Craven by Chuck Hughes

Author:Chuck Hughes [Hughes, Chuck]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781475948783
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2012-12-14T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

When I returned to Florence, I found Maurice sitting in front of the fireplace talking to Sangio. When he saw me, he dismissed the deformed man and motioned for me to sit next to him.

“Fire can bring such comfort,” he said as we both gazed into flames. “But like many things of beauty, it can also bring great pain.”

He sounded melancholy, which was not his nature. Seeing him this way, I thought our days apart might have given him cause to renew our relationship. When he turned to me and threw his hands in the air in outrage, I knew I was wrong.

“Craven, look at you!” Maurice said. “Surely, you are not going to wear those clothes for our gathering tonight.”

“Our gathering?”

“Yes, our social engagement with all of the nobles we have dealt with since our arrival. It is a special event,” Maurice said, “So go dressed for the occasion.”

He spoke as if the event was something I should have been aware of, something we discussed on some recent night. It was not.

“I do not care to be so abruptly reminded of something I know nothing about,” I said sharply.

“Surely, you remember me telling you about it,” he said. After a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and tapped his head as if searching for a thought. “No, I am wrong. You could not have known, for you were—”

“Away,” I replied. I would not give him the satisfaction of an explanation for my absence.

“Yes, so you were . . . away when I planned the event. But that is of no concern, for everything is in order, except for you and your clothes.”

“I will dress as you ask, but pray-tell, what is the occasion? It is not like you to pander to the nobles without cause.”

Maurice grunted as he often did when irritated. “The occasion is your returning from being away.” Then he gave me a devious grin. “I jest, of course, for if your return from every unexplained absence were cause for celebration, we would have no time for anything other than merriment.”

“With my mountain villa almost finished, is it so surprising that I would want to be independent?” I asked. “Is it so surprising for birds to spread their wings and take short flights from the nest?”

“Birds? What bird form do you take on your flight, a bat?” he asked with a deep-throated laugh.

“Does not legend say we can change into bats?” I responded.

“I’ve never seen such a transformation, but then, I’ve only been here for a few centuries, while you have been her . . . how long now.”

I ignored his ridicule. “Just be content that I am here now, or do you wish me to leave?”

“No, I welcome your return.”

“Then let us put away word games and speak as friends,” I said in an attempt to calm him. “So tell me, what is the occasion of tonight’s festivities?”

“The occasion is boredom,” he said with a wild gesture of his hands. “I tire of caution, for it is the ultimate boredom.

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