The southsiders filing in under the black flags the next morning felt like prisoners, a feeling Sofia’s decina did everything to enhance.
Even before noon came, Giovanni tried again to apologize.
“You don’t get to say that. I know how precise engineers are: you don’t make mistakes; you take calculated risks. When being nice to the natives didn’t work, you didn’t think twice, just moved straight on to your contingency plan.”
“It’s not like that—I’m not like that.”
“Because you’re different? That’s what all Concordians think. It’s how they breed you!”
“If the bridge isn’t finished on time, the Apprentices will blame Rasenna,” he said, desperate to make her understand.
She laughed drily. “There’s that rod again.”
Neighboring towers were used to the third floor of Vanzetti’s being lit up into the early hours, but tonight its usually tranquil working atmosphere was absent.
Giovanni swore softly as his quill blotted.
“You all right, Captain?”
“Fine, Pedro. Fine.”
He threw the worn-out feather down on the plans and groaned. “I messed up, didn’t I?”
“There’s no right answer in this situation.”
“Bardini was the wrong answer. How much worse will he make it? That’s the question.”
The boy shrugged. “Who knows?”
“I do—the Apprentices told me before I came here that once killing starts, there’s no limit.” He suddenly walked away from the table. “I had to do something!”
“But you were!” Pedro held up a new design. “Listen, the Families can’t do this! They only know how to tear things down. You can’t beat them at that game.”
Giovanni was surprised, hearing an echo of Sofia’s accusations.
“Sorry, Pedro. I let you down too. The Doctor told me strength’s all Rasenneisi understand, and I believed him.”
“Morello says that too—it’s the only thing they’ve got to offer. They want us as incapable of learning as they are—but we Rasenneisi can understand other things when we get the chance. Since you came, I’ve learned enough to know that another life is possible.”
Giovanni paced back to the window, taking Pedro’s consolation as a reproach. “And damn it, I’ve thrown it away.” He saw the northern towers’ reflection in the river. “And now Sofia’s involved.”
“The Contessa?” Pedro laughed cynically. “If she’s part of the Bardini borgata, she’s part of the problem.”
“But she’s not a Bardini, is she, Pedro? And you know what’s funny? I told her she had to show people the distinction between Scaligeri and Bardini. I told her it’s how you act that matters. Madonna, I’ve been a fool. Can I fix it?”
“Doc Bardini and Quintus Morello would say no. My father would say Small People can’t stand against the Signoria.”
“What do you say, Pedro?”
“I think we can do better.”
Giovanni nodded slowly. “Let’s get back to work then.”
Pedro looked at him. “There is one thing you can fix tonight.”
Sofia awoke from the same dream about the Baptistery and that day. It was still dark and her bedchamber was silent, no shadows looming, yet instinct had woken her and she knew better than to ignore it. She held her breath and let her eyes adjust to the darkness as her fingers searched.
There! A whirring and movement at the tower window, a glimmer of moonlight on gold. She rolled onto the stone floor and grabbed her flag. The dark shape hovered outside, the size of a bird, though it didn’t move like one. She crept toward it, keeping her flag up. The whirring tempo slowed, and the shape began to drop.
She dropped her flag, thrust her arm out the window, and grabbed it before it fell. It was the annunciator, and there was a note between its “hands.”
She read it, then looked over the balcony.
“I should drop this on your head!” she said, wanting to shout but trying to keep her voice to a whisper.
“Then I’ll be back tomorrow with another,” said Giovanni, pale in the moonlight and smiling.
“Will you shut up? You’ll wake the Doc.”
She quickly pulled on hose under her linen night rail. “Stay there; I’m coming down.”
The moonlight was bright enough to light her way, but Sofia had done this a thousand times and needed no guide. She stopped at the second-floor window. She could see Valerius’s blond curls on his pillow and hear his snoring. He always woke up later than the other students, and for once she was thankful for his sloth.
Giovanni watched her descend. It reminded him of the controlled falling of a cat. She landed soundlessly in front of him.
“Have you gone crazy?” she hissed, looking around at the shuttered windows of the surrounding dark towers. “You can’t show up in the middle of the night and send notes through my balcony. I’m the Contessa Scaligeri! Towers have ears and eyes and tongues!”
“You care what people think?”
“I’m still mad at you, remember? Doc’s got me watching your bridge, but I finished work hours ago. Keep it up and we recommence hostilities.”
“Sofia, I made a terrible mistake. I’m sorry. I came here as an engineer, not a conqueror, and I do believe in my mission: I think the bridge will bring Rasenna together, and I didn’t want anything to delay that. We saw Frog—whatever it was—rise up. It might not have scared you, but it scared me! And I saw more innocents being sacrificed because I’m not leader enough to stop it. I forgot what I promised the crew and you. I acted like any engineer would in any other town, but this isn’t any other town. It’s different—it’s the edge of things.”
“All right, stop blathering. So you messed up: you’re not a liar, just a deficiente. The crew’ll come around too. Whatever happens, my men won’t make the first move. Satisfied?”
“Contessa, you have my gratitude,” said Giovanni with a courtly bow.
“Oh, Madonna. Do you have any idea how this looks? Get the hell back to Tower Vanzetti, will you? I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thank you!”
“Go!”
Sofia clambered back up, keeping her eye on the Doctor’s top-floor window. She didn’t check on Valerius again.
She got back to her chamber and laughed. “Idiota,” she whispered, crumpling up the note. She put the angel on the windowsill and got back into bed. After a moment, she threw the sheets back and found the note in the corner. She flattened it out, refolded it, and placed it back in the angel’s hands.
“Idiota,” she repeated, smiling in the dark.