Fiona Paul - Belladonna

Cass nodded mutely, struggling to swallow a bite of fish. “The sun was rising by the time we made it home.” She thought again of her plan, her secret. Agnese had secrets too, locked away in the storage room. How could she and her aunt have shared so much, but still have so much hidden from each other? She couldn’t find the right words to ask about the locked trunks, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave the table early either. Forcing a smile, she struggled through the rest of her aunt’s questions as best she could, spinning a half-truth here and there to satisfy the old woman.

When the servants cleared the last of the dessert dishes and Narissa appeared to help Agnese back to her chambers, Cass stood in the doorway to the dining area, watching her aunt’s hunched frame shuffle down the corridor.

Cass returned to her own room and sat at the dressing table, piecing through the loose parchment she had found in the Caravello tomb. The description of the “research” and “subjects” made more sense now. Not only had the Order been testing their experimental elixirs on plants and insects, but they had also been self-administering, documenting vitality, wound healing, and more. Cass glanced again at the register of signatures, scanning the list one more time to see if any additional names sounded familiar. She realized both Piero Basso and Dionisio Mafei were present. But where was Bella Briani? Why wasn’t she listed? Cass again tried to make out the name at the top of the parchment. She thought maybe she could make out the looping swirl of a B. Perhaps the blurred signature belonged to Bella, the leader of the Order of the Eternal Rose.

Were all of her servants members of the Order? Were they all taking test samples of the elixir? Would Belladonna try to indoctrinate Falco eventually? Cass should warn him, but she couldn’t. To try would be fruitless. Even if a message from her made it through to him, he wouldn’t believe her.

Cass flipped to the next page: a sketch of a six-petaled flower, encircled by unfamiliar chemical symbols. Slipper hopped up on the dresser, curious to explore the crinkling parchment. Cass picked up the cat and held him on her lap. He seemed a little thinner than before she left. She petted his soft fur, wondering who would take care of him if she didn’t come home. She held him up to her face so that their noses touched. He wriggled in her grasp before reaching his neck out to nudge her with the top of his head, something he did when he was happy.

“I missed you,” she said, setting Slipper back onto the floor. The cat purred in response. Tears blurred Cass’s vision. She quickly pressed her palms to her eyes to dry them.

She tucked the bundle of parchment inside the drawer of her dressing table and wandered downstairs and out into the garden. Roses crawled up the side of Agnese’s wooden trellis, pinks and reds and corals melding together like fire. Cass settled onto one of the stone benches, remembering how she and Luca had sat in this same spot just two months earlier. It seemed like a lifetime ago. So much had happened between them since then. She and Luca had argued. Cristian attacked her. Luca then told her the truth about how Cristian was his half brother, and how he would never allow Luca to be happy.

Then, Luca had asked her if she’d heard of the Order of the Eternal Rose. How long had he known about the Order? Did he know their parents were members? Why did Cass’s mother steal pages from the book and hide them in the Caravello crypt? Cass prayed she’d get the chance to see him again, and that he would be well enough to escape the Doge’s dungeons. Only then could she ask him all the questions that had plagued her over the past few weeks.

She lay back on the bench. Looking up at the bright blue sky, she wished for the millionth time that her mother were still alive to guide her. Not the woman who was a member of a wicked Order, but the mother she remembered, with a laugh like bells and hair that smelled of lavender. The mother who used to tell Cass she was bright and beautiful and could have the whole world if she wished it.

Cass didn’t want the whole world. She just wanted Luca to live. She spoke the wish quietly into the sky. Maybe a ministering angel would hear her, and take pity.

The kitchen door swung open. Cass sat up quickly, gathering her skirts around her. Siena was heading into the garden, both arms laden with parcels.

“What is all of that?” Cass asked. She glanced up at the thick glass window at the back of the villa to make sure no one was watching them.

“Were you planning to wear your favorite dress into the Doge’s dungeons?” Siena asked, stacking several of the wrapped packages on the bench next to Cass. Cass marveled that Siena actually seemed to be enjoying herself. Her eyes were glittering, and her cheeks were flushed. She almost looked excited. “I bought you something more appropriate. And look.” She sat on the bench across from Cass and unrolled a piece of vellum out onto her lap. It was a crude drawing. Even without anything labeled, Cass could tell what it was. A map of the main level of the Palazzo Ducale.

“How did you get this?” Cass’s mouth fell open.

“I know someone who works for the palace,” Siena said triumphantly. “A boy who used to fancy my sister.” Siena glanced up at the rose trellis for a moment. “I persuaded him to give me a bit of information in exchange for a little gold. He said that in preparation for his execution, Luca was moved from one of the upper cells to the pozzi. He drew this rough map so that we’ll know which way to go to find the stairs to the lower prison.”

So. Luca was now being detained in the pozzi, the horrible underground prison. Cass had heard stories of cells flooding, of prisoners drowning in the foul water that rushed in with the tides. The only way to stay dry was to hover on the bed of stone at the center of each cell, sometimes for hours. Hordes of insects bred within the rotting larch walls, and even after the water receded, the odor of mold and canal water stayed behind.

And then the rats appeared.

“He said we should enter here,” Siena said, pointing at a door on the south side of the palace. “Servants go in and out of this door until sunset. We’ll have to sneak in and hide away for a few hours, until the senators go home and the rest of the palace retires for the evening.” She pointed at another area on the map. “The royal wine room is here. It’s kept dark and we can hide behind the casks.”

Cass hated the thought of a darkened wine room—so similar to the room in which Cristian had attacked her. But she wouldn’t be alone. Siena would be with her. Cass felt a rush of affection for Siena, so strong she nearly reached out and hugged her. Siena was willing to risk her life for Cass, and for Luca, a man she could never have.

“The tide will be highest around midnight tomorrow,” Siena said.

“Tomorrow?” Cass croaked. The word seemed so flimsy, so near. Cass was suddenly aware of the breeze blowing in from the lagoon. Her skin turned to gooseflesh. Tomorrow was too soon. But it was their only chance. Luca would be executed the following day.

“I think our best time to enter the dungeon will be about ten,” Siena continued. “That way we have time to get back up the stairs and out the same door before the water levels reach their highest point. They won’t get high enough to drown us, but navigating the dungeons in high water wouldn’t be pleasant.” She frowned. “What if we’re seen? Water or no, we won’t be able to outrun the palace soldiers.”

“We’ll have to jump into the quay,” Cass said, with more conviction than she felt. “We can hide beneath one of the docks. Once it’s safe, we’ll swim across the Giudecca Canal to San Giorgio Maggiore.” She stopped. “Can you swim?”