The Wind Dancer

  "Basala and his wife will return shortly and we will have dinner," Lion said. "I sent him to make a few arrangements, and his wife went to the mercato to see about having shoes made for you."

  Sanchia came forward and stood before them. "Those 'arrangements' wouldn't be concerned with purchasing passage for me on the first ship to Marseilles?"

  Lion stiffened. "And if they are?"

  "I would not go." She held up her hand to stop his protests. "Do you think me so simple I wouldn't guess your plan? You intend to whisk me off to a place where you think I'll be safe while you both go after Damari. I would have had to be blind and deaf not to notice the two of you whispering and plotting on the way here from Mandara."

  "We didn't want to disturb you," Lion said. "You said yourself you wanted peace."

  "But not until I've earned it."

  "Santa Maria, who could have earned it more than you? What you went through at Mandara should have earned you a lifetime of peace."

  "Not while Damari's alive."

  "Lorenzo and I will attend to--"

  "No." Sanchia met his gaze. "After Solinari I just wanted to forget what Damari had done to me, but for what happened at Mandara there can be neither forgiveness nor forgetfulness."

  "Cristo, Sanchia. I will not involve you again with that bastard."

  "Then I'll involve myself," she said fiercely. "You forget I was there. I have memories that will be with me all my life and there must be justice. I will not be able to bear to remember what he did unless I can remember he was justly punished and I had a part in seeing to his punishment. Do you realize what he did to Piero? He was only six years old and--"

  "Shh, we know, cara. We know."

  "And Caterina. She didn't deserve to die. None of them deserved to die."

  "She's right," Lorenzo said abruptly. "She's entitled to her part in this, Lion."

  "And is she entitled to the danger? You saw what happened to her at Solinari and then we had ducats aplenty to pave our way. Now we only have our wits against Damari and his condotti."

  "Then they'd better be exceedingly sharp wits." Lorenzo moved over to the window to stand looking out at the ruined hulls in the shipyard. "And we obviously need all the help we can muster. If you won't take her, then I will."

  Lion made a violent motion with his hand. "Damn you, Lorenzo, what if I--" He broke off as if afraid to speak the thought gripping his mind.

  "What if you lose her, too? Don't worry. You're so besotted with Sanchia that you'd probably die gloriously defending her and therefore have no time for foolish regrets."

  Sanchia gazed at Lorenzo blankly and then began to laugh. The laughter was tentative, rusty, but still it was laughter and she felt the knot of anger and sorrow within her miraculously loosen. "That has all the macabre logic I would expect of you, Lorenzo."

  "I am always logical."

  "I don't like it." Lion shook his head wearily. "But I obviously can't move either of you."

  "It's very wise of you to surrender, for you may well need Sanchia." Lorenzo turned away from the window. "Because I won't be able to help you with Damari."

  Lion's gaze narrowed on his face. "That is your choice, of course."

  "You think I back away from the task?" Lorenzo shook his head. "But you speak only of Damari. You've forgotten that he wouldn't have been able to do what he did if he hadn't had the approval and support of Borgia and the pope. Damari was the sword, but the Borgias were the ones who wielded it. In my eyes it's Cesare and Alexander who bear the brunt of the blame."

  "Certainly a good portion of the blame."

  "And consider this, throughout his entire career Cesare Borgia has adopted whatever methods he found at hand to conquer the cities in his path. The ploy Damari used to defeat Mandara had the advantages of economy and complete devastation. Who is to say Borgia will not choose to use the plague again if the need arises?"

  "Dear God," Sanchia whispered.

  "Exactly. If justice is to be done, it must be done to all three." Lorenzo smiled. "And, as I'm the most qualified for the task, I'll volunteer to be the dispenser of justice to the noble house of Borgia."

  Sanchia and Lion gazed at him in astonishment.

  "You would kill the pope?" Sanchia whispered.

  "Do you not believe he deserves it? He's totally corrupt, a man who has lusted for power his whole life long. Did he not buy the papacy with blood and ducats? Does he not have the blood of any number of people on his hands?"

