sound of the fireworks when they start again to cover the noise of your gunshot. Time it right, and you'll walk out of here unnoticed.'
Ezio looked at her. 'I like the way you think, Sister.'
'You'll just have to be very careful how you aim. You'll only get one chance.' She squeezed his arm. 'Buona fortuna, my son. I'll be waiting for you back at the bordello.'
She vanished among the partygoers, among whom Ezio could also see Dante and his goons still searching for him. Silent as a wraith, he made his way to a point on the quay as close as he dared get to the spot where Marco was standing on the barge. Fortunately, his resplendent robes, bathed in the lights of the party, made him an excellent target.
The Doge's speech continued, and Ezio used it to prepare himself, listening carefully for the resumption of the fireworks. His timing would have to be accurate if he was to get his shot off undetected.
'We all know we have come through troubled times,' Marco was saying. 'But we have come through them together, and Venezia stands a stronger city for it. Transitions of power are difficult for all, but we have weathered the shift with grace and tranquillity. It is no easy thing to lose a Doge in the prime of life - and it is frustrating to see our dear brother Mocenigo's assassin still roam free and unpunished. However, we may comfort ourselves with the thought that many of us were beginning to grow uncomfortable with my predecessor's policies, to feel unsafe, and to doubt the road he was guiding us down.' Several voices in the crowd were raised in agreement, and Marco, smiling, held up his hands for silence. 'Well, my friends, I can tell you that I have found the right road for us again! I can see down it, and I know where we are going! It's a beautiful place, and we are going there together! The future I see for Venezia is a future of strength, a future of wealth. We will build a fleet so strong that our enemies will fear us as never before! And we will expand our trade routes across the seas and bring home spices and treasures undreamed of since Marco Polo's time!' Marco's eyes glittered as his voice took on a minatory tone. 'And I say this to those who stand against us: be careful which side of the line you choose, because either you are with us or you are on the side of evil. And we will harbour no enemies here! We will hunt you down, we will root you out, we will destroy you!' He raised his hands again and declaimed: 'And Venezia shall always stand - the brightest jewel in all civilization!'
As he let his arms fall in triumph, a mighty display of fireworks went up - a grand finale which turned night into day. The noise of the explosions was deafening - Ezio's little lethal gunshot was quite lost in it. And he was well on his way out through the crowd before the people in it had had time to react to the sight of Marco Barbarigo, one of the shortest-reigning doges in Venetian history, stagger, clutching at his heart, and falling dead on the deck of the Ducal Barge. 'Requiescat in pace,' Ezio muttered to himself as he went.
But once the news was out, it travelled fast, and reached the brothel before Ezio did. He was greeted with cries of admiration from Teodora and her courtesans.
'You must be exhausted,' said Teodora, taking his arm and leading him away from the others towards an inner room. 'Come, relax!'
But first Antonio offered his congratulations. 'The saviour of Venice!' he exclaimed. 'What can I say? Perhaps it was wrong of me to doubt so readily. Now at least we'll have a chance to see where the pieces fall.'
'Enough of that now,' said Teodora. 'Come, Ezio. You've worked hard, my son. I feel your tired body is in need of comfort and succour.'
Ezio was quick to catch her meaning, and played along. 'It is true, Sister. I have such aches and pains that I may need a great deal of comfort and succour. I hope you are up to it.'
'Oh,' grinned Teodora, 'I don't intend to ease your pain single-handed! Girls!'
A gaggle of courtesans slipped smilingly past Ezio into the inner room, at the centre of which he could see a truly massive bed, by whose side was a singular contraption like a couch, but with pulleys and belts, and chains. It reminded him of something out of Leonardo's workshop, but he couldn't imagine what possible use it might be put to.
He exchanged a long look with Teodora and followed her into the bedroom, closing the door firmly behind him. A couple of days later Ezio was standing on the Rialto Bridge, relaxed and refreshed, and watching the crowds go by. He was just considering leaving to go and drink a couple of glasses of Veneto before the ora di pranzo, when he saw a man he recognized hurrying towards him - one of Antonio's messengers.
'Ezio, Ezio,' the man said as he came up. 'Ser Antonio wishes to see you - it's a matter of importance.'
'Then we'll go immediately,' said Ezio, following him off the bridge.
They found Antonio in his office in the company - to Ezio's surprise - of Agostino Barbarigo. Antonio made the introductions.
'It is an honour to meet you, sir. I am sorry for the loss of your brother.'
Agostino waved a hand. 'I appreciate your sympathy, but to be frank my brother was a fool and completely under the control of the Borgia faction in Rome - something I would not wish on Venice ever. Luckily, some public- spirited person has averted that danger by assassinating him. In a curiously original way. There will be inquiries, of course, but I am at a loss personally to see where they will lead.'
'Messer Agostino is shortly to be elected Doge,' put in Antonio. 'It is good news for Venice.'
'The Council of Forty-One has worked fast this time,' said Ezio, drily.
'I think they have learnt the error of their ways,' replied Agostino with a wry smile. 'But I do not wish to be Doge in name only, as my brother was. Which brings us to the business in hand. Our ghastly cousin Silvio has occupied the Arsenal - the military quarter of town - and garrisoned it with two hundred mercenaries!'
'But when you are Doge, can't you command them to stand down?' asked Ezio.
'It would be nice to think so,' said Agostino, 'but my brother's extravagances have depleted the city's resources, and we will be hard put to it to withstand a determined force who have control of the Arsenal. And without the Arsenal, I have no real control of Venice, Doge or no Doge!'
'Then,' said Ezio. 'We must raise a determined force of our own.'
'Well said!' Antonio beamed. 'And I think I have just the man for the job. Have you heard of Bartolomeo d'Alviano?'
'Of course. The condottiero who used to serve the Papal States! He's turned against them, I know.'
'And just now he's based here. He has little love for Silvio, who, as you know, is also in Cardinal Borgia's pocket,' said Agostino. 'Bartolomeo's based on San Pietro, east of the Arsenal.'
'I'll go and see him.'
'Before you do that, Ezio,' said Antonio, 'Messer Agostino has something for you.'
From his robes Agostino withdrew a rolled, ancient vellum scroll, with a heavy black seal, broken, hanging from a tattered red ribbon. 'My brother had it among his papers. Antonio thought it might interest you. Consider it a payment for. services rendered.'
Ezio took it. He knew immediately what it was. 'Thank you, Signore. I am sure this will be of great help in the battle which will surely come.'
Pausing only to arm himself, Ezio wasted no time in making his way to Leonardo's workshop, where he was surprised to find his friend in the process of packing up.
'Where are you off to now?' asked Ezio.
'Back to Milan. I was going to send you a message before I left, of course. And to send you a packet of bullets for your little gun.'
'Well, I am very glad I've caught you. Look, I have another Codex page!'
'Excellent. I am most interested in seeing those. Come in. My servant Luca and the others can carry on with this. I've got them quite well trained by now. Pity I can't take them all with me.'
'What are you going to do in Milan?'
'Lodovico Sforza made me an offer I couldn't refuse.'
'But what about your projects here?'
'The navy's had to cancel. No money for new projects. Apparently the last Doge ran through most of it. I could have done him fireworks, no need to have gone to all the expense of sending off to China for them. Never mind, Venice is still at peace with the Turks, and they've told me I'm welcome to come back - in fact, I think they'd like me to. Meanwhile I'm leaving Luca behind - he'd be a fish out of water away from Venice - with a few basic designs to get them started. And as for the Conte, he's happy with his family portraits - though personally I think they could do with more work.' Leonardo started to unroll the vellum sheet. 'Now, let's have a look at this.'
