Stepping close to Alleno, Lucca spoke low. “Alleno, please see these groups are given some of the feast Ariana and I left behind this morning.”
“I can’t track you if I’m doling out sweets to the masses, Lucca.” Alleno grumped to his cousin as he set his hands on his lean fighter’s hips and eyeballed Lucca, though a small smile quirked his lips. “Fine. See you in a few hours. But if anything happens to Ariana during this outing, I am so going to kick you in the balls.”
“I’m aware of that.” Lucca smiled back with a raised eyebrow, and Ariana startled to realize that Alleno trailing them today was for her protection rather than Lucca’s. But Lucca was formidable in a fight, just as formidable as his cousin, and Alleno knew it as well as they did.
Glancing to Ariana, Alleno executed a short bow. “Ariana. See you in a while.”
Approaching the group of Fae with his brisk fighter’s efficiency, Alleno spoke with them, raising a cheer. Turning with a grin, Lucca escorted Ariana around a wisteria trellis, moving towards a break in the trees and a busy road up ahead. As they approached the sunlight, Ariana saw Lamborghinis and 1700’s carriages driving along the cobbled street, people moving about as if their hodgepodge of dress and transport from numerous centuries was commonplace. Ariana was learning most of the Twilight Realm was like this; a place that had not forgotten older ways and traditions that used magic, though it had also embraced modern living.
As she watched a group of Italian Faunus pass with corkscrewing antelope horns and shaggy legs and hooves, then a tiny bee-buzzing people she didn’t recognize, she felt her heart become light. Not just Summer Fae lived here in Florence with their bright blonde and red hair, but also beautifully pale Spring Fae and golden-bronze Autumn Fae, moving past in colorful silks.
No longer confined to the Hotel, Ariana was inundated in the action of Florence in the Twilight Realm. Smelling every scent and seeing every sight filled her with life; pleasure cascaded through her to be in the middle of it all. As she reveled in the bustle all around, the Light in her magic flared. And as Lucca escorted her out into the hot sunshine and they waited to cross the street, he grinned at her like a brigand.
As Ariana’s power surged, bright and happy all around them.
“Being in the city suits you.” Lucca spoke with panache as he glanced over, his eyes lit with joy. “Come on. Let’s go somewhere we can get lunch.”
“But we just had breakfast! And left nine-tenths of it!” Ariana laughed now, incredulous at how much of a spoiled prince Lucca could be sometimes, though she secretly loved it.
“You and I could eat ten meals a day and not gain a pound, Ariana. Summer Fae, remember?” Lucca chuckled with wit as they crossed the street at a break in the traffic. “Or are you saying you do not wish to experience all the gustatory delights Florence has to offer in the Twilight Realm?”
“Pasta and pizza for every meal? I’m in.” Ariana chuckled as she lifted an eyebrow.
“Good. Because I’m paying.” Lucca winked. As he took her on a meandering path through the avenues now, he greeted everyone they met with a smile and kind words. Stone and stucco Renaissance buildings towered up all around with vines cascading off wrought-iron balconies. Awnings of butterfly and dragonfly-wing gossamer blossomed up everywhere, everytrattoriaand bar with tables spilling all over the sidewalk into the narrow street.
Stopping at a flower seller’s, her wares devouring the cobblestones, Prince Lucca bought a corsage of orchids to pin to Ariana’s lapel, though she thought he mostly did it to patronize the sweet old Fae lady proprietor. As Lucca beamed to receive the latest neighborhood news, Ariana realized he made the rounds in the city often.
Keeping in touch with his people.
“They all know you. You come here a lot.” Ariana commented as she and Lucca moved on.
“Thatgentilfaethere is Signore Paulo DiMarti, he runs a tailoring shop three blocks over.” Lucca nodded as he was hailed by a lean man in a lovely green silk vest. “Ilana Rulori, the old floristfaeadonna, runs a soup kitchen out of her basement paid for by this neighborhood – which is calledIlanti Rustico, the Elegant Commons in the Italian Summer Fae language. I come here often, and donate to the soup kitchen from palace banquet leftovers, in addition to other quarters of the city that have need. My father doesn’t particularly care how abundance flows in the city or how many people have to tighten their belts when it doesn’t… only that it always flows in his direction.”
