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“How is this possible?”
He gently unlatched one side of the cube and pulled it open so I could see the hundreds of intricate brass gears inside, all clicking and whirring as they turned. I could have stared at it for hours. It seemed like an enchantment.
“Metaphysics, not magic, Anna,” he reprimanded gently when I gave voice to this thought. “This handle winds the gears.”
“Is this the only one of its kind?” I asked. “How old is it?”
“Hundreds of years old, we believe. To my knowledge, it’s the only one, although others have attempted to recreate it. The proportions of the gears are very difficult to get right.”
I watched the mechanisms turn, thinking. “It can be done, though, surely. The very fact that this exists proves that it’s not impossible.”
At the sound of a gruff laugh, I looked up to see Sebastianus watching me from where he stood near the wall. He was only a few feet away but nearly hidden in the shadowy spot between two torches. “You’re not intimidated at the thought of recreating an orrery?”
“Well, I—I’m certainly intimidated, but we shouldn’t be afraid to try.”
He pointed with the tip of his walking stick. “Go on then, Cassius. I know what you’re plotting. She’s your perfect apprentice.”
I glanced at the old man in confusion.
Cassius said in a low voice, “I, myself, have been working on one. I believe it’s close to completion.”
“But where is it?”
“It’s in my little workshop at the villa. Mine is a smaller cube, although the proportions are the same. I wanted you to see how it’s supposed to work. Mine isn’t fully assembled, and I thought that perhaps if you saw this one—”
“You would like me to help you finish it!” I exclaimed. “I would be delighted.”
“Shhh. This type of study is forbidden now, but I could use a quick mind and a pair of steady hands.”
We heard footsteps, and the door creaked open. A soldier filled the doorway, his eyes squinting with suspicion. “What are you doing down here? This place is off-limits.”
“Young man,” Cassius said, “This is an important artifact. I’ve brought my student here as part of her education.”
The soldier strode quickly toward us and halted in front of the orrery. His eyes glanced over my palla and settled on the device. “Why would a woman need to know anything about old magic and superstition? What kind of education is this?”
A mulish expression crossed Cassius’s face. “This isn’t magic. It’s mathematics.”
Despite his age and frailty, Cassius was so fearless in defense of his principles. If only I were as brave. I took a deep breath and tried to muster some courage.
The soldier loomed above Cassius’s stooped frame, an imposing picture of ruddy vigor. The tips of his ears stuck out from beneath his cap. Despite his size, he seemed young, perhaps my own age. I tried to imagine him as a guest at Casa Caligine, visiting the mountain city for the first time. I put a nervous hand on his arm and smiled up at him, letting my palla slide back. “Forgive us. I was merely curious.”
He froze on the verge of speaking, stared blankly at me for a moment, and then a foolish grin spread over his face. “Well, there’s no harm in being curious. Maybe—”
From the side of the room, Sebastianus cleared his throat. “Soldier, I think you have better things to do than trouble us with your stupid questions.”
The soldier tore his gaze from my face and drew his dagger. “Who’s hiding there?”
Sebastianus peeled himself away from the wall and took a step forward, leaning on his stick. His shadow was large on the wall in the glare of the torchlight, making him seem even more substantial a man than he already was. “I’m not hiding. It’s your own fault that your powers of observation are poor. Be off before I tell your commanding officer that you’re wasting time lurking in cellars, harassing old men, and flirting with women.”
The young man now looked frightened. “Archidux—I didn’t realize— I’ll leave you in peace.” He nearly fled, backing his way to the door and then letting it shut with a bang behind him.
We walked back home through the sunlit plaza. Sebastianus didn’t take my hand this time. He thumped along beside me in silence.
WHEN WE ARRIVED back at the villa, Sebastianus retired to his study, calling for something to eat. I sat restlessly in the courtyard garden, thinking about the intricate gears of the orrery, but also the workings of my own mind. Where had that strange impulse to charm the soldier come from? I had left Corlivo, but perhaps my years of training there were not so easily forgotten. If only I could talk to someone about this. What I wouldn’t give for a confidant—for Kyra, or Vesta, or even Valentina.
Of course, there was one other person in the house who knew the mountain city nearly as well as I did.
The door to Sebastianus’s study was open a crack. I knocked and entered. He sat at the table, reading a book in the light of a single lamp, an empty plate beside him, a cup of dark fruit wine at his elbow. He looked up with surprise and rubbed his eyes.
