sending you out, unarmed .”
“No, I’m okay,” I said, my hand running over the smooth surface of the bow. I clenched it in my hands, striving to make her believe what even I couldn’t quite accept in my heart. It was one thing to shoot at some targets, but was I really ready to take up arms against another?
If they endangered me or mine, yes, I decided.
“Let me go, Gabs. I can do this. For us. For all of us. We’re wasting time!”
She still looked unconvinced as I bent to retrieve the reins from her hands. Then, before she could argue with me further, I called out to the nearest squire to go and open the doors. “Vai! Apri le porte!”
He scurried away, and I trotted through, then slowed my pace as I neared the front gates, waiting for my sister to stride up behind me. A guard, Patrizio, peered down at us. Mostly me, shouldering the bow. I knew it’d bummed the guys out in the last year, with me avoiding any time with the arrows. “Ah, out to do some hunting, m’lady, now that you’ve greased the wheel?”
“A good suggestion,” Gabi called. “But Lady Evangelia merely wishes to see the progress that has been made beyond the wall.”
I looked down, trying to hide my smile. She wasn’t lying, directly.
“No escort?” he asked doubtfully, clearly pondering his options. He knew as well as we did that we never went out without our own version of Secret Service.
“Most of our guard is directly round the castello wall,” she returned. “And the rest out on patrol. What shall happen between here and there? You can watch Lady Lia every step of the way. Let us not trifle with this any longer. Open the gates.”
He paused for another nanosecond, but there really was no arguing with the Lady Forelli. She had nearly as much power as Marcello. Only Luca outranked her. Thank God he’s not around right now , I thought. I shivered, remembering how harsh he’d been with Alessandra. The only people I’d ever seen him act so tough with were enemies. And Greco, when he was bent on killing himself. But Ali wasn’t our enemy. Was she?
The guards opened the gate and Gabi followed me to the center. “The guys are so gonna kill us,” I said under my breath. “Right after Mom and Dad work us over.”
“They’ll be more freaked if you don’t find Ali and get back here before her father arrives. Then we’ll all be in a world of hurt.”
I hesitated. “Maybe I should go get them now, Gabs. Tell them what’s up.”
“We can’t. Don’t you see? Then Firenze might really see our guys as evil stalkers.”
“Is it any better if they find me out here? Chasing her down? A She-Wolf of Siena?”
“Not really.” Gabi’s lips thinned into a thin line. “There’s a good three miles between us and the border. If you don’t find her straight off, promise me you’ll come back for the guys. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Take this,” she said, lifting a long dagger up to me.
“No.”
“ Take it . Just in case.”
I sighed and did as she asked, just to get her off my back, slipping it into my waistband.
“Go get her, Lia. I’ll be watching for you, up on the wall.”
I moved out, circumventing the castle, half-hoping I’d discover Alessandra below her window, with a sprained ankle or something. But the road was empty. I let out a heavy sigh.
I paused beneath the tiny window of her quarters, twenty feet above the ground, and whistled, amazed she could squirm through, and make it down alive. At the bottom were two deep footprints in the dirt that softened as she obviously took off. I traced the path with my eyes, marking her direction in the forest.
What was I doing? I was no tracker. My eyes shifted over to the few men in sight, wishing I could ask Rodolfo to help me. But Gabs was right. If the Fiorentini found Alessandra with Lord Rodolfo Greco after her, they’d really come down hard on us. All of us.
I casually moved out and into an arm of the forest that had not been cleared, hoping Gabi had
“No, I’m okay,” I said, my hand running over the smooth surface of the bow. I clenched it in my hands, striving to make her believe what even I couldn’t quite accept in my heart. It was one thing to shoot at some targets, but was I really ready to take up arms against another?
If they endangered me or mine, yes, I decided.
“Let me go, Gabs. I can do this. For us. For all of us. We’re wasting time!”
She still looked unconvinced as I bent to retrieve the reins from her hands. Then, before she could argue with me further, I called out to the nearest squire to go and open the doors. “Vai! Apri le porte!”
He scurried away, and I trotted through, then slowed my pace as I neared the front gates, waiting for my sister to stride up behind me. A guard, Patrizio, peered down at us. Mostly me, shouldering the bow. I knew it’d bummed the guys out in the last year, with me avoiding any time with the arrows. “Ah, out to do some hunting, m’lady, now that you’ve greased the wheel?”
“A good suggestion,” Gabi called. “But Lady Evangelia merely wishes to see the progress that has been made beyond the wall.”
I looked down, trying to hide my smile. She wasn’t lying, directly.
“No escort?” he asked doubtfully, clearly pondering his options. He knew as well as we did that we never went out without our own version of Secret Service.
“Most of our guard is directly round the castello wall,” she returned. “And the rest out on patrol. What shall happen between here and there? You can watch Lady Lia every step of the way. Let us not trifle with this any longer. Open the gates.”
He paused for another nanosecond, but there really was no arguing with the Lady Forelli. She had nearly as much power as Marcello. Only Luca outranked her. Thank God he’s not around right now , I thought. I shivered, remembering how harsh he’d been with Alessandra. The only people I’d ever seen him act so tough with were enemies. And Greco, when he was bent on killing himself. But Ali wasn’t our enemy. Was she?
The guards opened the gate and Gabi followed me to the center. “The guys are so gonna kill us,” I said under my breath. “Right after Mom and Dad work us over.”
“They’ll be more freaked if you don’t find Ali and get back here before her father arrives. Then we’ll all be in a world of hurt.”
I hesitated. “Maybe I should go get them now, Gabs. Tell them what’s up.”
“We can’t. Don’t you see? Then Firenze might really see our guys as evil stalkers.”
“Is it any better if they find me out here? Chasing her down? A She-Wolf of Siena?”
“Not really.” Gabi’s lips thinned into a thin line. “There’s a good three miles between us and the border. If you don’t find her straight off, promise me you’ll come back for the guys. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Take this,” she said, lifting a long dagger up to me.
“No.”
“ Take it . Just in case.”
I sighed and did as she asked, just to get her off my back, slipping it into my waistband.
“Go get her, Lia. I’ll be watching for you, up on the wall.”
I moved out, circumventing the castle, half-hoping I’d discover Alessandra below her window, with a sprained ankle or something. But the road was empty. I let out a heavy sigh.
I paused beneath the tiny window of her quarters, twenty feet above the ground, and whistled, amazed she could squirm through, and make it down alive. At the bottom were two deep footprints in the dirt that softened as she obviously took off. I traced the path with my eyes, marking her direction in the forest.
What was I doing? I was no tracker. My eyes shifted over to the few men in sight, wishing I could ask Rodolfo to help me. But Gabs was right. If the Fiorentini found Alessandra with Lord Rodolfo Greco after her, they’d really come down hard on us. All of us.
I casually moved out and into an arm of the forest that had not been cleared, hoping Gabi had
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