Kitabı oku: «In The Lion's Sign», sayfa 5
CHAPTER 9
Spring is ecstasy.
Flowering is an act of love.
(Anonymous)
Before leaving the city; Lucia went to the Bishop’s Palace to greet Monsignor Piersimone Ghislieri, who was pleased to receive she in the audience hall.
«My dear Countess, I am very happy to see you», he said, extending his ringed hand towards the young woman, prostrate at her feet. «Come, come, stand up, and tell me, rather! Any news from your betrothed? Is it known when he will return? When will I finally be able to join you in marriage?»
«Eh, how many questions, Your Eminence. If I had the answers, I would be very happy to share them with you. Unfortunately, my informers report to me that Andrea was sent last autumn to fight in the Netherlands, to accompany the French soldiers in the dirty war against Charles V of Habsburg. The winter has been long, and nothing more has been known about Andrea and his comrades-in-arms. But my heart tells me he is certainly alive.»
«From what I know, the French are having the worst, so much so that our Pope Clement VII, in order not to be overwhelmed by events, is trying to make a possible alliance with the Emperor, in order to safeguard the State of the Church.»
«Really? And our beloved Pope doesn’t think to the rest of Italy? In doing so he would open the way for the Lansquenets, who could reach as far as Milan, plunder it, and from there go as far as Florence and even Rome. And what will happen to our people, who are giving hand in hand to the French army, what will happen to them?»
«We must have faith in our Holy Father. You will see, everything will go well. But tell me the real reason why you came to see me. I don’t believe, Countess Lucia, that you have come here to talk about war and politics. So?», and the Cardinal took an attitude of listening, looking at the young lady of subtext, with cunning eyes.
Lucia blushed slightly, feeling so observed by a high prelate. She tried to conceal the embarrassment, detaching her gaze from the Cardinal’s eyes and staring at the cheerful flames of the large fireplace.
«For a few days I will stay away from Jesi, and therefore I will not be able to follow, as I did all winter, the government and administration of the city. Therefore, in my absence, I put these functions, which you have entrusted to me with such confidence, back into your hands. Clearly, until my return.»
«Well, I have no problem with that, even though I am more experienced in governing souls, rather than material and earthly matters. But, gracefully, tell me where you wish to go, and for how long you will be absent. Are you not going to join your beloved in the Netherlands, risking your own life?»
«No, don’t worry. My intention is to stay away only a few days. I’ll go to the Apennines and reach the abbey of St. Urbano. I have a mission to accomplish on behalf of Bernardino, the printer. I have to deliver to the Benedictine monks, brothers dear to you, a copy of the Divine Comedy made by my dear friend the printer and enriched with illustrations drawn by the hand of the monks themselves. I will take the opportunity to gather a few days in meditation and prayer and do penance. After the long winter that has passed, I need it.»
«Well, my dear little countess. I don’t want to hinder in any way this will of yours. But allow me to have you accompanied by some men of my confidence. They will be your escort, and I will feel more at ease.»
Lucia, who had no intention of being controlled day and night by the Cardinal’s thugs, pretended to think a little bit about it, then took up her word again.
«I thank you, Your Eminence», and Lucia lowered herself a little to take back the Cardinal’s hand and kiss the ring to say goodbye. «I have already given orders to four of my men to prepare the horses and provisions. I am already well escorted. Don’t worry about me.»
Of course, the next morning at an early hour, even before dawn, Lucia gave instructions to the girls’ housekeepers, woke up the stable boy, saddled Morocco, and galloped off, without any escort or provisions.
