For Alessandro di Goro it had been two days since he had been wounded in the dark, narrow canal behind the Golden Palace. He woke up suddenly, emerging from a long stifling slumber. He recognized his own room, his bed with a green, half-drawn canopy. Judging by the soft yellowish gloom, it was evening or early morning. A candle was burning softly on the dresser, quivering in the draught. Alessandro sat up cautiously.

The wound in his side hardly bothered him now, and the cut on his arm seemed nothing more but a trifle at all. Only his head was buzzing like a huge hive, and he felt something sickening bitter on his tongue. Doctor Faletrus, he guessed, must have drugged him with some potion to make it easier to keep the patient in bed! Alessandro thought angrily that he should have made the doctor taste each medicine first.

His clothes were in their usual places. Wincing at the pain in his side, he pulled on his pants, listening to the voice of his "jailer" coming from the corridor:

“I`ve already told you! You can`t come in now!"

“But it`s an emergency!"

"Signor Matteo, no! He needs rest!”

There was a rustle, a puff, and a quick indignant whisper. Someone was trying to get in. Alessandro looked for his boots, found none, and sat down on the bed again. He felt a bit dizzy at first, but then it was fine.

"Have you forgotten the Count`s order?!” Faletrus obviously lost his temper. "Get out of here! You may come tomorrow!”

“Matteo!” Alessandro shouted, deciding it was time to come to the aid of his subordinate. “Come in!”

There was another brief altercation, an indignant snort, and then, finally, Matteo came in... accompanied by Bianca Sanudo! Alessandro hastily buttoned the collar of his shirt, casting a reproachful glance at his assistant, who looked very pleased.

However, as soon as Bianca spoke, it became clear that the she was the initiator of the conversation.

"I am sorry to trouble you, signor di Goro, but, please, listen to me! First, don Soranzo is dead. The whole town has been talking about it since morning.”

That's news! And he's lying there like a useless log! Well, just you wait, doctor Faletrus!

The doctor's long, aggrieved face loomed behind the backs of his self-invited guests. He looked as if he had tried his best to prevent the outrage and now had no responsibility for the consequences.

"Second, I found the person who betrayed you that night to don Falieri's murderers," Bianca continued. "It's Ines."

Her words were accompanied by a sympathetic look that slightly puzzled Alessandro. Why would she feel sorry for him? Then the meaning of what she had said dawned upon him, and his amazement superseded all the other feelings. Ines − a traitor? That shy little girl?!

"Any evidence?" he asked.

Bianca snorted contemptuously:

"She told me herself. She was scared to death after that night.”

Then her voice softened.

"Signor, she did not mean to do any harm against you... or against don Arsago. All she wanted, she said, was to save don Enrique from marrying the "sea witch." I don't know what Julia has done to her, but Ines is terrified of her. One day in the church she met a signor who told her that chiamata gift was not from God but from the devil. You see, his words fell on fertile ground. Enrique, too, sometimes joked that he was a little apprehensive about his fiancee... especially after the way she'd tamed paurozo…”

"So Ines wanted to kill Julia?!" Alessandro couldn`t believe what he was saying. But Bianca nodded her head.

“After all, that signor from the church convinced her that the witch must be disposed of. It must have been one of Falieri's men. At first, they had set Julia a trap during the Night of Thousand Lights, but the murder had failed. Then Ines was assigned to report on everything that happened in the house of Arsago. The signor wanted to wait until the moment when Julia would remain in the house without any protection. I have no idea what made Ines believe him so easily. He had sought valuable information from her, promising to get rid of Julia, and he had ambushed don Arsago instead!

“Where is she now?" Alessandro asked quickly, trying to remain calm.

"Ines? She`s crying in her room.” There was a pleading note in Bianca's voice. "I hope you won't be too hard with her…”

"Not her. Where`s Julia?”

"Oh, she`s all right. She's at home, getting ready for the wedding. Enrique is coming tomorrow.”

Alessandro exhaled slowly. Julia is alive, thank heavens for that! It turned out that he would have overslept the wedding of his beloved girl with another man. He wouldn`t forgive him that fact, too.

“It`s not her fault… Ines is just a stupid girl, she was fooled…”

Probably, Bianca interpreted his gloomy face in her own way and now was trying to comfort him. And to stand up for a friend too.

"Stupidity can be a crime too,” Alessandro said sharply. “Matteo! Order senorita Sacketti to be locked in a room and put some guards. She can`t leave the house now, not even a single step!”

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He wasn`t angry with her, though. He was angry with himself. How stupid was he… He`d examined lives of don Arsago`s confidants inside and out, he didn`t sleep at night, wondering who would benefit if the Count lost his power, who could hold a grudge against him because of old grievances... But he didn`t take into account a trivial human foolishness. Even Bianca Sanudo was more effective than him. He`d better let her become a leader of the guards instead!

“All right, I`m on it,” Matteo grinned, a white crescent of a smile shone on his dark face. Now he could see that his boss completely recovered. He always acted like that when something went wrong in an investigation. Sitting, frowning, his eyes fixed in front of him, saying something in his head, calculating – all as always!

As soon as there was a pause in the conversation, doctor Faletrus took advantage of this and ushered the guests out of the room. He looked really confused.

“You know, I remember senorita Ines from her childhood, and I can't believe it…” he said.

You are not alone, Alessandro thought to himself.

"Where are my boots?"

"You mustn't get up now," the doctor stood in his way.

Don`t you understand? I can't just lie here, you know. Now the Count needs allies more than ever! Don Sacketti has great influence in the city. We can`t allow his daughter's foolishness to create a feud between him and don Arsago. We need to get this thing over with as soon as possible. Madonna! Who would have thought that mouse Ines was able to send her friend to her death?!”