  "No one is saying the world would not be better off without him." Lion hesitated. "But, Dio, it would be hazardous, if not impossible. Both Borgias are surrounded by guards at all times. How would you manage it?"

  "I have no idea. Something will come to me. I'm most ingenious when offered a challenge of this magnitude." Lorenzo paused. "But you may be sure their deaths will not be easy."

  He had asked if Caterina's death had been easy, Sanchia remembered, and she had told him that none of the deaths at Mandara had been easy.

  "So Damari is mine," Lion said.

  "And Sanchia's. Don't be selfish, Lion." Lorenzo turned toward the door. "I'm going to Cesena to make a few inquiries regarding the whereabouts of Duke Valentino. I should be back in a few days. Will you still be here?"

  Lion nodded. "I've decided to sell the shipyard to Basala and keep only the one in Marseilles. It will take that long to complete the transaction."

  Sanchia looked at him in surprise. "You're leaving Italy?"

  "We're leaving Italy. There's nothing here for us now. I told you once that Mandara was my country." He shrugged. "And now there is no more Mandara."

  Lorenzo nodded. "It's best to put Mandara behind you." He opened the door. "We'll talk more when I return."

  Lorenzo returned on the evening of the third day as he had promised.

  "Borgia has left for Rome," he announced. "He departed almost immediately after he was paid a visit by Damari. The good duke was said to be in excellent spirits, so it's safe to assume that he journeyed to his father with the Wind Dancer."

  "And Damari?" Lion asked.

  "He was planning on returning to Solinari 'to dispose of Andreas at leisure,' " Sanchia quoted bitterly.

  "But he won't stay there long. It will worry him that I haven't launched an attack on Solinari, and he'll need to know if I've spread the disease so he can take steps to protect the Borgias. He'll probably come here to Pisa first." Lion frowned. "And bring enough men to make sure we have no chance to resist him."

  "Then I believe it's time to complete our plans," Lorenzo said with a faint smile.

  Lion nodded. "And to put them into motion."

  The next morning Lorenzo left Pisa for Rome.

  The following day Lion and Sanchia departed for Florence.

  It felt very strange to Sanchia to be riding through the same Porto San Friano from which she had departed those many months ago. Yet it had not actually been so long, she realized with a slight sense of shock. They had left Florence through this gate in early March and it was now only late July. It seemed a lifetime since Lion had come to Giovanni's shop for that frightened, nervous child.

  She was thinking of that other Sanchia as if she were some other person entirely, she thought sadly. Well, and so she was.

  "You're very quiet." Lion asked, "Are you weary?"

  Anxiety threaded his voice and Sanchia tried to smother the impatience it aroused in her. His cosseting at first had brought her a sense of security and comfort she had badly needed, but now that she was stronger it was unbearable. "I was thinking about how many things have happened since I left Florence. I'm no longer the same person."

  He flinched. "Who would not change after the punishment I've dealt you?"

  "You meant me no harm."

  "That didn't stop harm from coming to you. I am to blame."

  Sanchia sucked in her breath. Lion's pampering, the way he avoided touching her as if she were one of the holy saints instead of a woman he wanted, all stemmed from his sense of bl
ame. "Who knows what would have happened to me if I had stayed here?" she asked softly. "It could have been as bad. No place is entirely safe."

  "If I hadn't taken you away, you would never have known Damari."

  "But there was already a Caprino in my life."

  "It's not the same."

  Dio, the man was stubborn. It would obviously take more than words to change his mind. "Do you think Giulia will help us?"

  "We'll find out shortly. Her casais--" He broke off with the sharp intake of breath of a man struck an unexpected blow.

  Sanchia looked at him in alarm. "What is it?"

