First off I would like to say thank you to the lovely guests that reviewed the last chapter. Your ideas were very helpful. From now on I will be following the episodes closely and that will hopefully help me write the time period better, and I also reposted the first chapter after I had my little sister and beta read over and change things up. There is also a poll on my profile to vote for whether you want this to be a Leo romance or a Riario one. If you can't get to my profile leave your choice in a review. Now onwards into chapter two!
The wagon bumped and jostled as it was pulled across the cobbled street. I fought with the flying machine to keep it upright and intact, while Leonardo and his female companions rode upfront.
I watched as the bright colours of the market went by, all the foreign merchants and street performers busily milling around going about doing their business. I love to watch cultures from all over the world clash together and mesh into a perfect harmonious system. I could sit for hours watching them and trying to capture everything in a simple sketch.
I was completely lost in my thoughts when the wagon came to a halt at the top of a hill outside the city limits, and Leonardo jumped up and out of his seat in the wagon. He made his way to the back where I was sitting to retrieve his easel, paper and a pencil.
"If you are to be my apprentice, I must know what you can do." He informed me, as he walked to the top of the hill with his female companion.
I grabbed the remaining easel and supplies and followed them up the hill. When I got there Leonardo was already set up and he was positioning the woman on a rock directly in front of his easel. I quickly set up my easel and attached the paper onto it, but when I looked up the woman had undone and taken the top of her dress off.
I could feel the blush rushing to my cheeks. Why of all the beautiful landscape and building around had Leonardo chosen to draw this woman?
"They're called breasts and all humans possess them, and I do hope they won't impede your skills that I was told so much about." Leonardo told me in a serious manner, as he started to quickly but accurately draw out the woman's outline.
I decided to follow my new maestro's example and focus on making this sketch the best it could be. I was unused to using a pencil, but I was going to try my best to please and impress my teacher.
I decided half way through my sketch that I would manipulate the truth and cover the woman's breasts, instead of drawing her hair blowing in the wind. I didn't do this because I was unable to draw her hair; I just felt extremely uncomfortable looking at her breast let alone studying them so I could draw them.
The silence was eventually broken by the woman who started to ask Leonardo questions.
"Tell me a secret Leonardo, what was your earliest memory?" She paused for a moment and seemed to be thinking of another question. "Or better yet, your greatest fear?"
I was only half paying attention to my drawing now; I truly wanted to know something about my new maestro.
Leonardo started on a tale of when he was six months old, about how his mother had taken him out in a basket and a falcon landed on the handle.
I was shocked to hear that he could remember back that far, I was lucky to even remember to put on shoes in the morning or when to eat during a large sketch or painting.
Leonardo could recall every tiny detail about this falcon and its actions, but I could see when he started to talk about his mother sadness crept into his voice and his eyes. He informed us about how he couldn't recall his mother's face even with his almost perfect memory.
The woman then made an extremely rude comment to Leonardo about how men's mothers guide them into their sex life, and Leonardo replied back that he paid her to pose and not to plumb his inner workings. She pulled her dress back on (boy was I happy about that) and walked up to Leonardo and laid her hand on his shoulders.
"Is their nothing else you fear?" She asked in a seductive tone, before kissing Leonardo to my surprise and shock.
After their brief kiss his told her that he only feared imperfection, as he walked over to my sketch to inspect my work.
He observed my work for a few seconds before voicing his opinions.
"Your attention to detail and appalling, your lines are sloppy, and your shading needs serious work."
I was a little upset that his wasn't pleased with my work, but now at least I know what I have to learn from him and improve to jumpstart my career.
I was going over ways in my head of how to improve when I heard to voice of Leonardo's blonde companion calling him and informing him that Andrea was looking for him.
Leonardo disregarded Nico's words and immediately jumped into telling about his new experiment.
Nico followed Leonardo's words closely until he noticed Vanessa was still doing up her top. Leonardo told Nico the same thing he told me and went on to tell about how Vanessa was a newly freed woman from the convent of St. Anthony's, as he climbed on top of the carriage to pull off the tarp from his flying machine.
