Ahh back to our home in Verona. Carine is doing well and has another girl helping her now. Gino and Nico have replenished the house guard and seem to be enjoying Carine’s cooking quite a bit since we have been gone. They are good, brave men and they deserve a bit of a break after what they endured while traveling with us.
Fredrich spoke to Otto, not the dead one, about keeping their hands off Carine and the other girl. He made it clear that kind of behavior would not be tolerated in the city and definitely not in this house. I know the Snow Valley men are not comfortable in the city but we will not be here long.
Cangrande wants us to return to General Ghibeline and convince him to bring his army to Verona. Once we do that we are to continue into Lombard and get as many of my father’s banner-men as we can to also bring their armies to Verona. I am not quite sure how I am going to do any of this. Even after talking with Rosa I still feel ill prepared for what lays ahead. I will be going home and it terrifies me. I will have to face these Lords and convince them, not only not to kill me, but to help me. Hopefully once we get to Como I’ll be able to get some sense of who my allies and enemies might be and how to approach them.
Dominic and I go shopping for new clothes and apparently more pitch. His visions of burning cities is disturbing. I wish he knew more of what they meant. I found some lovely items for Ettore. He will look very handsome when he goes to see his lady friend. I also found some well suited clothes for Fredrich and Dominic. It was a little harder for Nizar but I think I found something he will find acceptable. I had a tailor make a new dress for me. I may actually have to look the part of a lady again and I need to be prepared.
Ettore, Fredrich, Nizar and the Snow Valley men all visit a brothel that evening while Dominic and I relax at the house. My dress will be ready tomorrow so we only have one more day to enjoy the comforts of a roof over our heads.
It feels so good to sleep in a real bed. I wish we were staying longer but there is much to be done still and such a long road ahead. If it were not for my friends I don’t think I would have the strength to continue. So much has happened and I have seen so much death in the last year that it is hard to remember that this was not always my life. I know that I will get my lands and title back or I will die trying. My friends have sealed their fates by sticking with me when most others would have run. I know there is nothing I can give them that will make up for all they have been through but, should we be victorious, I will give them anything I can.
It seems that Ettore has brought his ehem “Lady” friend home to stay with us. I don’t know all the details, nor do I want to, but if it makes him happy, then so be it.
The boys are heading out for one more night on the town before we head out tomorrow.
On our first night out of town we see a group of soldiers. But they don’t seem quite right. After closer inspection it seems as though they are all plague victims. But these are more like the ones that attacked our house in Verona. They look like they should already be dead and not marching along and certainly not fighting. We figure they are heading towards Verona and decide we can’t let them get there. So we decide to attack them. This makes the Snow Valley men very uneasy and Otto, not the dead one, tells us they are soldiers from Milan. When we press him further he says the entire city is full of these plagued soldiers. We are all stunned at the thought of an entire cities’ military being made up of these abominations. I think I know why Dominic keeps insisting we need pitch.
We setup for the attack and as the soldiers sets upon us I do my best to prepare the group for battle and all the men arm themselves with bows so they can take out as many as possible without risking getting diseased. Dominic and Ghost head right into the middle of them. Dominic seems to be calling for powers from God and this causes many to flee. Ghost is also fighting bravely as the archers fill the should be corpses full of arrows.