The Glimmering Sea

CHAPTER FORTY

Matteo delivered Armida to Ca' d'Argento as he had many times. The steep, menacing staircase rose from the portico as it always had. Whether her dress was ready or she would still sing was unknown. Regardless of Oriana's state, Armida had to attend the Masquerade. Nothing else was more essential to the new plan she and Rinaldo had devised.

"Matteo, you will take me to San Marco for the Masquerade, yes?"

"As we have agreed, yes. With or without Oriana."

"I will send down a note advising you of our departure time. I am to sing once the Doge arrives. Timeliness is essential."

"I shall be prepared at a moment to deliver you to the Palazzo Ducale as required."

Emilia stood above at the balustrade. "Gemma! Come at once. I have no time to waste. I must go to Oriana as soon as you are ready. She will arrive after you. Her appearance will stop the breath of all in the room, and she wants no competition."

A burst of energy sent Armida up the stairs and down the hall, following Emilia. Her fingertips tingled with the expectation of events soon to unfold and with anxiety about Oriana's plans. Armida had no doubt Oriana would involve herself with Paolo. In precisely what way was impossible to predict.

Emilia forbade watching in the mirror as she and her assistant pulled and tucked Armida into her gown. At last, she turned Armida to face the mirror.

Armida gaped. "Emilia, you have captured the sea in its loveliness. I can nearly smell the salt on the breeze."

Emilia blushed a deep red. "But it is a real scent, the scent of Venice. It is always with us." Tying a mask over Armida's face, she said, "I've made something special for you. Simple but with the unique sequins Oriana has acquired."

Armida knew at once they were the mermaid scales. Her fingers skimmed the scales as she ripped off the mask. A repellent coating on them caused her to shiver and must have prevented the natural reduction to dust. "No! I will not wear it." Pointing to a basket at Emilia's feet, she said more calmly, "I will have a plain mask instead."

A church bell chimed as the light dipped lower.

"You must hurry. Matteo is required to ensure you enter as they light the torches."

The dress had a long train, and she was unaccustomed to the volume of fabric that rustled and trapped her feet when she stepped without caution. At least Emilia had discerned her need to breathe for singing and had not laced her too tightly.

"Matteo! Help me in and set us on our way."

As they entered the Canale Grande, the torches at the San Marco landing were put alight. The reflections on the canal were like glimmering stars and beckoned arriving guests.

Armida stepped off the gondola. Sludgesharks were nothing compared to this.

✧✧✧

The Palazzo Ducale was a glorious marble building in the day, but at night the torchlights created a play of light and shadow like the ocean, where light was ephemeral and ever-changing. The effect was fantastical, like a place that couldn't exist in the abovewater world.

Matteo ushered Armida past the two columns on the Piazzetta, one topped by the winged St. Mark's lion and the other by St. Theodore and a crocodile, and into the whirling spectacle of the Masquerade della Sirena. He left her with a man costumed as Neptune who was to lead her to the Chamber of the Great Council, the heart of the celebration.

A crowd milled around the massive courtyard they passed through, everyone costumed in the most extravagant way to imagine sea creatures, real or otherwise. A tall, slender woman had a headdress with eight appendages floating over her shoulders—quite unlike the beauty of Ziphra—and another wore a tree of red coral on her hat. There were fabrics and shapes mimicking a variety of fish not seen in Marea in years. With everyone masked, she had no worries that she would attract unwanted attention.