Firenze, Italy 1476
July 15th
"Athena! Athena! Hurry up and get ready girl! Our guests will be here soon," my Father shouted through my bedroom door. Resisting the urge to snap back at him, I managed to drag my feet out from under my blankets and place them on the hard, wooden floor. It was late afternoon and my Father had invited a friend of his over for dinner. I had no problem with it until I heard that this friend was bringing his son. Another potential suitor, another failed attempt at marrying me off by my Father. Although Father wasn't particularly thrilled about another man touching me and loving me, he accepted it was a part of my growing up. Curse the priest at our Church for making Father think this way.
"Signoria Athena!" I looked up to see our elderly maid, Nona, standing in doorway, aghast. In a flash, she had me standing up rushing over to the warm bath in my bedroom.
She tsked as she helped me undress, "Honestly young lady, the way you take these things is very unladylike, just like your Mother when she was your age." I bit my lip to stop the giggles from bursting out of my mouth and despite the fact that Nona had an irritated expression on her face, I could see the twinkle of amusement in her eyes. Without waiting for the old woman to instruct me, I stepped into the bath and sat down, pouring the rose smelling oils all over my skin.
"Nona, all due respect, but I don't want to get married! I want to marry someone I love, maybe when I'm twenty, not when I'm seventeen!" I exclaimed, waving my hands wildly and splashing water all over the place. Nona gave me a reprimanding look and after cleaning up all the spilt water, began washing my hair, scrubbing hard to get any smidgen of dust or dirt out of my black hair.
With the upmost seriousness in her voice, Nona spoke, "Athena, you will treat this young man with the respect and honour he deserves, he hasn't done anything to you and therefore you will not scare him off like any of the other suitors." I giggled at the memories but didn't say anything. A few more minutes of silence passed before I was finally allowed to step out of the bath. Nona went to get a dress and some shoes as I changed into my undergarments and waited. Slowly, I made my way over to my mirror and gazed at my reflection.
My black hair mirrored my olive cheekbones nicely, cascading down my back. Bright blue eyes twinkled and rosy lips grinned as they took in every curve of my voluptuous, agile body that was often the only thing that men noticed when around. No, don't notice my intelligence, my wit or my smile, just notice how tightly my dress holds to my body. Hearing the door opening and closing, I turned to find Nona walking in with a scarlet red dress in her arms, topped off with bright red shoes. I hated to admit it, but it looked beautiful.
"Right, hurry up! The guests have arrived and I need to finish dinner!" Nona exclaimed, helping me step into the dress and beginning to tie up my corset. Wincing every time she tightened it, I began to run a brush through my hair, preferring to let it stay out rather than pull in back. I lit out a loud gasp as Nona tightened my corset again.
"Nona, I think it's tight enough," I said quietly, unable to get any air out. Giving my corset one last tug, Nona was finally satisfied with it and quickly tied it.
"There, now, are you ready?" she asked, looking at me expectantly. Letting out a groan, I took Nona's waiting hand and allowed her to lead me out of the sanctuary of my room.
"Nona, don't make me do this," I whispered, beginning to dig my heels into the wooden floor.
"Athena, believe me when I say this young man is very handsome and very charming, you'll love him," she whispered back, irritation in her voice. I scoffed.
"That's what you said about the last suitor, and look how that turned out," I muttered darkly. For a second, one second, I thought I say a flash of sympathy in Nona's eyes, but she quickly covered it with a scowl. Now desperately trying to pull out of the old woman's tight grasp, I felt my breathing begin to quicken.
"Nona please, I don't-" she cut me off by abruptly thrusting me to the top of the stairs. I narrowed my eyes at the old woman, who merely smirked in response.
"Is that you Athena? Get in here!" Father shouted from his study. Suppressing another groan, I gracefully glided down the stairs and towards the study. As I made my way into my Father's study, I saw the tops of two heads sitting in the two chairs in the room. Father sat behind his desk, a wide grin on his face.
"Ah, there you are, honestly, how long does it take for you to get ready?" he teased, standing up and striding over to me. I rolled my eyes and glowered jokingly at him. With a very distinct twinkle in his eye, Father looked at the other two men in the room.
"Giovanni, Federico, this is my daughter, Athena, bambino, this is Giovanni Auditore and his son, Federico," Father said, introducing us. The older of the Auditores stood from his place, a warm smile on his face.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Athena, your Father speaks very highly of you," he said, a twinkle very much like Father's in his eyes. I returned his smile and bowed my head respectively.
"The pleasure is all mine Messeur Auditore," I said. Giovanni smiled again and turned to his son, who was still in his seat.
"Federico, I don't want to have to tell your Mother what a poor first impression you're making," he said warningly. Federico jumped in shock and hurriedly stood up.
"Mi dispache Father," he said before turning to me.
Oh my. . .
He was very handsome. Brown eyes twinkled from behind messy brown hair as Federico took my hand and gently brushed his lips against my knuckles.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Athena, I see that the stories of your beauty are not exaggerated," he purred, a charming smile on his lips. Forcing myself not to blush, I gave Federico an amused smile as I bowed my head respectively.
Father walked back around his desk and sat down, "Athena, please show Federico to the library, Giovanni and I need to talk business." I sighed and nodded, giving Giovanni a last nod before indicating to Federico to follow me. Together we walked out of the office and down the hallway, where we ran into Nona.
"Federico, this is Nona, Nona, this is one of our guests, Federico Auditore," I said, politely introducing the two. Nona, whose arms were laden with tea, smiled graciously at Federico.
"A pleasure to meet you Signore Auditore, you are going to the library yes? I will bring you some of the cafe Athena is fond of," she said, winking cheekily at me. Rolling my eyes, I quickly grabbed Federico's arm and lead him to the end of the hallway and into the library. I looked over at Federico and smirked at the shocked look on his face. He caught my eyes and quickly plastered a grin on his face.
"Impressive," he said, beginning to walk amongst the many bookcases. I smiled and followed him, watching as he brushed the spines of the dusty books with the tips of his fingers. Suddenly, he turned and I walked smack bang into him.
"Sorry," I mumbled, grabbing his biceps to steady myself. Wow. . .how defined were his muscles? They seemed to ripple underneath his red doublet as he subtly flexed his muscles. His small cough drew me from my trance and I looked up and gasped, seeing him smirking at me.
"You like?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows in a teasing fashion. I blushed a deep shade of red and quickly let go of his arms, hastily making my way over to the two chairs in front of the warm fire.
Dio Mio, what's happening to me?