“Not a good approach if you want to keep your proletariat happy.” Ariana understood as they wandered the tight street, noting the difference in culture here from what she had experienced at the palace. In this beautiful but rustic quarter of the old city, people still dressed in silks that flowed with their natural Fae elegance, but those silks were of rougher weave and more muted colors than the fine garments at the palace. Though they wore silver and gold, gems were absent; even in her muted riding outfit, Ariana was acutely aware of her ostentatious jewelry from Quinn, though this neighborhood seemed like a quiet, friendly place. Still, her and Lucca’s fine garments stood out, and as they walked on, Ariana could feel stares and whispers.
As the Summer Fae watched the Dark Fae stroll with their Prince.
“They’re watching us.” Ariana commented as she and Lucca were given samples of raspberry gelato now from a vibrant young shopmistress who was so very pregnant she was about to pop. As Lucca thanked the proprietress, smiling with enjoyment, Ariana nodded at the intrigued stares coming from tables all around.
“If anything can be said about the Summer Fae, it’s that gossip is a national pastime.” Lucca chuckled now, eyeing her. “Everyone in the city knew your description the moment you stepped out of that carriage and my father ambushed you at the palace. Like a celebrity, they’ve been following your progress ever since. Plus, not all Red Letter Hotel Florence employees are Quinn’s Vampires. When they go into the city, they talk to the Summer Fae. And the Summer Fae spread all gossip, true or false. Ah, here we are. Signore Bello Bellissimo’s place.”
“Bello Bellissimo? For real?” Ariana grinned as they wandered into a lovelytrattoriawith potted wisteria-arbors, truly decadent scents wafting out to the street. Just opening for the day, white linens were being snapped out to tables as a tiny Fae man in a tweed silk waistcoat bounded out, hailing Lucca brightly and twirling his thick mustachios. As they exchanged cheek kisses and back slaps, the man beamed at Ariana, his dark brown eyes shimmering with rainbows as he took up her hand and kissed it.
“The Dark Fae!” He spoke with gusto, ushering them into his establishment with a ruddy-cheeked smile. “Come, my Prince! Up to my best table! Unless you would prefer to dine out on the street today?”
“Actually, Ariana and I have things we need to discuss in private during lunch, Bello, otherwise I would take a table down on the sidewalk and chat with the neighborhood.” Lucca spoke apologetically as he and Ariana were ushered inside.
Filled with tables, the restaurant had beautiful ibis-head fountains spouting into basins crowded with waterlilies, the two-story structure topped with purple and gold butterfly buttresses above a balcony second level. The entire place smelled like pizza, and Ariana’s mouth watered as she saw no fewer than six massive brick ovens being worked by a well-polished crew in 1800’s chef’s attire. Pumping bellows, stoking fires, and tossing dough with their magic, rainbows cascaded through the kitchen as the first round of pizzas were prepared for the day. Signore Bello smiled as Ariana stared, before gesturing them up a corkscrewing wrought-iron staircase.
“She loves the cuisine of Florence, does she not?” Bello commented as he led Lucca and Ariana to a wrought-iron table out on a balcony overlooking the street. Topped by more purple and gold butterfly-wings to make shade, the balcony had a wisteria arbor around it for privacy, though the view was still fantastic. An ibis-head fountain burbled out of the wall, pouring into a waterlily basin. As they settled at the table with its fresh white linens, Ariana could just see a piazza at the end of the street, flanked by an incredible cathedral of some kind.
“Actually, my mother is an Italian Summer Fae, born here in Florence. I was raised just outside the city in the human world.” Ariana answered as she settled. “She cooked local Summer Fae cuisine all the time when I was growing up, as close as she could approximate it without Twilight Realm ingredients.”
“Yes, of course!” Their host nodded alertly as he passed out single-page menus with beautiful old-world font. “But Summer Fae living on the human side of Florence are very rare these days. It is forbidden now, yes? But my own grandmother lived in the human world before the War, studying the culinary arts. She found she was expert at what she was doing among the humans – cooking pizza! So here we are.”
At this, their host laughed gregariously, slapping Lucca on the back before retreating inside. Ariana found herself grinning as they settled in, Lucca pouring water for them from a carafe as they eyed their menus. “I like Bello, he’s fun.”
“Bello is fun, and he’s also amassivegossip.” Lucca grinned back now as he took a sip of water. “Anything we say here will immediately be spread around this entire neighborhood, which is good for us as we build your reputation and my aims. We can talk freely here. But if there’s anything you want to remainoscuro… better not mention it. Or itwillbe all over this city by sundown.”
