The Council of Ten

Chapter 14 - Troublemakers (Marco D'Este)

Chapter Fourteen – Troublemakers (Marco D’Este)

*****

It takes two to get one in trouble. ~ Mae West

*****

“Come on, Marco, don’t be a spoil sport,” said Alberto, grinning at me from across the table. He was a good friend of mine for many years and being the son of someone rich and important, there were no complications in me seeing him. His brown eyes twinkled mischievously and I had a bad feeling about what was to come.

“I didn’t tell you all of this just so we could go and stir it up,” I hissed, afraid someone would hear out conversation. I’d told Alberto about the incident at the ball, about my meeting with the Council. Leaving out the details of me fleeing from the room, crying.

“We aren’t going to stir anything up,” my friend shrugged, pushing a few strands of dark brown hair from his face “we’ll get in, and out. Simple. All I want is to find out what they’re talking about in there, I’ll bet you do too.”

“It’s out of the question,” I said, raising my hands in the air, exasperated. I pushed my chair back and stood, looking out of the window. It wasn’t too far, wouldn’t be too far to walk... I shook my head, only fools would do such and thing and Alberto, well, Alberto was known for being a fool at times. He was a troublemaker at heart and I sometimes found it difficult to get out of the situations we found ourselves in. Thankfully, Alberto always seemed to find some way of shifting the blame to himself as it was mostly his fault.

“Come on, Marco. Since when did you become such a wimp?”He paused for a second “oh, I forget, you always were.” Alberto made a face and came to stand beside me “don’t I always get us out of things? It’s never your fault, never will be. You can carry on being the angel you are once we find out what they’re talking about.”

I stared across the canal, I looked passed the boats and the people, leaving my eyes to rest on the grand building that almost seemed to float on water. “But we can’t spy on the Council!” I said desperately, “they could put us in prison or something...” I trailed off, dread settling in the pit of my stomach.

Alberto put his hand on my shoulder “they can only put us in prison if they know who we are.” With that last sentence, I knew what was coming. And I didn’t like it. Not one bit.

*****

The air was crisp and clean, the smell of water strong in the late morning. About eleven o’clock, it was, as gondolas drifted past, the sound of waves sloshing against their wooden sides was strangely calming. At least, it would have been on any other day. It would have been if I hadn’t other things on my mind. I’d come to terms with the fact that where Alberto was, there was usually a trick, a joke or just some sort of trouble. His fun was harmless, but many adults saw it as disrespect for rules and regulations. I just saw it as Alberto, but maybe that’s why we were friends.

I adjusted my mask, making sure it covered as much of my face as it could. We didn’t think it wise to wear a full face mask, after all, we’d stick out more and, right now, we needed to blend in as much as possible. I followed Alberto around the side of the building, my heart in my mouth, I really was a reckless fool. But I had to know what was going on. I had to find out. Not just because I saw the man dead, not just because me and Lena over heard that conversation or because of the ball. No. They were all factors, pushing me to go, but the main thing was because of what Alberto had told me earlier. I couldn’t let it go, not now after all the other things I mentioned, after seeing all that. And especially not now.

Not now.

“The Council was over yesterday,” said Alberto, once I’d hung my coat up and our parents had gone to another room.