She arrived at the abbey of St. Urbano which was late afternoon. The air was sparkling. Although the sun was shining, the mountains around were still snowy. Going up from Esinante towards the abbey, Lucia had stopped in a wide clearing dotted with colourful flowers. The characteristic of these flowers, called Crocus, was to sprout in mountain meadows immediately after the snow had melted. The stigmas of the Crocus were much sought after by housewives and healers. The first ones, from the cultivated seedlings that blossomed in autumn, obtained saffron, an excellent reddish yellow spice to be used to make tasty dishes. The healers used instead the medicinal properties of wild flowers, which in nature blossomed in spring. The stigmas of the latter had to be dried as soon as they were picked and then stored in well closed glass jars. Crocus, in addition to having digestive, sedative and tranquilizing properties, could in fact be toxic, especially if taken in high doses or if the stigmas had not been dried properly, according to the rules handed down from mother to daughter. Therefore, once satisfied with the harvest, Lucia was quick to jump back on her steed to reach the abbey. Among other things, she would have asked the Prior, Father Gerolamo, to use the drying room, which no doubt was provided by the convent’s pharmacy. But when she arrived on the spot, the first thing that caught her eye, and that made everything else take second place, was Father Ignazio Amici’s cart, abandoned in the grassy square. Of course, it was covered with a beautiful layer of dust, which shows it had been there for quite a while. But the fact that Father Ignazio could arrive there from one moment to the next put a lot of anxiety on her.
The Prior, in all probability, had noticed the hesitant lady in the abbey square from the window of his cell. And so he had gone out to help her get off her horse and to welcome her.
«My Lady, I am truly honoured by your presence. But, tell me, how is it that you have come so far, in this still harsh season, and moreover alone, without any escort? Isn’t it unwise for a noblewoman to go around as you do?»
«Well, now that I see that cart, some fear is also beginning to come over me.»
«Don't worry», Father Gerolamo smiled. «If you are referring to Father Ignazio Amici, I believe we’ll no longer have to deal with him and his inquisitorial manias. A year and a half ago, after staging that farce of a trial up on the Colle dell’Aggiogo, he disappeared and no one knew anything about him anymore. But I assure you he certainly doesn’t roam these woods like a wolf. Someone would have sighted him sooner or later. I myself have made some inspections and found irrefutable convincing me our brother Ignazio, on the very day of the vile executions, has put his feet in foul, falling inside a sulphurous resurgence. Satan has called him back to himself, he has fallen straight to hell!»
«Well, although I never wish death to anyone, not even to my most bitter adversary, this news comforts me. But let’s come to the reasons for my visit.»
«Sure, but not here, my Lady. It’s starting to get cold. Come with me, let’s go to the library. We’ll converse in front of a nice lit fireplace.»
The library itself was a warm and comfortable environment. The walls were almost completely covered with shelves filled with books. Each section was marked with a letter of the alphabet, indicating the initial of the title of the texts stored there. Some friars worked in absolute silence, sitting at some desks, arranged in the centre of the room. A large fireplace spread light and warmth throughout the large living room. At a nod of the Prior, the amanuensis rested their instruments in good order and took their leave, one after the other. In short, Lucia remained alone with Father Gerolamo. First she gave him the precious tome entrusted to her by Bernardino. The Prior appreciated it, first sniffing it, to smell the printed paper, then flipping through some pages, finally dwelling on some of the illustrations.
«An excellent job!», he said, heading towards the section of the library marked with the letter D. «Thank your friend the printer. Few in the world know how to work as he does.»
«It is he who thanks you. Without your work, his work would have had much less value. And that is why he wanted you to have the first printed copy.»
«I am delighted, and my confreres will be too. But come to us. Soon darkness will fall, and I imagine that you will need hospitality. We have no nuns here in St. Urbano, so I will have to have a room prepared for you for the night in the guesthouse. I hope you are not afraid to be alone.»
«Don’t worry, I’m very tired and I’ll sleep like a log. And then it’s just one night. Tomorrow morning at dawn I will leave again. I’ll pay a courtesy visit to Mayor Germano degli Ottoni and I’ll return to Jesi before tomorrow evening. But I would like to ask you a couple more things. First of all I would like to pray, and then I would ask you to participate in the Vespers prayer together with your confreres.»
«And for that there is no problem. We recite the evening prayer in the church and there is always some faithful to attend. Take your place in the nave and turn to the Lord as you see fit. There are also confessors if you want to take advantage. Do you have any other request, my Lady?»
«Yes, if I may. The last favour I would like to ask you is to have the stigmas of the Crocus that I collected this morning dried for me. You know very well they must be dried as soon as possible, to take advantage of their medicinal properties.»
«Unfortunately, I cannot satisfy you in this. The brother who treated the pharmacy was very old and passed away just a few months ago. We have not yet had the opportunity to replace him, so there is no one who is able to use the equipment that belonged to him.»
