"Lavinia, would you say the green or the red this evening?" Danika stood before the steel mirror, considering her options. Lavinia, her lady's maid, stood a step behind holding both dresses for comparison. Lavinia was a pretty girl of about 26, married to Aldo, their head servant and with a son Alessio who was five years of age. Lavinia cocked her head in consideration before holding up the green.

"I should think Donna would look best in the green, as all the other women will wear red. This way you will stand out."

"Very astute," Danika took the long swath of green velvet into her hands and began to slip her arms into the bodice, "but pray tell, who am I trying so hard to impress? And we've talked about you calling me Donna, you only need to do so in public," Danika smiled through the mirror at Lavinia, not only a maid but also a friend.

With a mischievous grin Lavinia pulled the laces shut at her back. "Well there is the obvious answer of your husband-"

"Who is already married to me-"

"-married yes, but best not to let his eyes wander-"

"-as if they would-" Danika began to laugh. Her ribcage moved so much that Lavinia had to wait for her to stop before continuing the lacing.

"-naturally, and then there is the matter to simply putting all other women in attendance into your shadow."

"Now that I can get behind."

Lavinia began to attach the sleeves to the bodice with clean, practiced movements. The gonnella was lovely, made of green velvet accented with ropes of gold piping. As with the current fashion, it was high waisted and low cut, drawing attention to what assets Danika could claim. Lavinia slipped a brocade giornea over Danika's shoulders, colored in gold and white. Then there was the belt, gold embroidered, and then the veil, white, which rested over her complicated braided updo adorned with a delicate golden net, studded with pearls. Lavinia set a final string of pearls about Danika's neck. When all was said and done the ensemble was like looking at a snow covered tree. Clean and white with morning sunshine, with just a bright shock of deep green beneath to capture the eyes. Gazing in the mirror, Danika felt ridiculous. But she also felt very beautiful.

"Almost ready," Danika proclaimed, turning to Lavinia who was carrying a small wooden box.

"What is that?" Danika asked. This was not the usual box Lavinia brought. The one in her hands was of a darker wood and its top was painted with a pastoral scene.

"Your husband asked me to give you these in place of your usual...accessories tonight. He did not explain why." And after such a dramatic pause, Lavinia opened the box with a soft click. Inside were a gorgeous pair of stilettos. The knife, not the high heeled shoe. Danika could only sigh in appreciation. Gingerly she took one from its bed of crushed velvet to admire it. The handle was made of polished black wood, made thinner for her small hands. The crossguard was tiny, nothing more than a decoration and the blade was straight as an arrow. Holding it upright, she had only to lightly hover her fingertip over the point to draw a small droplet of blood. The prick on her finger closed almost instantly and with an excited smile she attached them to her custom sheaths on her forearms. Checking her reflection one last time to make sure the blades did not cause her sleeves to lay askew she turned around.

"Now I'm ready."

"About earlier, I hope Donna was not offended when I jested about her husband's eyes wandering, it was meant only to be a joke. I understand that you have been married since before I was born, and will continue to happily be married long after my children's children are with God in heaven-"

Danika wrapped her arm around her shoulders and cut off her babbling, "there's no need to apologize Lavinia. Ever since you were a little girl, you were always of good humor, I take no offense."

Lavinia, who in all honesty looked older than Danika, was visibly relieved. They began to walk out from the master bedroom into the hall, which was bathed in the warm light of the late afternoon. They made their way to the entrance hall where a carriage was waiting. Hvitserk in white hose and a black tunic accented with white and gold approached, securing his sword about his waist. As they parted, Lavinia curtsied and bid her mistress farewell.

"I still remember fondly the stories my grandmother would tell us of how she met you and Don de Bianco. Tonight, I will tell them to Alessio."

Taking Hvitserk's arm, both he and Danika smiled. As always Hvitserk had some funny remark to say.

"That old tale? I would think after all these years it's gotten boring."

