‘Who holds up the illustrious Professor di Novara? Are we so base in Florence a man cannot even finish his sentence without rebuke?’ a stranger’s gruff voice shouted from a far corner of the room.

‘I cannot help my mind from ruminating,’ the man who’d set the room into this maelstrom replied, ‘it is a constant burden and yet I would have it no other way. I always seek the truth, my friends, with both eyes open.’

‘As do we all, though with humility in God’s name, which you’d do well to remember.’

Luna was startled when her father called out next.

‘Domenico, Professor di Novara, take back the floor!’ His cry was echoed by others in the room, rising in volume until it silenced all else.

The professor spoke again, his voice loud and strong as he addressed the young man who had challenged him. ‘Nicolaus, my student, do you question the veracity of Ptolemy himself?’

‘I do not know, I do not know,’ came the reply. ‘I hoped to honour this forum of learned gentlemen by contributing my ideas to this debate.’ The doubt in the young man’s voice seemed to calm the room.

‘Ptolemy has compiled the most comprehensive presentation of mathematical astronomy ever known,’ the professor said, ‘and without doubt it is the godly truth. You’d best have an alternative that stands up to the scrutiny of this forum if you wish to challenge him.’

The man in the group who had spoken stayed silent. Whereas before he had been focused and attentively listening, he was now distracted. Luna noticed that this man, Nicolaus, held his head at one point and didn’t even look at the professor when he addressed him. Shortly after that he pushed through the crowds and she lost sight of him.

She felt someone bump against her. Her father pulled her close to steady her.

‘Forgive my friend.’ An older man stepped around them and behind him was Nicolaus, the professor’s vocal student with the fiery eyes.

‘I’ve been humiliated enough this day,’ Luna overheard him say as he passed by. She caught sight of the flash of a red cap covering dark locks before he disappeared again into the throng.

‘Who was that?’ she whispered to her father but before he could answer another voice shouted, ‘Nicolaus has no respect; he criticises the very nature of the heavens when he criticises Ptolemy. I say he blasphemes most dangerously.’

The mood in the room shifted as the speaker revealed himself and everyone saw his colours. It was Tommaso Palagio. Luna saw Guido amongst the men who rallied around him.