Murder in Verona - Angel of Death

1

Yon Moreno stood in the middle of his sparsely furnished sleeping chamber in the Casa delle Farfalle and wished he were far away. He hated having to dress up. Mastino della Scala, the Capitano of Verona, had insisted that he appear at the scheduled banquet. It would be the first test of his new rank as an official of the judiciary.
Yon would have preferred to laugh uproariously at the absurd turn his life had taken. He, of all people, a former assassin, was now the guardian of law and order!
He glanced briefly at the mistress of the house and, for her sake, refrained from making the snide remark that was on the tip of his tongue. Madonna Claudia had watched the ceremony of his appointment with almost maternal pride. That the elevation to civil servant had been accompanied by a knighthood for him, she considered a just reward for all he had done. After all, she explained to anyone who would listen, he had unmasked a dangerous traitor and thus saved Duke Konradin von Staufen's butt.
Yon shook his head to himself. He didn't care about power and wealth. He had once possessed all that – and what had it brought him? A life on the run and a self-image shaken to its foundations.
He could count himself lucky that Ser Apollon, the guardian of Mastino della Scala's network of agents and secret inductees, had granted him this chance at a new life. If only there hadn't been the bland taste of blackmail. Ser Apollon had found out his true name and knew his connection to the Spanish Count Santiago de Cabrera. Knowledge that could send Yon Moreno to the gallows, regardless of the merits he had earned over the past few weeks. If there was one thing he hated, it was this sword of Damocles hanging over his head.

"Don't look so sour, my dear Yon", Madonna Claudia chided. She was busy using a brush to remove the last bit of dust from his best burgundy silk robe.
"You can't show up at a banquet looking like you just got off a horse. After passing an exceptionally dusty country road, mind you."
Yon did not allow himself to be carried away into saying anything even now. That would only have spurred Claudia on. It was enough that Micheletto, his friend and bodyguard, was enjoying himself at his expense. The guy was lounging on a bench against the wall and couldn't stop smiling.

Finally, Claudia set the brush down, took a step back, and surveyed Yon from his neatly combed black locks to his highly polished leather boots. "Now you can make an appearance," she remarked with a satisfied smile.

Yon bowed politely and accepted his coat and hat from Micheletto.

They left Claudia's house and set out on foot for the short walk to the Palazzo della Ragione, where the banquet was to take place.

"Will Duke Konradin be present?" Micheletto inquired. "I've heard he is unwell."

"Oh, nonsense," Yon replied. "The young lord  was too deeply in his cups for two nights. That doesn't count."

The duty guards at the entrance of the Palazzo hastily snapped to attention upon seeing Yon and swung open the double doors.

Yon smiled. "Thank you, Pietro. Giuseppe, how is your wife? Has the child been born?"

"Not yet, sir. But the midwife believes it won't be much longer. Pray for me to have a healthy son."

"I will gladly do that," Yon said and entered.

Shaking his head, Micheletto followed him up the stairs. "Why do you bother remembering the name of each soldier?"

Yon shrugged. "Old habit, I suppose."

A servant took their coats, and another led them down a corridor, opening the door to the luxurious banquet hall of the town hall.

The room greeted them with a buzz of voices. Yon hesitated. Suddenly, he wished he had Ada Contarini by his side. But the young physician had left weeks ago to spend the Christmas holidays at her father's castle, and he didn't know when she would return to Verona.