'The Manoush are in prison,' said Cesare. 'They were arrested the night before last and tried yesterday and '

'Don't tell me,' said Matt, horrified. 'I saw the bonfires on the way here.'

'You've guessed it,' said Cesare. 'All of them condemned to burn. All those who celebrated their Day of the Dead.'

'So what are we going to do about it?'

'Rodolfo and Dethridge have a plan. We had a meeting about it last night. But it's a risk. I don't know that it will succeed.'

Luciano had been busy with the other Stravaganti, making arrangements in Bellezza through means of the mirrors. It wasn't easy, because the women were not as expert at think-speaking and sometimes Rodolfo wrote important instructions backwards and held them up to the gla.s.s.

And it had been frustrating seeing Arianna without being able to touch her or kiss her.

'She seems to be trying to tell me about kittens,' Luciano said to Rodolfo. 'Big spotty kittens is what I'm getting. She seems very excited about it.'

Rodolfo laughed. 'We are trying to organise a dangerous escape plan for thirty people and Arianna wants to tell you about her cats! It is the one called Florio and it turns out to be a female. Expecting babies. Arianna is thrilled.'

'Then I must be too,' said Luciano, smiling. 'Perhaps she will have a whole collection of them to be her bodyguard? It's not a bad idea.'

'Well, they won't be born in time to help protect the Manoush,' said Rodolfo. 'I wish my daughter would concentrate.'

'Ye sholde be gladde she has some thynge to be light of herte aboute,' said Dethridge. 'I am happye that she is not livinge as we be, in the shadowe of the stake.'

'You are quite right, Dottore,' said Rodolfo. 'And wise as always. I would not want her or our wives to live in a city where it is possible to burn men, women and children, just because they follow their religion.'

'You forget,' said Luciano. 'Arianna knows as well as any of us, except the Dottore, what it is to be condemned to death by burning. If she had not been shown to be your daughter and Silvia's, she would have been executed for being in Bellezza on the forbidden day.'

'You both instruct me,' said Rodolfo. 'My master and my apprentice. I am justly rebuked.'

'Your daughter's tender heart has room for the Manoush as well as for her cats,' said Constantin. 'But I am glad she has not had to see them in prison. They are a terrible sight.'

At that moment, Cesare arrived with Matt; they had come by a circuitous route avoiding both the Piazza dei Fiori and Filippo's palazzo.

Everyone's attention was diverted by Matt's face. Luciano felt a sharp thought penetrate his mind.

Who is that thug? He looks terrifying!

He was glad that Arianna could only think the thought and not speak it aloud.

It's Matteo, the new Stravagante, he thought-spoke. You've met him. He was beaten up by the di Chimici.

'I just heard about the Manoush,' said Matt. 'Sorry I wasn't here. What can I do?'

'You can both go and visit them in prison,' said Rodolfo. 'But we'll have to find Matteo a hat to cover his hair. And perhaps it should have a broad brim to conceal his face.'

Filippo was sure that the di Chimici were close to finding the secret of stravagation. He was in favour of imprisoning Luciano and finding his talisman, then torturing him till he told them what they wanted.

Rinaldo preferred a more direct course of action. Fabrizio wanted the Bellezzan dead and Rinaldo wanted to be the one to feel the Grand Duke's grat.i.tude. He might be a cardinal, but he was a complete hypocrite: he had no qualms about ordering another man's death, if it would benefit him. But as a human being and a squeamish one, he was reluctant to wield the knife himself.

Yet he could not forget that both his attempts to hire a.s.sa.s.sins to do his dirty work for him in the past had ended in failure. So he had devised a method of dispatching the Cavaliere that was both ingenious and, he thought, impossible to trace back to him or his family. And he would enjoy watching him die, in spite of his qualms about physical violence.

But what the Cardinal did not know was that Enrico, his former spy, had been following him as he went about making his arrangements.

Enrico did not know exactly what was being plotted but he had a pretty good idea about the main plan and it made him feel sick. He was on his way now to Silvia's house to tell the Stravaganti and warn Luciano.

Cesare and Matt went to the prison to see the Manoush. Their task was to let them know about the rescue but it was difficult with the guards listening.

Ludo was in one cell and Ottavio in the other; by tacit consent they had become the two leaders of the group. Cesare went to talk to Ottavio, leaving Matt to communicate with Ludo.

'I'm so sorry about what happened,' said Matt. 'I didn't know till this morning.'

