Galatese

In 1462, soon after he becomes a captain in the elite guard of the conquering Sultan Mehmed II, Amin al Bagrahbi loses his two young sisters to kidnap by pirates. Olla and Ferihah are just twelve and ten years old. They are snatched close to their home at the port of Galata, opposite Constantinople, and are transported on a Tartar slave ship to Genoa under terrible conditions, shackled to a hidden floor in the hold. They are auctioned like animals and traded to new owners. Ferihah is bought as a housemaid by a Florentine professor, Alberto Gorini; while Olla is bought by a trader who sells her to the household of the Medici, at their giant palazzo in Florence. Amin's quest to find them must be balanced with his need for revenge upon every component part of this slave industry. He has the support of the Sultan's military and naval strength, to stop the kidnapping from Ottoman ports and disrupt the prostitution fueling the demand for new slaves. Traffickers, pirate captains, auctioneers, traders, brothel owners and their customers are all his targets, right across the Eastern Mediterranean. His brigade frees hundreds of captured girls and boys from misery. Amin's search takes him to Genoa where he fears Ferihah perished as a concubine in the home of the depraved Cardinal Cibo. In raiding a macabre cult orgy he kills attendees from the powerful Grimaldi and Lomellini families, who launch a vendetta upon the galatese to avenge their assassinated sons. As news of Amin's exploits reaches Florence, the owners of Olla and Ferihah both fear that his sisters will be targeted. So they change their names to Elena and Fioretta, to disguise any association with their galatese heritage. Neither girl ever knows that they are working just two streets apart until they eventually meet several years later. Both long for a safe reunion with their brother. He remains a lost fugitive, obsessed in a haze of vengeance, but knows his quest will lead them to his sisters eventually. Elena experiences much of the violence and jealousies endured by the Medici before she is gifted by Lorenzo de Medici to his illegitimate half sister Valeria, who is building the most prestigious salon in Rome to serve the Vatican with courtesans and gambling. Elena thrives as Valeria's lover and business manager. Fioretta is over-protected and matures late, becoming Gorini's adopted daughter and attaining her freedom. In Florence society she gradually falls under the spell of Giuliano de Medici, Lorenzo's brother, and becomes his mistress. Neither sister can avoid the consequences of political ambition and brutal behavior by mercenary condottiere generals and corrupt cardinals, who conspire with rivals of the Medici. Tragedy strikes when the 'Pazzi conspiracy' results in Giuliano's bloody murder, just one month before Fioretta is due to give birth to their child. Was she betrothed? Will the Medici still support her? Amin is subject to further capture and torture before he escapes and finally re-unites with Fioretta and then Elena. Lorenzo de Medici takes advantage of his skills as an assassin. Now that Cibo has become Pope Innocent VIII, can the Galatese captain avoid his multitude of enemies and still protect Fioretta and her son Giulio from the threats all around them.