Mary Hoffman - Stravaganza City of Masks

Copyright 2002 by Mary Hoffman

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

First published in Great Britain by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published in the United States of America in October 2002
by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers
E-book edition published in February 2011
www.bloomsburykids.com

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request

ISBN-13: 978-1-58234-791-2 ISBN-10: 1-58234-791-3 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-59990- (e-book)

By Mary Hoffman

Stravaganza: City of Masks

Stravaganza: City of Stars

Stravaganza: City of Flowers

Stravaganza: City of Secrets

Stravaganza: City of Ships

For Rhiannon, a true citizen of Bellezza

Every time I describe a city, I am saying something about Venice.

Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

... everye man conceived in his minde a high contentation every time we came into the Dutchesse sight ... Neither was there any that thought it not the greatest pleasure he could have in the world, to please her, and the greatest griefe to offend her ...

Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier , 1561

In a room at the top of a tall house overlooking a canal, a man sat dealing cards out on to a desk covered in black silk. He made a circle of twelve cards, face up, methodically moving widdershins, placed a thirteenth in the middle of the circle, then leaned back and contemplated the pattern.

Strange, he murmured.

The card in the middle the most important one was the Sword, signifying danger. Rodolfo was used to that symbol setting the tone of his readings. It was no surprise either to see the Queen of Fishes as the seventh card, to the right of the Sword. Danger often appeared close to the most important woman in Bellezza and the water queen was obviously the Duchessa. But the Princess of Fishes was the first card, to the left of the Sword, and he had no idea what she could signify.

It was the oddest reading he had ever seen. The only number cards to appear were fours, all four of them, one from each suit Fishes, Birds, Salamanders and Serpents. They were ranged like guards on either side of the Princess and the Queen. All the other cards were major trumps the Lovers, the Magician, the Goddess, the Tower, the Spring Maiden and, most disturbingly, Death.

Rodolfo looked at the array for a long time before sweeping the cards up, shuffling them thoroughly and setting them out again. Princess of Fishes, Four of Serpents, the Lovers, the Magician By the time he set the Sword down in the middle, Rodolfos hands were shaking. He had dealt exactly the same pattern.

Hastily, he swept the cards up again and wrapped them in their black silk. He stowed them in a drawer of the carved desk and removed from another a velvet bag containing glass stones. Closing his eyes, he put a hand in the bag and drew out a handful of the stones, which he cast lightly on the desk top, where they glittered in the candlelight.

Each nugget of shining glass had a silver emblem embedded in the middle. Wonderingly, Rodolfo identified a crown, a leaf, a mask, the number 16, a lock of hair, a book He started when he saw the book.

Then he stood up. Silvia again, he murmured, holding the piece of smooth purple glass containing the silver crown. He walked to the window and looked out over his roof-garden. Lanterns swung gently between the trees, illuminating the flowers and leaves, bleached of their vivid daytime colours. In the distance a peacock screamed.

He walked back to the desk and took a pair of twelve-sided dice from a drawer. Six and ten he threw, eight and eight, seven and nine wherever he looked tonight the number sixteen kept coming up. That and the symbols of a young girl and danger. Whatever it meant, it was linked with the Duchessa and he would have to tell her about it. Knowing Silvia, she would not tell him whatever significance his divinations had for her, but at least she could prepare herself for whatever new danger was approaching.

Sighing, Rodolfo put away his means of divination and prepared to visit the Duchessa.

Light streamed on to the Duchessas satin bedcovers as her serving-woman flung open the shutters.

Its a beautiful day, Your Grace, said the young woman, adjusting her mask of green sequins.

Its always a beautiful day on the lagoon, said the Duchessa, sitting up and letting the maid put a wrapper round her shoulders and hand her a cup of hot chocolate. She was wearing her night-mask of black silk. She looked closely at the young woman. Youre new, arent you?

Yes, Your Grace, she curtsied. And if I may say so, what an honour it is to be serving you on such a great day!

Shell be clapping her hands next, thought the Duchessa, sipping the dark chocolate.

The maid clasped her hands ecstatically. Oh Your Grace, you must so be looking forward to the Marriage!

Oh, yes, said the Duchessa wearily. I look forward to it just the same every year.

*

The boat rocked precariously as Arianna stepped in, clutching her large canvas bag.

Careful! grumbled Tommaso, who was handing his sister into the boat. Youll capsize us. Why do you need so much stuff?

Girls need a lot of things, Arianna answered firmly, knowing that Tommaso thought everything female a great mystery.

Even for one day? asked Angelo, her other brother.

Todays going to be a long one, Arianna said even more firmly and that was the end of it.

She settled in one end of the boat gripping her bag on her knees, while her brothers started rowing with the slow sure strokes of fishermen who spent their lives on the water. They had come from their own island, Merlino, to collect her from Torrone and take her to the biggest lagoon festival of the year. Arianna had been awake since dawn.

Like all lagooners, she had been going to the Marriage with the Sea since she was a small child, but this year she had a special reason for being excited. She had a plan. And the things she had in her heavy bag were part of it.

Im so sorry about your hair, said Luciens mother, biting her lip as she restrained herself from her usual comfort gesture of running her hand across his curly head. The curls werent there any more and she didnt know how to comfort him, or herself.

Its all right, Mum, said Lucien. Ill be in fashion. Lots of boys at school even shave theirs off.

They didnt mention that he wasnt well enough to go to school. But it was true that he didnt mind too much about the hair. What really bothered him was the tiredness. It wasnt like anything he had ever felt before. It wasnt like being knackered after a good game of football or swimming fifty lengths. It had been a long time since hed been able to do either of those.

It was like having custard in your veins instead of blood, getting exhausted just trying to sit up in bed. Like drinking half a cup of tea and finding it as difficult as climbing Everest.

It doesnt affect everyone so badly, the nurse had said. Luciens one of the unlucky ones. But it has no relation to how well the treatment is working.