Hvitserk meandered through the shadows. The building was unfinished and in the course of construction. Large cuts of marble lay scattered around the floor. Moonlight cast shadows and gave the whole scene an air of otherworldly coolness and peace. All the trails he had followed led here, to Florence. He knew that Danika would go to Italy. Her love of art and political excitement would bring her nowhere else, he thought to himself. She had often spoken of an age of artistic blossoming, when all the beautiful things of the world would leap forward and grow. The Renaissance, the rebirth. Certainly it was a concept he was familiar with. Both he and Danika kept running lists of each death they had accumulated over the many years, with the date, manner of death, and recovery time. Nothing was as glamorous as her first go around. There were the usual battle stabbings, slashings, etc. Then there were the funnier ones, usually deaths by misadventure such as Hvitserk's tumble off a cliff in Alba or a mishap with a berry bush, a snake, and a horse during their time on the silk road. So far, Danika's deaths tended towards the poetic and interesting, and Hvitserk's tended to be more run of the mill. However by this point he had managed to die a handful more times. Maybe more than a handful.

He passed under an arch which ought to connect two rooms. A fine layer of dust settled over everything, but small whorls danced across the floor in the nighttime breeze. In Milan there had been sightings of a lone woman travelling south. In Genoa, he got lucky and found a man who had been attacked by a "witch." He was grateful that she had left this one alive. The man had stammered that the woman had descended from the sky when he was walking home from work. He had done nothing to provoke her wrath. Sure you didn't, he thought. The witch had fled South. And so now he was in Florence and a local innkeeper who boarded Hvitserk's mercenaries on occasion had directed him to a building.

"A woman came asking after you. A fine one at that. Good posture, a little foreign looking, maybe moorish?"

"My wife."

"You're married then. My sister will be disappointed, she had eyes on you for her oldest."

"Sorry to disappoint," Hvitserk responded with his trademark smile.

"Believe me, you're not. My niece is many things, a good cook and excellent housekeeper but the sight of a sword sets her right to tears."

"Not the wife of a condottiere then."

"Decidedly not."

Hvitserk paid the man for his knowledge and now found himself prowling through the unfinished villa. As was his nature, he grew impatient. He had not been searching inordinately long. It was a big world after all. But he realized that in all their years, he and Danika had never been far apart. There were times when they would go days without uttering so much as a word, moving around each other in silent harmony. But she was always there. He would travel for months at a time and she would go on her own travels for her own whims. But they would always, always, come back to each other. This was the first time he hadn't known exactly when he would see her again. Soon, he promised himself.

In the darkness he heard gravel skitter across the floor. Then nothing but the wind. He could search the entire building, but knowing Dani, she would move around him and he'd leave thinking the building was empty. No, he was going to do this the fast way.

"HELLO?" His voice echoed off the stone. He waited one moment, then two.

"HVITSERK!"

He turned just in time to anchor his footing, for just like the poor unfortunate man in Genoa, he was about to be victim to Danika, flying through the air. Her arms and legs wrapped around him like an octopus. His arms were pinned but he did manage to incline his head to pop a kiss on her expectant face.

"Örlög mín, I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"Prove it."

"Really?" she unclamped from around him. Her infamous cocked eyebrow in full display.

"I spend a year and a half tearing Europe apart, so I think it's your turn to do some work."

"If you searched all of Europe when I clearly was going to come to Italy, then-"

"Are you refusing?" He wrapped his arms around her waist, folding his hands behind her back, a familiar gesture which he had sorely missed. Her hands habitually rose to rest on his shoulders, her thumbs pressing softly into the hollow behind his jaw and under his ears.

"No, shut up."

"Only if you sing me a song."

"Well Signore de Bianco, I believe a thank you is in order for the lovely gift," Danika lifted her arms and allowed her sleeves to slide down, exposing the knives strapped to her arms.

"Happy Halfway Year."

"Oh is it Halfway Year already?" They sat side by side as the carriage rolled through the streets of Florence on its way to the mighty house of the Medici. Their hands sat entwined and though Danika wished to rest her head on his shoulder, the labyrinthine twists of her hair would have made that certainly uncomfortable. "My how the years have flown by. Did it feel like 574 years to you?" They were halfway back to the present, their long journey halfway over.

"Seeing as we are the only ones to know what 574 years feels like, it seems there is no good standard to compare ourselves to."

"You're right. All we need to do is wait another 574 years and we will be...unfrozen again."

