Artista || Da Vinci's Demons fanfic

Prologue

Stella was no complicated woman. Her family moved to a farm when she was 12 and her place was among the commoners. And she stayed there for most of the time. Occasionally she would sneak to the markets of Florence when her parents fell ill but other than that she kept to herself. She had always marveled at the centre of Florence, the architecture and the people. The streets were always full and markets busy. It reminded her of Padua, where she was raised.

Her parents were happy people with a single daughter and enough food to sell from time to time. Minimalist people living in a small cottage they had built years ago, when they had to flee Padua. Two stories high, more than enough for the small family that they were now. Stella was given the room that looked straight into the forest near the house. Her private little mansion, she called it, all in light wood, pine wood mostly and linen drapes.

But once Stella's parents were too old to do most things by themselves and needed her to stay at home, they made a choice. They didn't want Stella to be confined to dirty hands and rough clothes for the rest of her life. Certainly not with a beauty like that, and not to mention talent. They asked her to go into Florence and find a life for herself. They would manage, they promised the young dreamer.

 With a heavy heart, the 21-year-old took her things and went off on the road to Florence. The city of wonder, she heard they called it.

As far as her time studying in Padua, the whispers of the infamous Leonardo, reached her ears. A genius, a war engineer, an inventor. An artista. A bastard from Vinci, a motherless, fatherless pagan, a brilliant mind and a stubborn painter. Everyone spoke about his outrageous prices and how he would always start a painting, but rarely finish one. She had always wondered why, and if she would ever get to ask him.

She had decided to do whatever it takes to meet the artista and be his apprentice. It would be hard, Stella knew, but she wouldn't give up a dream of learning from the best artist the world has ever seen.

However, she wasn't prepared that it would be so difficult to get to the man himself. An arrogant drunk with no regards to people's feelings.

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After she bid her farewells and embraced her mother and father, both nicely plump and smiley people, she took her horse. Bella was in the stable along with two other horses, the working horses they owned. Bella, as white as snow with brilliantly clear ember eyes, she had been with them since Stella was a little girl, a little gift from her parents. They had been on so many long rides around the forest that Stella almost felt a tear in her eye just reminiscing. She pulled a smile on her face regardless, thinking about the new life she would have now. She stroked the mare's mane only to earn a nicker from her and Stella laughed lightheartedly. She loved that horse more than anything else in the world, she didn't exactly have a pet aside from Bella.

But it was time to get to the city and see where to stay. She waved her parents off and gave her mare a soft kick to get her walking. Stella talked to her companion on the way to Florence, which wasn't too long, she was actually surprised. Somehow she had remembered it to be much further away when she was last there.

She shook her head to the thoughts and ventured carefully into Florence, with her best friend beside her. Greeted by the dimmed autumnal morning sun, a small smile played on her lips. She liked autumn because of the nature's burst of colours. She wondered if Florence changed colours like her last home used to. Strolling down the streets of Florence for the entire day exhausted the last bit of emery she had, searching for an inn to sleep in. She found something called a Barking Dog at one point and she went back there to see if there was a bed available.

She was greeted by a lean young woman with perfect bronze curls.

"Hello, my name is Stella. I'm looking for a room to stay for the night?"

"Hello. I'm Vanessa, and you're just in time for the curfew. But unfortunately, we don't have beds to loan..." she replied sadly

"Oh.. Well that's alright then, thank you anyhow Vanessa, I'll just look somewhere else then"

"I don't think you have enough time. Why don't you stay a bit longer, you can stay with me for the night. We can look for a room together tomorrow"

Stella was surprised by the kindess Vanessa showed her and smiled brightly

"That sounds perfect! And what about my horse?"

"Oh..."

"What will happen to my horse?" Stella grew angry now

"I'll call a friend to take care of her"

"How can I know I can trust him?"

"Because he's a liar and a cheat and knows how to hide things. And I know how to hurt him" Vanessa laughed and Stella joined with a nervous chuckle.

At the end of the work day, Vanessa cleared out the Barking Dog and took Stella to her room as her mysterious friend took Bella to a nearby stable. He wouldn't tell her where other than she was safe. She was later informed of a barn in the nearby of The Barking Dog where Vanessa's friend used to hide more than just horses. That revelation soothed Stella's nerves when she knew Bella was close by.