"Do not talk," he ordered, his black gaze brooding. "What good are guards and soldiers if they cannot protect one small woman? I did not ask much of those in my service, those I have given to generously all my life. I ride with those men, teach them, protect them, feed and house them. How could such a thing happen? If your late friend's husband infiltrated the ranks of my men, he must have someone aiding him, someone of rank."
Nicoletta stayed silent, aware her husband was far too explosive to soothe, and because her throat was very sore. She lay her head against his shoulder and was grateful for his hard strength. Maria Pia and Gostanz followed them, nearly running to keep up with Giovanni's long strides. Gently Nicoletta placed her hand against the don's blue-shadowed jaw. It took him a few moments as he rushed her through the palazzo to notice the tender gesture.
Almost at once he could breathe more easily. She felt it. He felt it. By the time they had reached the bedchamber, he was back under some semblance of control.
"Signorina Sigmora, I did not keep her as safe as I had hoped," Don Scarletti bit out between his teeth, each word clipped and precise. His eyes were very black, icy cold, his expression conjuring up the feel of a graveyard. "I wish you to see to her injuries while I join those hunting this snake. Gostanz will bring you whatever you need." He placed Nicoletta in the middle of the bed and bent to brush a kiss against her temple. "I fear you will have to be placed in that tower, or I will have no peace of mind." For a moment his hand touched the terrible marks on her throat and lingered there, his pain reflected in the depths of his dark eyes.
Maria Pia watched him leave before she touched the swollen, bruised skin on Nicoletta's throat. "I do not think he was jesting, bambina." Tears filled the older woman's eyes. "I came very close to losing you."
"It was Aljandro. I did not feel the warning until it was too late, until he had his hands on me," Nicoletta whispered hoarsely. "I did not feel Cristano's death. How could such things be, Maria Pia? What is happening that I can no longer rely on what has always been a part of me?"
Maria Pia patted her hand consolingly. "Hush now, bambina." Someone had to keep a clear head. "I will need fresh water, Gostanz." She wanted the man gone, out of hearing. She waited until he had disappeared before she sank onto the bed beside Nicoletta. "I do not know why your gift is failing you, Nicoletta, but it must be a frightening thing to lose it when you need it the most."
Nicoletta looked at her with wide eyes, a thought suddenly occurring to her. "Suppose I haven't lost it, Maria Pia. It is possible Aljandro had no idea I was in the maze. I think he was as surprised as I was that he was about to walk right into me." She touched her throat and moistened her lips with her tongue. "The bird and the shadowing came just before he grabbed me." She sat way up and pushed at stray tendrils of hair that had escaped the knot she had tied. "It is possible that Aljandro did not come here to kill me, but that the don is his real target. I had no prior shadowing or warning because Aljandro was not prepared to strike yet."
"You do not know that, Nicoletta," Maria Pia cautioned her. "And what of Cristano? How do you explain away his disappearance? Surely you do not believe he is alive."
She took the bloodstained shirt from the bed where Nicoletta had dropped it.
"In truth, Maria Pia, I do not know what happened to Cristano. No, he is not alive. I feel his death in that bit of cloth." Her voice was filled with sorrow. "But something else is wrong. Something is just beyond my reach, but I am missing it. Will you call Sophie for me?"
"You cannot mean to expose the child to this vile conspiracy." As she had done all her life, Maria Pia was still protecting her young charges.
"She is a part of this. I do not know why, but she has already been exposed to danger. If I am going to solve this riddle, I must have more pieces. I think Sophie can provide me with them. I will wrap a scarf around my neck to hide the marks. My voice is nearly normal again." Nicoletta's throat hurt abominably, and her voice was husky, but she was afraid to wait any longer. Something was very wrong in the palazzo, and she feared if she didn't find the answer soon, there would be more deaths.
While Maria Pia went in search of the child, Nicoletta applied soothing herbs to the bruises on her throat and neck. Gostanz returned with the water, obviously upset by the event, his eyes anxious and grave. It occurred to Nicoletta that she had made a few friends in the palazzo after all. She was arranging a scarf around her throat when Sophie arrived, her bright eyes red from crying.
