Chapter Three
"Tempt not a desperate man".
- Romeo and Juliet (Act V, Scene III).
ALL THE DOUBTS I HAVE about being the Mad Queen's soothsayer, disappear as I walk into my suite. Luxury, opulence and silks of lavender - the Mad Queen sure knows how to spend those tax Florentines. I immediately walk to the bath and pull the rope beside the tub. It is time for me to get rid of the years of dirt and grime and truly live at my station.
A few minutes later a young girl comes in to assist me. She pours rose water and lavender soap creams and other things I did not even know exist. Years of outdoor living are washed off in a matter of minutes. I run my hands up and down my arms and marvel at how soft and lady like my skin is. The young maid begins to wash my hair, massaging deeply into my skull; the motion relaxes me and lulls me into a peaceful daze.
There was a time when Grams used to brush my hair like that - running her hands through the tangles gently. Late at night, when we closed our wagon for business and finished eating dinner, she would sit on her cot and I would lay my head on her lap. She would hum and brush out my hair until I fell asleep...
Soapy water seeps into my nostrils and burns down my throat. I sit up in a jolt - coughing hysterically as if I had been drowned. The young maid shrieks and I look down to see my naked body covered only by bath bubbles. I quickly sink back down into the tub.
"Leave!" My voice is hoarse from coughing. "I can handle it from here."
The girl stares at me with large doe eyes. She places my dress on the edge of the tub and runs out for dear life. I sit in the water for a little bit longer, until it is no longer warm and comfortable and I could feel myself prune.
I dry off and wrap a towel around me. The dress the maid left is a simple, elbow sleeved, form fitting green gown. I feel the material between my fingers. Simple yet elegant, the material alone costs more than I make - or steal rather - in a year.
I resist the urge to pack up the dress, wear my old garbs and escape through the balcony. I can pawn off the dress - maybe not to Fat Pete since he betrayed me - but to someone else and live comfortably for a long while. But I know that Giovanni de Luca would hunt me down to the ends of the earth just to bring me back and prove to his aunt that he was right about me. I will not have him have the last word.
Perhaps staying with the Mad Queen is a good idea after all. I will be protected by the most powerful person in the land.
I dress and step out into the balcony so that my unruly hair can dry. Not a few minutes after, another maid comes in and announces that the Altezza reale la Regina Meridian would like me to accompany her for lunch. I smile at the young maid and ask if she would please lead the way.
I could get used to this.
The Mad Queen's private dining area is just as lavish as the rest of her living accommodations. La regina pazza is already seated at the head of the table with her nephew at her side. I walk to her and curtsy deeply.
"Signora," I whisper.
Mad Queen Meridian springs out of her seat. "Dio mio! You look beautiful! It is so nice to have a pretty fortune-teller for once. The others - they were so old and ugly! Oh, my. This dress! Look how it brings out your eyes! So exotic! Do you not think so, Giovanni?"
Giovanni slowly puts his drink down. I could feel his gaze on me as it makes its way to my face. But like before there is no fire in it, nothing but bored resentment.
He sighs. "She doesn't interest me."
The more I am acquainted with Giovanni's horrid personality the more I begin to dislike him, although ... his disregard hurts a little. Yes, he is the nephew to the queen, perhaps even the next to inherit the crown. Yes, he might have women throwing themselves at him at every turn, but he could try to be to be a bit courteous. Sometimes all a girl needs is a little compliment.
"Milord de Luca is as handsome as he is charming."
Giovanni sips his drink. "You are not my sort of company."
I feign an amused laugh. "I would rather kill myself than to remain in your company."
"I can arrange that."
"The last time I checked you did try, and yet I am still alive."
I could only imagine that his strained smile matches my own. It is a miracle that our glares do not jar out like the clash of fighting steel. The oblivious queen seats herself, unaware of the feud happening across her dining table.
"I'm so glad that you and Giovanni are getting along, Petra! Oh, he always has strong distaste towards anything magical!"
I keep my eyes on his, making sure he hears every word. "We have a name for skeptics like him, your highness. They are called zavana chibi." I am not sure what that means, but Grams always called those who were not for the deserts that.
"Oh! How exotic!"
I smile at the queen. "Oh, yes. You see we all have different auras surrounding us, your highness. Did any of your previous seers tell you this?"
The queen shakes her head, eyes wide in wonder.
I relay the information my Grams told me once before. "Us, clairvoyants, we can see these auras in the form of colors..."
Giovanni scoffs. And I try not to look at him. If only he would choke on his lunch.