"If it goes as quickly as these past 574 then it is no time at all," Hvitserk quipped jovially.

"Ugh but then after that we can only expect about 70 years past that, which is like a blink! Our lives will be practically over! Let's hope these next 574 years don't go too fast," she crossed her arms in indignation. He pried her hand free once more. All he could do was laugh at her warped sense of time. She startled and began to fumble through her many skirts.

"I have your Halfway gift as well." After an extensive search she pulled out a small no larger than her spread hand. "It was interesting trying to explain it to the Silversmith."

Hvitserk opened the box and took out a replica of his arm bracelet. He had been forced to store and preserve the one his father gave him years ago. It's age was beginning to show and he had reasoned that if he wanted to remember it in the coming centuries, he could no longer wear it.

"I know it broke your heart to lock your real one away, but at least-"

"It's perfect. Thank you." He put his hand to her cheek and slipped the bracelet easily onto his wrist. The moment was ended when the carriage came to a halt and the bright sound of chatter could be heard inside. Handing her out of the carriage, Hvitserk leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Tonight will definitely be a night for the journals, I think." The Medici family was holding this party to celebrate their opening of the Florentine Library, which Cosimo de Medici had worked very hard to achieve.

"Indeed, I heard rumors that Donatello is unveiling a new statue tonight, commissioned by Cosimo.."

Hvitserk's mercenary business was wildly successful, and with Danika's future-minded advice, Hvitserk had quietly entered into the textile business, which took off immediately. Danika's secret proprietary ability to create bleach 300 years ahead of its official invention allowed their white fabrics to be brighter than anyone else's, and hence they became known as Signore Saverio and Signora Daniella de Bianco. Their quiet fame was colored by their reclusive nature. They almost never went out in public as de Biancos. They would dress plainly for any business about town. It had afforded them over 90 years without needing to relocate, to which end several other compromises were made.

"I'm telling you, there is absolutely no way we can run this entire household by ourselves!" Danika followed Hvitserk as he jogged around the very same villa, now finished, in which he had found her hiding post-Plague. He turned around to confront her argument.

"And I'm telling you it is too risky to have servants who will certainly notice that we don't age!"

"Well then it's just a matter of finding servants we can trust!" They began to raise their voices. Danika had to pick up the hem of her skirts to keep up with Hvitserk's long stride as he moved around the villa picking places to discreetly store their various weapons and safe places to store their accumulated antiques. Things were so heated that they had started speaking in Norse again instead of Italian.

"How many?! The likelihood of finding one person who will keep their mouth shut, let alone three or five?! We'd have to make some strong threats to keep them quiet."

Danika rolled her eyes at that last comment, "We won't be doing that, unless of course we have to, and since when have you been so uptight?"

With his arm on a pillar of their mezzanine, he leaned forward so he was towering over her, despite being only a scant 4-5 inches or so taller than her. But she was not going to cower like all the shorter people of the past. Not to be easily intimidated by his attempt to pressure her she leaned into him, waiting for his rebuttal. "Since when did you stop being so uptight, Dani? Our secret used to be everything to you! Back when it was just your secret it took you over a year, and an untimely death, before you even told me and you love me."

She scrunched up her mouth, which meant Hvitserk knew she had no response and he was close to winning the argument. Crossing her arms over a chest, a sign she was on the defensive, she pressed forward anyway.

"I'll admit I was much more...cautious back then, but we've been doing this awhile and I think a calculated risk could be worth it. What is 1200 years of life if you aren't living? We decided to stop running so much!" She had lowered her voice and raised the pitch slightly. He smiled despite his increasing frustration, because if she couldn't fight him down, she would try to endear him into agreeing with her. "Besides," she threw the icing on the cake pointing to his chest, "you're not going to be the one doing any of the household running when you're away on business."

He dropped his smile, grabbing her hand, "Don't use that argument on me, it won't work."

Time for a transparent strategy, she smiled devilishly and got up close to his face, "What will work then?"

"A miracle."

"You are so stubborn, Hvitserk!"

"I must be to handle you, Dani."

