Again, he crossed himself. “God willing, of course. But, on this matter, I suspect the Lord will smile kindly.” Again, he crossed himself. “Provided, of course, that the son is alive tomorrow. And provided”—again, he crossed himself—”that he manages to avoid falling into the pit of sinfulness the day after.”
More sedately: “Um. To be precise, manages to clamber out of the pit. Being, as I suspect he is, already halfway into it.”
The sound of the sword hilt slapping back into the scabbard jolted Erik a bit. The duke’s harsh chuckle even more so.
“I’d ask you to become his counselor,” said Dell’este, “but I suspect that would fall into the category of putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.”
Lopez managed to look aggrieved. Not much.
“How soon do you need me in Venice?” asked the duke.
The priest shrugged. “The sooner the better. But—” He glanced out at the Ferrarese forces constructing their own fieldworks. The quick assessment was that of a man who had once been a veteran soldier himself. “Under the best of circumstances, you cannot manage the task sooner than the day after tomorrow. That should be good enough. Even if the enemy wins the battle in Venice today, they will not be able to fortify their position in less than a week. Not in Venice, not without Sforza.”
The duke nodded. “Very well. I’ll start today. But I intend to bleed Sforza—and Visconti—of everything I can before leaving.”
“Goes without saying,” agreed Lopez, nodding sagely. “Drain every lira from his pay chest. Leave his mercenaries moaning their lost money but savoring their salvaged lives. They won’t be able to do anything about it anyway, since you will naturally demand their guns and their pikes.” He pursed his lips, considering the problem. “Probably best to leave the officers their swords. Except Sforza’s, of course. You’ll want to break that over your knee in front of him.”
The Duke of Ferrara was smiling thinly, now. “Fierce, you are! Father Lopez, the days when I could break a sword over my knee—a good Ferrara blade, anyway, and be sure that’s what Sforza possesses—are long gone.”
“Allow me the privilege, then,” said Manfred forcefully. He extended his huge hands. “I won’t even need a knee.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Lopez. “How rude of me. I forgot to make the introductions. Enrico Dell’este, Duke of Ferrara, meet Manfred of Brittany. He’s the Emperor’s nephew, by the way, and has some incredible list of titles. I can’t remember them all. Earl of something, Marquis of whatever. Baron of this and that.”
Dell’este’s eyes may have widened a bit, but not much. Mostly, he seemed interested in Manfred’s hands. “You’ll need a pair of iron gauntlets,” he mused.
“Damn things have to be good for something,” growled Erik.
* * *
Manfred snapped Sforza’s sword like a twig. The commander of the Milanese forces, Italy’s most famous condottiere, did not so much as flinch at the sound. Whatever else he was, Carlo Sforza was no coward.
“You look just like your son,” commented Manfred mildly, as he handed Sforza the point end of the broken blade. “Except Benito’s not reached his full growth yet, and he isn’t as mean-looking.”
Sforza’s round, hard, muscular face registered surprise. As much at the return of the blade, perhaps, as the mention of his son.
“You’ve met him?”
“Yup.” Manfred held his right hand above the ground, about an inch lower than the top of Sforza’s curly hair. “So tall; don’t think he’ll get any taller.” He gave Sforza’s stocky form a quick once-over. “But I think he’s going to wind up even thicker than you. The kid’s already got the forearms of a small bear.”
For a moment, a shadow seemed to cross the condottiere’s face. That was the first expression other than stoic resignation Erik had seen Sforza exhibit since the surrender ceremony began in mid-afternoon. And it was now well into sunset.
“I haven’t seen him in years.” The great captain’s words were almost whispered.
“You will,” predicted Manfred. He held up the hilt end of the broken sword in his left hand. There was more than a foot of the blade left. “I’ll be giving this to him, when I see him next.” He nodded toward the Duke of Ferrara, standing stiffly some distance away. “As his grandfather commanded. Some day—don’t ever doubt it, Sforza—he’ll be coming to get the rest of it.”