Lucia was about to ask to do the job herself but, aware the request would be a serious embarrassment for the Prior, she held back. She should have found a valid alternative to dry the stigmas before returning to Jesi. She didn’t know how, but she would have thought about it.
«Well, sure, I understand. Provide me at least some glass jars to store them properly.»
«All right, my lady, for those there are no difficulties. After Vespers, you can have dinner in the refectory with us and, at the end of the meal, our guardian brother will give you the jars you need.»
«Thank you very much, Father, and before I leave, I will not fail to make a generous offer to your Convent.»
Rather than prayers and glass jars, Lucia’s thoughts were focused on other interests, even during the conversation with the prior. She was well aware that on that day, March 21, the spring equinox would occur, but the night that was coming would be even more magical because of the astral circumstance that included both the new moon and the entry of the sun into the constellation of the ram. In her head resounded a phrase that her grandmother had often repeated to her: “The new moon in ram carries the sacred fire of love, which will make us all free”.
So, once she was left alone in the small room of the guesthouse, several times she looked out of the window to admire the sky, which appeared to her eyes as a carpet of bright stars, where the moon could not be seen, but its presence was perceived as a dark disc evident in a precise point of the sky. She remembered one by one the words of the prayer that her grandmother Elena had taught her, to address to the Earth, to the Good Goddess.
Make me free.
Light the Sacred Fire and
Make me free to be.
Make me free to Love.
Make me free and you will teach me to have within me all the loves of the World.
She felt a shiver down his spine at the thought that some of the friars had just been able to intuit his thoughts. The Inquisition was a very powerful institution of the Church, even in those remote places. But now the desire to reach the Colle dell’Aggiogo, the magical place where she had been initiated into the art of healer and where she received the book “The Key of Solomon” to be its custodian, was too strong. At the end of the day, what was wrong, once she got up there, in lighting a bonfire, perhaps in order to dry the stigmata of the crocus, recite the prayer to the Good Goddess and thus celebrate the spring equinox in a dignified way, even if in solitude? She could have returned to the monastery before dawn, before the morning prayer of the monks, and no one would have noticed anything.
When she was sure that everything was quiet, she grabbed the jars with the crocus and went out in the stinging cold of the night, reached her horse, untied it, so as not to make noise led him on foot for a good stretch, then jumped on the saddle and took up the steep that, past the small towns of Poggio and Frontale, led to the Colle dell’Aggiogo.
The clearing in front of what were the ruins of Alberto and Ornella’s house was softly illuminated by the bluish glow emanating from the stars. The celestial vault was crossed by the Milky Way and the main constellations, the Small and the Big Dipper, Orion, the Bull, the Charioteer, the Greater Dog, and so on, were well recognizable by Lucia. The place reminded Lucia too much of the tragic events of which it had been the scene not even two years ago, and so she decided to continue towards the top of the hill. She found a quiet clearing, tied Morocco to a tree, collected wood and lit a bonfire. In a short time the flames rose cheerfully, spreading upwards in a thousand sparks. The young girl placed the Crocus near the fire, and concentrated on the flames, which at each instant took on different shapes and shades of colour.
The sparks make everything invisible and unreal, real and visible.
Now Lucia’s face was illuminated by the flames and made even more alive by their light. The girl, immersed in her thoughts and meditations, had not even noticed the young women who were getting closer to the bonfire and who, holding hands, had joined in her meditations.
Everything is love, and love frees everything and everyone and makes us free.
Lucia heard these words coming to her ears, in a muffled manner, as if they were spoken in a whisper of her own voice. Then she looked around and saw herself surrounded by at least a dozen girls who, in the heat of the bonfire, had begun to undress until they were naked, forming a circle around the fire. She threw more wood to revive the flames and increase their height, and felt the instinct to get rid of her clothes too.
The Aries wraps us in his embrace. It invites us to embrace, to feel the grip, to feel the heart bursting in our chest for happiness.
Declaring these words, she took two of the young women close to her by the hand, inviting the others to do the same to join in a circle around the bonfire.
We deserve ourselves.
We must love ourselves.
We must heal by giving love and love.
To heal is to free the love we have inside,
and unleash the strength we feel inside.
It's time to blossom and taste the sparkling air
and full of love.