  "Nothing. I just forgot about the doors." Lion reined in and sat looking at the magnificent bronze doors of the baptistery of the cathedral of Florence, his eyes glittering with sudden moisture. "Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise. When Marco and I were boys my father brought us to Florence whenever he visited Lorenzo de' Medici. My father insisted I go with him to the palace to learn the ways of dealing with princes, but he permitted Marco to run free. Marco was giddy with joy. He was drunk with the art of Michelozzi and the ideas of Alberti, the beautiful statues and the paintings." He stopped, unable to go on for a moment. "And most of all he loved those bronze doors. He'd get up before daybreak so he could see the first light of dawn strike them, he'd go four streets out of his way to catch a glimpse of them. Once he said to me, 'Lion, if I could sculpt something as beautiful as those doors I'd never ask for heaven. I'd stand outside all day long and ask everyone who passed, Did you see them? Did you really look at them?' "

  Sanchia swallowed to ease the sudden tightness of her throat. "I grew so accustomed to walking by the cathedral that I scarcely noticed the doors."

  "Not Marco. Beautiful things were always new to him." He shook his head. "But most of us do forget to take notice of what is familiar to us. It's only when they're lost that we realize how we valued them."

  "That's true." Sanchia wanted desperately to comfort but knew there was nothing she could say to ease the depth of suffering she sensed in him at this moment. "But perhaps if we remember that, we can learn to--"

  "It's not enough. It's too late." His hand tightened with sudden violence on the reins. "I want him back! I want all of them back, Sanchia."

  She was silent, gazing at him in an agony of tenderness.

  Then he straightened his shoulders and deliberately loosened his grip on the reins. "I'm behaving foolishly," he said gruffly. "I'm not a boy to cry for what's beyond my reach." His gaze shifted to her face. "I've distressed you."

  "Distressed me?" She was exasperated. She could feel the tension and sorrow coiled within him, but he allowed her only an occasional fleeting glimpse before he walled it up inside himself again. "It's you who are in distress."

  "Nonsense. All goes well with me." He nudged Tabron forward. "Come along. Giulia's casa is on the next street."

  Giulia Marzo looked up warily from her account book as the maid showed Lion and Sanchia into her chamber. "What a surprise to see you, Lion. I believe you stated the intention of never visiting me again." She looked from Sanchia to Lion. "I see you still have your little slave. Has she brought you pleasure?"

  "More than I've brought her." He gently pushed Sanchia down on a chair by the door. "Sit down, cara. Since Giulia is failing in courtesy, we must take our comfort where we may."

  "When did you do otherwise?" Giulia asked dryly. "As I remember, you always did exactly as you pleased." She paused. "As it pleased you to kill Caprino."

  "Did his death disturb you?"

  She shook her head. "In truth, you did me a favor. I moved quickly and took over a number of Caprino's enterprises. Being a woman, I was not able to assume fully Caprino's place, but let us say I now possess considerably more power than when last you saw me."

  "I rejoice in both your success and my small part in it." Lion's tone was mocking. "Though I must confess I was tempted to slice your pretty throat as I did Caprino's."

  She stiffened, and her gaze darted to the bellrope across the room. She forced a smile. "Why would you want to do that?"

  "Caprino had only one way of learning that our destination was Solinari. Naturally, I put a few questions to him about the name of his informant." Lion smiled. "The only reason I didn't come after you, Giulia, was that I blamed myself for mentioning it within your hearing, and Caprino said he suspected you withheld the information until you thought it would do him no good. His venom was so great that I was forced to believe him."

  Giulia let her breath out in a rush of relief. "I meant no harm. It was only business."

  "And you're an excellent businesswoman, are you not?" Lion took a step closer. "That's why I'm here. I have a proposition to make."

  Giulia's eyes glinted with sudden interest as she leaned back in her chair. "I'm always ready to listen to a proposition as long as there's profit in it."

  "There's profit. I wish you to draw Damari to Florence. Sanchia said you had dealings with the man at one time."

  "Once." Giulia made a face. "However, I acted through Caprino."

  "But he knows your name?"

  "Of course, everyone knows of my casa. He asked Caprino specifically for one of my women."

  "Do you know what he did to her?" Sanchia asked fiercely.

  "It was not my concern," Giulia said quickly. "The girl made no objection to going. In truth, she was filled with happy anticipation."

  "She could not have known--" Sanchia shook her head. "He is a monster."

  "It was not my concern," Giulia repeated, adding in a lower tone, "he was not supposed to kill her. He cheated me."

