The Painted War by Imogen Rossi Page A

her hands.
    Bianca looked up and saw all the apprentices staring at her, waiting for an answer. She swallowed. ‘Duchess Catriona has allowed the Baron to go back to Oscurita with a message of friendship for Edita,’ she said. ‘She’s decided to try the diplomatic route.’
    â€˜Brave,’ said Cosimo quietly.
    â€˜I think it’s very sensible,’ said Lucia. ‘I bet the Dark City is far less of a threat than it seems.’
    You haven’t been there,
Bianca thought.
You don’t know how much of a tyrant Edita really is  … 
    â€˜Still  … ’ Lucia added. ‘The
Baron
. I’d expect the Duchess to be a little harsher – he did try to steal her throne, after all.’
    â€˜I tried to tell her she couldn’t trust him, but she  … ’ For a moment Bianca thought about telling them all the Duchess’s real plans. She looked around at the faces of her fellow apprentices. These were some of the people she trusted most in the world. But then she thought better of it.
    â€˜She wouldn’t listen to me,’ she finished with a frown, trying to look suitably annoyed.
    â€˜Bianca, come and see what we’ve found!’ called Marco’s voice from somewhere near the back of the enormous room.
    Bianca smiled, grateful for the break in the tension, and headed over to him. Domenico followed her and she saw him give Sebastiano an excited grin as she drew closer to Marco, who was holding a long sheet of parchment paper.
    He waved it cheerfully as she approached. ‘I found the plans! We can get it to work, I’m sure we can!’
    â€˜We can get
what
to work?’ Bianca asked. ‘Did you fix the flying machine?’
    Marco gave a little shudder. ‘I’m not going up in that thing again, no way,’ he said. ‘No, the other way.
Down
.’ He stood back, revealing the Vehicle for Travelling Underneath the Canal Surface with a sweeping gesture.
    Bianca stepped forward and laid a hand on its gently curving brass sides, then stared up at Marco, her excitement mounting. ‘You mean you figured out how the bellows connect to the fin panels?’
    â€˜They don’t. They connect to a whole different pulley system, and
that
connects to both the fins and the steering,’ said Marco.
    Bianca slapped her head with the flat of one hand. ‘Of course!’
    â€˜Wouldn’t it be amazing?’ Marco said, hopping down from the machine and pushing a lever. A panel in the side of the machine flipped up and Bianca could see into the cabin. It had two carved wood and leather seats, right underneath the big glass dome, and a space behind them that could just about fit another passenger or some cargo. ‘Imagine it, us bobbing along under the canal. Nobody would ever know we were down there!’
    A prickle of fear struck the back of Bianca’s neck – all she could see was the machine sinking to the bottom of the canal and never being seen again. She shuddered.
    â€˜It’s all right,’ said Marco. ‘It’s got an emergency release. If it did get stuck or something you could just open the dome and swim to the surface.’
    â€˜You could if you could swim,’ muttered Bianca.
    â€˜You can’t swim?’ Marco looked shocked. ‘How do you live in the most watery city in the world and not be able to swim? Haven’t you ever fallen in the canal?’
    â€˜No, and I never plan to!’ Bianca snapped. ‘I’m so glad you’ve got it working, Marco, really – I bet it’ll be really useful if Edita invades. But I don’t think anyone should test it. It just seems  …  risky.’
    â€˜
Risky?
’ Marco planted his hands on his hips. ‘That’s rich! You were the one who dragged me into that
flying machine
without a moment’s thought.’
    â€˜It was an emergency. And anyway, it’s different.