Free City of Swords by Mary Hoffman Page B

Ludovico! Long live Prince Ludovico di Chimici, Prince of Fortezza!’
    Ludo smiled, but he wasn’t fooled by their enthusiasm. He knew that crowds could be fickle. He also knew that Bertoldo Ciampi wanted the generalship of the army as much as he wanted Ludo as his Prince. But for now he was content to accept their homage and their support – especially if it came backed with arms.

    ‘Oh my God, you’re kidding!’ said Georgia.
    Isabel had found her in the library.
    ‘No, it’s true. Laura’s in hospital.’
    ‘Is it what we thought?’
    ‘Yes, she’s cut herself really badly and everything about her self-harming has come out.’
    ‘I’ll tell Nick,’ said Georgia. ‘Shall we meet at his house after school?’
    ‘Yes. I’ve already called Sky, and he’ll tell Matt.’
    ‘Hasn’t Laura got an exam this afternoon?’ asked Georgia.
    ‘Yes, History, but they’re letting her take it at the hospital if she’s up to it.’
    It was a sober gathering in Nick’s attic later that day. Ayesha was with them. Laura’s mother had texted her and Isabel from A & E. And there had been an ominous request to meet them both when Laura was out of danger.
    ‘She’s going to want to know whether we knew,’ said Ayesha.
    ‘Well, we didn’t,’ said Isabel. ‘Not for sure.’
    ‘But we guessed,’ said Georgia, ‘and did nothing about it.’
    ‘How bad is it?’ asked Matt.
    ‘Bad enough for Bart’s A & E,’ said Isabel.
    ‘I’ve had enough of that place,’ said Matt.
    There was silence while he and Ayesha, Georgia and Nick all remembered when Matt had put the evil eye on a boy he was jealous of. Jago Jones had ended up in that hospital and none of them doubted he would have died if Matt hadn’t brought the counter-spell back from Talia.
    Jago was fine now but he steered clear of Matt and the others at school, looking quite haunted if he bumped into him or Ayesha in the corridor.
    ‘Me too,’ said Nick, who had had a series of operations at Bart’s.
    ‘And it’s where Lucien died,’ said Georgia.
    ‘Laura’s not going to die though, is she?’ said Sky.
    ‘I hope not!’ said Isabel.
    ‘But it’s not impossible,’ said Ayesha. ‘If she cut an artery.’
    They all looked at her in horror. Then the message tone rang on Isabel’s and Ayesha’s phones at the same time and they leapt to grab them.
     
Laura out of danger. In hospital overnight.
Ellen
     
    They both read it out aloud at the same time.
    ‘Thank goodness for that,’ said Sky.
    ‘What should we do about Fortezza?’ asked Nick suddenly.
    ‘Fortezza?’ said Georgia. ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Well, we know she wasn’t going back last night, and her Stravagante wouldn’t worry too much if she missed one night. But she won’t be able to stravagate even if she wants to for a few days.’
    ‘And she won’t have her talisman with her in hospital,’ said Matt. ‘I can’t see them letting her have a sharp blade about her.’
    ‘That’s a thought,’ said Isabel. ‘I wonder if her parents will take it away from her?’
    ‘One of us should go,’ said Georgia. ‘And tell Fabio what has happened.’
    ‘But we don’t know how to travel to Fortezza, do we?’ said Sky. ‘I mean we know now how to get to the other cities but we couldn’t visualise Fabio’s smithy.’
    ‘We could try,’ said Nick. ‘I could try. I’ve been in a Talian swordsmith’s before. If I tried to imagine it and said the word “Fortezza” out loud, it might work.’
    ‘No,’ said Georgia. She wasn’t having Nick go off to Talia on his own
    ‘It’s too risky and someone might recognise you there.’
    ‘I think I should go to Padavia,’ said Matt. ‘I could see Luciano, and if he can’t help, I could get to Bellezza really quickly if necessary or tell Rodolfo through one of the mirrors.’
    No one could think of any objections to that.
    ‘I’ll go tonight,’ said Matt. ‘Don’t worry, Yesh, you can watch over me if you