The Third Installment

Rodolpho was not at all pleased with his wife.

"Silvia! I'm ashamed of you. Arianna was walking on water, and you made no effort to complement – or even go along with– her happiness. You ruined her night."

Silvia, avoiding his stern gaze, pretended to stare over the rail of their room's balcony at the meadows they had ridden through. "No matter what I do or say, they're still engaged. Look, Rodolpho, I like Luciano. He's an honest young man and I believe he will be good to our Arianna. I don't know what came over me. I suppose I just felt, well, you know, overprotective."

Rodolpho strode towards his wife and held her in his arms.

"It's alright, Silvia. Just promise me you'll put a better face on tommorow."

ooooooooooooosection breakooooooooooooooooo

In keeping with Rodolpho's promise, Luciano joined the Bellezzan royal party as soon as they passed through the last di Chimici-controlled outpost. Silvia was so obviously trying to be optimistic that Luciano had to concentrate on trouncing his disbelieving laughter.

It irked him a little that the one person keeping him apart from his love was a woman whose life he had saved. It wasn't as though there was much she had to keep them from doing – it was, after all, the 16th century– but Arianna's vitality and animated charm (that he had been looking forward to enjoying, now that the barrier between them was gone) was noticeably subdued by her mother's obvious disfavor.

But, seeing the effort on Silvia's part, and for the sake of his impending marriage, Luciano internally shrugged and made the best of it.

Luciano and Arianna were sustained by the fleeting moments when they could be alone. Every night, escorted (halfway) by a guard to ensure impeccable decency, they would wander the grounds of whatever inn or gracious home offered them hospitality. Occasionally they would walk in silence, drinking in the pleasure of each other's company. Other times, they would speak, of their wedding, and then, their future together.

Sitting her down on a large stone, Luciano jestingly (to hide his nervousness) asked his Arianna what she intended to do about their children.

"Well, of course," she replied confidently, "I've already got it all planned out."

"Do tell me the agenda," he inquired, less casually than he meant to.

"I didn't exactly mean it that way...I just meant I know the names of the first few." Arianna's violet eyes were shyly averted. "First, we'll have a little girl– she'll probably be the next Duchessa. I was thinking she could be Luciana, or Lucia, or even Lucetta – I think you see what I'm getting at." She smiled coyly.

"Next, we would have twins, strong-headed, a boy and a girl. The boy would be Rodolpho, and the girl would probably be–"

"Vittoria," Luciano cut in. "The girl will be Vittoria, for my mother."

"Yes," Arianna repeated the name, rolling the "r" lyrically off her tongue. "Vittoria. That will be a lovely name for her. She will be a girl as musical as her name." Her whole face relaxed, and the corners of her mouth curled up.

"Right." Arianna shook herself out of her dreamy daze. "And after Rodolpho and Vittoria, there will be another boy, a daredevil. I thought perhaps Gaetano, because of all he's done... you know, especially with regard to duelling..."

Luciano nodded his approval. "So that's already four...how far does your list go?"

"Only to the sixth. The next two are both girls. The elder will be Sophia, a graceful, witty, girl, and the younger will be Giulia, exorbitant and vivacious.

"By then, we'll have more people we owe names to and the rest of our children will be their namesakes."

Luciano whistled. "Sounds perfect. I'm glad you've taken care of the entire department. I take it you've arranged their marriages already, as well?"

Arianna assumed a look of mock horror. "How could we do that until after we know what they're like? Imagine if I had been promised to Duke Niccolo at birth."

"He was married back then."

"Yes, well, suppose anyway." They both shuddered as the thought actually sank in.

"Duchessa?" The guard's deep, Padavian accent cut through the gardens they had made their way into.

"Coming!" She shouted back.

Arianna hopped off the rock, brushed her lips against Luciano's, and ran towards the voice, tying on her mask with practiced ease. Luciano followed, a few steps behind.

oooooooooooosection breakooooooooooooooooo

Arianna had passed the little fountain where she and Luciano had left her guard, and he was nowhere to be seen. It was not uncommon for her escorts to roam a bit, but here, it was too quiet. Her own breathing seemed magnified by the silence.

As she made to extract her merlino blade, two rough hands grabbed her and pulled her to the ground. She struggled to face her attacker, and she screamed when she recognized his face. He made no further attempt to hurt her, but kept a steely grip on her hands, pinning them behind her back. He clumsily bound her wrists and held a cloth up to her face.

This is it, she thought, I'm going to die. I'm going to suffocate and die.

Then, everything went black.