“Because he is my friend,” Bianca said. “It is my natal day, and he brought me a gift, which I, for the sake of my good name, was forced to refuse. I asked him to share my meal. I am never really alone with him. I am surrounded by my servants. There is nothing improper in our friendship, though I tell you I wish it were otherwise,Madre. He is kind, which the blessed Mother knows my husband has never been. He treats me with respect, which Sebastiano has never done, beginning with that travesty of a wedding night. I am a grown woman,Madre, not an innocent girl who is dazzled by a handsome man.”
“He is very handsome,” Orianna noted. “And proud too. However, you are correct in that he is respectful of you, Bianca. I will admit to being impressed by his care of your good name. Does he know the situation in which you find yourself?”
“Does he know I am a married woman and that I seek the dissolution of my marriage? Yes,Madre, he does,” said Bianca.
Orianna nodded. “I will remain with you tomorrow, and then I must return to Florence. Your father did not want me to come and was fearful for us both, but I could bear our separation no longer. With Rovere in Rome, it was the perfect opportunity. My father sent half a dozen men from Venice to accompany me. I slipped through the church garden and met them outside of its gate. I will return the same way. My absence has been explained by saying I am making a retreat for a few days at a nearby convent.”
“You said the news you brought was not good,Madre,” Bianca reminded her mother. “What is it?”
Orianna sighed painfully. “The influence your grandfather has is limited to two elderly cardinals. Rovere, on the other hand, has his kinsman, and I am told that because of his predilection for debauchery, even in Rome, he has attracted the interest of several other high churchmen whose tastes are similar. The matter of your annulment has become a matter for study and further consideration.”
“In other words, my husband has won,” Bianca said.
Orianna said nothing. She could not deny it.
“I will die before I return to him,” Bianca told her mother quietly.
“He will not care,” her mother replied. “He is a gamesman, and his only interest is in winning. To have the most beautiful girl in Florence flee him six months after their marriage and demand an annulment was a serious blow to his pride. But to have the Church postpone her request for her freedom gives him the victory he needs to salvage his damaged reputation. And having that influence with the Church makes him more powerful in Florence. The di Medici are not pleased at all.”
“But the di Medici cannot legally protect me from my husband,” Bianca responded. “They must be careful of their own reputation, for we all know there are certain families who would topple them from their position of power and influence given the opportunity. There is nothing left for me now if I cannot be free of Sebastiano Rovere,Madre. I will remain here at Luce Stellare. Eventually it is to be hoped he will either die of his excesses or decide to let me go. If he should ever discover where I am hidden, I will find a way to kill myself, but I will not return to that man or his house ever again.”
While she enjoyed her mother’s company the following day, she actually wished Orianna gone so she might speak with Amir. But when Orianna did depart the following morning, Bianca felt an even deeper sadness, for she did not know if she would ever see her mother, or the rest of her family, again. Taking her horse, she guided it down the steep path to the beach and rode towards the prince’s villa. She needed the comfort of Amir’s presence and his strength.
To her surprise Darius came loping down the beach to greet her, his golden fur gleaming in the sunshine, the long, slender curl of his tail wagging as he reached her. Then she saw Amir on his own mount, waiting for her in the shadow of the caves. She urged her mare to their meeting, and almost leaping from the animal’s back, flung herself at the prince in a display of utter desperation.
“What has happened, Bianca?” he asked as his arms closed about her.Allah!She had to be in great distress to behave so incautiously. Unable to help himself with her warm body pressing against him, he buried his face in her hair, which had come undone in her race to reach him. He breathed in the essence of her. Sweet! Sweet! Allah!He wanted her so much. If he had been another man, he could have easily taken advantage of her unhappiness, but he would not. “Tell me what is wrong, Bianca,” he heard himself repeating. Then he set her back from him, looking into her tearstained face. “What has your mother told you?”
“Rovere has won,” she began with a sob, but then recovered herself. “The Church in Rome has decided my request for an annulment from him is a matter for further study. It seems he and his kinsman, the cardinal, found among the church’s holy men several with a similar nature to my husband. They, in turn, have used their influence to block that of my family. Even my princely Venetian grandfather’s prestige is not enough to save me. Now Sebastiano will find me, and when he does he will kill me. He has that right as my husband, and none can gainsay him, Amir.” She began to weep again.
“Come away with me!” he heard himself saying.
“What?” She had not heard him correctly.
“Come away with me,” he repeated. “I will take you to my home on the Black Sea. He will never find you, and I will keep you safe forever, Bianca.”
She closed her eyes briefly, imagining a life with this gentle, handsome man. It would be a good life, Bianca instinctively knew, and for the first time she was tempted beyond all reason. She was so tired of being afraid. Then she heard his voice.
“I love you,” the prince said. “I have loved you from the moment I first saw you. I will always love you, beloved.”
“I love you too,” Bianca heard herself admitting, and she did. Then she drew in a long, deep breath. “But we are honorable people, Amir. I could never be truly happy knowing I had run away and shamed my family’s name. I will not become your lover until I am free of Sebastiano Rovere. Religion and nationality mean little to me. I am a Florentine Christian woman, and you are an infidel Turk, but we love each other nonetheless. However, you cannot dishonor your name any more than I can mine.” She felt suddenly stronger, and knew it was the knowledge of his love that had made her so.
“If Rovere finds you and comes to take you back, I will kill him myself,” Amir told her. “Then you would be mine.”
“They would arrest you,” she said softly. He would kill for her. He loved her. No man had ever said such things to her. Bianca’s heart raced with both fear and excitement.
“Not if they do not find his body,” Amir replied. “Nor would they find us.”
“We would have to wait several years for him to be declared dead if there was no body,” Bianca countered. “I would be an old woman, and you would not want me then.”
“I will always want you, beloved,” he promised her.
He rode back with her to the villa, remaining to eat and play a few games of chess with her. By the time he departed, Bianca was feeling much better. If Sebastiano came, Amir would kill him. She believed it would happen and rested easier now. The rainy season came once again and all remained quiet at Luce Stellare.It was late winter before her fears were finally realized and Bianca was forced to face her husband for the first time in over two years.
He burst through the front door of the villa with a small party of men at dusk. His voice thundered through the small villa as he called her name, demanding her immediate attendance upon him. “Bianca! You will show yourself immediately, my disobedient wife. I have come to take you home, bitch!”
Bianca had heard the commotion as her doors were rent asunder. She had been in the little library by the fire sewing a silk shirt for the prince. Putting her work aside, she heard her husband’s voice calling for her. She was not going to hide, she told herself. Amir would come, and Rovere would finally meet his fate. She rose, pale and frightened, but she was determined to stand up to him. He would be quite surprised.
Agata sidled into the room. Her face was pinched with fright. “I have sent Ugo for the prince. There are only four men with your husband.”
