The Mosaic

Chapter 52 | Of Monsters and Men

Her mother had told her of the Medici women. There was no girl born from a Medici womb that couldn't kill kings by the age of ten. The Lady was born a Tornabouni, old Tuscan nobility -- she had been destined for Piero since her birth. Like Laelia and Antonio. Her heart gave an angry tug. Laelia forced it down. The Lady must have been raised like a Medici, masters of poison.

"Do you think they've locked us in here?" Laelia eyed the heavy gate behind them.

"They wouldn't dare," Amand gritted. "Steno and Giacinto are out there."

Laelia wrung her hands. "What if they got them too?"

"Alessandro's so annoying they'll hand him back within a day." Amand managed a smile down at her, though she could see the worry gnawing at him. "Or maybe they'll never find him among all those statues. They certainly look more lively than him."

Laelia giggled. "And Gio knows the Lady." She nodded heartily. "Yes. They're fine. We're fine. Marius must be here."

"Or so help me god."

There were no windows. Only rows of black wood, thick leather and golden letters gleaming at the backs of the books. Laelia read titles in Latin, Greek and Arabian, French and German. They slipped from her mind the moment she was past them, eaten by the worry about Marius. It consumed everything.

Amand's voice boomed through the hall. "Marius!"

Nothing answered.

"Marius!" Laelia joined Amand, their shouts ringing emptily back from the dome towering above them. The raven had swallowed them whole.

Laelia could see Amand breaking apart, loosing bits and pieces of himself as he checked every aisle, every alcove in dark walls, every nook and cranny behind giant globes, bronze astrolabes and lonely desks. Nothing. There was no trace of the priest. She could see it tearing at Amand, face twisting -- torn between hope and desperation with each corner they rounded. He grew more and more frantic, charging around every corner and returning empty handed.

Laelia gasped. "Look!" The shelves had morphed into cabinets, the wood carved into a forest, glass planes held by a frame of blossoms and leaves. All poisonous. But Laelia couldn't study them, gaze pulled past as if by a magnet. She started running, bursting from shelf to shelf, marvelling and cowering at the same time: dried herbs changed into blood and bones. The glass vials grew in size, entombing preserved specimen. A frog floated in yellow liquid, large eyes staring at Laelia.

Light glinted from the blades of scalpels, instruments of the feared science all lined up like a regiment of soldiers, waiting to tear into enemy lines.

Amand was falling apart next to her. He kept his face harsh and cold, but there was so much pain in his eyes, Laelia expected to see cracks splitting his skin as he shattered on his fear. "Where are you," Amand whispered. His voice cracked. "Mar."

Laelia tugged at his sleeve, nudging him on wards. The answering silence would only mock them. Instead, a muffled cry. Right behind that shelf.

Amand ripped himself free. Laelia struggled to keep up with him, cursing Medicis and skirts. She stumbled out into the open when shelves ending abruptly in another hall. Laelia saw none of it, eyes zoning in on the man slumped in the chair in the very middle. Marius.

Amand fell to his knees, desperately clutching Marius' face with both hands. His head rolled forward, white hair hanging limply over his eyes. "Mar," Amand breathed. He brushed a white strand back behind his ear, whispering to the priest.

He was alive. Laelia could feel the weight dropping off her shoulders and she staggered, relief overwhelming her. He wasn't well, eyes hazy and unfocused, a trickle of blood running down his temple, but he was alive.