Arrival and Planning

Disclaimer: I am not Mary Hoffman. I know it's sad, but I'm not.

Author's note: Sorry this took to long, I got too distracted by reading everybody else's work. Also has anyone read City of Secrets yet. I you havn't it came out on Tuesday and it is sooooo AWESOME.

Om was ecstatic. It wasn't often that her mother managed to join her family on vacation, but this year she had managed it. In a day, the royal family of Bellezza, Rodolfo and Silvia ridiculed, would be off to Fortezza, the City of Swords, for a glorious vacation.

Arianna Rossi squirmed in her seat. She hated riding in Carriages. Give her a mondola any day. Her husband noticed her squirming and asked, "What's wrong, Arianna?"

"Oh, it's just leaving Bellezza, Luciano. I haven't been anywhere in years. What if something goes wrong when I'm not there?"

After that last comment Luciano cuddled next to his wife and said, "Nothing will go wrong, Arianna. Tommaso will take care of everything." Luciano was referring to his wife's older fake brother, who was the leading Senator under Rodolfo and who was taking care of Bellezza while the Duke, Duchessa, and the Head Senator went on vacation.

"I know, but what about Frabrizio. What if he leads an army against Bellezza and we're not there to help stop him?"

"Tommaso will call us if anything comes up," Luciano smiled and then said, "and besides, we're going to a di'Chimich stronghold. If Frabrizio plans an attack, Gaetano will have to be informed. Then, Gaetano will tell Francesca, and Francesca will tell you almost anything."

Arianna opened her mouth to reply, but then thought through this information and realized that Luciano was right. Before Luciano could reply and tease Arianna about her worry rat tendencies, Om, who had been sleeping on the bench opposite from her parents, stirred and said, "Oh, we're there." Sure enough, when the Duke and Duchessa had been talking, the countryside had turned from the flat, river rimmed land by Bellezza to the hilly country boarding Fortezza. Arianna snapped to attention and started to smooth out the many wrinkles that had formed in her and Om's dresses during the carriage ride from Padvia.

&

If Om was ecstatic, Ari was even more so. She was extremely tired of her brothers company. Davide and Niccolo had a mandatory job of torturing their sister. Just yesterday, when she was actually on time on the way to lessons, Davide and Niccolo had rigged a bucket full of water, drenching their sister to the depths of her bloomers that she wore under two layers of underskirts. Ari had to go back to her room, take off the dripping skirts, and then redress, making her even later to lessons then usual. Ugh! At least when Om got here, she would help Ari get revenge. Ari was complementing different plans to use against her brothers when the Bellezan State Carriage rolled up.

&

Gaetano was excited. It was finally the winter visiting season. He had been wanting to talk to Luciano for months, but the other Duke could never tear himself away to come to Fortezza. The Bellezzan visit served a bad point to in the way of keeping the Duke of Fortezza sane. Ari, Davide, and Niccolo had been driving Gaetano crazy with their prank wars, and he knew that with the addition of Ombertta, things would only get wilder. Maybe Luciano could help him think of a way to get the kids to stop their war.

The Duke walked down the marble stairs and met his wife, daughter, and sons. Francesca had on green velvet which nicely complemented her eyes. Ari, for once, had her hair back, and now it hung down to the middle of her back. Francesca had forced Ari into a purple long sleeved dress. Then, there was Davide and Niccolo. Sometimes, it was scary to Gaetano how much his sons resembled him and Falco, except with the roles reversed. Davide was the handsome 16-year-old of the family. He looked almost exactly like what Falco looked like before he died. He was tall, good with a sword, and rode horses very well.

Then, there was Niccolo. Niccolo was the baby of the family, at 12. His slightly ugly looks reminded Gaetano of himself. Everybody loved Niccolo, especially Fabrizio, who was Niccolo's godfather.

Gaetano looked over his family with pride. Most of his wishes were fulfilled with this bunch. He only wished that Falco could see the family of his favorite brother, but the Duke knew it was impossible. Falco would surely be recognized.

Francesca was exhausted. The welcoming banquet for Arianna and Luciano had taken forever to arrange and pull off. The families were close friends, but they still had to put on a show of the formality between leaders of two different cities. Francesca sighed, fell into a couch, and started to drift off. Before she could fully doze off, Arianna came in and said "Cessa, can we talk?"

"Sure. What is it that's bothering you?" Francesca asked.

"Well, the only really important thing is Tommaso, being in charge of Bellezza. I'm so nervous. What if something goes wrong? And..." Arianna trailed off and turned slightly pink.

"What is it, Arianna?"

"Well, this is kind of awkward, but Luciano and I are a bit worried about Frabrizio attacking Bellezza while Luciano, Rodolfo, Silvia, and I are here. We know that he's been planning an attack for quite some time. I think he still has the warrant to arrest Luciano from when he killed Grand Duke Niccolo."

"Ah, I can see why you're worried. Well, your part way right. Frabrizio has been trying to attack Bellezza, but I don't think that he still has that warrant. He used it to arrest the Eel instead."

Arianna let out a sigh. "Oh, thank goodness!"

"But..." started Francesca

"Why does there always have to be a 'but' in good news?" Arianna muttered.

"But I'm sure that Frabrizio could think of an another way to arrest Luciano."

"Great, now I'm even more worried for my husband's life."

"We'll just have to protect him."

"You can say that again."