The stage curtains were pulled back, revealing a high-ceilinged loggia overlooking Palermo. It was a light-filled, elegant room, with freshly-coloured frescoes of stylized animals and flowers splashed between thin Romanesque columns. I asked Eloisa about it. She shook her head and Padre Luna responded instead, saying this was King Ruggiero’s Loggia in the Palace of the Normans, the traditional residence of the Kings of Sicily. “A jewel of medieval Norman art,” he added in a loud whisper, disturbing everyone around him.
Centre stage, a man and a woman, both middle-aged, faced each other, looking small under the high ceiling. The man looked rugged, no doubt a sportsman, wearing shiny leather boots. The black velvet bow holding back his grey hair made his big nose look even larger. The woman, short and obese, had shoved her outsized bust in a shiny, cream-colored silk dress that magnified her figure. She had a heavy face, bulbous eyes and a big chin that sank in fat. Her skin glistened with perspiration.
“Who are they?” I asked. Padre Luna again had the answer. “King Ferdinand IV of Naples and his wife, Queen Maria Carolina. He’s a Spanish Bourbon and she’s an Austrian Hapsburg, the sister of Marie Antoinette of France.”
“Wow, the one who got guillotined during the French Revolution!” I exclaimed, provoking protests around us. “That’s it,” smiled Padre Luna, ignoring the complaints.
Carolina (her voice is harsh – her accent in Italian atrociously Teutonic) Once more you’re leaving me alone to solve all your problems. When can I ever count on you?
Ferdinand (in a nasal, slow drawl) What problems?
Carolina You think we have none? Here we are in exile, stuck in a lost island in the middle of the Mediterranean, with the French at our doorstep. Why do I always have to be the one to worry about your kingdom while you seek your pleasure? I see you’re dressed to go hunting.
Ferdinand No hunting today. I’m going to Solento for tuna fishing. The fishery is a lovely place at this time of year.
Carolina I’ve never been there. I never have time to go anywhere.
Ferdinand Why don’t you come? Why don’t you start enjoying life? Sicily is beautiful, people are very hospitable, and you don’t even know them! It is the role of a queen to be seen among her subjects. You’ve never visited the royal tonnara – yet it has been the property of Sicilian kings since the time of the Normans.
Carolina It is the role of the queen if she has time for it – after everything of importance has been attended to. I fail to understand you: your world is collapsing around you and all you think of is having a good time.
Ferdinand Be careful of what you’re saying.
Carolina What do you mean, be careful? You eat, drink, hunt, dance, and chase women! And that’s a fact. What am I supposed to do? Who’s to look after our affairs? I am a mother. I have our children to worry about. We had eighteen, and now, with the grace of God, we still have seventeen. Should I leave them without a kingdom just so I can have fun? No, I have more important things to do. You go and enjoy yourself. I am expecting Saint Clair any minute now. We have serious matters to discuss and decisions to take. They concern the future of your kingdom.
Ferdinand I’m sure you do. Since we got married, you’re the one making all the decisions. The kingdom cannot be run without you.
Carolina There are rumours that the French armies are being called out of Naples to help Napoleon in his latest military adventure. This is the moment to attack Naples and win it back for you.
YOU ARE READING
LUNA RISING (Volume 1: The Circle of Conversation)
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