City of Swords (36 page)

There was dead silence in the chamber.

‘I’m sorry,’ the Signore continued, ‘but this means that the Cavaliere cannot be tried for this crime. Since, in the terms of Fortezzan law, no crime has been committed, he is free to go.’

The Grand Duke jumped to his feet, his face flushed with rage. ‘But there was a warrant for his arrest in Fortezza, as in all the di Chimici city-states!’

‘I’m afraid the warrant had no legality, since it is for a charge that is not a valid crime in Fortezza.’ The Signore could hardly look less comfortable. ‘And, the warrant – mistakenly issued, as it turns out – has now been withdrawn by exercise of the Princess’s royal privilege.’

By a huge effort of self-control, Fabrizio said no more while the young Bellezzan stepped down from the stand and joined his friends in the public seats.

‘The charge against Poggi still stands, I assume?’ Fabrizio asked the Signore with icy politeness.

‘It does, Your Grace,’ said the Signore.

Enrico Poggi remained in the dock, looking wretchedly alone.

‘Then let the trial proceed,’ said Fabrizio.

The Signore knew he should rebuke the Grand Duke for speaking out of turn in court but he didn’t have the stomach for it.

‘Will you please resume the witness stand, Your Grace?’ was all he said.

But the wind had been taken from Fabrizio’s sails.

He answered all the questions put to him about Enrico’s involvement in the duel and his switching of the foils.

There were no other witnesses for the prosecution because the only other one who might have been called was Gaetano, who had been Grand Duke Niccolò’s other second. Cardinal di Chimici had also had a close view, but his testimony would not have shown the Grand Duke in a good light.

‘Are there any witnesses to speak in defence of the accused?’ asked the Signore.

And Luciano got to his feet, this time walking to the witness stand instead of the dock.

^*

There was no one in Fabio’s shop but his apprentices when Laura, Nick and Georgia arrived.

‘He’s at the trial,’ said one of them, who recognised Laura. ‘I wish we were too.’

Nick looked at them both. ‘I told you Fabrizio wouldn’t waste any time,’ he whispered.

The apprentice directed them to the Palazzo della Signoria and they hurried towards it, dreading what they might find.

They arrived just as the court reconvened. They hadn’t heard what the Signore had announced so were completely puzzled when Luciano took the witness stand, instead of being on trial.

‘This man is not responsible for Grand Duke Niccolò’s death,’ said Luciano.

There was a hubbub in the court.

‘What do you mean by that?’ asked the Signore.

‘I gave the Grand Duke the death blow,’ said Luciano. ‘And Enrico Poggi switched the foils, which he had previously smeared with poison. But who gave him that poison? Grand Duke Niccolò himself.’

‘What are you saying?’ asked the Signore.

‘I am saying that the only person culpably responsible for the death of the present Grand Duke’s father was Grand Duke Niccolò himself.’

Fabrizio leapt from his place, drawing his sword. He had to be restrained by officials of the court. Luciano did not flinch as the blade of Fabrizio’s sword swished past his face before he was disarmed.

Rodolfo whispered to Fabio, ‘It seems his education in Padavia has done him some good after all.’

Luciano continued unperturbed.

‘If the foils had not been switched, I would have been the one to die, as was Grand Duke Niccolò’s intention. He was a more experienced swordsman than I was, but he did not trust to his skill – he tried to rig the result. In other words, he cheated. Without the poison, my insignificant blow would not have killed him. I say again that Enrico Poggi was not responsible for the Grand Duke’s death and should be released.’

‘How dare you insult my father’s memory?’ snarled Fabrizio.

‘I say only what is absolutely true,’ said Luciano. ‘There are those here in this court who saw what happened.’

‘There is no one here who dares say they saw anyone but that wretch in the dock put poison on the foils!’ said Fabrizio. ‘Who is to say that he acted on my father’s instructions?’

‘I say it,’ said Enrico from the dock.

The court was in disarray and the Signore had no control over it.

‘Who will believe the word of this spy and assassin?’ asked Fabrizio.

‘May I continue, Signore?’ said Luciano.

The Signore nodded weakly. He was wondering if he would escape from this with his head on his shoulders.

‘I appeal to the Councillors,’ said Luciano. ‘The accused is innocent of this crime, but he has committed others.’

Enrico put his head in his hands.

‘He kidnapped me some years ago in Bellezza,’ said Luciano. ‘So you can see that I have no reason to defend him. But I do defend him, out of a sense of justice.’

This was going down well with the Councillors. Both Luciano and Fabrizio were fine young men, but there was no doubt which one was comporting himself better.

‘It has been said here that both Enrico Poggi and myself were responsible for Grand Duke Niccolò’s death,’ Luciano continued. ‘And I have claimed that neither of us was. But it raises an interesting question. Who is responsible for a death? The person who inflicts the fatal wound or administers the deadly poison? Or the person who orders that act?’

The court went quiet again. Rinaldo tried to leave but the doors had been bolted. He returned sheepishly to his seat.

‘The late Grand Duke,’ continued Luciano, ‘much as he was loved and valued by his family, called for more than one assassination. I know of two attempts on the life of the last Duchessa of Bellezza. I was present at the first.’

This caused a sensation.

‘If I had not intervened, the Duchessa would have died on the night of the Maddalena Feast three years ago. The assassin was arrested and repented. But the man who paid him to commit the crime is in this room.’