Immediately Nicoletta held out her arms. "What is wrong, Sophie? And is Ketsia upset as well? We cannot have that. Maria Pia, will you see to Ketsia? Tell her I will join her in the kitchen in a few minutes."
The older woman frowned. "I do not think the don wished you to leave the bedchamber, Nicoletta. There is talk that no one has ever seen him so angry. They are afraid in the palazzo. It is very quiet. Hundreds of soldiers are combing the courtyard and labyrinth. I think it best if you do not test his patience further."
Nicoletta thought Maria Pia was right about the don, but she intended to alleviate Ketsia's worry at the first opportunity. She waited until everyone had gone, leaving her alone with the Sophie. "You see, bambina? I am fine. A small incidente. All the other talk is silly. I need your help, though, piccola. For something more important."
Sophie's eyes were enormous with pride at the opportunity to help Nicoletta. "What can I do?"
"Do you remember when you were so sick and I first came to the palazzo to give you aid?" Nicoletta ruffled the child's hair tenderly. "Sometimes things we think are very bad can be good, no? This is how I met you."
Sophie climbed up onto the bed and wriggled into Nicoletta's lap. "I am glad I was sick, then," she said solemnly.
Nicoletta kissed the top of the child's head. "I want you to tell me how you came to eat the soup that made you ill. No one can hear you but me, so you know you will not get into trouble." She did her best to sound reassuring.
Sophie looked away, clearly not wanting to answer her. "Papa was very angry with me," she admitted reluctantly. "I asked Bernado to make me a special dinner, but I did not like it after all, and I refused to eat it." She wrinkled her nose. "Papa said not to be like that, that the cook had gone to much trouble for me." She looked down at her hands. "I threw the plate on the floor and was very bad." The admission came in a small voice.
"Why did you do that, piccola? It is not like you to hurt Bernado's feelings."
Sophie hung her head. "Papa always listens to Zia Portia. She said if I asked for it, I had to eat it, and Margerita laughed at me. But they did not eat it. They said mean things and made faces, and Papa listened to them. I thought if I acted like them, he would listen to me, too. I just wanted him to listen to me."
Nicoletta hugged the child closer. "I understand, bambina. But you know now that is not a good way to get your Papa's attention. Poor Bernado was very hurt, no? Tell me about the soup," she encouraged.
Sophie nestled closer into Nicoletta, taking her hand trustingly. "Papa sent me to bed and said I could not eat until morning, but I waited until it was very late, and I went to the kitchen and found the soup. Bernado made it for Zio Gino. It is his favorite, but often he cannot stop working to eat with us. Bernado always leaves the soup pot hanging in the kitchen hearth. I took Zio Gino's soup."
"Because you were very hungry," Nicoletta said sympathetically.
Sophie nodded, pressing her hands to her stomach as if remembering its emptiness. "Zio Gino came in and saw me. But he did not yell. He laughed and began to eat it with me out of the same bowl. Papa came in, and he was angry with me."
"Because you had disobeyed him and gotten out of bed when he was punishing you," Nicoletta reminded her.
Sophie's voice was indignant. "He said I was very bad to eat my zio's food when he worked hard and was surely hungry." Large tears swam in the child's eyes. "Zio Gino said it was fine because there was plenty of soup to share, but Papa was still angry and said Zio Gino spoiled me so I rotted."
&
nbsp; Nicoletta hugged her in reassurance. "You are not rotten, my sweet bambino, not at all. Your zio was right to share his soup, but you must not disobey like that again." She kissed her. "Thank you for telling me. Now we should go find Ketsia, or she will cry until Maria Pia becomes upset with us."
So the soup had been poisoned to kill Giovanni, not Sophie, just as Nicoletta suspected. Aljandro had probably come to kill the don, not Nicoletta. Somewhere in the palazzo, a murderer lay in wait, biding his time. Nicoletta didn't know if it was for political or personal reasons, but she knew, without a doubt, that Don Giovanni Scarletti was in terrible danger.
As Nicoletta walked with Sophie along the upstairs hallway with its vast spaces and vaulted ceilings, she heard the low murmur of feminine voices hissing softly back and forth. Portia and Margerita were arguing again, the sounds bitter and angry. Nicoletta touched her swollen throat through the thin scarf, wondering, not for the first time, if evil was so locked into the walls of the palazzo that it would never be exorcised. She followed Sophie down the long corridor to the kitchen, grateful that in his haste to hunt down her attacker, Don Scarletti had failed to assign her guards.