"Okay, today we are trying to figure out whether or not this kite can provide the correct amount of wind resistance to support your weight." Leonardo told Nico as if he was addressing a class.
Nico looked extremely worried at his maestro's explanation "What if it can't hold me?"
Leonardo then told Vanessa to prance around and he told Nico that he calculated the wind to be about 20 knots and how it should be able to hold him up. Leo then called to me to strap Nico into the contraption.
I quickly walked over and wished Nico good luck after strapping him in. Nico thanked me for my wishes and I walked over and sat beside Leonardo, as he urged the horses into a gallop.
I shifted myself so I could see Nico as he panicked and called for Leonardo. I felt a smile grow on my face, I knew how much fun flying was, and now thanks to Da Vinci's brilliant mind other could enjoy it too.
Leonardo handed me the reigns and jumped into the back of the wagon to release more rope, so Nico could drift higher into the air. He was so pleased that his invention worked, I could see it on his face, the way he couldn't get the huge grin off of his face and the twinkle in his eyes gave the much away.
But then the rope started getting pulled out of the machine attached to the wagon by itself at much too quick a pace for the machine to keep up with. Smoke from the friction between the wood and the rope started to rapidly appear before Leonardo's eyes. Leo tried to pull the rope back in, but the handle on the machine broke and Nico slowly drifted further from the ground.
I had no clue what to do, then I spotted Leonardo's sword. Of course he could stick the sword into the mechanism and stop it from rotating. I called to Leo and threw his sword at him hoping he would get the idea.
Leonardo looked confused for a minute but then seemed to get the idea and thrust the sword into the spinning mechanism. The rope pulled tight and stopped coming out of the machine.
Nico seemed to settle down after that and looked like he genuinely was enjoying himself.
Leonardo slowly reeled Nico back in and I could see the relief on his face when he touched the ground again. We repacked all of the art supplies and the flying machine into the wagon and started our journey back into Florence.
Vanessa said her goodbyes as we returned the cart and the horses and brought the art supplies back to Leonardo's workshop.
I felt like I was getting to know my maestro very well at this point. It was obvious that this was the great Da Vinci I had heard so much about, no other mind could possibly have come up with and invention to make a person fly.
Nico and I followed Leonardo as he walked through the streets of Florence. He voiced his opinion that Florence was a great city where heretics such as him could express themselves and learn from other cultures.
Nico told us that he hated all the hustle and bustle of the streets of Florence, and how he would rather live away from people in the country.
I frowned at that thought how could anyone live away from all these brilliant ideas? "Nico how can you say that? Florence brings together the best of all cultures there are so many new ideas to be discovered."
While I was saying this I didn't notice that Leonardo had stopped walking and had turned to hear what I had been telling Nico. He had a smile on his face like he had finally met someone that thought like him. I felt uncomfortable with his looks so I urged him to continue his walk.
Little did I know that our walk would be interrupted again by one Lucrezia Donati. Leonardo appeared to be star struck, like he was completely frozen and couldn't think or move.
I rolled my eyes at his antics. Everyone knew Lucrezia was Lorenzo's mistress; it was no secret to anyone who paid attention. I had to admit she was very pretty, with her dark hair and expensive clothes, but she always looked as though she had something to hide. I wouldn't trust her if my life depended on it.
Nico went on to warn Leonardo about how Lorenzo would have him beaten if he was caught looking at her. Leonardo didn't looked too worried considering he was too busy staring at the woman and she turned her head to look at them.
The sickening moment was ruined (thankfully) by a messenger riding through the markets. He wore a blue surcoat with the emblem of a snake on it. I had no idea what it meant, but I knew it was probably the coat of arms for a wealthy family.
Leonardo soon explained the importance of the rider wearing the individual family's coat of arms and not the symbol of Milan. Lorenzo would not be happy whatever the news is.
We continued our walk back to the studio, taking in the sights and sounds of the city. There were carts being pulled down the streets, and beggars on every corner, but it was still home. When you have lived somewhere so long the bad either gets disregarded for the good or becomes overwhelming. For me the good in this marvelous city by far outweighed the bad.
Leonardo suddenly stopped our walk in favor of staring at me with a face that looked like it was trying extremely hard to recall something.
