Chapter 18 Chapter Seventeen

Presently I was awakened by shouts from the street.Holding the drawing paper in my hand, I fell asleep without taking off my clothes. The oil lamp was still burning, and the sky had already dawned, revealing a red cloud.Someone was banging on the door of my house, I pulled out my nightgown and put it on over my clothes, and I met Dad on the stairs going down. "Go back to bed," he said briefly. "What happened?" But he ignored me.In the yard below us, a servant had the horses ready.I saw my mother in her pajamas, standing on the landing of the stairs. "Mother?"

"Your father has been summoned. Piero de' Medici has returned to the town hall." Down the stairs, Tommaso and Luca were ready to leave.I bumped into Mom, followed her, and pestered her into her bedroom, even though I knew it wasn't going to end well. "You told me that people will remember this history. You told me that when we stood together in the small chapel in Girandayo. There must be something more memorable happening in our city now, we are not allowed to Witness it for yourself?" "That's not the question at all. Your father said that Piero, with a sword in his hand, returned to Florence with his relatives in a hurry. There will be bloodbath and killing in the city, and women should not see this."

I met Irilah on the stairs, and she was trying to slip out. "They say there's a fight starting in the street," I said, "you gotta be careful. Mom says women shouldn't go outside these days." "I'll remember." She grinned, pulled her cloak over her head, and turned to walk away. "Ah, take me." I whispered, "Please..." I knew she heard it because she hesitated before heading quickly for the door. After getting up at 6 o'clock, I am the same as in the past, and Ilila helps me get dressed.No one would think it was a wedding day.

I looked at myself in front of the mirror.My husband didn't have time to get me some new outfits, as is customary, so I had to dress up with my own stuff.I've grown so much in recent months that I've been able to try on my prettiest red brocade gown.It was only when I put it on that I realized that the shoulders were too narrow, my arms could barely move, and the cuffs were too tight.Never to see her sister's amazing silk and pink skin again.I am neither beautiful nor elegant.But now is by no means the time to paint a family portrait you can be proud of.Fortunately so.How can I quietly let someone who paints at night with dismembered corpses and exposed viscera come to paint me?

Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. "Sh... don't move, Alexandra. I can't weave those flowers if you move like that." It's not my braids fault, it's just that the flowers are simply wilting.Tomorrow is yellow, newlyweds.I saw her eyes in the mirror, she wasn't smiling, and I knew she felt terrible too. "Elila..." "Well... there's no time to discuss this now, we'll be fine. This is a wedding, not a funeral. Remember that you don't want to go to a nunnery, it's your choice." But I know she's being so bitter just to cheer her up; I'm in tears and she hugs me.When my hair was done, she slipped out and brought me back some roasted chestnuts and wine.It wasn't until she went out that I remembered that I had made an appointment with the artist to meet on this day.

"Tell him..." But tell him what?Tell him I'm leaving my father's house, while he spends the night gutting bloody corpses? "Tell him it's too late now." That's all. Shortly after she left, the door opened again, and Tommaso, still dressed in last night's clothes, stood in the doorway, as if afraid to come in. "How is it outside, brother?" I said calmly to the mirror. "Now it's no different from the start of the invasion. They tore off the Medici crest from every house and painted the emblem of the Republic." "Are we safe?"

"I have no idea." He took off his cloak and wiped his face with it. "I'm sure you wouldn't come to my wedding in this attire." I was glad to find a reason to quarrel with him, saying, "You're not going to get any booty with all this dust on you. But I think that because Due to the situation, the number of guests present may be reduced." He shrugged slightly. "Your wedding," he replied softly, "looks like I'm the only one who didn't congratulate you." He paused, and our eyes met in the mirror. "You look...beautiful." .”

It was not easy to hear even such a simple compliment from him, I couldn't help laughing, "Is it so beautiful that you can turn over and strip?" As if my rudeness made him feel bad, he frowned and took a few steps forward, looking me in the face this time not in the mirror's reflection, and said, "I still don't know why you did that. " "do what?" "Promise to marry him." "To get rid of you, of course." I whispered, but he still didn't respond. I shrugged and said, "I don't want to die slowly in a convent without a life of my own here. Maybe with him .”

His throat growled, as if the answer didn't help him. "I hope you will be happy." "Really?" He hesitated and said, "He is a well-bred man." "I've heard that." "I think... I think he will give you the freedom you want." I frowned, which was exactly what my mother said. "What makes you think so?" He shrugged. "You know him, don't you?" "A little bit." I shook my head and said, "No, more than a little bit, I think." Of course, there was so much going on that I couldn't stop thinking about it.How does he know my study situation and my ability to draw?Who told him so many secrets? "You told him about me, didn't you?" I said, "about my Greek, my pictures, and my dance moves."

"Your dance moves are yours to tell, and as for your knowledge, sister, your erudition has become legendary." A moment later that Tommaso was back, he said wryly. "Tell me something, Tommaso. Why do we always fight?" "Because..." he said, "because... I forgot everything." I sighed and said, "You are older than me, you are more free than me, you can talk more, you can even dance better than me..." I said, "You are indeed much prettier than me." He didn't say anything. "Or of course you look in the mirror more than me." I added with a smile.

He had a chance to tease me back, but he still didn't say anything. "Well," I said softly, "maybe we shouldn't make up now. That would shock us, but the world is full of shocking things right now." There was nothing more to say, but he stood there lingering. "I mean, Alexandra, you're really pretty." "I look ready," I corrected, "although I'm not sure I am. Anyway... After today, next time we meet, I'll be someone else's wife, and Florence will be different." become an occupied city. You had better not quarrel in the streets for a while, or you will be finished by the sword of the French." "But I will visit you." "You will always be welcome," I said solemnly.I wondered how long it would be before the things that came out of my mouth seemed so weird. "I'll be there often," he said. "Give your husband my regards." "I will." Of course, I knew that this conversation was making him harder than it was for me.