Page 9

Three

W here are you taking me?” Sanchia asked as she hurried to keep up with Lorenzo’s long strides.

“The casa of Giulia Marzo,” Lorenzo answered. “We’re staying there while we’re in Florence.”

“I’ve heard of her. She’s a famous courtesan and has many rich lovers.

Is my lord Andreas rich? I guess he must be or he wouldn’t have been able to pay so much for me.

He mentioned a place called Mandara. Is that where we’re going when we leave Florence?

I’ve never been away from Florence since we came here when I was three.

That’s when I was sold to Giovanni and—”

“Enough!” Lorenzo sighed. “Don’t you ever stop talking? You’ve chattered unceasingly since we left the baker’s house.”

“I always talk when I’m frightened.” Sanchia smiled tremulously. “And I’m very frightened right now. I feel…strange.”

“You didn’t appear frightened when you were arguing with that baker about your pretty Elizabet’s dowry.”

“That was different. Messer Benedetto had to be made to realize what a bargain he was getting in Elizabet. He has a very prosperous shop and could make a much better match for Alessandro. I was worried that if he wasn’t totally satisfied with Elizabet he wouldn’t accept Piero.

” She turned to look at him. “Thank the saints you were there. You helped to settle it far more quickly than I’d hoped. ”

“Me?” He lifted a brow. “I said nothing.”

“I know, but that didn’t matter. You made him feel uneasy and he wanted you gone. I think you must make most people uneasy.”

“I don’t appear to intimidate you,” he said dryly. “Did no one ever tell you that it’s not wise to be so frank? Many men wouldn’t like to be told their presence makes one uneasy.”

She looked at him in surprise. “But you don’t mind. You’ve lived with it so long it’s become a part of you.”

“You’re very perceptive.” He studied her face. “You read people well. I noticed that with Messer Arcolo and then again with Benedetto. You sought out their desires and motives and then used them to suit yourself.”

“It was necessary,” she said simply. “Sometimes our wits are the only weapons we have. Haven’t you found that to be true, Messer Lorenzo?”

“Yes.” He was silent a moment. “But I wouldn’t attempt to manipulate Lion as you did the good baker. It might prove dangerous.”

“I wouldn’t do that. I’ve given him my pledge.” She tried to smile. “But it would make me feel better if you’d tell me something about Lord Andreas. I’ve never belonged to anyone but Giovanni and that wasn’t like being a slave at all.”

“Indeed? Because he was so kind to you?”

She shook her head. “Oh no, Giovanni is too selfish to be kind to anyone. It’s too much trouble for him.

When I was a child I resented him, but when I came to realize what a stupid man he is it was easier.

” She shrugged. “All I had to do was give him what made him comfortable and he would leave me alone.”

“Manipulation again,” Vasaro murmured. “Taking in three children off the street doesn’t seem the act of a selfish man.”

“I had to convince him that it would be a purely selfish thing to do,” Sanchia said.

“Bartolomeo and Elizabet are brother and sister and lived next door to Giovanni. When their parents died of the fever three years ago they had no relations to help them and I couldn’t let them be tossed into the streets.

So I told Giovanni how clever everyone would think him if he took them into the shop.

It would be as if he had three slaves instead of one—and without having to pay an extra ducat for them.

I promised I’d see to it they were no trouble and that I’d share my food with them. ”

“Evidently you kept your word. You’re skin and bones.”

She made a face. “It didn’t work. There was never enough food to go around. Then when Piero came to live with us, I knew something would have to be done. I was a slave, so I could work for no one but Giovanni, and every time I asked him for extra money he would threaten to throw the children out.”

“So you began to steal.” Vasaro’s tone was expressionless. “That particular bit of charity could have cost you your hands.”

She winced. “I know, but it wasn’t charity.

” They started across the Ponte Vecchio, which was lined almost exclusively with the shops of prosperous silk merchants and goldsmiths.

Sanchia saw none of them as she gazed into the cloudy waters of the Arno.

“They were my family. I was afraid but I’d still do it again. I was so alone before they came.”

“And now you’re alone again.”

“Nothing lasts forever.” She added philosophically, “I would have had to do something to protect Elizabet soon anyway. She’s too pretty and that’s a danger for a woman.

And Giovanni was drinking more and more and the business was failing and that meant Bartolomeo would have had to take a position elsewhere. ”

“And Piero?”

“Piero…” Her expression became wistful.

“I hoped I could keep Piero for a while.” She shook her head and blinked back the tears stinging her eyes.

