Millefiore - Loriana's Chambers
A knocking at her door drew Loriana's attention away from her needlepoint. A duchess she might be, but there were times when a return to the simple pastimes learned in her formative years brought clear thinking to an otherwise confused situation. She put down her needle and responded to the knock. "Enter!" she called out. Guards outside opened the door permitting the visitor to enter.
"Oh, Caterina. Excellent, you are back from your visits. Come sit with me. Let me show you this sewing."
Caterina, dressed for riding and now returned to the Keep, entered and sat down by her sister as the guards closed the chamber door to provide proper privacy. Both of them strongwilled, one of them more the "wild child," nonetheless, Loriana and Cat could be the best of sisterly friends on most occasions.
A discussion ensued over the merits of one stitch versus another in the sampler being designed and created by Loriana. The Duchess pursed her lips as one of Caterina's observations seemed especially apropros. "Oh my," she said with a sigh. "I shall have to remove some of these stitches to do that." She sighed again. "But, Cat, I think you're right. It would be best. Tomorrow then." Loriana placed her sewing needle and threads in her sewing box and pushed the easel-like sewing frame to the side so it would not interfere with her conversation.
"Was there another reason you asked for me, Loriana?" asked Cat, her green eyes mirroring curiousity.
"Ummm, yes. Ever since we returned from San Luca Maggiore after the funeral and Bianca's arrest, I have had this nagging feeling we should more closely observe what is transpiring there."
"We sent our ambassador, didn't we?" asked Cat, thinking for sure she knew the answer. She was correct.
"Yes, but his messages have been disturbing. It seems very little progress is being made. Bianca and Del Strego remain jailed and..."
Cat interrupted her with a laugh, "Not for long." Then Cat put her hand to her mouth and shifted her eyes away from her sister. The young woman wished in vain she hadn't impulsively said that or said it quite that way.
Loriana looked at her, a furrowed brow now creasing her forehead. "Why do you say that?"
"Oh, well, because... Uh. I think something will be proved soon enough." Cat was now exceedingly nervous in her sister's presence. Loriana's face took on the look that said The Duchess was now present and the sister had departed the room. It didn't make Cat feel any more comfortable. "Cat, what did you do?" Loriana asked forthrightly and firmly.
"I visited Cesare some days ago." Cat cast her green eyes to the ground, not wanting to see her sister's face as she spoke. "I asked him to investigate the crime and find the evidence to prove Bianca killed Ricco. He agreed."
"CAT! But why! I never asked you to do that!"
"Because she killed our brother, that's why! Because she doesn't deserve to live, that's why! Because she... Because she..." Cat's mind raced ahead desperately trying to help her avoid saying all of what she was thinking.
"Because she is the reason Figaro is gone from Millefiore, that's why?!" said Loriana, knowing her sister all too well.
"YES! I mean, NO! I mean... No, not just that. I think she hated Ricco."
"Cat, look at me... I said look at me, Cat..." Loriana waited until Cat's green eyes were peering at her and her alone. "Ricco's months with Bianca were the happiest of his life. I know this because he said so, not just in his messages, but in his own voice when he spoke to me alone when he visited here or I visited there. Bianca was devoted to him. Cat, she is far more simpler than you think and has not a single conspiratorial thought in her mind or soul. Believe me, I could see the devotion in her. It ruled her heart when it came to Ricco. I can see it in you as well, though you are far more complex a person."
"Devotion, me?"
"Yes, Cat. It is in your eyes and your eyes cry out 'Figaro' colored by all of the loss you still unshakeably feel. That's why you pursue this 'truth' you seek about Bianca. It is not for your brother's sake at all."
Cat's face reddened considerably. "She drove him from me!"
"No, my sister. The fault is with Figaro, not you and certainly not Bianca. She did not drive Figaro away from you. He ran from you both, fearful of the decision he had to make.
"A coward..."
"No, not a coward," said Loriana. "A young man who never knew love before; a troubled warrior fighting a battle he did not know how to fight. He simply withdrew from the battlefield leaving the decision lying among the casualties."
"What am I to do, Loriana? As time goes by this does not lessen."
"Then let time go by and trust who it is you truly love."
"What about Cesare? Have I done wrongly?"
Loriana leaned back in her chair and considered these questions. "How long ago since you saw him?"
"About three days now. I was sent word he left his cottage soon afterwards."
"Maybe what you did, impulsive and ill-considered at the time, was for the best afterall."
"It was?" Cat felt a little less guilty, but only a very little less.
"Yes. Perhaps he will be the one who finally gets the truth out into the open... Whatever the truth might be."
"I really do want the truth learned, Loriana. It may not sound like it, but I really do." Cat was struggling to hold back tears. She wiped her eyes repeatedly to prevent their flow.
"I know that Cat. I've always known that."
A knock at the door interrupted them. "Yes, what is it?" asked Loriana, somewhat irritated at the unwanted disruption.
"A message from San Luca Maggiore, Mi'lady," said the servant outside the door.
"Enter."
The servant handed Loriana the message and waited. The message was brief, succinct and sent by her ambassador. Loriana read it and promptly dismissed the servant. Her eyes staring unseeing into the open space of the room, Loriana closed the note and placed it on her lap, folding her hands over the parchment.
"What is it Loriana? What did the note say?"
"Cat..." began Loriana. "The Crimson Knight has been seen in San Luca Maggiore."
Cat brought her hand to her mouth, her green eyes open and large, her mind launching a hundred thoughts all at the same time...
Her heart raced to keep up.
Loriana looked at her sister and saw the play of emotions across her face. "I think..." Here Loriana paused as she watched Cat's eyes focus on her in anticipation. "I think it is time to visit San Luca Maggiore." And then Loriana smiled.
Cat's heart leaped in response.
[This message has been edited by Civis Romanus (edited 07-07-2003 @ 03:32 PM).]