  Sanchia gazed at her in disbelief and opened her mouth to speak, but Lion cut in quickly, "We wish you to send a message to Damari telling him you have Lionello Andreas and his slave, Sanchia, under your roof. Say we fled to Florence and begged you to take us in, and that you hear he will pay dearly to get both into his hands."

  "Why would you come to me instead of Mandara?"

  "There is no longer a Mandara."

  "Indeed?" Giulia was clearly astonished. "It seems you have more reason to want vengeance against Damari than I believed. What is your purpose in drawing him here?"

  "What do you suppose?"

  Giulia nodded. "And he wants you enough to come here to capture you?"

  "More than enough."

  "And how much are you willing to pay for my help?"

  "Five hundred ducats."

  "It's not enough. There is risk aplenty."

  "It will have to do. I have no more to give you."

  "I will think on it." Giulia stood up. "Come back tomorrow."

  "I want your answer now," Lion said bluntly. "And I'll have it now."

  Giulia smiled faintly. "You were not always so impatient." She hesitated, a frown furrowing her wide brow. "Very well, the bargain is struck."

  "Good. We'll speak more on this later." Lion helped Sanchia to her feet. "We have no place to stay until Damari arrives. Will you give us two chambers?"

  "Two?" Giulia's smile became malicious. "If you require two chambers, she must not be giving you as much pleasure as you claim. I warned you it would be so."

  "Sanchia has been ill." Lion turned to the door. "And she is not well yet. Will you give us accommodation or not?"

  "Certainly. It will be my pleasure." Giulia moved gracefully to the door. "Perhaps it's best that I have you under my eye. I don't think it would be safe to tease Damari with a prize he wants and then not be able to produce it."

  "You have only to offer, not produce." A sudden sharpness had edged Lion's tone.

  Giulia smiled sweetly over her shoulder. "A mere slip of the tongue, caro. Come this way. You'll naturally occupy the chamber that pleased you in the past, and we'll find something suitable for the girl."

  "I am not ill," Sanchia hissed at Lion as they followed Giulia down the hall. "I'm quite well now. Why did you tell her--"

  Giulia had stopped before a door and abruptly turned to face them. "This will do for you, Sanchia." She
opened the door. "I'll send up a tub and hot water for a bath." She sniffed delicately. "That horse odor is quite reminiscent of the way you smelled when first you came here. I do hope you've gotten over your aversion to soap and water."

  Sanchia bit her lip to keep back the stinging reply that trembled on her tongue. She must not let the woman anger her. Lion had said they needed Giulia. "Thank you, I would like a bath."

  "Will you need me?" Lion asked, the familiar frown of concern on his face.

  "No, I will not need you. I'm perfectly well." Sanchia entered the room and slammed the door behind her, immediately resenting the sound of Giulia's low laugh.

  Why was she so angry? She should have ignored Giulia, not let the woman's manners prick her. Yet there was no doubt Giulia's spite had disturbed her composure. It was stupid to let Giulia trouble her when she had not done so in the past.

  But then she had not known she loved Lion.

  And she had not known how it felt to have him inside her body, the hot, dizzy pleasure as he plunged and lifted her to his every stroke.

  Santa Maria, her body was coming alive, stirring with lust and anticipation at the thought of the next time Lion would come into her.

  Not only her body, but her emotions were being reborn. She was experiencing lust, anger, jealousy. Yes, jealousy of the hours Lion had spent in Giulia's bed. Jealousy of her beauty and her knowledge of how to please him. It was clear the woman wanted him still; she had made no overtures, but the invitation had definitely been implied. Would that invitation be accepted?

  Lion had possessed no woman since he had taken Sanchia that night in the tower room, and no one knew better than Sanchia that he was a man of strong desires. Sorrow had emptied them both of everything but tenderness and the desire to comfort and receive comfort, but, if she was coming alive, who was to say that Lion's desires were not also awakening?

  Cristo, and what a damnably inconvenient time for that to happen with Giulia Marzo at hand not only to stoke but to appease his lust.

  Sanchia took herself to task--she had been through so much she had thought she was done with petty emotions.