The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta

Author:Amy Rose Capetta
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2018-10-29T16:00:00+00:00

11

I made my way through the false night of the dungeons, each step taking me farther from the daylight and anyone who cared if I went missing. No one but the Capo knew I was down here, and the only path back went through his private rooms.

I had cornered myself.

The dungeons of the Palazza were laid out in a series of concentric circles. A guard stood at the entrance to each circle, and I counted eight before I reached a final wooden door with iron hinges. Like the rest of the guards, this one nodded silently and stepped aside when I showed the Capo’s ring.

When I reached what appeared to be the center of the rippling dungeons, I found the girls in a small circular room with two bare feather mattresses on the floor, plates of rich food scattered around, and a pile of storybooks spread wide at the bindings, their illustrations drenched in color.

Strega stories.

The girls no longer wore their green and black, but simple white dresses that rushed down to their ankles. They looked even younger than before, dark hair curling against their long necks, cheeks yellowed by the torchlight. If this had been an illustration in a story, I would have called the girls sweet, delicate, innocent. But I knew from experience that power and the look of power were two different things that only sometimes overlapped.

“Azzurra,” I said, bowing slightly at the waist. I turned to the other girl. “Delfina.”

“Not royal, the last time I checked,” Azzurra said, rubbing her bare forehead as if she might find a crown.

“I’m only showing respect for your abilities,” I said, keenly aware of how they outweighed mine.

“Power.” The word sounded bitter in Azzurra’s mouth. “Where does it lead a person? Here. To hell.” She waved at the walls, gesturing grandly at the bare flagstones. “Did you not notice?”

“The Capo said you were here by your own choice.” The stones threw my voice back at me, merciless.

“Oh, we are,” Azzurra said. “There are worse places than hell, and we’ve visited a few.”

Delfina nodded, her black curls jangling behind her. She held a cloth-bound book firmly in one hand and sketched with the other.

Did she use that book to control her poisons? Did each page contain a different one, like Cielo’s book? When I inched closer, all I saw were sketches, the sort that Carina and Adela liked to do on a fine spring day. A perfect rose. A batch of lavender. Another rose, wildly blooming, petals loosened by the wind.

“Do you have an interest in flowers?” I asked, my mind speeding toward new possibilities. What if Delfina turned flowers into poison? Could a certain bloom contain the antidote I needed? I tried to catch Delfina’s eye, but she stayed in her world of charcoal and paper. “I might be able to bring you flowers here, if you’d like.”

“I wouldn’t make any promises you can’t keep,” Azzurra said. “And I wouldn’t step closer.” She slid her body between mine and Delfina’s.

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