Ketsia threw herself into Nicoletta's arms, bursting into sobs, her little face already streaked with tear-stains. "I thought you were dead! I heard one of the maids say your new husband choked you to death because he found you with another man."
Nicoletta's face drained of color. Her chin went up, dark eyes flashing with temper. "Bernado, is that what is being said by the staff? They are accusing Don Scarletti of strangling me?"
He ducked his head, embarrassed. Nicoletta whirled around as a shadow crossed the doorway. Giovanni's grandfather hovered there uncertainly. His face was lined with worry, his eyes red and blurry. She could see he was much agitated. Still holding Ketsia to her, she immediately went to the older man to reassure him. "I am fine--a scuffle, no more, with a man who was angry because he lost his farm when he allowed his wife to die unaided. It was nothing, Nonno. I turned the man down once when he asked me to marry him, and he has nursed a grudge ever since. Giovanni is out looking for him now. I will not have anyone in our home whispering rumors behind Giovanni's back." She spun around, managing to look regal even in her peasant clothes. "Where is Gostanz? I want all of those serving in the palazzo to gather in the front hall immediately." Nicoletta used her sternest voice, determined to be taken seriously.
The elderly Scarletti hugged Nicoletta clumsily, Ketsia and all. Sophie stared at him with big around eyes and tried a tentative smile when he glanced at her. The old man found himself smiling back at her before he hurried away, not wanting to be observed by so many condemning eyes.
Gostanz assembled the servants in short order. Nicoletta was rather shocked that so few people tended an estate so vast. Most seemed to be outdoor workers. Reaching for courage, Nicoletta stepped in front of them, Ketsia still clinging to her. The child gave her the bravery to face the servants. "I am Donna Scarletti, for those of you who do not know me. Gostanz will bring to me any complaints or suggestions you may have to make the running of the palazzo smoother and easier for all of you. I do, however, want to address one issue immediately. There has been talk of the recent attack on me. It is whispered that my husband attempted to strangle me."
At once the room fell eerily silent, absent even the shuffling of feet. Nicoletta was immediately aware of every eye in the room fixed on her. Slowly she unraveled the scarf so they could see the marks on her neck. A collective gasp went up. "I was attacked, but certainly not by my husband. I believe my attacker was here to harm Don Scarletti, not me. I was merely in this man's way. I want it known that I will not tolerate disloyalty to the don among those of you who work in our home. I do not wish to hear further rumors about him or us. If you have concerns, I will be happy to address them, but it will serve no purpose to try to divide our home."
Nicoletta grasped Ketsia's hand firmly in hers and reached out to Sophie, who was standing wide-eyed, fearfully staring at Nicoletta's throat. Maria Pia had her arms around the child. They immediately moved off as a family unit, presenting their loyalty toward one another before the servants. Maria Pia was beaming at Nicoletta with pride.
In the next few minutes Nicoletta went through all the appropriate motions, attempting to carry on a conversation with the chattering girls, constantly reassuring them that she was, indeed, going to live. But her mind was busy elsewhere, occupied with the raven. If she was correct in her assumption that Aljandro had not intended to harm her, or even Giovanni at that precise moment, but had simply taken advantage when he came upon her, then it meant her strange ability was not necessarily gone. It merely meant the bird had had no time to warn her. Still, why hadn't she been warned of Cristano's death? If Giovanni had slain Cristano in the maze, so close to her, she would have felt it. And the bird would have come to her. "Nicoletta!" Ketsia stamped her small foot. "I have said the same thing to you three times, and you have not answered me. You are staring out the window. All the soldiers are everywhere outside, yet Maria Pia says it is not safe and we must stay indoors. I do not want to stay indoors, and neither does Sophie."
