Free The Painted War by Imogen Rossi Page A

to say something along those lines. But then Secretary Franco bent down and said something to her, something Bianca couldn’t make out. Catriona listened, without taking her eyes off the Baron, and then smiled.
    â€˜Thank you, Secretary Franco. Baron, you may take a walk through La Luminosa. I can only imagine how much you must have missed it.’
    â€˜Thank you very much, Your Highness,’ said the Baron, smiling greasily and bowing.
    â€˜And my guards will keep a comfortable distance as they accompany you,’ said Duchess Catriona, ‘so you can reminisce in peace.’
    The Baron straightened up, still smiling, though the smile was frozen on his face. ‘I appreciate it,’ he said, through gritted teeth.
    â€˜He’s up to no good,’ Marco whispered to Bianca.
    â€˜I can’t believe he thought the Duchess would let him wander off on his own,’ Bianca muttered back. ‘He obviously wanted to do something  …  without anyone  … ’ She trailed off, an idea sparking in the back of her mind. Could it be so simple to discover what he was up to?
    Marco nudged her and raised his eyebrows. Bianca looked back at him and smiled, then began to hurry back along behind the hedges at a hopping run, Marco on her heels.
    Captain Raphaeli was in his office in the palace’s guard barracks, examining a stack of papers. He looked up when Bianca and Marco burst in and immediately leapt to his feet, his hand going to the hilt of his sword.
    â€˜What’s happened? Is the Duchess all right?’
    â€˜She’s fine! She’s brilliant! I’ve got a plan,’ Bianca gasped.
    â€˜Slow down.’ Raphaeli folded his arms. ‘Bianca, I know you mean well, but I can’t have you running in here like this.’
    â€˜But I know how we can find out what the Baron’s planning to do,’ said Bianca. ‘The Duchess is letting him go for a walk around the city – heavily guarded, obviously.’
    â€˜I know, I’ve already assigned the guards. They won’t let him out of their sight, I promise.’
    â€˜That’s just it, I want them to!’ Bianca said. Captain Raphaeli gave her a sceptical look, but didn’t immediately tell her she was crazy. She took this as a good sign and barrelled on. ‘If he thinks he’s given the guards the slip, he’ll go right to wherever he wants to go,’ Bianca explained. ‘But Marco and I will follow him. We can blend in and hide more easily than the guards. He won’t see us.’
    Captain Raphaeli looked from Bianca to Marco, and frowned. ‘This is a huge responsibility, you know. If you lose him, you could be endangering the Duchess – and the whole city.’
    â€˜I know,’ said Bianca. ‘I promise. But it could be the only way to find out what he’s really after.’
    â€˜We know the streets inside out,’ Marco added.
    â€˜And we can use the passages if we need to hide or something!’ Bianca said.
    Captain Raphaeli hesitated, deep in thought. ‘I can station guards in civilian clothes around the city,’ he said. ‘They’ll keep an eye on you and make sure the Baron doesn’t vanish. You can report anything suspicious you see him do to them.’
    Bianca resisted the urge to shriek with joy. ‘We will,’ she said. ‘I swear. You just need to tell the guards to let him slip away and we’ll do the rest.’
    Raphaeli’s stern face cracked into a smile. ‘You’re quite the strategist, aren’t you?’
    Bianca beamed at him.
    The Baron da Russo strolled beside the canals, wandered down the grand roadways and slipped through the narrow alleyways of La Luminosa, and Bianca and Marco followed his every move. He’d given his guards the slip when he’d gone into a tailor’s shop and they had let him leave through the back door, but Marco and Bianca had been hiding behind