by Drak Bibliophile | Oct 5, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 27 Maria blushed to the roots of her hair. “I…uh, thought it was out of respect. I don’t believe…” “The Council of Ten’s agents are very thorough, Signora. And since that first incident, our...
by Drak Bibliophile | Oct 3, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 26 Chapter 14 Venice Maria had had enough of Venice. She had loved it, once. It had been all she’d known. She could have imagined no greater, better place. And now she was longing for the sight of Pantocrator, the mountain...
by Drak Bibliophile | Oct 1, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 25 Carlo Sforza’s use of heavy cannon was well-known. What was not well known–Sforza and indeed Francisco Turner hoped–was that the artillery was successful because it was substantially better than that owned...
by Drak Bibliophile | Sep 28, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 24 One thing did gall her, though: Milan had forgotten her. She had been shown respect as a customer… up to a point. But the tradespeople had demanded money, before the shears cut crisply through the silk. She knew they had...
by Drak Bibliophile | Sep 26, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 23 Chapter 12 Rimini Duke Umberto Da Corregio of Parma had not yet managed to outstay his welcome with Count Andrea Malatesta. He was trying, though. It was, however, a case of him being too drunk by mid-day to make much of an...
by Drak Bibliophile | Sep 24, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 22 Chapter 11 Venice Marco had received a message from Brother Mascoli that some of water-people wished to see him. By now even Venice’s spies accepted that he spent time in the poor Hypatian chapel, and had also accepted...
by Drak Bibliophile | Sep 21, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 21 He was in for a long afternoon, and then night. But by just after dawn the next day he began to feel he would not lose the second patient. She was still comatose, and still had clammy extremities, but her breathing and pulse...
by Drak Bibliophile | Sep 19, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 20 Still, he went through with the charade of being ignored by Cosimo, so that the spies of various other states could gleefully report that Sforza’s emissary was being given the cold shoulder. On Friday, he regretfully...
by Drak Bibliophile | Sep 17, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 19 Chapter 10 Florence, Tuscany Francisco had been–as was his habit–observant and taking mental notes during his journey to Florence. The first observation was that this principality had become rich pickings under...
by Drak Bibliophile | Sep 14, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 18 Chapter 9 The Duchy of Milan Lucia looked at the letter from Carlo Sforza, inviting her mother to bring her to the Plazzo Ducale for an extended stay of a month or two, so that he could become properly acquainted with her, as...
by Drak Bibliophile | Sep 12, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 17 “Perfect. And suggest that, for her safety, I would like my grand-daughter out of that pesthole that is Venice. My spies tell me her mother is back in Venice from wherever she’d got to, and I think they’d be...
by Drak Bibliophile | Sep 10, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 16 Francisco retreated from the water, bottle in hand, half tankard of beer forgotten, but his wits not lost. “Thank you,” he said, politely. His mind was in more of a ferment than the beer had been, anyway. This...
by Drak Bibliophile | Sep 7, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 15 Chapter 8 The Duchy of Milan Francisco Turner had just come back to Milan with Carlo Sforza. They’d been readying several regiments, and a fair number of cannon for the move to the west. Sforza always liked to prepare...
by Drak Bibliophile | Sep 5, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 14 “Who would that be, Your Majesty?” “The Castellan of Braclaw and the Voivode of Zwinogrodek. Count Kazimierz Mindaug.” “A Lithuanian!” “He is of that origin, yes. Somewhat out of...
by Drak Bibliophile | Sep 3, 2018 | 1632Snippet, FreerSnippet, Snippets
All The Plagues Of Hell – Snippet 13 In the darkness she put down the two oil-cloth bags. “I have hair from Eleni Faranese, and a cloth marked with the sweat of Violetta de’ Medici. How soon will they die?” There was a long silence. And then...