Excerpt: Children of Serenissima

Prologue
The city streets were soaked with rain and reflected the fires, creating the eerie illusion that they ran red with the blood that was and had yet to be spilled. The buildings echoed the sounds of shouts and scuffles and feet racing over cobblestones. Those who could stayed inside, safely hidden behind closed doors. Those who were brave fought for revolution or for the survival of all that they held dear. Those with no other choice snuck stealthily through the alleys in an attempt to escape the city.
By a canal behind one of the grand mansions of the city, two women stood with a little girl and a boy, all four cloaked in black. A few feet behind them, facing the mansion and awaiting any danger, stood a young man. One of the women slipped into a boat and held out her arms for the girl, taking her into the boat.
“Now your turn, Anastasio,” the first woman put a gentle hand against the boy’s back, urging him into the boat.
“No. I won’t go. I’ll stay here with you and papa and Angelo. I’ll protect the principe.” He stepped away from her, folding his arms stubbornly across his 10-year-old frame.
The young man standing guard turned to look at them, his lips drawn in a thin, annoyed line. “Don’t be silly. Get in the boat. Someone has to protect Alessia, don’t they?”
His protests were drowned out by the sound of footsteps coming toward them from the garden. Angelo turned his back to them once more and drew a thin silver blade, holding it at the ready. “Go now!” He moved forward then, meeting the men who ran at them with their own blades.
The woman herded Anastasio into the boat and pushed it away into the canal. Anastasio watched with wide eyes as they slowly started to move away, but when the steel of his brother’s sword started to ring against the swords of the others, he stood and leaped for the shore.
“Anastasio!” The woman in the boat reached out a hand, but could do little then but to hold onto the little girl as the boat rocked from side to side. She was frozen in indecision for a moment, but then one of the guards caught sight of them.
“Stop there!”
The woman looked tearfully at the young boy and picked up the oars and started to row away. Anastasio was stopped by his mother, who watched with eyes full of dread as Angelo fought the other men. He cried out and broke away from her as Angelo let a blow past his defenses. His sword flew from his reach, and the enemy’s blade pierced his side. Anastasio ran at the men, fist clenched, but was knocked to the ground when one cuffed him on the ear. He growled and stood again, only to be stopped by his mother, who pulled him tight against her chest and looked at the men pleadingly. “Please. He’s only a child.”
“Then keep him still.” The man who spoke turned to the others. “You stay here and watch them. The rest of you, divide up. Half search the canal for the two that got away. The others come with me and search the mansion.”
They walked away then, and Anastasio sobbed as his mother held him to her, both of them watching Angelo’s pale hair fanned out on the pavement, blood pooling beneath him and dripping from the side of his mouth.