myself at the moment. For the first time in my life …” He looks at me almost tenderly. “I’m confused, Laura.”
The pavilion suddenly seems small.
“Your argument is with Roberto,” I say. “Not with Venice. And he has disappeared.”
“He was allowed to escape,” Halim retorts. “Who bears responsibility? Whoever it is must pay.”
“Then ask the Doge for some financial reparation.”
“I have no need of money.” For a moment, silence settles between us. Then he says, “He was to be your husband. How does that make you feel?”
I gaze into the dark liquid, then into his eyes. “I’m disappointed,” I say. “Angry too.”
He suddenly buries his face in his hands, and utters a groan of despair. Is he weeping? I put down my wine and move closer.
He draws his hands away, but I see his eyes are dry. “Sometimes my anger overwhelms me,” he says. “My sister was the dearest person in the world to me. Without her, my days are darkness. Do you understand?”
I think of my own sister. Poor, beautiful Beatrice, so full of life’s joys. “I understand.” I place a hand over his. He looks down at it, then lifts my fingertips to press his lips against them. I should pull my hand away, but I don’t. Halim notices this, and before I know it, he’s turned my hand over to plant another kiss on the inside of my wrist. I have to bite my lip to contain the moan that threatens to escape me. I shouldn’t let …
“I love you, Laura,” he says.
My blood feels hot in my veins. I wasn’t expecting this.
“How can you—”
“Come away with me,” he says. “You are better than these people. I can make you happy. You’ll have more riches than this city can ever give you. You won’t have to worry ever again, and these silly politics will seem like a bad dream.”
His lips move towards mine.
“This is my home, Halim.”
His face clouds, and he moves away. “You have to understand, Laura. I will be victorious here. Soon, Venice will not be a good place to live. With me, you’ll be queen of an empire.”
The intensity of his gaze makes every part of my skin tingle at once. The conviction of his words almost sways me. He might well be right. Even if the combined might of Vincenzo’s fleet and the Venetian ships manages to hold firm, what will I have here? My brother has fled back to Bologna. Roberto—he could be dead or alive for all I know. My father is trying to marry me to a monster, and Allegreza, the woman I held in the highest regard, is dead.
“If …” I am not sure I can get the words out.
“Go on,” Halim urges.
“I will consider it, but you must not attack the city.”
I know from the flash in his eyes that this bald offer is not what he wants to hear. Halim reaches under his tunic and pulls out a pendant that hangs on a golden chain around his neck. He holds it out in the flat of his palm. “She is the reason I cannot do as you ask.” He takes the chain from around his neck and hands the pendant to me. It is heavy and warm from where it’s been pressed against his skin. There’s a hinged lock on it, and I press the crescent of my fingernail into a groove. The lock clicks, and the panels of the locket spring open. Inside is a miniature painting in oils. It’s of a woman.
“Her death must be avenged. What sort of brother would I be if I walked away now?”
As I peer closer, the warmth from the locket seems to drain away. The warmth of the pavilion too, as if a cold winter breeze has slipped in.
I try to make sense of what I see. For the portrait is not of the woman I saw lying on Roberto’s floor in a pool of blood. It is of the girl who fled the convent. The one whose knees buckled when I mentioned Halim.
Almost instantly, I understand that I cannot allow him to see my shock. I need time to order my thoughts. His sister is alive, somewhere in Venice. But, but … My brain feels as though it’s going to explode. Halim gazed on the dead woman in her coffin. He must have known it was not his sister.
I look up at him, carefully composing a sympathetic smile. Am I seeing things, or does his face carry the tiniest