take it with less than a hundred men, no matter how invincible they feel. The Paduans are very secure with their series of rivers and walls, and they've got those damned priests, della Torre and Mussato, who can breathe backbone into a willow. So without my army, why bother?"

The words sounded hopeless, yet Pietro sensed something in the Scaliger's tone. "So we don't go to Padua?"

In reply, Cangrande changed the subject. "I didn't see their general, did you?"

Pietro thought. He had seen many nobles, over a hundred, but no one with the deportment of the leader of this army. "He escaped?"

"I hope so. I know another friend of ours has. Though we fished his armour from the river, the slippery Count Vinciguerra of San Bonifacio has eluded us. Vinciguerra means 'In War I Win.' I might just make him change it. Fishmonger, maybe."

"Is that why we aren't going to Padua?" asked Pietro, trying to find the connection. "Because he escaped?"

"Oh, we're going." Cangrande's voice was level. "I just want to give their army a head start."

"But they'll be warned, they'll man the walls…"

In the red light from the glowing coals nearby, the Capitano's face was demonically delighted. "Have you ever seen a broken army come home? Yes, Padua will have more men — but they'll be frightened men, fatigued men, disillusioned and panicked men. They were sure they'd win today. Dear God, how could they lose? Did you see their numbers? No, this time I'll let the Paduan army do my work for me. The sight of all their men running for their lives, led by San Bonifacio in his shirt and hose — that unwelcome image may break the Paduans more thoroughly than I broke their army." The Scaliger laid a gentle hand on Pietro's shoulder. "Now, rest. Morsicato is the best at what he does. I'd hire him in a trice if he'd ever leave Katerina. So let yourself sweat out the reaction to your wound and by tomorrow you should be able to move around a little."

"But, lord, I — "

"I promise, Pietro, that when we are ready to undertake the journey to Padua, I will inform you. You won't be left behind. But only if you rest now. Close your eyes. I have nowhere to be for some time. I will stay here until you are asleep."

He helped Pietro settle himself comfortably on the daybed, changing the sweat-soaked flannel for another, fresh with steam. He paused to check the dressing on Nogarola's shoulder, then returned to sit on the stool vacated by Donna Katerina. Taking up the cloth again, he laid it across Pietro's forehead. The wounded youth closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax. The heat of the room, the coolness of his brow, the soft smell of burning wood and spices in the brazier, all mingled into a drowsy miasma that consumed him.

Pietro dreamed. His head was filled with a series of images his unconscious mind could make nothing of. Though the setting was familiar, he didn't recognize the key figure, a shadowy fellow with long curling hair and a curved sword.

Waking with a start, he found Cangrande's eyes upon him. "You were talking in your sleep. Do you remember anything?"

"No, lord." His head was in a fog.

"Here, drink this." The Scaliger lifted the cup of wine with its mixture of poppy juice and hemp seeds that Morsicato had prescribed. As Pietro slipped back into the comforting mists he wondered absently what he'd been saying.

Pietro dreamed again, but this time the visions were less obscure. He was lying on a bed, eyes closed, listening again to the voices of the two beautiful siblings. This time man and woman did not spar. Their voices were kept soft, their tones clear and concise.

"You said you had news."

"A woman has been to see me. She serves the Signora de Amabilio."

"Ah."

"Indeed. It seems the signora's husband was killed falling from a horse last April."

The voice was grave. "I take it she has a request."

"Sanctuary, if you take the city."

"Tell her it is granted." In the dream the Veronese lord rose to leave.

"It is not that simple." A brief pause. "The signora has recently given birth."

A silence, then the brother resumed his seat. He sighed. "A boy."

"Yes."

"Have you taken any steps?"

"I've sent for Ignazzio."

"And the Moor." As it wasn't a question, the lady did not respond. "She cannot be allowed to keep him."

"No. For all our sakes, but especially for the child's. There has already been an attempt."

"Has there? Who else knows?" There was a long stillness between them, broken by the words, "I must take him in."

"Yes, you must."

"If he lives."

"He will live."

"This will hurt my wife."

"Better this pain now than the pain of her heir losing his station."

"If she has an heir."

"There are other children, are there not?"

The brother's voice was almost amused. "You are unusually delicate. Yes, there are. Two, at least. But girls."

"Well, then. Hide this one among the others. What is one more?"

"Interesting that she sent to you, not me."

"She knows the prophecy as well as we do."

"I see I have no choice. Will you help?"

For a heartbeat there was no sound in the room but the crackling of the fire in the blackened brazier.

"Thank you, Francesco. Of course I will."

"Don't thank me," he said bitterly. "I am only a tool of Fate."

Opiate-aided sleep reclaimed Pietro. He dreamed of a greyhound pursued by a pack of hyenas. Pietro twisted as in his dream the greyhound was brought down at the base of a collossal theatre, an ancient arena, staining the steps with blood.