The next morning I opened my eyes and stared at the floral ceiling for a good hour before I finally realized where I was. I was home, in Granacci's house, in my own bedroom. It was almost noon, judging by the light reflections dancing on the ceiling. There was a peaceful silence, and for one wonderful moment I almost believed that I only had a nightmare last night. But then everything came back to me. An eerie picture of two figures grappling on the dock, the dull gleam of a knife, donna Assunta`s heavy body in a blood-soaked dress...

I gasped and got off the bed.

There were still dark streaks of blood somewhere between the chipped sun-dried tiles of the terrace. A huge chain with a broken iron ring was lying beside an empty lair. The other traces of the crime were safely hidden in the murky greenish depths of the canal. I had to take several deep breaths to overcome the dizziness.

So that wasn't a dream.

I needed to know what how my aunt was. Was doctor Faletrus still in the house? I crossed the cool hall, ran up the stairs... and paused outside the salon door when I heard familiar voices inside.

“That`s awful! I can't believe it! "

That was Ricardo`s voice. My face blushed and blossomed into a happy smile. He was home again! I was about to rush into the room to greet him as a loving sister should do, but a second voice made me freeze.

“Faletrus made his best. You`ve heard him: donna Assunta has a chance to survive, but now she is unconscious and her condition is quite precarious…”

Alessandro? Was he still there? I pressed my ear to the curtain behind the door. The green plush was gray with dust, and my nose itched. No, don`t sneeze!

"Damn that murderer! Luckily, he couldn`t hurt Julia!”

Ricardo's words sounded like music to my ears, but Alessandro's tone made me wary.

"Yes... he couldn`t. Fortunately, he had no chance against that creature she set at him.”

That wasn`t me. That was Carita who decided to save me, I thought with regret. I really felt sorry for her. I wanted Carita to live and be free. And she sacrificed herself to let me live…

"Was he identified?" Ricardo asked again. His voice now sounded a bit nervously.

"Are you kidding? The morraines gnawed him to the bones. And as for the paurozo, we couldn`t even find a trace of it.

"It must be someone of Falieri's men. Damn it! Julia is precious to the Count, that`s why they tried to get rid of her.”

"Precious to the Count and you, too," Alessandro said. His cold voice gave me creeps. I tried to hide myself in the drapery of the curtain. “Haven't you been to Miracolo island yet?"

“Do you think I had time?" Ricardo snapped. “I was in Patava with Enrico, and then I rushed here − and what do I see?!"

I could see them both with a corner of my eye. Ricardo was standing with his back to me, and his tense posture reminded the one of a duelist facing his opponent. Alessandro's gray eyes looked like ice blades. He grinned bitterly at my brother.

"Rushed here?" You know, I`ve got people there in Fusee in case Manriolo wants to escape from Venetta that way. They told me left Fusee yesterday afternoon. And yet you got here only in the morning. May I ask why took so long?”

I could feel Ricardo blush even without seeing his face.

"Why, are you interrogating me? What the hell are you getting at?!”

"I just wanted to say that donna Assunta certainly had some suspicions against your ... sister. And Julia was nearly killed yesterday. Though I`m very glad that senhorita Julia is safe and sound, I can`t help wondering…”

I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand. That wasn`t true! I would never believe that donna Assunta could do such a thing. No, never! That man wanted to kill us both.

Ricardo`s voice changed and became angrily-shaky.

“So you think that I could harm my own sister? How dare you?! Well, it`s true that I went to Dito yesterday. I've just heard that the Fair Ferroniere has finally returned to the port. The captain and I had been sorting things out all evening when Fabrizio came in with his eyes popped out and told me that someone tried to kill Julia. I knew you were here and she would be safe with you, so I decided to finish my business first. What was wrong about it?”

There was silence in the room. Then Alessandro grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, of course. Since your own sister is only a valuable asset to you... I have nothing else to say. The ship is more important, indeed"

"Yes, that`s right!” Ricardo slammed his fist on the table. “I've been harassing myself for the last ten years trying to save our family` s business! I didn`t sleep at nights, learning all the intricacies of the trade. I had to bargain with captains and money changers and swallow that disgusting ship's food when I went on business trips. Those port officials drank all my blood! And all I ask of naughty girl is to marry one of Venetta's most noble and wealthy men! That`s not too much, is it? And I don't care a fig what had happened on that stupid island! If the holy sisters and those-who-live-under-the-waves could stuff her little head with a little sanity, I shall be grateful to them for the rest of my life!”

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I guessed Alessandro said something, but I didn`t hear it. My ears were tingling and I could hardly breathe.

Ricardo… how could he?

I swallowed and ran away to my room. When the door slammed closed behind me, I finally could let myself go. The tears were running through my fingers. I couldn`t stay so I just slid down the wall and sat on the floor.

"A trump card"… "a naughty girl”…

My face was burning as if I'd been slapped.

And what did you expect? I tried to collect myself. That he would fall in love with you?! After all, you are here as his own sister!

But deep in my heart I knew that even if I had been introduced to Ricardo as one of the Venettian patricians, he wouldn`t have any feelings for me.