"For example your nephew here?" I wave a hand at him with disregard. "All I see is grey. All around him like smoke. And do you know what grey means?"
The Mad Queen shakes her head in utter awe. "What does it mean?"
I look away from her and at Giovanni. He raises a brow in challenge, his lips pursed with disapproval.
"Grey is the color of distrust. And of blocked auras. He is suspicious of anything he does not understand."
The queen shrieks. "Mio dio! That is true! That is Giovanni! Absolutely Giovanni!"
"Oh, please! Mia zia, per favore! You do not need to be a seer to know that!"
He is right. All it takes is basic observational skills and knowledge of his dull nature. But the thing about mysticism is the presentation.
"What about me, Petra? What of my aura?" Queen Meridian's eagerness plays into my role as easily as the honey on my toast.
I take a bite of my food and make a show of studying her. What I know of the queen is that she is crazy, loud, easily excitable, spontaneous and lavish. And paranoid - for who else would employ a fortune-teller? Who else but a crazy queen afraid to be murdered as her husband was.
"I see silver."
"Oh." The queen is immediately deflated. "Then I am like Giovanni? I'm nothing like him. No offense nephew."
"Hmph." Giovanni leans back in his seat, triumph clear in his smirk. "See, Aunt? Nothing but trickery."
But I am calm, for I have not made a mistake. "I said silver, your highness. Whereas grey is the aura of distrustful boring donkeys, silver is the color of majesty! Silver is the aura of abundance."
That is all the Mad Queen needs to regain her excitability. "I knew you were the one! I knew it!"
Once again I beat Giovanni de Luca and he is not too happy about it. He sits up from his seat and announces curtly, "I am to go to the council meeting. You may join me aunt or you can play these silly games with your new toy."
"Oh, why doesn't Petra come with us?"
"What!" Giovanni stares at his aunt as if she had finally lost all that is left of her sense. "She cannot come with us to a council meeting as she is not part of the council. She is a thief, a fake, and who knows what else? I am still a little bewildered as to why she is not executed or locked up in the dungeon!"
My vision darkens slightly at the mention of the dungeon and I take slow discrete breaths to calm my nerves.
"Oh, that grey aura of yours, Giovanni! You need all the help you can get. Honestly, it's been a year and you still have not found the king's murderers, or the spies in my court!"
I bite down on some toast to keep myself from laughing. "He is right, your highness. I am a thief."
The queen waves her hand, as if to brush aside my past deeds. "Who has not sinned in this world?"
After a few minutes of de Luca arguing with his aunt, I am formally invited to join the council meeting.
I bow my head and say, "Of course I will join you, your highness. I will do whatever is in my mystical power to help your council."
I mostly agree in order to remain in the Queen's good graces, for I would care less about the Kingdom of Florentia and its politics. We leave the dining room to the council chamber and barely step into the room, before her Royal craziness announces to everyone within that:
"From this moment forth, Petra my Seer will be a member of this council. With her special abilities and Giovanni's..." Queen Meridian pauses and looks over at her nephew. "... brain, I suppose ... they will be able to figure out who the spies are and who murdered my husband."
I stand shocked before a room filled with old men who are more qualified than I am at politics, but they are not alarmed.
Perhaps they are used to the Queen and her unpredictable ways.
As a matter of fact a number of them are amused. I am not too far from a particular man who whispers, "I can think of a few uses for these special abilities ... if you know what I mean."
I should be used to comments such as these. Disgusting, filthy comments, but I am not and I can feel my face heat. I keep my eyes on the gleaming floor. It does not matter where they are, on the streets or the Queen's council chambers - whether noble born or peasant.
The Mad Queen turns around to face mine and her nephew's astounded faces.
"If they do not succeed..." she continues. "My nephew Giovanni will be stripped of his honored place at my side and the crown will go to an elected member of the council. I am getting too old for games and I miss my dear Lorenzo terribly."
"What! Mia zia! What are you thinking! What is this?"
The Mad Queen laughs and shakes her head of red curls. "It is the only way my dear nephew. You do not have the lineage to become king and that is unfortunate and so the crown will go to an elected regent."
I am shocked at her announcement. She is indeed insane. I cannot imagine what Giovanni might be thinking.
She then turns to me. "And you my new friend. If you too fail, I will execute you."
I shrug. I could have figured as much.
"I have no doubts in your magical abilities."
I smile. She is too easy to deceive.
"And because of that I will set you afire in the middle of the piazza, for that is the only way to truly kill a witch."
Oh.
Well... I certainly did not see that coming.
A/N:
So what do you guys think so far? Would love to know your opinions!!