The girls now, twelve in all, including Lucia, were dancing in a circle holding hands, completely naked, in the light of the fire and the stars.
In this New Moon, which brings change
and teaching, we just have to embrace each other
and be able to love all the way.
The ram brings the fire of love as a gift.
At that point, the circle broke and, two by two, the girls let themselves fall to the ground, beginning to caress each other, their bodies soaked in sweat, glistening in flames. Hands caressed their hips, tongues searched for swollen nipples, lips as red as fire kissed vaginas. The earth welcomed mooing and subdued cries, as each of the young women reached the highest pleasure. Then they changed companions and the ritual began again. Lucia had already reached the apex three times, when she realized that the fire was fading, the brightness of the celestial vault was fading and that, eastwards, she began to see the glow that preludes the new day. She realized that she was left alone, that there was no one next to her. Had she imagined everything? In an uncontrollable trance, had she only practiced autoeroticism, stimulated by the heat of the fire? It didn’t matter! The night had been wonderful, her body had enjoyed, it had merged with some of the elements of nature, with fire, with earth, with air, with water, which she now felt flowing in a nearby stream. In short, she was at peace with herself. Even the Crocus had dried to the right point and could be used for healing purposes. But now she had to be quick to return to the convent. Or to decide not to return there at all, so that the friars, especially the Prior, would not be suspicious of her and her behaviour. It certainly did not befit a maiden to wander through the woods on a new moonlit night, especially if it coincided with the spring equinox. She would have been immediately accused of being a witch!
Therefore, she collected her things, recovered her steed and headed towards the town of Apiro. Better to tell the Prior that she left early so as not to disturb the friars. After all, Germano degli Ottoni, to whose dwelling he was going, would have confirmed the version of the facts, if there had been any shadow of doubt on the part of anyone. But perhaps they were entirely unnecessary concerns.
CHAPTER 10
With the impression of being spied on in their path moment by moment, Andrea, Fulvio and Geraldo reached Ferrara, which was already dark for quite a while. They had illuminated the path with flashlights, jumping at every slightest noise. Only the vision of the imposing silhouette of the Este castle had succeeded in appeasing their souls. In fact, from the village of Pallantone to Ferrara they had hardly met a living soul, but the fear of being incoherent again in bands of Lansquenets had pervaded their souls all the way. The castle of San Michele was an enormous bulwark, surrounded by an important moat, built about a century and a half earlier at the behest of Marquis Nicolò II. Andrea and his companions entered of great career through the main door, finding themselves in the inner square of the fortress. They were not intercepted by the guards only because they had been warned of their arrival by Duke Alfonso himself. Otherwise three armed men, who crossed the bridge over the moat to reach the inside of the fortress, would have been easy targets of the guards’ arrows from the stands. In fact, even if the door was open, the whole fortress was well guarded by sentries, present in large numbers on the towers and walkways.
Alfonso I d'Este was 47 years old at the time, but he showed many more, perhaps proved in life by his marriage to Lucrezia Borgia, from whom he had had 7 children, of which 3 died in neonatal or puerile age, and by a serious wound reported in the year of the Lord 1512 in the battle in defence of Cento. He received Andrea in the audience hall, fully dressed with a red velvet zimarra8 , tightened at the waist by an elegant silk belt and surmounted by an ermine cloak. At the neck of the Duke stood out a large metal necklace finely worked, with a pendant depicting the effigy of his late wife, Lucrezia, who died in childbirth in 1519. Also Isabella Maria, the daughter born in that unfortunate occasion, had passed away at only two years of age. The Duke had a reputation as a warrior, so much so that even during the audiences, as in that moment, he carried his sword lined on his left side, with the hilt protruding from his belt in an evident way. On the other side, on the right, a scarce amount of money was to be used to keep cash to use at any occasion it was necessary. Alfonso I d’Este was not only a great expert in ballistic technique, but he was also an artillery master, a metallurgist and cannon smelter, so much so that he was nicknamed “Duca Artigliere”9 . In 1509, during the battle of Polesella, the cannons of the Duchy of Ferrara, fused under his supervision, had succeeded in destroying a Venetian fleet that had gone up the Po to reach the Este city. The Duke and his artillerymen had waited for a providential flood of the Po to lift the ships up to the line of fire of the cannons, then they had fired, destroying a large part of the fleet. At the time, the naval defeat of the Venetian Republic by a land army had aroused great impression, and had favoured the reconciliation of relations between the Serenissima Republic and the city of Ferrara. Recently, the Duke had developed a new technique for making gunpowder, which he had used to make a new deadly weapon, called a grenade, which had replaced explosive bullets. The grenade, launched with the use of firearms, cannons or bombards, was activated upon contact with the ground. The gunpowder contained inside exploded and the deflagration scattered all around materials, such as shrapnel and metal fragments, capable of damaging the enemy.
