"Grandfather's Pigments"

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𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧, 𝟏𝟒𝟗𝟕. 𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐨 𝐝𝐚 𝐕𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬. Seventeen times he has scraped the traitor's face from 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑆𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟. Seventeen times it has come back wrong. The plaster will not hold it. The pigment changes overnight. And something on the other side of the wall has learned to speak in Leonardo's own voice. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. Antonio da Vinci has been buried a month. The letter calls Leonardo home to the box that went into the grave with him. Inside: seven pots of pigment that should not exist, a half-finished portrait wearing the wrong smile, and a journal containing seven names. 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬. Antonio was the eighth keeper. 𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡. The colours are ground from things dug out of unconsecrated earth. They hold more than light and shadow. They hold a presence. They can build a prison no soul can leave. And they work. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. Because every colour demands payment, and the payment is never money. A memory. A face. A colour a boy will never see again. Something you love so completely that you will not know it is gone until you reach for it and find a warm and empty place where it used to be. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝. Something has already begun to move in. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑓𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟'𝑠 𝑃𝑖𝑔𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 is the Renaissance prequel to 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑎 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑎 𝐶𝑎𝑔𝑒: a supernatural thriller of forbidden art, buried family secrets, and the price of painting something that should never have been painted. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥. Expanded from the original novella with five new movements and more than twenty thousand words of new story. 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬. 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤. 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡. 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠.