The Fiasco at Scala

The Forsaken, part six

6. While the lights at the villa went dark, king Vico had amassed a large horde of bounty hunters, who he dispersed to search the island for his sister and her hostage, scouring high and low to bring them both back alive to his majesty in return for an irresistible reward. The next day, as the gun workers arrived by carriage to a smiling Nonna, Ennio sat down to breakfast with Ilaria, apologizing for getting them both outlawed. He was soon enlightened to how he had attempted to assassinate Ilaria, but he had no memory, only that of being at her coronation afterparty then awakening in a dungeon. On the outskirts of the property beside the central forest, a lone bounty hunter on horseback in a brown shawl, watched the duo talk through a spyglass. Knowing firmly that it was the queen and the assassin, he sped back to the capital to call for backup in apprehending them. 

On the villa, Nonna returned to Ennio and Ilaria after arranging for them to travel to another safe house with a friend called the Marquis up the coast, showing she greatly cared for the safety of her grandson and his new ally. Nonna knew the villa would not be a safe haven forever and advised them both to leave before sundown. Both visitors showed their gratitude to their hostess and helped her transfer cheese and guns across the estate. In reality, the cheese-making industry of Nonna Piazza had been a cover for a larger arms manufacturing industry. An hour passed, when two carriages, one red and another blue, rumbled onto the gravel path up to the villa.

 Nonna, accompanied by Ennio and Ilaria, saw a bespectacled Frenchman emerge from the blue carriage carrying a sabre and a glass of champagne in hand. From the red carriage came a monocle-wearing Spaniard holding a pistol and a bottle of wine. Both the foreigners began to yell at each other and jeer before being broken up by the wrath of Nonna's cane.

 The two foreigners explained that they were both gun enthusiasts who had come from their respective countries to requisition more firearms from Nonna Piazza, regarding her hand-made guns as some of the finest in the region. With each competing offer of money put forward, the Frenchman and the Spaniard became even more agitated with each other to the point where they challenged the other to a duel using one of Nonna's weapons. One hour more passed by as the two foreigners took pistols to one another on the grassy glen beside Nonna's sun-baked villa. The Frenchman rose to victory while the Spaniard fell to death, but this would prove to be a hollow victory indeed.