As they neared the first pier, Lia felt Luchino stumble and nearly fall. “Do you want me to carry you?” she asked.
“No, I’m fine.” He straightened and pulled his hand away. “I tripped, that’s all.”
They asked a man sitting along the dock if he knew of a ship bound for Cittavecchia. He hadn’t heard of one. She swallowed her fear. Lia realized the men she spoke with weren’t the gentlemen she was accustomed to, but she also knew she had no other options. They continued down each of the piers asking along the way, until finally they found one. By this time Luchino was riding on Lia’s back.
The moon was beginning its descent, and the fog was losing its eerie luminescence. Soon the sun would rise and dry the town. She and her brother would have to be on the ship, already hidden, in order to m