Nicoletta looked at the courtyard below her. She could see the soldiers swarming over the grounds like ants, searching every possible escape route. But Aljandro was already gone. He had slipped away. She knew it in her heart, a dark dread that remained a shadow in her soul. He was watching from the safety of his hideout, where someone Don Scarletti trusted had aided in secreting him. "I am sorry, Ketsia, but in truth, Maria Pia is right. It is not safe to go out yet. The man who attempted to harm me is not yet captured. And he is a man known to you, Ketsia. It is Aljandro, dressed as a soldier, and he would not want you to identify him should you see his face. When you return to the villaggio, I will have several of the don's guards go with you."
Why hadn't the bird come to her? Why hadn't she felt Cristano's death? It didn't make sense. How could he have died and she remain so unaware of it?
"We want to go outside," Sophie persisted, tugging at Nicoletta's skirt.
Nicoletta bent down to drop a kiss on the child's head. "I am sorry, piccola, but you cannot. If you look out the window, you will see that a thick fog is moving inland from the sea. It is dangerous when it comes in like this. Maria Pia will devise a game for you to play here in the palazzo. The fog may be such that Ketsia will have to spend the night. Wouldn't that be a grand adventure?" She patted both girls absently, turning to go. "I have matters I must attend to now."
"Nicoletta!" Maria Pia hissed her name, crossing herself as she did so. "You forget yourself. You have no protection while your guards are outside. Do not go wandering around the palazzo by yourself."
Nicoletta lifted her chin. "This is my home, and I will move about freely within it, or I will have no life at all." She hurried back up the stairs, determined to take a look once more into the room where Maria Pia and Sophie had been sleeping. Why were the scorpions placed in that room? If the soup had been meant for the don, was there another reason for the scorpions, other than a threat to young Sophie? Did someone want Sophie out of the room for different purpose? There was an entrance to the secret passageway in the nursery and in that particular room. Sophie had now been driven from both rooms. As she had been driven from the other room downstairs, the room where she had been so ill. Was there also an entrance to the passageway from that room? Nicoletta wanted to know.
As she passed Margerita's room, she heard the young woman's voice raised in a shrill, nasty tone. "I will have you flogged for this. I know you took my jewelry! You are a thief and a soldier's whore. You deliberately tore my gown!"
To Nicoletta's shock, she recognized the other voice.
"I tell you, I took nothing from this room. I did not touch the gown." It was the maid, Beatrice, her voice low and quaking with fear. "I would never steal from you or destroy your clothes."
The door was ajar, and Nicoletta pushed it open farther. "What is going on, Margerita?" She took in the scene:
the maid cowering against the wall, Margerita shaking with anger. Items were strewn around the room as if they had been flung in all directions. Nicoletta could well imagine Margerita throwing things in a rage.
"It is none of your business," Portia's daughter snapped. "She is my maid, and I will deal with the likes of her. Get out of my private bedchamber."
"She is a worker in my household," Nicoletta corrected firmly. "If there is a problem, I should have been informed at once." She moved into the room to stand beside the maid. "You say she has stolen from you?" As hard as she tried, Nicoletta could not keep the disbelief from her voice.
Nicoletta's tone only inflamed Margerita more. "Get out!" she growled. "You are nothing but a peasant yourself. What understanding could you possibly have? How could you know what we have to put up with from these ignorant people? They know nothing of being servants. Look at my gown! She tore my gown!"
Beatrice shook her head. "I did not, Donna Scarletti, and I did not steal from her. I came in to help her dress, and she threw things at me because she could not find a piece of jewelry. I did not take it. The gown ripped when she stepped on the hem."
Margerita shrieked and rushed at the woman, her face a mask of fury. She raised an arm, swinging wildly. Nicoletta stepped in front of the cowering maid, taking the blow, a hard slap that filled the air with a grotesque sound, full on her face. It seemed for a moment to Nicoletta as if it had all happened in slow motion, Margerita rushing forward, hand upraised, faint marks on her wrist, reminiscent of something, triggering a fleeting memory.
A terrible roar spun the three women around to face the doorway. They all froze as they faced Giovanni Scarletti. His black eyes glittered with menace, his handsome face marked with dark cruelty. Behind him, Vincente and Antonello gaped at Margerita as if she had lost her mind. Giovanni was in such a rage, the room fairly crackled with it. He covered the short distance to Margerita in two gliding steps, like a stalking mountain lion.