Mamma Lucrezia wore her new ring proudly to Mass in the cathedral the following week. Luna watched the gold reflect glints of sunlight across to where she sat beside Maria in the family carriage as her step-mamma tapped her fingers against the seat and surveyed her children. The streets pulsed with the energy of the crowds converging on the cathedral to hear Friar Savonarola lead them in prayer. The Fusili carriage made slow progress. Street sellers and beggars jostled for business amongst those who were walking. Hawkers offered up trinkets and Maria popped her head out of the carriage to see the quality of their wares but Mamma Lucrezia chided her and pulled her back within the cover. Luna had helped to get Maria ready for Mass that morning and surveyed her sister with pride. She wore a modest dress which on many would seem drab, but the simplicity of the style was just right for Maria. Pippo, sitting beside Mamma Lucrezia, had not been so docile. Luna gave him a rueful smile as she noticed the soiled patch of his sleeve, dirty from playing with the pebbles in the courtyard. Papa had left earlier and was somewhere walking ahead. He would meet the carriage when they arrived at the cathedral.

The shouts of hawkers and the rumbling of carts mixed with the hollow clatter of a passing rider on horseback, who sounded so near Luna peered out excitedly, hoping to see the colourful banners of a visiting nobleman. A shriek made her crane her neck up to where a hawk circled high above. It would be cooler up there, and the view so much better.