“Don’t,” Antonio warned. “If I run, the first place they’ll look is the inn.”
Ravenna nodded, having expected his reply. “When they don’t find you there, the soldiers will move on.”
“And then they’ll placeyouin the cage. I must stay.” He wrapped his hands around the bars. “Go home.”
She ignored him, even if he was right. She put away the carving knife and then withdrew a thick loaf, seasoned with rosemary and garlic, from within her bag. He snatched the bread out of her hands, tore a big chunk off with his teeth. Seeing him reduced to a feverish hunger reignited her anger. Deep caverns marred his tanned skin, hollows under his eyes and cheekbones that hadn’t existed before he stood up to one of the few Florentine soldiers that had remained behind to ensure order and enforce the infernal curfew.Andto prevent any uprisings against the Medici.
But looking at her brother’s gaunt face, she knew her brother would never give up the fight.
Ravenna was angry. But her brother burned fiery hot, lit from within by a holy fire. She reached forward, snaking her arm betweenthe bars. He let her brush his dirty hair off his brow, something he would have never allowed if the circumstances hadn’t been what they were.
“I have a plan,” she whispered.
Antonio finished chewing, brows raised expectantly.
“I’m going to get you released,” she said.
“How?” Bitterness stole over him, creeping across his face like a winter storm. “You heard those bastards. They won’t let me go, even for a king’s ransom. I’m a cautionary tale.” His lips twisted in disgust. “Another warning.”
“I have a way,” Ravenna insisted. “You’ve been stuck up here so you might not have heard about tomorrow.”
Antonio snorted. “Rather hard to miss the preparations for the festival.” He gestured to the tables, the raised dais. “Who’s coming?” His hands curled into fists. “Is it them? The Medici? Come to gloat?”
He uttered their name like he would a curse.
“It’s not a festival,” Ravenna said. “It’s acompetition.The Medici family aren’t hosting it, but their allies are. They are supposed to arrive tomorrow morning.”
His belligerent expression faded; he dropped his arms to his sides, leaned back against the bars. “You don’t mean…”
“Yes,them.The immortals.” She paused. “The Luni famiglia.”
They stared at each other for several awestruck beats.
No one knew where the Luni famiglia came from, only that they’d arrived in Florence almost a century earlier, and that ever since they’d ruled the city in all but name. There were many who believed them to be fae, but that didn’t explain why they elected to live in a distinctly human city, intimately involving themselves with human affairs, when the fae infamously only made disastrous bargains.
If the Luni famiglia were indeed fae, then they were unusual ones.
And except for the Medici, no one else wielded that kind of power.
Long before Ravenna was born, the Holy Roman emperor had granted the Luni family a dukedom in thanks for their service to theRepublic of Florence. The eldest son had been proclaimed a knight, and he stood to inherit their fortune, most of their properties, and the coveted title. His younger brother supervised the Florentine army—hewas the one who had delivered the Duke of Urbino to their front gate—and their youngest sister was proclaimed a countess.
And if that wasn’t enough, tales of the siblings’ beauty and grace were sung in every tavern, banquet, festival, and tournament up and down the whole of the peninsula.
Ravenna couldn’t abide the tales or the songs.
No matter how outrageously beautiful and wealthy and powerful they were.
“Why on earth would they be cominghere?” He narrowed his dark eyes at her. “And what does that have to do withme?”
“They’re hosting a competition for sculptors. Participants need to present their best work—” She gestured to one of the tables. “And the Luni famiglia will pick a winner.”
“Again,” Antonio said impatiently, “I don’t see how—”
“I will be competing.”
Antonio jerked forward, and the cage swung wildly. Ravenna grasped one of the bars to help settle the motion.
“You’re not a sculptor,” Antonio said.