The Medici house was lavishly furnished, though the art and furniture all gave off a respectfully austere vibe so as to maintain the Medici reputation of being humble representatives of the common man. A goblet of wine in one hand and her husband on the other, Danika began the usual ritual of trying to memorize each and every detail of the home. It was Hvitserk's job to remember all of the colorful characters in attendance. They would compare notes later. It was always good fun.

"Don't look now but I think Donatello is looking at you." Hvitserk sipped his wine conspiratorially. Danika turned to catch the eye of the bearded artist. Turning back to Hvitserk she sipped her own wine with a smile and corrected, "Oh no dearest, he is looking at you."

Hvitserk's head jerked up from his drink, then he shrugged, "I must look good tonight then."

"Good enough to eat." Danika tousled his hair. At the mention of food, Hvitserk reverted to his primary programming.

"Speaking of food, I am hungry-"

"No surprises there, try not to eat our hosts out of house and home-"

"Do you want anything?"

"If you see any of my favorites, yes please."

With a kiss on the cheek, he left her to seek out his second great love, food. But she was not alone for long. Turning around she found a man with dark curly hair streaked with the beginnings of gray in her path. The host himself. He stood at Danika's height but he held himself with quiet dignity.

"Signore, good evening." Danika dipped into a shallow curtsy. He inclined slightly forward as was expected and placed a feather light kiss on the knuckles of her right hand.

"Signora de Bianco, welcome, I trust you are enjoying yourself."

"Immensely. We were very pleased to receive your invitation. The library is a beautiful success."

"Thank you but all the credit should go to the architects and builders. We are also happy to receive you and your husband, you are one of our most esteemed accounts and we are honored by your presence."

"I shan't keep you, but perhaps later we can have a longer conversation. I hear such stories about the state of the world and would like to see how many of them are true. I hear the Portugese have opened the first market dealing in African slaves. Treacherous." Cosimo nodded solemnly. The current pope opposed slavery and Cosimo was backing and banking for the current pope. Truly, the men of the Signoria were great sources of capturing glimpses into the current body politic. Getting them to reveal their secrets to her was a fun challenge especially since she was particularly disinclined to sleep with any of them. Can't ever do things the easy way, where's the fun in that?

With a smile he departed. Lavinia had been right. Many of the women, though in her eyes girls may have been more appropriate for some, were in shades of red, orange, or a daring yellow. Her green gonnella stood in stark relief. Another stood out as well: none other than the lady of the house clad in royal blue, Contessina de Medici ne. Bardi. Even without speaking to her, Danika saw that this was a sharp woman. A good place to start.

Weaving her way through the crowd of people she approached her with a curtsy. She was fair with honeyed brown hair and dark eyes not unlike Danika's own. For a woman in her fifties she looked remarkably young still, but perhaps it was just her composed and graceful demeanor.

"Signora de Bianco, a pleasure to meet you at last." Contessina said, though it was as much a formality as it was a truth.

"Please call me Daniella."Danika did her best to sound polite and enchanting. However Contessina only smiled.

"A lovely party, I'm sure you had a heavy hand in organizing it." Danika tried again.

"That is one of my roles, yes."

"Is it one you enjoy?" Danika gave it one last ditch effort. She couldn't risk annoying Contessina. She could always try again another day. Insinuating oneself into the inner circle of one of history's most famous families is a long game. She must be patient.

Contessina did not get a chance to respond as Hvitserk reappeared, plate in hand.

"They have the Spanish ham you are so fond of, Dani."

"Ah your husband." Contessina acknowledged, looking Hvitserk up and down. "And have you children?"

"God has not yet blessed us, but I think he will only give us a child when my husband stops being one." Danika's hand went up to her mouth, though it was too late to stop what she feared was a terrible impropriety. Hvitserk hadn't even heard, too busy consuming. But Contessina laughed. Really laughed.

"You are bold! I thought I was the only woman to speak of my husband in such a way, and even then never in company."

Choosing to try being more honest, Danika replied, "Well if nothing is said, then nothing will be done."

"True words."

"And seeing as it is our husbands' voices are the ones which are heard, I suppose words must be provided from time to time, don't you agree?"