The Duke, with eyes tired and flushed, invited Andrea to come closer, and at the same time he called another man next to him, who appeared boldly from a side door. Not surprisingly, Andrea recognized Franz, the Lansquenet with whom he had dealt no more than a few hours earlier. The man approached the Duke with a grin on his face. Andrea looked at him in a dog-like manner. But he had to make good face to bad game and wait for Duke Alfonso to take the floor.
With a nod of the hand, the latter made his guests sit down at the table set. The servants poured the wine into the cups and then took their leave, leaving the trio to total confidentiality.
«Today is a lucky day for me», the Duke said, raising the cup and tasting the wine. «Almost at the same time, one from the north, the other from the south, two valiant warriors arrived here in Ferrara, in my presence, two brave warriors, or rather, I dare say, two brave leaders. So, shake hands and make friends with each other, because it’s my intention to entrust you with an important mission, which you will carry out together. Franz Von Vollenweider, Lord of South Tyrol, I present to you the Marquis Franciolini, Lord of the Lands of Upper Montefeltro!»
Andrea, thoughtful, sipped the wine, biting a piece of focaccia dipped in the sauce of the guinea fowl pie.
«Lord of the South Tyrol?», Andrea said, turning to the Duke. «In the village of Pallantone, today at lunchtime, this Lord gave more the idea of being a wicked Lansquenet than anything else. We have already had the opportunity to get to know each other!»
«Yes», the other replied. «If I’m not mistaken, you owe me a man and a sword!»
«Come on, no more grudges!», Alfonso resumed, draining the cup of wine and emitting a loud burp. «Now I need you to be in agreement among yourselves. You must reach for me Giovanni Dalle Bande Nere, up in the Bergamo area, telling him important news from me and from the Holy Father.»
«If you have to tell him news, why not send a messenger, instead of two brave leaders, as you defined us just now?», Andrea intervened, bringing a juicy morsel of guinea fowl breast and speaking with his mouth full.
«Let me explain, Marquis Franciolini. The matter is delicate and reaching Bergamo, or rather the town of Caprino Bergamasco, where Ludovico di Giovanni de’ Medici is camped with his soldiers of fortune, is not easy, it is very risky. This is why only the two of you, together, can successfully complete the mission. You, Andrea Franciolini, are a person of great intelligence and diplomatic skills. Beyond a leader, you have the reputation of being a wise administrator. Moreover, you already know Giovanni, who will certainly trust you. For his part, Franz is able to stand up to the Lansquenets who infest the area, as he knows their habits very well and expresses himself in their language. I believe that you can reach the Bergamasque without a wounded shot, which is practically impossible for a messenger who, even if escorted, could find his throat slit like nothing else.»
«From what I know, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere is busy on two fronts, that is, he is holding his own against two different enemies», Andrea resumed, interrupting Duke Alfonso again. «Last August, he was hired by the Imperialists and is fighting the French and their expansionist aims in Italy. Above all he is protecting Milan, to try to keep it in the hands of the Sforza, who are his family on his mother’s side. But he is also fighting against the Lansquenets, who are targeting the same city on behalf of Emperor Charles V, because from here it would be easy to spread to the south, to Florence, and then to Rome. The Hapsburg wants to reunite with its Neapolitan cousins, the Aragon, to bring all of Italy back under its crown! But it cannot expose itself more than much and therefore it sends ahead an irregular army, that to the need can deny in any moment.»