'You look as if you have had troubles of your own,' said Ludo.

Luciano had lent Matt one of his hats, his favourite elaborate plumed and purple number which made Matt feel more conspicuous than his bruises did. He had taken it off as soon as he had been let into the prison.

'True,' he said. 'A bit of a brush with the di Chimici. But at least we've convinced Luciano that Filippo is not on his side.'

'I'm glad,' said Ludo.

Matt was just amazed that this Manoush could care so much about other people when he was doomed to die a horrible death the next day. Matt was a bit ashamed to remember that he had once not liked Ludo much.

The guards seemed to have lost interest in the prisoners. They were quiet throughout the day; it was only first thing in the morning and at nightfall that they became difficult. Matt leaned closer to Ludo and whispered to him.

'There's a plan to rescue you tomorrow. You must watch Doctor Dethridge for the signal. Then all the Stravaganti, and Cesare and Enrico, will release you. We may get one or two others to help, like Biagio the printer. As soon as you are outside the city walls, head for Bellezza. All right? Is there anyone in the city you can trust to bring your people's belongings to them at the city gate?'

Ludo clasped hands with him through the bars. It was only the fierceness of his grip that made Matt realise that Ludo was indeed scared of dying and putting on a brave show to keep his people's spirits up.

'I thank you,' he said. 'For my people and myself. And if you can get a message to Giunta, the Governor's wife, I'm sure she will organise the gathering of our belongings. But if the G.o.ddess does not look favourably on us and the plan fails, I want you to promise me something.'

'Anything,' said Matt recklessly.

'Take this ring,' said Ludo, pulling a small bag from a thong round his neck. 'No, don't look at it now. It belongs to my father. I don't know who he was but he was a member of the di Chimici family. I am ashamed of that now. But I used to be proud of it. If I perish in the flames tomorrow, find him for me and tell him that his son died bravely.'

The guards came to usher them out at just that moment and Matt could do no more than close his hand over the little bag and nod his a.s.sent. 'I'm sure what you ask won't be necessary,' he said, putting all the meaning into the neutral words that he could.

But it was a heavy burden he took out of the prison. He couldn't even take the bag with the ring back home with him. He had been told very firmly about the rules that Stravaganti mustn't take anything between worlds but their talismans. He would ask Luciano what to do. Perhaps he or one of the other Stravaganti would know what to do with it.

Giunta had refused to share Antonio's bed ever since the pa.s.sing of the anti-magic laws. Or rather she had turfed him out of his own chamber.

'You would surely not want carnal knowledge of a pagan?' she had said. 'A G.o.ddess-worshipper and sympathiser with the heathens? No, as long as this city sets its face against the Lady, then I must set my face against you.'

It made the Governor acutely miserable and short-tempered with his staff. But his domestic discomfort was as nothing compared with the open strife that followed the arrest and condemnation of the Manoush.

'Women and children!' Giunta spat at him after the trial. 'You would burn not only the men but the weakest of the tribe, just for following their religion?'

'It is the law, woman,' said Antonio. 'What would you have me do? It is the parents who are to blame for leading their children into such known danger.'

'I would have you repeal the laws,' said Giunta. 'They weren't your idea to begin with. And why should you dance to the tune of a Grand Duke in Tuschia? Is Padavia not an independent city-state? Cla.s.se and Bellezza are our nearest allies and they have both resisted introducing the di Chimici laws.'

'You know we have always disagreed about G.o.ddess-worship,' said Antonio.

'I'm not talking about our personal opinions,' said Giunta. 'I'm talking about what's right for the city. Will you follow our tradition of learning and liberality that has existed for three hundred and fifty years or will you be under the thumb of a family that thinks they have the right to determine what is known and believed? Because if so, Padavia might as well give in and become another di Chimici princ.i.p.ality.'

As well as planning for the reception of the rescued Manoush, Arianna had also made a formal plea to her ally, Governor Antonio, to show clemency and reprieve the travelling people from their death. Swiftly his reply had come, stubbornly sticking to the letter of the law. There was nothing left to be done except hope that the plan of the Stravaganti in Padavia would succeed.

'You can trust Rodolfo,' said Silvia.

'I wish that it was already Thursday and the whole thing over,' said Arianna. 'I can't bear the waiting.'

'Don't wish your life away, Arianna,' said Silvia. 'Not even one day of it.'

