Red City on the Ocean

Chapter 2. The Scarlet Ribbon

On the afternoon of May 20, 1483, Leandro hosted guests at his Sinta estate. Sometimes it happened that the table in the dining room of his house was full of fried pheasants and partridges, jugs of wine and cider, pates, and dishes with pieces of roast beef, lamb, and stewed vegetables. A huge farm with fields, orchards, vineyards, and homes of peasants who regularly paid rent or worked on the estate, provided everything that the owner and his family needed, but lavish feasts in the manor house rarely happened. As a rule, they only occurred on those days when Leandro's guests were not those closest to him.

Today, the usual family dinner was being held at Leandro's house, and apart from the household, there was only Estela, daughter of the castellan of the fortress of Leiria, and Senhor Bianco, the new assistant to the Venetian envoy. Senhor Bianco said he specifically wanted to visit Don Leandro at his estate so he could expand his knowledge of Portugal in a relaxed atmosphere.

Contrary to the custom at large feasts, women did not occupy a separate part of the table but sat mixed with men. Estela was sitting next to Leandro's son, Nuno. Nuno could only see the girl's dazzling beauty in profile. It was pleasant because Estela's face had one flaw – a deep wrinkle that ran through her forehead. In Nuno's imagination, this wrinkle never appeared, but every time he looked at Estela's face, the slight imperfection surprised him as if he were seeing it for the first time. From this angle, he couldn't see this blemish.

Nuno and Estela were the same age – both were seventeen. Many years ago, a jousting tournament was held in the fortress of Leiria, which gathered all the surrounding nobility including Leandro and his family. After the tournament, Daniel, Estela's father, the castellan of the fortress, invited his wealthy neighbor, the landowner Don Leandro, to a feast. Manuella, Nuno's mother, and Carmina, Estela's mother, met at this gathering, and having children of the same age, found they had much in common to talk about. Moreover, their children immediately started chatting with each other as if they had been friends for many years.

Neither the destiny of Estela nor Nuno had yet been truly decided, and these destinies were developing quite strangely.

The other children born to Daniel and Carmina had all died one after the other. Estela was the only child who survived, and her parents loved her unceasingly. Estela, as a child, would often play with the toys of her deceased brothers and sisters, weathered tops and worn dolls - she adored them all the same. Daniel had no choice; he needed an heir, so he raised Estela like a boy. He carried her on his saddle, took her hunting, and put her next to him at feasts. The strange mark on Estela's forehead was a mystery to her mother, but Daniel remembered well. In just one evening, Estela's character had changed forever. It happened after he ordered her to slaughter a wounded baby deer. In the morning Estela woke up with this wrinkle and a look completely unfamiliar to her father.

After Daniel's distinguished fighting in the battle of Asilah, Morocco, in 1471, the king awarded him by making him castellan of the fortress of Leiria and its environs. The fortress, which stood only a day's gallop from Lisbon, guarded one of the central districts of Portugal. In the twelve years following, he spared no expense for teachers and tutors for his daughter, and Estela grew up an intelligent, inquisitive girl with a strong character. Eventually, Estela, with the help of the king, became the first Portuguese woman to attend university. At the university, she inevitably turned out to be the most resourceful in academic debates, the most knowledgeable book reader, and the most astute natural scientist.

Leandro treated Estela with a level of respect that a woman of that century was rarely afforded by men, and not just because she was Daniel's daughter. He and Don Leandro were not friends, and although Leandro still had a little respect for the famous soldier, he disliked his constant readiness to fulfill any order of the king. However, Estela was a completely different and internally independent human being.