Taking the boots from the doctor`s hands, Alessandro suddenly stood still.

“By the way, how did she manage to poison the wine at the Exile Day feast if she didn`t touch the jugs?

At these his words doctor Faletrus`s face shivered nervously, but Alessandro was too occupied with his own thoughts to notice that.

"...It's not easy to put poison into a jug when the room is full of people! You have to have steel nerves. Well, let`s interrogate her and find out.”

“Not into a jug. I put into a glass,” Faletrus said with his voice broken. His face turned pale as if of a man who`d received a mortal wound. "The poison was only in the glasses where I poured wine. I measured the dose carefully. It was deadly to the Count, but as for me, I've been developing a habit of this poison for years. Ines didn`t poison it. I did.”

Truly, that was a day of surprises! Alessandro stared into the old courtier's face in disbelief.

“Do you really mean you tried to poison don Arsago?" he burst out an incredulous laugh. "Look, Faletrus, I understand that you want to protect senorita Sacketti, and your act of chivalry does you credit, but... are you out of your mind?"

"Unfortunately, I`m not. And believe me, I had my reasons for doing so,” the doctor replied with icy calm. The nervous, lively features of his face suddenly hardened, his trembling hands became strong and still. He pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Alessandro, his big hands folded in his lap.”

“Have you ever asked yourself why your father, a loyal supporter of the Count, suddenly became his enemy?" the doctor asked sternly, his eyes fixed on his face.

Alessandro's gray eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Go on.”

"Don Arsago was a monster. His fascination with old magic eventually turned into an obsession. Hoping to gain power over the sea, he carried out such terrible experiments in the crypt, where even angels fear to tread… He wanted to marry Julia Granacci to his son for her abilities. And I could have prevented that!” The doctor's face contorted, he pulled back the collar of the doublet that seemed to choke him. “I could have stopped it with just a single word, but I swore to donna Beatrice that I would not betray her secret in my heart or in my sleep!"

"What the hell secret?!" Alessandro lost his patience. It was getting more and more tangled every minute.

"Julia couldn't marry Enrique because she's his half-sister. She is also don Arsago`s daughter. I knew that because I was helping to deliver the baby. Donna Granacci kept this secret even after her husband's death. She was afraid that when Arsago found out the truth, he would take her daughter away from her to use her gift for his own purposes.”

Alessandro stared at him, his eyes wide.

"Beatrice refused the Count over and over again, but don Arsago could not leave her alone. He had even gone to the manor to force her to consent to the marriage. Beatrice died the next day. Her doctor said it was a weak heart, but I was at the funeral. I saw ... signs of poisoning.”

"You loved her," Alessandro guessed.

“For all my life,” Faletrus sighed. “But what could I offer her? I am just a fugitive, an exile, a mere physician, living on a salary. No family, no fortune, no decent position... I could not provide her a life she deserved. However…”

He raised his head, and his lips pressed tight.

" I decided to avenge her death. On the Exile Day there was such an opportunity. A big feast, a lot of people. You see, I`m a coward. I wanted revenge, but I didn't want to be hanged. Fortunately, suspicion fell on Manriolo. I hoped he'd never be caught. But now if you accuse senorita Ines, then it is my duty to confess. Believe me, it is not her. She had nothing to do with it.”

Alessandro said nothing. He had learned too much in the last half an hour, and his buzzing head couldn`t hold all the overwhelming news. His thoughts were confused. At first he was filled with joy: "Julia is free! She would not marry Enrique!" However, he immediately felt ashamed of this selfish thought. What did he have to do with Faletrus? No doubt the doctor was a criminal, but if his story were true and don Arsago had indeed poisoned Beatrice Granacci… What would Ricardo do when he found out? Would he challenge the Count to a duel? Alessandro would have preferred to fight with Venettian bravos, all at once, rather than harm Julia's brother. Would it not be better to hide the shameful secret by letting the doctor escape? That was all blown over, after all.

That thought, too, he brushed it aside as a cowardly and unworthy one. The Venettian Justice must be for everyone, otherwise it wouldn`t make any sense at all. But would the judges believe him? Or would they see Faletrus`s accusations as a pathetic attempt to justify his own crime? Alessandro glanced s at the doctor. He didn't look frightened. On the contrary, he seemed to have gained new strength after his confession.

“You're not afraid of a trial, are you?” he asked thoughtfully. “What do you hope for?"

“God's grace,” Faletrus replied. His crooked wolfish grin made Alessandro suspect the worst.

“What do you mean? Where is don Arsago?”

The doctor studied him for a moment. Then he said slowly.

"In the crypt, I think. And Julia is with him. He had been longing to see the full power of the chiamati. Tonight is the right time.”

The words sent a chill across Alessandro`s spin. He glanced out the window at the blue twilight beyond the latticework. He remembered legends of the creatures living at the bottom of the sea, waking up with the moon... Ruthless creatures with cold blood who came to earth only to destroy everything and everyone.

"Mother of God…" he muttered. Then he grabbed his heavy belt hanging from the chair, fastened it hastily, and took the sword from the wall. He also took a knife, but then put it away. There was no time to fumble with the fastenings, and the prickles won't fit on the shoulder bandage.

The doctor stood in his way, grasping Alessandro`s shirt with his weak hands.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“But Julia!..”

"Forget the girl, she`s not a human anymore! That damned island had spoiled her, poisoned her. I saw her eyes... the sea witch that had swup her own soul for magic – she`s as obsessed with the power as don Arsago. Let one monster devour another, what do you care?! Please, stay!”

"She is not a monster," Alessandro said. He pushed the doctor carefully to one side, grabbed his cloak and stormed out into the corridor.