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?”
“I can stay afloat if it means staying alive.” Siena looked doubtful. “Can
Cass had tried it once or twice as a child. Her parents had taken her on trips to the mainland where lakes and rivers were plentiful. “I think so,” she said. “There’s a wooded area behind the church. I’ll hide some supplies there so we can spend the night. You can find passage back here in the morning.”
“But I can’t just leave you,” Siena protested. “Luca might be ill. You might need my help.”
Cass’s stomach lurched. “We’ll figure something out, Siena,” she said. “But
Siena nodded, but she looked crushed. “I could come with you,” she said hopefully.
Cass shook her head. “Staying on with us might be dangerous,” she said. “And we might live far away from Feliciana. I wouldn’t want to keep you from her.”
Siena bit her lip. Cass reached out and squeezed her hand. She knew what it was like to want two opposing things simultaneously.
“Why not wait?” Cass said. “I’ll send word to you somehow, once Luca and I are settled somewhere safe. You can decide then where your future lies.”
Siena nodded. She gestured to one of the parcels she had stacked next to Cass on the bench. “A servant’s uniform, black and gold for the Palazzo Ducale.” She pulled something sleek and silver from a package that was coming unwrapped. A dagger. Just looking at the sharp blade made Cass’s insides seize up. Would she be able to use it? She didn’t think so.
But she might not have a choice.
Agnese didn’t make it to the dining room for the evening meal. As much as Cass had been grateful to avoid her aunt’s hawklike gaze, she felt a sudden, pressing need to have one last conversation with her. After stopping to check her reflection—no, her plan wasn’t visible in her expression, it only
“Come in,” Agnese said in response to her knock.
Cass pushed the door open just wide enough to admit herself. Her aunt was propped up on several pillows.
“Cassandra.” Agnese’s smile broadened, but then quickly faded. “You’re upset,” she said. “I take it there’s been no news of a commuted sentence.”
Cass shook her head. She pulled the chair from Agnese’s dressing table over to the side of the bed.
“I guess I’d hoped that perhaps . . .” Agnese’s voice trailed off. She reached out to take one of Cass’s hands in her own gnarled fingers. “No matter what happens, I’ll see to it that you’re taken care of. I can find you another match.”
“Aunt Agnese!” Cass frowned. “I don’t want a husband. I want Luca to go free.” Fearing she’d said too much, Cass dropped her eyes.
A sharp knock sounded from the corridor. “Come in,” Agnese said.
Narissa and another servant entered with a pair of supper trays. They handed one to Cass and helped Agnese balance the other on her lap. Cass looked down at the porcelain bowl of beef soup and platter of warm chunks of bread. She needed to keep up her strength, but her stomach hadn’t stopped churning since Siena had come back with the daggers. Narissa tucked an embroidered napkin beneath the loose folds of Agnese’s chin and draped a second cloth over her chest.
“That will be all. Thank you.” Agnese turned back to Cass. “I know this must be very hard on you, Cassandra.” Agnese bit into a crust of bread. “But just having you safe in Venice makes me feel stronger,” she said. “I know I told you to go, but I had the most awful feelings while you were gone, like I might never see you again.”
Cass set her spoon down on her tray. Had her aunt somehow sensed the danger in Florence? She felt a wrenching sense of guilt. What would happen to Agnese if Cass and Luca were forced to flee the Republic? It might not even be safe to send word that they were alive.
“You don’t need to worry about me,” Cass said. “You raised me to be strong. I—I will always love you for that.” Cass blinked back hot tears. She rarely told her aunt that she loved her.
