Time Guards - The Italian Quest

Chapter XVI

Viola swapped her long flowing Roman stola for a far more restrictive Renaissance dress. The skirt of it wasn't too bad though and it certainly wasn't as tight as her Victorian dress. The dress was a dark blue with lace. Apparently it was fashionable for women to shave off their eye brows in 15th Century Florence but Viola, Bernadette and Constance weren't going to go that far. Indeed, Viola felt far more comfortable than Kristen and Julius who were wearing trunk hose and mantels. Constance still had a visible black eye but it was fading. The rest of her wounds had mostly healed but were hidden under her dress anyway.

"Are you sure those aren't tights?" Viola asked Kristen when they had just arrived on a large Florence street.

He had cheered up but still only managed a smile.

"AD 1479, Florence, Italy," said Julius, weaving his way past a hay cart and leading the way for the rest of the group, "The Italian Renaissance is reaching its height. The renaissance is a time of 'rebirth', the old ways of the medieval period are being questioned with the works of philosophy, equality, the idea of democracy are surfacing. The concept of religion, which was the centre of the medieval world is being questioned. Then you also have a return to the classical world, Ancient Greece and Rome, where we just were. Art, music, literature all are increasing."

"Why does religion matter so much? I mean one of the keys used to be in a cathedral, the other was in a temple and now this one is painted in the same picture of the Virgin Mary."

They had come to market now. Fresh food, paint pigments, jewellery and even live birds were on sale. Viola smiled, this seemed somehow more familiar than Rome had been. Maybe not the birds but the food and jewellery.

"Religion is powerful," said Constance, "For good or for bad, faith can make people do extreme things. It can move mountains. However, the dangerous thing is when people misunderstand or use religion for their own gains."

Julius nodded. They left the market and walked own down a narrower road, Julius leading, "Florence is at her height now. She is technically a democracy but in actual fact the Medici's, one of Italy's most powerful families, are in control. They are bringing wealth, commerce and modernisation to Florence."

"And they were massively corrupt," said Constance.

Julius began talking again, giving facts and dates. Viola found his voice almost drowned out by the sights around her. Tall buildings, even taller places of worship. The smell of horses, water and smoke. She saw a little girl in a large dress playing with a hop and a stick. Pushing the hop down the uneven street with the stick. She also saw a man in his late twenties, in a baggy white top with dark hair. He was carrying four bird cages, all occupied, on top of each other. He staggered under their weight.

"What's he doing?" Viola asked Kristen. He shrugged, they watched as the man put all of the cages on a bench out of what was presumably his house and open all of them. Viola looked up in surprise as bird took flight, zooming in the sky. The man looked up at them proudly.

*

"I know who that is," Kristen whispered urgently to Viola. He then hurried forward to the man and said in clear Italian, "Good morning, Leonardo da Vinci."

The man held up his hand, "I'm not going to take any more commissions. Tell whoever your master is that I'm too busy."

"I'm a Viscount not a servant boy," said Kristen, before he could stop himself, "And from what I've heard you never finish any of your commissions."

Leonardo had a stone face for a moment and Kristen thought he had gone too far but soon the man gave a tired smile, "I guess that is true, but you don't look or act like a noble."

Before Kristen could offer an angry retort, Julius joined the conversation. Later Kristen remembered that it was only him and Julius who could understand Leonardo, "Please. We came inquiring after your latest painting. The one of the Madonna, with the red flower."

Leonardo turned and walking into the building. Kristen looked at Julius for a second before they all walked into the building. It was an art studio, There was a large stone sculpture in the corner, notebooks and spread over all of the surfaces with unfinished canvas's on easels. Leonardo gestured to one of them. There was the Virgin Mary, holding a red flower which was actually the key to the time gem chest. The clue which had sent them there in the first place. However, the canvas still had white patches on it. It wasn't finished yet.

"Your grandfather said you would come pretty quickly," Leonardo said, "But you don't looked related."

"We are an odd family," said Julius.

Leonardo just shrugged. He put a leather apron on and picked up a paint brush. He put a few stokes on the canvas and then searched through one of his messy tables for something. Kristen watched as he pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Julius.

"Er what is this?"

"The clue," said Leonardo, raising an eye brow, "Solve the clue and you get the key. I quite like the idea of this treasure hunt, Vespansiano wants to test your intelligence now. Tell me when you are done."

He turned now to the painting and started mixing some paint. Julius was now left to turn to the rest of the group, slightly bewildered. They all crowd round a table and Julius laid the clue on it. It was in Italian so Kristen translated it for the girls,

"Standing tall and brave, two stood on their own. The trilogy of threats united, killed the men's lives. Now tell me how do you kill a two men, like had happened on that day, when nothing and no one touched them and yet two bodies were carried away? V"

There was silence, apart from Leonardo's humming and brush strokes. Kristen sild onto a stool, "That is impossible."

"It's just a riddle," said Constance, "We can solve it."

Kristen supressed a sigh. He had never been that good with puzzles. He was good at languages, it was part of being a noble he knew, but deciphering riddles was another thing.

"Did Leonardo write this?"

"No, Kristen," said Bernadette, "The handwriting is too good, it would have been Vespansiano's. Most historians think Leo over there was dyslexic. Not that it has been discovered yet."

Kristen looked at the paper and had thought, he waved a hand in front of Constance and Julius who were both deep in thought, "What if the V at the end is referencing to the roman numeral five?"

"It stands for Vespansiano," said Constance, "He was signing his clue."

"Ah," said Kristen, blushing. His pale face showing the red marks plainly.

Over the next fifteen minutes he watched everyone else pour over the clue, even Viola. When Kristen thought this he felt slightly ashamed, sure Viola was smart maybe not the in the most traditional sense but who was he to judge. They had decided that the clue was asking them about the impossible scenario of how to kill someone without physically hurting them but as Viola kept pointing out the riddle said nothing about the circumstances which made getting and answer seem impossible.

"Suicide?" argued Constance, "You could affect a personally by words, not touching them, and they might kill themselves."

"It's a good idea," said Julius, "However, we are talking about two simultaneous deaths."

"I've got another theory," said Bernadette, but she didn't explain it. However she did ask to borrow Constance's little book with the list of longitude and latitudes in it.

Kristen sat awkwardly as he watched the others work. They seemed focused that they didn't seem to notice, Kristen was sure that Julius would bring it up later. Kristen didn't know what Constance saw in him, Julius was proud, harsh and quite patronising. He was loyal yes and brave but above all he valued himself.

After ten minutes of feeling awkward on the side lines, Bernadette straightened up and said in French, "Come with me, Constance and Viola. Let us leave the men to it, for they are far better suited to this academic work than us."

Both girls gave her a look but Bernadette seized them by the arms and pulled them out of the art studio. Leonardo didn't even turn away from his painting. Kristen frowned at Julius who looked equally puzzled but kept working. It was just the two of them now, Kristen wasn't happy.