Chapter Eight

It had become apparent to Dafne during her trips to the Church that there was a hierarchy existing amongst Capricorn's men. From this hierarchy, it was evident that the young boys were the lowest ranking. The boys took their meals together, away from the main group and were always served last. So when Dafne entered the Church that night with the intention of finding Silvio, she knew exactly where to look. And there he was, pinned between the broad shoulders of his peers either side of him.

All in all, they were a rowdy bunch, this assortment of aspiring criminals. They squabbled with each other in an attempt to assert themselves, shoving and shouting and making threats. Their actions mirrored the behaviour of men seated at the main tables. Out of all the boys, only Silvio stood out. His manner was reserved and his expression was reminiscent of someone deep in internal contemplation, his brows slightly furrowed. He ignored his companions, who in turn showed no signs of including him in their boisterous forum.

Seeing him that way, alienated even by boys his own age, made Dafne more determined to take him away from this life and even more assured in her right to do so. Her encounters with him had only been brief yet she felt connected to him in a way that was probably overambitiously misguided. After all, she knew so little about him – only of what impression he had given her, a peculiar, gentle boy who was passionate about dogs. She knew nothing about what (or rather who?) had brought him here and more importantly, why he had stayed.

All she knew was she couldn't leave him. It wouldn't be long the poison of this place enveloped him, stripping away his goodness and leaving only a callous shell. He couldn't stay here and remained unaffected. Dafne only had to look into the downcast eyes of her fellow maidservants to know that. The only hope she had ever seen was in Resa's eyes. Yet that hope was fuelled by the chance to escape, the chance to be reunited with her family. Silvio didn't have the option unless she extended it to him. The alterative was abandoning him to turn into the likes of Basta and she couldn't let that happen.

However making contact with Silvio presented a challenge, as she couldn't approach him directly. Not while under the ever-watchful eye of Orlanda. To do so would risk arousing the older woman's suspicions. The last thing Dafne wanted was to be dragged before Mortola and forced to explain herself to her. The old witch had already given her a death threat and she didn't want to provoke her into putting that threat into effect.

Therefore she had to bide her time and work her towards him. After all, the men had to be served first. It was a task she loathed on first doing it yet with each following time, it seemed to increase even more. Not only was it demeaning work but it was made worse by the presence of Cockerell. He purposely positioned himself where she was serving so she was forced to listen to some obnoxious comment as she gave him his meal. It took all her mental strength to resist upturning whatever she was serving all over his head.

But tonight proved to be different. She braced herself, reached Cockerell and found to her satisfaction that he too preoccupied to even notice her. He was glaring across the table at Fiammetta, who was wedged between two men vying for her attention. At one point, Fiammetta lifted her head in Dafne's direction and Dafne could have sworn that she winked at her. Dafne moved on, content to have been spared Cockerell's usual harassing.

She was also comforted by the absence of Basta from the Church. She may have persuaded him to abandon his assault on Resa, but she had no desire to meet him face to face again. The only person she actually wanted to see was Silvio. However, when she finally reached him, the boy was still lost in thought. It was only when she said his name as she leaned in to take his plate that he snapped out his reverie, like someone being shaken from sleep. He whirled around to face her with a wide grin,

"Dafne!" he said, "I was looking for you today."

So much for being discreet, thought Dafne. Silvio seemed oblivious to the fact that he starring at a serving maid with such ill-concealed excitement. However, he was beaming at her in such a way that brought a smile to her own lips, despite her paranoia.

"Vannetta told me," she replied, filling his plate so she looked busy, "What did you want?"

She passed him the plate and he took it, lowering his head.

"Oh, um," he said, slightly muffled, studying the food, "I just wanted to know if you…" he paused, his head bouncing back up to meet her eyes, his face earnest, "If you want to come meet the dogs tonight."

Dafne looked at him in surprise. She had not been expecting such an invitation, not one so out of the blue… and so impossible to agree to. Didn't Silvio know about the nigh time curfew? That while Capricorn's men roamed the streets; his serving maids were imprisoned in their rooms. Yet Silvio was looking at her so expectantly, as though it was completely plausible to him that she would accept.