"I do. Ah! Donatello is going to unveil his finished work, I must go make sure that all is in order for the formal dinner, but perhaps I may call on you Daniella de Bianco. I think I may enjoy your company."

"Nothing could please me more." Danika curtsied and watched her float away.

Danika and Hvitserk were in plain clothes, going to get a few weapons sharpened when someone came barrelling out of a door. The door was attached to an affluent home and the person falling out of it was in fact three people, a family. Like a gust of wind, Danika and Hvitserk spun out of the way. When it became clear that the mother and child were not going to land on their feet, Hvitserk swept his long arm behind them to spare them the fall into the road, which was muddy from the previous night's rains.

"Please Signore, after all these years of service, please at least a reference!" the father, despite his distress, thanked Hvitserk profusely for catching his wife.

"That was an aggressive exit." Danika commented. The man waved his hand in dismissal.

"A disagreement is all."

"Seemed like more than that," Hvitserk disagreed, trying to identify the house.

"I have served his family for my whole life, I will not disclose their business, even now." The man curtly ended the conversation then and there, "Please I must find lodgings for my family...and a new job."

Danika turned and gave Hvitserk a pointed look. He dropped his shoulders in the universal gesture of Seriously? Danika imperceptibly nodded. She mouthed "loyal" to him while the family's back was turned. He caved and said "one chance" holding up a solitary finger. When the family turned back one last time Danika said "Wait! Please allow us to lodge you until you find a new situation. As luck would have it…"

Donatella captured the attention of all assembled persons. Age had stooped him slightly but he had a strong presence. With little pomp he pulled a sheet off of the tall object beside him followed by a deep bow. Around the room there were collective gasps. Cast in bronze was the figure of a nude boy, barely a young man. A helmet was perched on his head, and a sword was held lightly with his right hand. His left foot rested on the decapitated head of what was certainly once a much larger man.

"Ah, so this was the unveiling of Donatello's David." Danika quietly said to herself, taking note of the date for her journal.

"What are they all gasping for, have they never seen a naked person before?" Hvitserk was unperturbed.

"Oh I'm sure they have, but no one has done a statue in full nudity since the ancient Greeks."

"So this isn't even the first time and they are all blushing like scared piglets?" Both he and Danika concealed their snickers.

SONG: Historically Halfway...Numb by Linkin Park (The Bardcore Version)

I personally love the Renaissance, I have so many notes for writing in this time period with Danika and Hvitserk, seriously I have a literal timeline with all the historical cameos and their lifespans so I can look for overlaps. Anyhooow, most historians agree that Donatello's David was commissioned by Cosimo de Medici, though there is massive uncertainty about exactly when. There were many suspicions that Donatello was homosexual, about which there varying degrees of tolerance, despite it being illegal at the time. Contessina de Medici was a valued member of Cosimo's household, running it diligently for him while he ran the bank. In 1444 Cosimo did open the Florentine Library AND the Portugese did open the first market trading in African slaves, dawning the age of racially motivated slavery by creating the notions of racism, followed by the creation of the idea of race. 1444 was also a leap year and is one of only 8 years thus far in which every roman numeral appears exactly once.

Responding to the Guest Review asking about Maid Marion:

I did consider this at one point but a few factors stopped me. The first was that Maid Marion did not appear in the earliest versions of Robin Hood lore and so I did not want to add that element since Danika and Hvitserk essentially inspire the lore. I have a notion that if some people suspected that Robin Hood was a woman they created the Maid Marion character since at the time the idea of a skilled female archer would be preposterous. The second reason was that I didn't want to have it seem like Danika can just escape anything and everything at a whim. The last thing I want her to end up being is a Mary Sue and that means maintaining a multitude of character flaws which I intend to explore in greater detail soon enough.

Responding to the Guest Review asking about the Plague:

The Plague would not be able to kill them. It took an average of about three days to die from the Black Death after showing symptoms. This manner of damage is too slow to kill Danika or Hvitserk as time would reverse such slow damage before it could kill them. The two of them die when damage is incurred faster than time can reverse it, and so it reverses it after they have died. Admittedly the plague was a fast acting disease, but compared to a knife to the heart or some quick poisons it's really rather slow.

Keep up the questions and reviews folks, I'm enjoying this!