"You know for the life of me I can't seem to remember your name." Leonardo looked almost disgusted that he had forgotten something.
"That is because I did not give it to you maestro." I replied. "I am Luca Lombardi."
Leonardo's faced visibly relaxed, like I had just confirmed his belief that his memory was perfect.
The studio was in sight by the time the smile and the cocky attitude of Leonardo disappeared. As we got closer to the studio I could hear yelling and the shocked sounds of many people. I wanted to rush ahead and see what was going on and if I could help. Leonardo simply held me back, looking at me like I was mad to rush into a situation I knew nothing about.
We were almost in the door when I heard someone ask "Why would anyone build such and infernal contraption?"
Leonardo just calmly walked into the studio and removed the bag he had been carrying and replied that the only reason he had built the chest was to protect his ideas. Andrea angrily told Leonardo that he was late, and Leonardo just shoved a grape in his mouth. I had to clasp my hands over my mouth to stop from laughing.
Leonardo jumped into a conversation with the two men standing in front of Andrea.
"So! The First Citizen of Florence is desperate for us to fashion him a colombina." Leonardo said almost like a question.
The older of the two men quickly replied that desperate was a strong word to be used, and Leonardo promptly shot back that yet it was the word he chose to use, and went on to explain why this colombina would be needed.
The two men looked very annoyed at Leonardo's antics. The younger one interrupted Leonardo's dramatics and berated him on telling everyone something that every child knew.
"Why do you insist on interrupting me?" Leonardo asked looking almost hurt that his speech was interrupted. He went on to tell the men that he had a methodology and they could follow it or they could flail about
At this point I lost it. I couldn't hold my laughter back. These men had looks of disgust on their faces; they obviously weren't used to being told what to do and then laughed at. Leonardo's smile crept back onto his face and he jumped back into his explanation of the colombina he built. He went on to tell the men that they had been working with inferior workshops to produce the dove.
The man took this to offense and got a little cranky over it. Leonardo tried to calm them down as he pulled on a large leather glove.
Leonardo turned the dials on the top of the wooden box he had placed the dove in. He acted like the box was going to blow scaring everyone in the room. I am not proud to say it but I did jump back a little when he pretended the box was going to blow.
After he finally opened the box everyone finally got to see what this dove looked like. I thought it was beautiful. The wings and head were made out of gold and the eyes were made out of blue gemstone.
Leonardo haggled over the payment, before explaining that this bird needed no guide wire and could fly on its own. He proceeded to the other corner of the room, clicked a button on the bird and threw it up in the air.
It was one of the most wonderful things I had ever seen in my life. This little metal bird could fly! It was evident that Leonardo had put a great deal of time and care into the making of this dove. Leonardo followed the dove across the room waiting for it to fall out of the sky.
As soon as the bird fell Leonardo caught it a walked over to the two men. The older man went on about how he believed Leo's work was impressive but he was unwilling to pay the price Leo had given him.
The younger man who I was just gathering that he was probably the younger of the two Medici brothers, Giuliano. Walked over to Leo and told him that 30 florins was sodomy. Leo seemed unphased and told him he should probably be bargaining with Lorenzo instead of him.
Giuliano cracked and told his advisor, who he called Beki to pay Leo and be done with it.
Beki walked over and told Leonardo he would pay half now and half after the festival. After this Leonardo asked about the opening to paint Lucrezia. I rolled my eyes at my maestro's antics; his seemingly crazy antics would get him in trouble some day.
To my pleasure Beki told Leonardo to stick to his whirligigs and parlor tricks. Leonardo's face did look a little saddened by Beki's words. I was worried for him he was becoming completely attached to a woman he had never met before.
Leonardo beckoned my towards him after the men had vacated the building. "I am going to test you again. How are your math skills?"
I groaned at his question math was not my forte, but I knew if I wanted to stay as Leonardo's student I would have to learn quickly. "My math skills are a little rusty." Trying to put it the gentlest way I possibly could.
"Well then we will just have to refresh them, and having another person come up with ideas will certainly help me." Leonardo announced, and then walked towards a set of stairs near the front of the studio and disappeared up them.