Anso judged by their speed that he would have eight or more hours before they arrived in Rome, so he prepared a plan for escape. The heavy oak door to his quarters was locked from the outside, and some experimental probing revealed a heavy iron lock not likely to be budged. The guards were burly and Anso’s scholarly build would be no match for these seasoned sailors.

Lucrezia needed him for the plans for the machina, and he would not let her have those so easily. That was his only bargaining point in this, she would never be able to make the thing work without the instructions in his head. And as soon as she had that he was likely a dead man. He would keep it there for the time being, then.

This trip was smoother than a similar boat Anso had been aboard in his youth, in that terrible journey from his homeland. His uncle had brought him to Tuscany after the death of his father and that trip made him quite ill. This was a comparatively pleasant journey and Anso could feel himself being rocked to sleep.