Sorry for the delay – I've had some problems with wattpad. Kept deleting things or logging me out ...

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"Then you might die trying."

Alessandro looked away again, watching the sky in silence. First hues of pink dusted the blushing clouds. "I might."

"And you're still doing it?"

"Of course."

"See? Me too. I know what's going on — if I ignored it I might just as well join the other side. Doing nothing is helping them."

Alessandro nodded slowly – how could he accept this as his reason but deny it to her?

"You don't need to worry about me. I don't think I'd like dying. And Giacinto tricks everyone, so why not death?" Laelia must have caught the officer's conflicted frown.

Alessandro was torn – and he shouldn't be. Laelia had every right, every reason to join them. And someone as smart as her, as brave, as determined as a hero charging into battle — he should be honored. He should like the thought of her by his side. She was the companion he'd need. Especially when the other option was the strange Greek offering only mysteries and knives.

But – that was exactly the problem. Giacinto knew how to handle himself. Like Laelia had said, that man probably could trick death himself. And if not, he'd joke his way back to the living world. No way anyone would be able to stand him for all of eternity. The devil would hand him back within a day.

Laelia on the other hand – no matter how brave, how determined she was, she was a girl. Girls never got the chance to learn how to hold a sword, how to fist fight, how to ride fast. Even if someone such as Laelia would've deserved to. She would be the weakest link. And the Reaper had proven himself more than cunning. He would know exactly who to target.

Alessandro couldn't send her to her death. He couldn't rip the wings of this young, rosy cheeked angel and cast her down into the bloody truth of life.

"I'm not helpless, Alessandro." Laelia narrowed her eyes at him – she apparently read him like an open book. "I can ride. I might not match you with a sword – don't look so surprised, everyone knows Inspector Steno is a titan with his sword."

"Flattery won't work."

"Worth a try." She grinned. "However ... my mother taught me how to use a knife well enough. She says women shouldn't have to rely on guards to keep them safe. She says life in a palace is more dangerous than in a jungle. She taught me the ..." The girl fiddled with the hen of her sleeve. "The ..."

"The?"

"The Art of poison." A sorrowful shadow battled fascination on her face. "Mother says every woman of power should know... I might be useful to you. This assassin uses a lot of poison. If he poisons you, I can almost certainly cure it."

Alessandro opened his mouth, Laelia shook her head.

"I will come with you." She pulled him to a stop, facing him. "You have two options. Take me with you, or... or the Reaper will be the less scary of the two things hunting you."

"You do not sound very dangerous." He did have to smile at her dramatically grim expression. It reminded him of his little brother, charging at him with a wooden sword and poking his leg until Alessandro would be rolling on the ground, pretending to die.

"Change of plans. Either you take me with you or I die."

"What?"

"They know I know about their plans, the truth about the murders! They have to silence us. If I come with you, you can protect me! If I stay, I'll be on my own. And they won't hesitate to kill me, they tried today. If you take me with you, I might die. But if I stay here, I am going to die."

She was right. It didn't sit well with Alessandro, the dreadful knowledge settling in his stomach like he had swallowed a stone, heavy and cold. He sighed. "Then I am very glad to have you. Both of you."

"You'll regret saying that the moment Giacinto is back," Laelia returned to her cheerful grin within the blink of an eye.

"Heaven yes. Does he always make such horrible jokes?"

"The one's that make you want to kick him?" Then her grin spread slowly, almost evilly mischievous. " ... What did he say?"

"Marco dead on San Marco's place." Alessandro was physically pained quoting the Greek. The man had looked so provocatively proud for coming up with that.

"He didn't."

"He did. That was a member of a secret society! Our last clue! Can you believe this—"

"I love this man." She was laughing so hard she had to let go of the officer's arm. Her shoulders were shaking – she was trying to stifle her laugh, but failed miserably.

Alessandro shook his head, but still felt an amused smile tug at his lips. He found it hard to keep the expressionless face around her.

They walked in a comfortable silence – apart from an occasional giggle from Laelia. She was fanning tears from her eyes.

"It's not funny." Alessandro raised his eyebrows, smile all wry.

"Oh yes. And do you know what's even funnier?"

The officer pursed his lips. "What?"

"Your expression."

"Really." He hoped she heard the eye roll in his sigh.

"Yes. There!" She poked his cheek. "Again! I am Alessandro Steno and super professional and those kids are so annoying, I swear!" She skipped ahead, twirling around on the cobble stone, brown hair and wine red dress flying in giggling joy. "The youth these days!"

"Very mature."

She did have a beautiful laugh. Alessandro didn't think he'd met anyone who could laugh so purely.

With every step closer to the Contarini Palace the buildings got more and more luxurious, the streets more even, the canals broader. The sun was setting over Venice and the Gondolas gliding slowly over the water seemed to float over a burning sky. Deep red, flaming orange, lively pink and majestic gold set fire to water and sky and bathed marble facades in its glow.

She was still grinning from ear to ear when they neared the Contarini Palace. They were just steps from the entrance gate when her smile faded.

A man had stepped out of the gate. The golden pins on his cloak shone brightly. The peacock feather on his hat bobbed with his steps. He had been looking down in thought – when he looked up and spotted them, Alessandro felt Laelia go very still.

