Free City of Secrets by Mary Hoffman Page B

could he tell Chay, who had been his best mate since junior school, that he’d found a book of spells that transported him to another world? And as he realised that there was no way to do it, his heart sank again. If he couldn’t think of a cover story to tell Chay, then how could he explain it to Ayesha?

    Guido Parola was a good teacher and he found Marco an eager pupil. There was a moment’s embarrassment when they met for their first lesson and Marco recognised the red-haired assassin. When Guido had attempted to stab the previous Duchessa in her state mandola, Marco had been the mandolier in charge of the vessel.
    But the old Duchessa, in reward for his service, had made Marco footman in the Ducal Palace and given him a handsome uniform and a bag of silver. In a few months he would be twenty-five and entitled to a generous mandolier’s pension. Then he would marry his Barbara but meanwhile he must learn how to protect the young Duchessa and who better to teach him than a reformed assassin?
    Reformed assassin! Guido was sick of the sound of those words but that was how his mistress, Silvia Rossi, Regent Rodolfo’s wife, always referred to him and it was a punishment he had to bear. For he had indeed, tempted by money he sorely needed, agreed to kill the old Duchessa. And he was one of the small number of people who knew his mistress’s secret – that she was the same Duchessa he had tried to kill and who had also survived the second assassination attempt that was supposed to have killed her.
    Marco certainly didn’t know that. He had never seen the old Duchessa without a mask or the Regent’s wife with one. But he saw how Guido blushed when Signora Rossi referred to his criminal past.
    â€˜Guido is very handy with a dagger and a sword,’ she said pleasantly. ‘And those skills which would kill a ruler may also protect her. Teach Marco all you know, Guido, for my stepdaughter’s life will be in his hands every time she travels to Padavia.’
    She caught his eye as she said ‘stepdaughter’ and Guido nodded slightly; he knew how important Arianna’s safety was to her real mother, standing before him.
    â€˜You mustn’t mind Signora Rossi,’ he told Marco, as soon as she had left them. ‘It’s just her way.’
    â€˜How long have you worked for her?’ asked Marco.
    â€˜Oh, quite a while,’ said Guido vaguely. He didn’t tell the footman that Silvia had in fact released him from her service in the spring but he had needed to stay in Bellezza, to look after his dissolute brother, and hadn’t quite been able to detach himself from the palace. But one day soon he would leave for Fortezza and begin his studies at the University there. He envied Luciano his life in Padavia.
    â€˜Well, let’s get started,’ he said. ‘The most important thing to be prepared for is attack from behind.’
    And he threw Marco to the floor, taking him completely off-guard.
    *
    Luciano was riding back home from the University when he heard another horse behind him. There was nothing unusual in that but he urged his own horse a little faster. The following rider speeded up to match him and Luciano felt the first chill of fear. He was caught between longing to get to the relative safety of his home and not wanting any pursuer to know where he lived. While he hesitated about which route to take, the other rider gained on him and a familiar voice called out, ‘Luciano?’
    Luciano pulled on the reins. ‘Cesare?’ he said. ‘What on earth are you doing here? You frightened the life out of me!’
    The two horses drew together, tossing their heads and taking in each other’s scent, while the two young riders clasped arms. Cesare laughed at his friend’s bemusement.
    â€˜I’m a student, like you,’ he said. ‘Just started.’
    â€˜But why?’ asked Luciano rather bluntly.
    â€˜Do you think