How stupid to cry now when she had managed to stay dry-eyed all through their farewells.

Elizabet wept when confronted with any change, and Sanchia had seen tears in Bartolomeo’s eyes when they had left him with Messer Arcolo.

But Piero hadn’t cried. He had only gazed at her with those fierce blue eyes and grasped her hand so tightly it had hurt for several minutes after Sanchia and Lorenzo had left the baker’s shop.

“But Piero will be safe with Elizabet. She’s very loving and—” Her voice broke and she drew a deep breath.

“They’ll all be much better off than they were with Giovanni. ”

“And what of you?” Lorenzo’s gaze searched her face. “Do you think you’re better off too?”

“I don’t know.” She looked directly at him. “Am I?”

“I, too, do not know the answer.” A faint smile touched his lips. “Lion has never had a slave before. It’s going to be interesting to watch his reaction to the situation.”

“And you’ll like that, won’t you? I think you must always stand back and watch as if we’re all players for your entertainment.” She was silent a moment and then asked, “If he doesn’t have any other slaves, why did he buy me?”

“I think I’ll let him tell you his plans for you.”

She grinned coaxingly. “Don’t you want to watch my reaction, too? If you tell me, I’ll promise you that my response will be very satisfying.”

Lorenzo smiled in genuine amusement. “Are you also trying to manipulate me? You must enjoy walking along the edge of a precipice.”

“I’m sorry.” The vitality in her face faded and she suddenly looked like a weary child. “I suppose it’s become second nature. It’s not that I mean to…” She stopped and then continued haltingly, “I’m afraid. He frightens me.”

“Lion? You certainly didn’t act frightened when you persuaded him to provide a handsome dowry for your little friends. On the contrary, you were exceptionally bold.”

“Only because it was something I had to do.” She moistened her lips. “He makes me feel…” She paused, searching for words. “I feel like I do in that last minute before I steal a fat purse. Scared and trembling but excited too.”

“Hmmm. Interesting.”

“Help me.” Her hand clutching the wool shawl at her breast tightened. “I didn’t feel helpless with Giovanni, but I do with Lord Andreas.”

“Why should I help you? Lion is my friend and you’re nothing to me.” He spoke with complete detachment.

Sanchia’s hopes plummeted. “I can’t think of any reason why you should help me.” She paused, considering. “Unless it’s because you’d find it more amusing to make things a little easier for me. A scared mouse scurrying around Lord Andreas wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining for you.”

He suddenly chuckled. “You are anything but a scared mouse.” He paused. “Lion’s fair. Serve him well and he’ll not misuse you.”

Sanchia felt a surge of relief as she thought she recognized the slightest break in the wall that Lorenzo Vasaro used to distance himself from everyone around him. “He has the manner of a great lord. Is he very rich?”

He was silent a moment, and she began to think he wasn’t going to answer.

“He’s lord of the city-state of Mandara.

He has great wealth but only the one fief.

His father was a condottiere and raised Lion to follow after him.

Lorenzo de’ Medici gave Lion’s father Mandara in payment for waging war against one of his less friendly neighbors. ”

“Where is Mandara?”

“To the south. Between Florence and Pisa.”

“And now Lord Andreas is the lord of the city?”

Vasaro nodded. “Since his father died some thirteen years ago. Lion continued as condottiere and maintained his father’s armies until he decided to disband them two years ago and return to Mandara.” Vasaro gazed at her inquiringly. “Well, have you gouged enough from me to abate your fears?”

“No.” She sighed. “I suppose you wouldn’t reconsider and tell me why Lord Andreas bought me?”

Vasaro didn’t answer.

“I didn’t think so.”

“Then you shouldn’t have wasted—” he broke off and stopped short. “Santa Maria , what is that?”

They were crossing the Mercato Nuovo where bankers with ledgers and fat purses sat at their green-covered tables.

However, it was not the bankers at whom Vasaro was staring but a plump man surrounded by a crowd of snickering onlookers.

“Am I mistaken or is that obese personage peeling down his hose?”

“Oh, that’s only a bankrupt,” Sanchia said indifferently. “In order to be discharged he has to strike his naked buttocks three times on that black-and-white marble circle that marks the site of the symbolic Chariot of Florence.”

“How undignified.” Vasaro’s lips suddenly began to twitch with amusement as he resumed walking across the mercato . “Lion was worried that you might beggar him. I must warn him if he does becomes bankrupt, it most certainly must not happen in this illustrious city.”