David Blixt - The Master of Verona

Pietro wondered if he was going to be sent to hunt Pathino again. It would be easier this time, knowing the man's name. In fact, it could be a good excuse to escape the quarrel between his two friends. That, and the other thing preying on his mind.

Because he was thinking it, he was startled to hear Cangrande say, "There's something troubling Pietro."

"I expect he wants to know the same thing I do. Though I doubt he has realized all your perfidies. Shall we begin?"

Cangrande drew his sword, the sword of his father, and began stroking the edge with a small honing stone. "It isn't fair. You're wounded."

"My soul, however, has never been more at ease."

"And if mine is not, that sets us on equal footing?"

"Your wounds don't show, is all. The time has come for us to have it out."

Cangrande threw back his head. "A duel! Excellent. As the challenged party, I have the honour of choosing the weapons. I choose Truth."

"Really? Perhaps I should go fetch Pietro. No doubt he would love to hear something so rare from you."

"Ah, we might as well begin there. What do you know of spies and what not?"

The lady's eyebrows arched. "I know you employ informants. These past few months, you are better informed than you used to be."

Cangrande raised a finger, wagging it in the air. "Ah, but did you ever wonder how I was receiving the information? Through whom?"

Light dawned. "Pietro." Her voice was grave, and in his shadowy perch Pietro felt a flush of guilt.

"Pietro," confirmed Cangrande. "You thought we were estranged, and you thought you knew why. But really I'd given him a task, a quest. With Tharwat acting as his eyes, Pietro was to track down the kidnapper."

"I see. A shame he didn't have all the necessary information. But today you were seen fighting side by side. How will that affect your fictional feud?"

"We'll say he and I fought together grudgingly, for the sake of your child. It is no secret how fond he is of you. Rather like a puppy." Hearing this, Pietro reddened. "I will rebuke him publicly, and he will return to Ravenna, smarting."

Pietro sat up straight. He'd thought that, after today, he'd be returning to Verona with all honour restored!

Katerina said, "I see I shall have to divorce him from you. I had no idea he was so much your creature."

"As much yours as mine, but that's not to the point. How do you intend the divorce?"

"What were your orders at Calvatone?"

Cangrande scowled slightly, laying his sword against the parapet. The lady pointed out, "You made the rules. You chose the weapons. You cannot complain of them now."

"True, true." Cangrande looked up at the night sky and sighed. "I ordered the town sacked. I ordered every woman and child raped, the men tortured, then all put to the sword. Havoc. That really was my seal."

"Why?" asked Katerina, echoing Pietro's horrified thought.

"Oh, it's obvious enough. A reputation for savagery is almost as useful as one of clemency. Ask Caesar. Or better, Sulla."

"And yet you had your German commanders executed for disobeying you."

"Yes, well, I couldn't have that sort of thing stain my honour. It's a pity, they were loyal men. Is that all you have, my dear? Perhaps you do require bed rest."

"Oh, surely you recognize an opening gambit."

"Testing my walls, looking for a breach? Then you'll set your siege weapons to work?"

"If necessary. I rather think I'll be able to find a tunnel through. Let's move on to the Moor. You recall that, directly after Cesco came into my care, I summoned al-Dhaamin to produce one of his miraculous charts for us. Upon arriving in Venice, he and Ignazzio were assaulted. Was the Count was responsible for that?"

"Of course not. Until today the good Bonifacio had no notion of your passion for astrology."

"Then whom do you suppose set the murderers at the heels of the astrologers?"

Cangrande shrugged. "There are really only two choices."

"I doubt your wife knew enough about al-Dhaamin at the time to guess at his coming."

Cangrande clapped his hands. "Very good! Oh, Kat, I didn't know you had it in you. I will confess. I tried to have them killed."

Katerina clucked her tongue. "And after Tharwat was so good as to reveal your star chart to you when you came of age."

"A true ingrate I am."

"Yet he continues to live. No doubt you've had plenty of opportunities since then."

"Yes, but once he completed the boy's chart, he could do no more damage. In fact, he's proved useful at times."

"I'm sure. I move on now to a matter more pressing."

"Giovanna?"

"No, not yet. I want to ask about Morsicato. I want to know what really happened on the road between the cave and our carriage."

Releasing a dark chuckle, for the first time Cangrande seemed unwilling to speak. "You have talent." He took a breath. "I distracted him, then struck him. He thinks I was saving his life."

"So there were no rogue Paduans?"

"Don't be absurd. I had to protect Giovanna. At that time I thought he was the only one who knew her trespasses."

Pietro felt a shiver pass over him. He tried to kill both Tharwat and Morsicato? I don't believe it!

"And when you discovered that the rest of us suspected her as well, you decided to spare him. I suppose there was little point in his death if we all knew. Though I'm surprised you left him alive in the first place."

A shrug. "It pays to look ahead."

"True, foresight has reward. Like tucking loyal young Pietro in Ravenna and keeping him for when you needed him. I wonder how many other little surprises you have in store."

The Scaliger's eyes were bright, almost glowing. "She is my wife."

"And I am your sister," said Katerina. "Which is why the doctor lives. You cannot allow Giovanna to be maligned, but neither may you remove me. There was no point in killing Morsicato when all of us knew. But tell me — would you have killed Pietro, if he had been the one to discover it?"

Pietro leaned forward, exhaustion banished. Cangrande shook his head as if dismissing a fly. But he did not answer.

"Come, brother! Cane Grande, O Great Hound," mocked Katerina. "It is time to reveal yourself. You play regret and humanity well, but on this night of truth please admit you have neither."

Cangrande turned away, shoulders hunched. Pietro heard a voice quite unlike the Scaliger's usual measured tones. "Have I none? I suppose you should know. Yes, let the demons out. It is close enough to midsummer." He stared over the rooftops, head cocked to one side. "Of course I would have killed him. His father, too, even if it meant his great epic was never completed. She is my wife. I would kill a hundred of my dearest friends to protect her reputation."

"Her reputation?" asked Katerina. "Not for love."

"Caesar's wife must be above suspicion."

"But you suspected her."

Cangrande laughed. "More than suspected, I knew! I've known for two long years. It was clear that someone had opened doors of my loggia to allow Pathino to escape. Pietro wondered at the time how Pathino got into the square so quickly."

He knew even then? He made me think it was the Grand Butler, the man with the keys and access to Cangrande's seal. There was also a woman from whose belt dangled all the keys of the household. Cangrande's wife.

Katerina gazed at her brother. "And you say that you sent Pietro away to hunt down the kidnapper."

"Yes."

"There wasn't another reason?"

Cangrande's smile grew. "We really must play more often. This is more fun than I could have dreamed."

"Answer the question."

"It's true. He posed the one question I could not have asked. Having a decent grasp of the obvious, he would have eventually reached the inevitable conclusion. To throw Giovanna off, I laid the blame on the butler." Cangrande clucked his tongue. "Poor Tullio may never forgive me for his ongoing exile. But I have suffered for my folly. One can never truly replace a really competent steward. At least I salted him away where I can recall him, instead of having him killed — which was my original intention."