'I can't help it,' said Arianna. 'I wish Luciano would leave Padavia. The city is much more dangerous than we thought when he enrolled at the University. And I'm just stuck here unable to protect him.'

'Well, apart from the times you've visited him there,' said Silvia tartly. 'And he's got three Stravaganti to look after him.'

'All men,' said Arianna. 'Why aren't there more women Stravaganti? Giuditta Miele is as scary as any of them but it's always called "the Brotherhood". It's not fair. It's just like your rotten old rule about mandoliers.'

'Which you overturned the minute you were crowned, I might remind you,' said Silvia. 'Do I detect a new ambition burning in your breast?'

'Oh, don't be so maddening!' said Arianna. 'Why shouldn't I train to be a Stravagante? I'm as brave and as clever as Luciano, as loyal as Georgia and Sky . . .'

'And as wise and controlled as Rodolfo?' asked Silvia.

All she got in reply was an infuriated snort from her daughter.

When Matt returned to Silvia's house, Luciano was no longer there. He had gone to the School of Riding, determined to catch up with his practice, while Cesare was occupied. He had said he needed something to keep his mind off tomorrow's execution.

So Matt had to ask Rodolfo what to do with Ludo's ring. He told him the whole of the Manoush's whispered story.

'I will keep it for him,' said Rodolfo, taking the little bag and putting it in a pocket. 'We won't look at it unless the worst happens. If our rescue plan is a success, we shall give it back without looking at its crest. This is Ludo's secret, not ours.'

Matt was very relieved to hand it on to someone else. But now he felt at a bit of a loose end. No one seemed to need him very much in Talia and he wondered again if his role was over. Everyone was caught up in the plan to rescue the Manoush and Matt didn't really know if they were expecting him to take part. The execution was scheduled for after dark, so he would have to have a cover story at home since it involved staying in Padavia past waking up time in his own world.

He was just thinking about stravagating home early, when Enrico arrived, out of breath.

'Greetings, masters all,' he said, his small eyes glittering. 'Bruises coming on nicely, Signor Matteo! Where's the Cavaliere? I have important information for him.'

Matt was looking forward to being back home where people didn't comment on his face all the time.

'He's at the riding school,' he said curtly.

Enrico's mood changed immediately to alarm.

'On his own?' he asked.

'Why, what is it?' asked Rodolfo. 'What have you found out?'

'I think I know what the Cardinal is planning to do,' said Enrico. 'And it isn't pretty. Luciano shouldn't go anywhere without a bodyguard.'

'Then what are we waiting for?' asked Matt. 'Signor Rodolfo, shouldn't we get to the riding school?'

'Yes, immediately,' said Rodolfo, looking extremely worried.

Matt didn't need any more encouragement; he was desperate for action.

'Come on, Cesare,' he said. 'Enrico can tell us what he knows on the way.'

Luciano was learning to ride bareback. It was something that Cesare did easily; the Stellata was ridden without saddles. And Georgia, when she had stravagated to Remora, had learned to do it almost as well.

But Luciano had never even sat on a horse before he visited the City of Stars; they were banned in Bellezza and horses had never been part of his old life in Islington. Since the Stellata though, he had overcome his old fears and developed a real love of riding. It was so much more exciting than sitting in a carriage, with someone else in control of the reins.

And bareback was best of all. He wasn't very good yet at hanging on with his knees and still letting the horse know what direction he wanted her to move in. But Cara was a sweet-natured and sensitive animal and responded well to pressure on the reins. Still, the aim was to be able to ride well even without a bridle so he knew he mustn't rely on his hands.

After an hour in the ring, Luciano and his mare were losing concentration and the instructor called time.

But, as he turned Cara's head for home, he realised that he hadn't thought about the Manoush or the di Chimici once in the last hour. It was a rest his brain had needed but it meant he wasn't ready for what happened next.

It was beginning to get dark as he neared home and the shadows were gathering in the streets off the cathedral square. He didn't see the two men until they jumped on him, one grabbing Cara's reins, the other pulling him off the horse's back. Then his arms were held and his mouth gagged before he could reach his Merlino-blade and fight back.

Before Enrico, Matt and Cesare set out to look for Luciano, his horse had already returned, riderless, to her stable.

Chapter 24.

The Table Turned When Matt saw Cara coming into the stable, he knew immediately what it meant.

'We're too late,' he said.

Cesare ran back into the house to alert the others and then they all scoured the streets between Silvia's house and the School of Riding for any clues as to when and where Luciano had been taken.