She apparently took advantage of the confusion caused by the magical murder to make her escape.”
Erik’s jaws tightened. In the months since he had arrived in Venice, he had developed a detestation for the type of chattel slavery tolerated in the Republic—throughout most of the Mediterranean, in fact. Slavery had been legally abolished in the Holy Roman Empire for more than a century. And while it was still officially practiced in his own League of Armagh, Celtic and Norse thralldom had little of the sheer brutality and degradation of the Mediterranean variety of servitude.
“I’ll bet that’s causing a stir,” snorted Manfred.
Dorma pulled a wry face. “To call it a ‘stir’ is to understate the matter considerably. Bad enough that the Dandelos tried to enslave a legal citizen. To make matters worse, the girl is a well-known canaler from a large family of caulkers at the Arsenal.”
Manfred whistled softly. “All hell’s going to break loose, then. They abducted a daughter of the Arsenalotti? Are they insane?”
“I have no idea what motivated the fools. They are trying to deny everything. But the facts seem well enough established.” Dorma scowled. “And, at this point, I no longer care what their reasons might have been. If the authorities do not act decisively—” He nodded at Manfred. “As you say, ‘all hell will break loose.’ ”
By now, Erik understood Dorma’s purpose. “And you want us—Manfred and me—to be part of the, ah, what shall I call it?”
“ ‘Punitive expedition’ will do quite nicely,” said Dorma firmly. “Yes, exactly. There are enough factional tensions in the city. If some Il