A view like no other
A pleasant breeze was blowing up the hills as the first rays of sun slowly crept over the horizon. The grass was covered with a thin layer of dew that was soaking into the hem of her dress. Lucia moved her bare toes, which were already stiff from the cold of the night. She felt the earth and the soft grass beneath her, as if from a distant memory. Still, she didn't try to get up. With her legs drawn up to her body, she lifted her head from her knees and looked down the hill. Below her in the valley the sun gradually covered the red tile roofs of her hometown. The white dome of the cathedral was bathed in a deep red color by the glow of the rising sun. Was it a warning?
Lucia's mouth curved sullenly before she snorted angrily. Fortunately, if it was a warning, people were stupid enough not to notice. They never saw the truth, only what they wanted to see. While she let her gaze wander over the roofs of the city, she tried to imagine how it slowly woke up. Presumably the first market people would already set up their stands. The servants got ready to serve their masters breakfast. It would all feel normal. The way she'd felt normal before soldiers pushed open the door of her house and her parents were dragged into the street. Until then, she had never seen her treated with such disrespect.
Screaming and crying, she had tried to get to her parents, but the soldiers kicked her to the ground until her maid grabed her. For days after that, her body was green and blue.
Completely alone and scared, she sat at her brother's crib and waited for her parents to come back to her. They never came back. In the afternoon a nun appeared and took her to the orphanage with her. When asked about her parents, the nun had told her in a calm but very cold voice that both had served the devil and that they would burn at the stake. The words had made the blood run cold in her veins. She knew how terrible devil worshipers were, what happened to those who renounced the Church. But she also knew that her parents loved God. If Lucia protested at first, she soon learned to be silent. She only did it to avoid the hiting. Deep down, she never lost the certainty that her parents had been honorable people. When her brother died at the age of three, she was all alone. None of her relatives came to take her from the orphanage. And instead of the prosperous life in which she had started, she had to serve those who were responsible for the death of her parents.
Again it helped that she kept silent and listened. She did her job, moving unseen among the gentlemen, and in time she understood why her parents had died. Anger raced through her body like a raging, unstoppable fire. It was no relief to know that she had been always right. What did she had from it, that her parents were being convicted only for getting in the way of the city council? All that lived in her was hatred and the desire for revenge. In a moment of weakness, she grabbed a knife to stab the leader of the conspirators. Before she could sink the knife in his back, however, she was stopped. She could still see the woman's gaze ahead of her. Her gaze alone was enough to make her pause. Then the stranger came over to her, took the knife from her and went out into the garden without a word.
Lucia had never noticed the woman before. She was finely dressed, elegant in her movements and she exuded a kind of power that drew everyone's attention. She just had to follow her. They had stood side by side in the garden while the woman looked at the knife in her hand.
"I know who you are."
Her voice was soft and warm. She reminded Lucia of her mother. It was difficult for her to hold back her tears. Too busy with her emotions, at first she did not understand the meaning of these words. And when she did, she could only open her mouth in shock. Not a word dared to escape her.
"Don't worry. I won't betray you. Quite the opposite."
With these words the woman had stuck the knife into the stone railing of the balcony.
"But you have to do it smarter."
"How should I do anything else than stab them all?"
"In a way, nobody knows it was you."
"It's impossible. Even if I poison them, they'll find out who made the meal."
The woman's laughter sent an icy shiver down Lucia's spine.
"You're not as stupid as I thought you are. It's right, one way or another they'll find out. At least if you stick to worldly things."
Even if Lucia had never admitted it, deep down she had always known what these words should mean. At that moment she felt both, colder and warmth controlling her, while her head tried to keep up with what her heart had already understood.
"I don't worship the devil."
"Why should we? We choose freedom, not further subjugation. The church tries to stir up fear with these stories and at the same time uses them to enrich itself."
"Why should you help me?"
"Because I know what you're going through. I was just like you once."
It had been difficult to hold the woman's gaze, but Lucia had forced herself to do it. She knew their wouldn't be empty promises. She felt the power of the women with every fiber of her body and that power was offered to her. How could she have said no? She wanted her revenge, but she also wanted to live. She wanted to be the symbol that the conspirators had never completely eliminated her family.
"I want my revenge."
"And I'll teach you how to get it."
From that day she entered Sophia's services. Her new mistress was the wife of a diplomat from another city. She looked after a small household and besides Lucia there was only the cook and the servant of the landlord. The often absent husband left space for studies and Sophia immediately began to put her promise into practice. Lucia soon found that she was less a maid than a student. At first she was still torn between fear and her desire. But the more she learned, the more she understood that there was no need to fear this power. She didn't worship the devil. She herself had power. With this new feeling that was solidifying more and more inside her, her life began to change. She absorbed the knowledge whenever she could. And while she never lost sight of her goal, she learned to be patient.
Lucia blinked and shielded her eyes from the sun, which was almost completely up. Her past seemed so far behind, and yet it was the reason she was where she was today. She took a deep breath and finally forced herself to stand up. Her limbs ached as she moved and stretched. The white linen dress she was wearing was now covered with patches of grass and earth. She leaned down to a circle she had drawn into the earth. Before cutting the line, she sent a grateful message to the forces around her. They had helped her finally get her revenge.
Lucia didn't have to look. She felt in every fiber of her body that the fires had started to burn. As she walked back through the bushes, to the street where the carriage was waiting for her, the city was already ablaze behind her.