The sun sunk behind them, a flaming blaze letting the man's eyes glow unnaturally. "Laelia. Signore Steno."

He reached them too quickly. "What a ... pleasant surprise. I had wanted to visit you." He took off his hat in a sweeping gesture, warm lips pressed to Lealia's fine hand.

Alessandro held himself very carefully, broad shoulders confident, eyes doubtful. Antonio Morosini.

The burning eyes met him calmly. First the place where Laelia's hand still rested on his arm, then his eyes. "Good evening."

"What are you doing here?" Laelia's hand was quickly gone, but she didn't step away from Alessandro's side.

"I said that already – I wanted to visit my fiance."

"Do you want to visit because I am your fiance, because you actually do care or because Giacinto threatened to cut your throat if you didn't?" Laelia pushed out her chin defiantly.

Alessandro had to admire her burning courage.

Antonio sighed. "The first two go together. And Giacinto can't threaten me. I just wanted to see you. I haven't in a long time. But you weren't here." His eyes pinned Alessandro to his spot.

"I don't have to stay at home and wait for someone whose brother shows up more than him! Each time with a new excuse why you absolutely can't! Do you know what was last week?"

"Many things happened last week. But I assume you mean your eighteenth birthday? I sent you a gift."

"I don't want your gifts! Why couldn't you show up?"

Antonio frowned. "I had a meeting with the council, which, regrettably, could not be rescheduled."

"I don't think that was what she meant." Alessandro fixed his eyes on the other man. He spoke calmly – fuel to Laelia's fire would've resulted in a giant explosion.

Antonio gave him a cold look. "I advise you to stay out of this, Signore Steno. What happens between my fiancé and me is none of your business."

"Don't talk to him like that! He has nothing to do with this."

"Right, he's just walking you home on his arm, Giacinto disappeared miraculously and your mood severely dropped when you saw me!" Antonio's nostrils flared in an angry huff. With the burning sunset in his eyes he appeared an avenging angel from the fiery heaven.

"Of course it did!" Laelia furrowed her eyebrows angrily, but chewed her lips nervously.

Antonio's jaw set in a hard line at that. He took a step back. "Am I that bad of a sight? Do you really hate seeing me? Very well. Even I can't change our families' negotiations. You will marry me in a year. But I can make sure you'll never have to see me. You can live outside the city in my villa. You loved it there when you were younger." His voice was quiet now.

"No."

"What?"

"I don't hate seeing you. But you were leaving – we've missed each other because I wasn't home," she looked at her feet.

"You had no reason to believe I would visit", Antonio muttered. The flaming eyes were shining warmly now.

"No, I didn't. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't have liked to see you. I like our conversations — you're a good fight," she grinned.

"Then ... Then I'd love to see you tomorrow."

For a moment  Laelia could still see the joyful twelve year old telling her stories. She had worn dresses too pompous for a child, he had a missing tooth. He'd always tell her stories about princesses instead of princes saving the country.

Michele would've sparred with her with sticks they had found while Antonio spun tales. They'd been engaged even back then – to their families they weren't children, they were noble names to be united in power: Morosini and Contarini.

To her, he was the boy who let her be the hero fighting dragons. There had been nothing better than the thought of marrying laughing Antonio.

Antonio cleared his throat – he wasn't looking at her. "My apologies, Signore. You're a most honourable man. If I can trust one man with her it would be you. But, stay away from the wine, would you?" A strange glint flickered in his brown eyes. "Good evening," he bowed his head and strode into the flaming sky.

Laelia was looking after the black silhouette. She was smiling softly. "What was that about? Not trusting you with wine?" She turned to Alessandro.

The blond looked as if he had seen his own ghost. Pale as a shroud, eyes wide in frozen horror. He didn't answer. Just stared after the man.

"Alessandro? Antonio always does this, he knows a few things about everyone and likes dropping them. I don't know what he meant, but – "

"Nothing." The officer's voice was raw. He swallowed. "He meant nothing. I don't know what he meant. Let's go inside, it's getting cold."

Laelia mustered him carefully. You're wearing a fur cloak. You're a lot of things, but you're definitely not cold. Another mystery. She'd get to the bottom of them all.

– Giacinto  –

On the opposite end of the city, a man stood at the edge of a roof. Behind him there lay unmovingly a dark pile.

The breeze was fresh, carrying the salty hint of the sea, playing with black hair. The port was close, from where the man overlooked the city, he could see a burning orange glitter in the last light of day just behind the next palace.

The man stared out at the little waves – he could make out the white crowns of foam jumping in the wind. A lonely galley sailed out towards the open ocean. A slow smile dawned grimly on young features.

Giacinto turned, the light from behind transforming him into a black silhouette ghosting over the roof.

"Thought you could run from me, hm?" he nudged the black pile to his feet with the tip of his boot. He had tossed his black cloak over it, hiding what was beneath. His lips slowly curled into dark satisfaction. "Pity. No one can."

-----------------------------

Now, any new theories?

Did you expect it to be Giacinto on the roof – what do you think he's doing there?

What about Antonio – and his and Laelia's relationship?

What is Alessandro hiding? He keeps reacting strange to certain things ...

Thank you for reading! You guys are great.

Avis.