Luciano had certainly learned something from Professor Constantin about the tricks of Rhetoric.

The Signore knew he was so far lost in the Grand Duke’s esteem that he threw all caution aside and asked, ‘Who do you mean?’

‘Cardinal Rinaldo di Chimici,’ said Luciano.

The court erupted.

‘But he too was acting under orders, just as much as his assassin was, and those orders came from Grand Duke Niccolò.’

‘And the Duchessa did not die on that occasion,’ squeaked Rinaldo.

‘Indeed not. But that was not the last time that Grand Duke Niccolò ordered her death. The second time, the Cardinal, still at that time Reman Ambassador to Bellezza, commissioned this man here in the dock, Enrico Poggi.’

All eyes turned to the man in blue.

‘And he did indeed succeed in killing a woman he believed to be the Duchessa.’

A sigh ran round the court. The man was doomed then. The prisoner began to weep. An official gave him a handkerchief.

‘But it was not the Duchessa,’ said Luciano quietly.

‘I knew it!’ said Rinaldo, then hastily buried his face in his own handkerchief, pretending to sneeze.

Most people in the room had heard of the assassination of the late Duchessa; very few knew that she was still alive.

‘It was this poor man’s fiancée,’ said Luciano. ‘He knew that the Duchessa sometimes used a substitute, but he did not know that she had done so on that day and that it was his own beloved Giuliana.’

Enrico was sobbing openly.

‘There is no evidence for any of this taradiddle!’ shouted Fabrizio. Guido Parola stepped forward.

‘I can attest under oath that I was the first assassin hired by the Cardinal,’ he said.

The courtroom gave a collective gasp. This was their future Prince admitting to a vile crime.

‘And I have never denied I was the second,’ said the prisoner through his tears.

‘But who will say my father authorised either attempt?’ asked Fabrizio. He was glaring at his cousin the Cardinal, daring him to cut his last link to di Chimici power and say before the court that he had acted on Niccolò’s orders.

‘There has been some misunderstanding,’ wailed the Cardinal.

‘It is not any member of the di Chimici family who is on trial here, however,’ said Luciano. ‘It is this wretched man, who twice followed orders from his superior, as every soldier in the di Chimici army has done. He has already paid a terrible price for his crimes. I ask the Signore to put Enrico Poggi’s case to the members of the Signoria and I appeal to the court for mercy.’

He went and sat down.

‘Phew!’ said Georgia under her breath to the other two Stravaganti. The atmosphere in the court was so charged that none of them believed that everyone would get out alive.

The Signore leapt to his feet.

‘Members of the Signoria,’ he said, ‘let me remind you that the prisoner on trial, Enrico Poggi, is charged only with being an accessory to the death of Grand Duke Niccolò of Tuschia. Are you ready to consider a verdict on that charge?’

There was loud assent.

‘Do you need to retire to consider your verdict?’

The most senior Councillor after the Signore stood. ‘I believe we can move to a vote, Signore.’

‘All those members of the Signoria who find the accused guilty?’ asked the Signore.

Not one single hand went up.

In the dock Enrico collapsed.

‘The accused is free to go,’ said the Signore. ‘I call a recess for the midday meal before we consider the case of Bertoldo Ciampi. Court adjourned.’

The Grand Duke stormed out, with his entourage behind him.

‘Congratulations,’ Rodolfo said to Luciano. ‘I think we should get back to our mirrors as soon as possible.’

^*

And so it was that the court was half empty and had no Stravaganti in it when General Ciampi was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death by hanging, the sentence to be carried out immediately.

But as Grand Duke Fabrizio watched the man’s legs kicking in the air, his appetite for vengeance was barely touched.

‘Mark my words,’ the Giglian guard said to the Morescan one. ‘All the rest of these rebel prisoners will swing tomorrow. Just their bad luck, poor swine. The Grand Duke will have no mercy now.’

Chapter 21

Safe Conduct

Alfonso di Chimici was the last person Fabio expected to find in his workshop. The Duke looked round the busy room and sought out the swordsmith. It wasn’t hard to identify him, since he was huddled over a mirror with Rodolfo and Luciano.

‘Your Grace!’ said Fabio. ‘What can I do for you?’

His professional glance flew to the sword at Alfonso’s belt.

But Alfonso was not in need of a new weapon.

‘Is there somewhere private we can talk?’ he asked. He nodded to the other two Stravaganti to include them.

Fabio led them to his private room at the back.

‘Have you heard about the fate of the rebel General?’ asked Alfonso straight away.

They hadn’t and were appalled when he told them about Fabrizio’s summary ‘justice’.

‘We shouldn’t have left the court,’ said Luciano.

‘Not even your eloquence could have stopped it, Cavaliere,’ said Alfonso. ‘I am very worried about the Grand Duke.’

‘We have been worried for some time,’ said Rodolfo.

‘He is so . . . thwarted by what has happened here that I am afraid he will take a terrible vengeance on many Fortezzan citizens, who were only doing what they believed to be right in supporting the older son’s claim.’

‘What can we do to help?’ asked Fabio.

‘The Princess told me that you have a way of communicating with others of your Order in other Talian cities,’ said Alfonso. ‘There is only one person I can think of who might be able to stop Fabrizio in his thirst for blood and that is our uncle, the Pope. Can you possibly get in contact with someone in Remora?’