"Um, Silvio," she said gently, "You do know that I get locked in my room at night, don't you?"

Silvio ran his hand self-consciously through the back of hair,

"Well yeah," he said, looking dispirited, "But I didn't think that would be a problem…"

"Well of course it's a problem," Dafne replied, "I mean I'd love to come with you if it weren't for that reason."

On hearing this, Silvio's expression became jubilant.

"You would! That's great. I thought you didn't want to… Anyway, getting you out of your room, that's easy! All I just have to talk to Orlanda."

"Orlanda?" echoed Dafne doubtfully, even more surprised than before. She glanced over at the scowling woman, arms crossed formidably against her ample chest. What could she possibly have to do with Silvio's plan? She was more likely to report them to Mortola if she got a whiff of it. But Silvio seemed unfazed, if anything he looked supremely confident.

"Yeah, I just have to bribe her to let you out for a while," he explained, "Then I'll come and get you, we'll go meet the dogs and when we're done, I'll bring you back."

He spoke as though the whole process was going to be effortlessly easy yet Dafne couldn't see why. There were too many holes, starting with the matter of bribery.

"What are you going to bribe her with?" she asked him, trying not to sound critical.

Silvio looked around furtively for a moment before reaching into his jacket to produce a small wad of notes. He held at her proudly.

"Silvio, where did you get that?" Dafne asked uneasily, suspecting that it had been accumulated through some unlawful means.

"Oh, it's bits I picked up here and there," he said vaguely, putting it back out of sight, "I've been saving up. Plus Ercole paid me to take his shift tonight. It should be enough to bribe Orlanda."

"What makes you sure that Orlanda will accept a bribe?" Dafne said, still unconvinced of the plan's likelihood to succeed.

"'Cause she does it all the time," Silvio told her, "When the men want to, um, take girls out for the night, they go to Orlanda and give her bribes. I've heard 'em talk about it."

Now he was looking at her for approval but she didn't feel like she could supply it. She found it hard to believe that that Mortola's second in command was actually profiteering behind her back and a wrong assumption could land them both in massive trouble.

"Silvio, I still don't know…" Dafne began reluctantly, trying her best to sound encouraging and failing.

However, in an instant, Silvio was getting up from his chair, saying, "Look I'll show you," and raced off before she recovered the voice to call him back.

He was heading in the obvious direction of Orlanda and Dafne drew in her breath sharply. Keep working, she told herself, keep acting like you're busy! She hastily moved on, serving out sloppy portions while trying to keep one eye locked on Silvio.

By now he had reached Orlanda, who on seeing him approach had tried to ward him off with withering glare. But Silvio had not been deterred and to Dafne's amazement, when he began to speak, Orlanda appeared to listen. Yet her face betrayed nothing except her usual sour expression. Then when Silvio finished, she nodded, but only slightly, and if Dafne had not been watching so closely, she would have missed it. Silvio's empty hand went into his jacket and withdrew something to small for Dafne couldn't see but knew it could only be the roll of money he had revealed earlier. He surreptitiously passed it to Orlanda who inspected it briefly before stowing it in the pocket of her apron.

Then with a flick of her hand, she shooed him away. Silvio returned, looking equally triumphant and stunned, as though deep down he too had not quite believed that bribing Orlanda was going to work. When he passed Dafne, he shot her a grin and mouthed "Tonight!" before resuming his seat at the table. He began to eat, smiling around the mouthfuls. Watching him, Dafne also allowed herself a small smile. Tonight would be her chance to talk to Silvio alone.

Unable to stop herself, she stole a glance at Orlanda. There was definitely more to that woman than she had originally thought. She also realised that involving Orlanda in anything placed her in a tentative position. If Orlanda decided to betray them to Mortola, there was no stopping her if she did. But she knew it was worth it for this small window of opportunity, to try and convince Silvio to come with her. She just hoped the risk would pay off, but that relied solely on Silvio's answer. At the moment all she could was wait and pray that Orlanda chose to respect the deal that been bought with Silvio's money.

Only time would tell.

To be continued...