over the deck. “I wasn’t going to let him kill you,” Faustina pants.
We both stare down at the prone figure of an Ottoman prince.
I manage to get to my feet and hug my savior close to me as the ship jerks and shifts beneath us. If this is the end, I want us to face it together. “Thank you,” I say. “Thank you.”
A hand grasps my ankle, and I stumble to my knees. Faustina falls backwards with a cry, cracking her head on the wheel. Halim’s face, twisted with anger, grimaces through bloodstained teeth. The wood still protrudes from his back, and he’s mad with rage. I kick, catching his shoulder, then clamber on top of him. His hands flail at me, and his throat gives out a bloodcurdling cackle. I push his arms aside and find his throat with my fingers. I press tighter and tighter, watching his eyes bulge in their sockets as the seawater froths around his shoulders and over my knees. He tries to speak, but nothing comes out. I squeeze with all my strength, pushing his face beneath the welling water. His hands scrabble at my arms, but I push harder, gritting my teeth.
At last, slowly, the fight leaves him. His arms slacken. A trickle of bubbles escapes between his gnashing teeth, and his face is suddenly peaceful once more. This time there is no doubt that his life is over.
I drag myself back up to standing. Faustina is seated against the wheel, her face dazed, blood leaking from a cut under her hairline. The ship sinks farther with each second that passes.
“He won’t be bothering us again,” I tell her. For once, Faustina is too shocked even to cry.
I crouch beside her and throw her arm over my shoulder. My God, she’s heavy! The water climbs up to our knees as the sea starts to swallow Halim’s ship. The sails billow on the water, and the rest of the ship’s carcass turns ghostly as it sinks beneath the surface. I feel my feet leave the deck below, and I struggle to tread water. Faustina throws her arms over a floating piece of timber.
Then the shadow of another ship looms over us, and I look up to see Roberto standing at the gunwale.
He rushes across the deck of his ship. “Hold on!”
He climbs onto the rail and dives off, entering the water like a graceful dart among the floating bodies and detritus. His head breaks the water a few yards away and he swims towards us with powerful strokes.
I hold tight to Faustina with one hand. What’s left of my dress is soaked and heavy. “We’re going to be all right,” I tell her.
As we sail back to the shore, I want nothing more than to fall asleep, but even though I have a blanket wrapped around me, a violent shivering keeps me from slumber. Faustina is muttering her discomforts to the poor young sailor trying to dress her wound.
“How did you find us?” I ask.
“It’s Bianca you should thank,” Roberto says, stroking my hair. “She noticed you hadn’t come home, and told your father. He in turn came to the palace.”
Roberto tells me he was wild with concern, and realized that only one person might know my whereabouts.
“I remembered what you said about Massimo. You were right, and I should have trusted your judgment all along. My father sent soldiers to the barracks, and they arrested him. At first he played innocent, but when we asked about the gunpowder, he couldn’t deny it. The interrogators only had to show him the thumbscrews for him to start blabbing about the rest. He named Vincenzo as his coconspirator, and laid out all the plans that Halim had put in place.”
“So Vincenzo has been found too?”
Roberto shakes his head. “He must have gotten wind of Massimo’s arrest. They found his apartments empty. They’ve put a watch on the harbor, but he’s a wealthy man. He’s probably slipped through the net.”
As long as he’s gone, I’m too tired to care anymore. I find a smile, despite everything. “I wonder if my father still thinks of him as a good suitor,” I say.
Laughter makes Roberto’s chest shake beneath my head. Finally, I let my eyes drift closed.
49
I stand in the center of St. Mark’s Cathedral. The domed roof with its tiny windows casts a buttery light over the people below, reflected off the gold leaf.
Roberto stands beside me, looking more handsome than I’ve ever seen him, even with a