He simply didn`t notice me. I remembered the year before, when Julia had shown him to me from a distance during the parade. I saw him – and that meant the world to me. Actually, the world itself drastically changed: the sun rays became brighter, the air filled with sweetness and the decorated square around us seemed like a glistening brooch on the blue dress of the sky. Since then, my dreams I used to cherish in the cool privacy of the crypt, got a slightly different tone.

Love is too strong for just one person. It warms you when you share it with someone else. But when the fire of passion burns only in one heart, it will fade soon and turn to ashes…

The voices of the maids were heard outside. Someone was clinking dishes in the kitchen and turning a creaky winch of the well. The house gradually woke up. So I pulled myself together and washed my face carefully. I didn`t have right to cry. I had to smile and continue my role of loving sister and bride.

Ricardo was indifferent to me – so what? That didn`t change anything in my plans. I put on a proper expression on my face and went into the dim hallway.

“Melina! Hey, Melina!” my “brother" called from the saloon. “Where's that stupid girl? We want Tarin cheese and some ham at once! Does she want us to starve to death here?”

Once again, I thought to myself that I didn't understand men at all. They were ready to kill each other just five minutes ago, and now they were laughing and arguing about which was better to serve for breakfast: sausages with sauce or spicy cheese with ham!

However, what did I know about friendship, really? As I stood on the landing, with my hand touching the smooth polished banister, I suddenly felt so lonely there... Venetta wasn`t my home, I was a stranger here. A stranger who surrounded herself with thick wall of lies. For a moment I desperately wanted to go back to Terra dei Miracolo, where I had my friends, my life was careless and easy, and my only lie seemed too small and harmless to take notice of.

With that small lie was where it all began…

***

My friend and I were sitting together, and the crypt embraced us with its quiet dark wings. The sunspots were fluttering to the walls and ceiling, dancing to the tune of silence.

“Will you go to the scriptorium for me today?" she asked once again with a pleading voice.

We didn`t have any secrets from each other. I could easily read her thoughts, and she could read mine. But she couldn`t feel free in that crypt anymore. She was longing for the garden filled with careless songs of the birds and smell of grass. And in its farthest corner there was an old chestnut tree with its thick crown hiding the hole in the stone wall. It turned into a kind of a stone staircase for those who wasn`t afraid to tear his jacket on the prickly trailing of brambles.

Apparently, the chestnut had seen too much recently, and its wide leaves even started to blush with embarrassment.

"Did he promise to come today?" I ask bluntly.

She didn`t answer. She just took off her white robe and went into the dark water without hesitation. There she muttered some prayers, quickly touched the water with her palms and rushed back.

"Holy heavens, the water is so cold!”

She shook off water like a puppy, and some water drops reached me. Her wet hair seemed dark and heavy. The water in the crypt was still rippling and glistening nervously, utterly offended. I looked at her and shook my head.

“Do you realize that there is no sanctity in such a prayer?" I asked with deliberate severity.

My friend had already put on my gray rustling robe. She embraced me, the loose ends of her wet hair tickling my neck.

"Then pray for me too, my dear Umilta, please! And don't worry – no one will ever notice! Sister Agatha is almost blind and nobody else cares. What`s more, you're much better than me at the art of chiamata! Believe me, the day will come when you amaze all of us!”

I thought to myself that I could amaze the sisters right now if… if it weren't for Pulcino. I could have gone to sister Agatha – just a common "grey novice,” and show her a flock of gulls obedient to the call of my and Pulcino's voice. Oh, the holy sisters would be so happy! They would have dressed me in silk white robes and immediately opened for me the treasured chests of books and manuscripts – the grains of precious knowledge that had been collected by the convent for many years…

And they would put Pulchino in a cage and protect him with their lives as such close and intimate connection was second to none. The holy sisters wouldn`t leave my friend in peace, trying to investigate the link between us. Pulcino hated cages. I couldn't do that to him. And I felt sorry for my friend, who was forced to study, although she was not interested in the art of chiamata.

It occurred to her that perhaps her longing for "picking up chestnuts" was some kind of a protest against her own cage.

It's always been hard for me to make a choice. Umilta knew about that. And while I was torturing myself with thousands “if” and “when,” she decided everything for me. So she grabbed my sandals and my simple gardening tools – an old mattock with a short handle and the opposite part looking like a crooked bird's paw. I could hear her bare feet slapping the cold stone steps. Then the echo faded. I was alone again, except for the silent reflections in the polished columns and the mirror-dark water of the crypt.

The white robe carelessly thrown on the stones looked like seagull`s' wings. My heart sank when I touched them. Someone was waiting for my friend there, under that old chestnut tree. She was longing for someone`s passionate embrace under a green cover of leaves. Just as I was – for mysterious chiamata and its well-kept secrets.

The sound of the bell made me hurry. I quickly put on the dress and fastened silver clasps. Come what may be if that was the only way to learn the magic of the sea. Somewhere from the distance I could hear Pulcino`s voice whishing me good luck. Our friendship was only strengthened by that secret of three of us. A secret that gave us all a breath of freedom.