On November 17, 1494, King Charles VIII entered Florence through the San Frediano Gate.
He wore gilded armor and a cloak sewn with gold thread, with a crown on his head, like a victorious Hero. Following the manner in which military commanders of the time entered conquered cities, he also held a lance across his side. Four knights held a lavish canopy over him, with a general on either side and more than a hundred richly dressed royal guards following behind; behind them came over two hundred knights on foot; after the knights were Swiss guards carrying steel halberds and officials clad in armor decorated with elaborate feathers. Another 5,000 Gascon infantrymen and 5,000 Swiss infantrymen marched on foot, followed by 3,000 cavalrymen in engraved armor and embroidered cloaks, carrying velvet banners embroidered with gold thread. Behind the cavalry were another 4,000 Breton archers and 2,000 crossbowmen. Last came all manner of weapons and cannons, drawn forward by fine horses rather than oxen or mules—a sight the Florentines had never seen before.
The armored cavalry looked somewhat fierce and frightening. Their warhorses' ears and tails had been clipped very short, making them look like monsters. The archers behind them all came from Scotland or other Northern European countries. They were astonishingly tall, more like beasts than men.
Georgiana examined the gift Marquis Rolbon had given her from the shadows of the portico. It was a bone flute carved in the shape of an eagle.
A gust of wind blew into the flute, producing a strange sound, both a hiss and a kind of whimper. Listening to it, she felt as though she were not in a beautiful Italian estate, but in a crude tent camp in the Siberian forest.
"Your breakfast wine," Rabastan Lestrange said, placing a glass of wine