«Well, I see that you are well informed, but what you do not know, for having travelled at sea a few days, and that is the most important fact, is that about ten days ago, and precisely on September 23, Pope Hadrian VI suddenly passed away. And we all know by whom he will be replaced, by a Medici, by the Archbishop of Florence. Julius de’ Medici will seek a possible alliance with the French, precisely to prevent the Emperor, Charles V, from reaching Florence and then Rome. So what you will have to report to Giovanni is that his uncle is willing to pay all his debts, as long as he starts thinking about stopping fighting the French. He got some nice victories on them, rejecting in these days also the Swiss army, which was coming down from Valtellina to give them support. But from now on it will no longer be necessary. He must concentrate his efforts only on fighting the Lansquenets. That said, that said everything. Let us now do honour to the table!»
At the clap of Duke Alfonso’s hands, the doors of the salon opened wide and the servants returned with an enormous tray, where a whole roast boar was displayed, which was placed in the centre of the table. Other smaller trays, containing vegetables and various gravies, soon surrounded the first one. In addition to wine, a jug of frothy, fresh amber-coloured liquid was also brought to the table in Franz’s honour.
«Endlich Bier!», the Lansquenet exclaimed. «Beer, finally, and the good one!»
«Drink and eat at will, my friends», the Duke recommended to his guests. «Tomorrow before dawn you’ll have fresh mounts and you’ll leave for Bergamo.»
«And my escort?», Andrea asked. «Will Fulvio and Gerardo follow me in this adventure?»
«No, you two will have to go alone. I will see to it myself that the two men can move to Mantua to join your company and the Sea Captain Tommaso de’ Foscari. You yourself, Marquis, once the mission has been completed, you can easily reach the city of the Gonzaga or, if you prefer, join your beloved Duke Della Rovere at the castle of Sirmione. This last solution will avoid you an uncomfortable and long navigation, from the dock of Mantua to Lake Benàco, through rivers, canals and flooded fields, moreover on board of a ship too big to manoeuvre with agility in such waters.»
«Well, this I will be able to evaluate at the right time», Andrea replied. «I willingly accept a mission requested by a Lord known friend and ally of Duke Francesco Maria Della Rovere. But what guarantees do you give me that Franz here present, once the mission is completed, will not turn against us? As he makes us believe now that he is on our side, he could always double-cross us and pass again on the side of his Lansquenets friends and his dear Emperor Charles V!»
To these words, a sardonic smile was printed on Franz’s mouth, who replied to Andrea anticipating Duke Alfonso.
«C’mon, Marquis! Let’s consider today’s skirmish to be water under the bridge. I want to repay the debts you have with me. At the end of the day, my friend will be excellently replaced by you, who are much more valid as a companion of adventure than that little half-wit you killed. As for my sword, my Katzbalger, I want to make you a gift of it. I have others and I am sure that you will make good use of them!»
«A sword not very handy, I would say! Anyway, I thank you and accept the gift, but these don’t seem to me to be sufficient guarantees yet.»
«But it’ll be enough, as a guarantee of my good faith, what Duke Alphonso promised me as a gift», Franz added, lowering his head as a sign of respect to the Duke and waiting for the latter to take back his word.
«Sure! I promised Franz, if the mission will be successful, he would be able to return to his lands in South Tyrol. He will be appointed Archduke of Bolzano and will have jurisdiction over the city and the entire upper Adige Valley. South Tyrol will become independent territory and I myself will guarantee the protection of its borders against the imperial armies. And it’ll be a buffer state between the Empire and our Italy, now that most of the Italian governments are allying themselves with the King of France.»
Andrea, thoughtful, swallowed another cup of wine. He remained a few moments in silence, then resumed.
«All right, that’s fine with me. Now I ask forgiveness, but I am very tired and would like to retire to rest. Franz.... Oh, I beg your forgiveness! Archduke of Wollenweider, see you tomorrow morning before dawn in the stables.»
So saying, he left the salon, flaunting disregard. But in his heart, doubts continued to assail him. He didn’t trust the German and would certainly not lower his guard, despite the statements of the Duke of Este. And he didn’t trust Giovanni dalle Bande Nere too much either. He would have been safe only once he reached the Duke Della Rovere in Sirmione. At the cost of getting back on that damned Venetian galleon. Better to endure seasickness than to die at the hands of a Goth!
Ücretsiz ön izlemeyi tamamladınız.
