ELEVEN
I will stay calm. I will reveal nothing.
The thrumming cadence echoed in her mind with each clack of her wooden heels on the stone pavement. Sophia shuffled along the fondamenta, heading north and east up the Rio dei Vetrai toward her friend’s home, an oft-traveled route trod by rote. She crossed the Ponte de Meso and the brilliant sparks of light reflecting off the canal below blinded her eyes; a craw of anger and fear clogged her throat.
The morning had dawned with its usual brilliance and bustle, the sun prodding the world to wake, the bells calling all to their day. For the Fiolario family, the day had come from a night that never ended; their lives forever changed as the moon played among the stars. Mamma had insisted Sophia keep her plans with Damiana, to travel with her fr
