"These are all the things Da Vinci was commissioned to make that were in your files, but there was something missing."
Excitement flickered through Marcella. "What was it? I admit, I haven't dug as far as lists of what works he did. He was always in a long shot pile because he had sided with the Borgias to take Caterina down in Forli."
"Yeah, well, I found everything to make up for the holes in your research. Just in case. And then I had an article pop up about the castle in Milan. You know how there's always been speculation that Da Vinci designed tunnels for Ludovico Sforza?"
Marcella nodded. "Yes, I heard of them. They were meant to lead to the Santa Maria delle Grazie where his wife, Beatrice, was buried. Why?"
"Because they actually found them a few months ago!" Bridget said excitedly, thrusting a page at her. "Here is an articleabout how the university in Milan had used laser scanning and ground penetrating radars to do a study, and they found all these passageways and underground routes. Want to know thebestbit?" She was bouncing up and down, unable to contain her energy.
"Tell me," Marcella demanded, staring at the articles.
Bridget smiled. "They haven't been touched. No digging to look further and explore them. They have mapped them because they are creating a virtual reality tour, but no one's digging into them to see what's actually down there. There are small spaces that could be rooms. It could have stuff!"
"Or it could have nothing but dirt and rock," Marcella said gently, trying to temper her enthusiasm without crushing her spirit.
"Yeah, I know that, but think about it, Marcella. If you were scared of the Church or anyone looking too deeply into your interests in magic and alchemy, you would want to keep that shit super-secret from everyone. They didn't even think these tunnels existed at all. They would've been the safest, most secret place ever because you wouldn't want anyone to know where your escape tunnels were in case of a siege."
Bridget grabbed a pile of pages scribbled with Da Vinci's handwriting. "These are from the Codex Forster I and are the tunnel systems Da Vinci himself documented in his time. They are only a piece of what they found there. Who knows what's in them! We need to check them out."
"Agreed," Cosimo said and placed a tray of breakfast on a space on one of the tables. "Let's eat while we talk."
Bas joined them with more trays, and soon Marcella was looking over the sketches and trying to absorb the possibilities that Bridget had laid out.
Could there be storerooms down there with things they never wanted the Church to find out about? Marcella hadn't heardabout the tunnels being found, but then she had been focusing on the Medici connection more in the past year, which was why she kept competing with Cosimo for books and other research.
"What do you think, Marcella?" Cosimo asked.
Marcella startled. "Cosa? Oh, sorry, what was the question?" Too lost in her own head, she had been eating automatically and not listening to what they were saying.
"Do you want to go and look in these tunnels?" Cosimo said.
"I want to weigh it up in my mind, because the castle houses so many museums, and the security alone would be insane." Marcella rubbed at her temple, needing a few moments to sort through it all. "Bridget, please eat while I'm processing so that Bas will relax."
"I don't need?—"
"You do," Bas growled. "You haven't eaten in twenty-four hours. I'm about to drag you out of this library and…"
Marcella shook her head at him, warning him off. "Bridget, my darling, please eat. I need you ready and rested if we have to go to Milan," she said, adding just a touch of her charisma power.
Bridget pulled a face, grabbed a croissant, and stuffed the whole thing in her mouth. She glared at Bas. "Ha'ee?"
Bas's eyes glowed, his dragon rearing up. "Keep pushing me and see what happens, little hawk."
Cosimo rested his hand on the back of Marcella's neck. "Penny for your thoughts?"
"I don't know if anyone would risk doing alchemy in tunnels or underground. There would be no way for fumes or smoke to escape, and if they blew something up, it would jeopardize the entire foundation of the castle on top of it," Marcella said and took a sip of her coffee.
"You're assuming that they were doing that kind of alchemy in there," Valentine commented as he joined them. "Bas sent me a telepathic message that I might be needed to plan a heist."
"Only if Marcella decides that's what she wants to do," Cosimo replied, with a warning note in his voice.
"The castle hasninemuseums. They all have top-of-the-line security. It seems like we would be risking a lot without any proof of what we will find," Marcella said, getting up to pace because she needed to move.
Valentine cocked his head to one side as he studied the tunnel systems that Bridget had printed out. How she'd gotten hold of the university's newly finished mapping was a mystery Marcella had no desire to question.
"We don't need to go anywhere near the castle, their museums, or their security," Valentine commented. "At least not above ground. All of these tunnels have exits."
"They would be caved in by now, or they would have been found decades ago," Marcella pointed out.
