I. My Hope

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.

God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability,

but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape,

that you may be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

"Sis, you are growing too old to be playing these games!" I pant. How is it that she has just recently birthed a child and can still run just as long as I? "Just give it back."

"And why should I, dear brother?" She laughs, moving around the fountain, opposite of me. Lucretzia waves my Cardinal cap in the air, the paleness of her fingers standing out against the blood red. I could retrieve her now, surely, if I only startle her and run quickly around the side of the fountain. But I could never deprive her of any fun she can still have, and her laughter is the highlight of this day. Nay, all my days.

"Because, dear sister," I follow her movements, circling slowly around the edge of the fountain. "I am a man like any other, and men find themselves easily lost in the chase." She shakes her head, golden curls bouncing with the movement.

"You lie." Lucretzia stops walking and stares straight at me. I always feel as though she can see through me, into my very soul. I swallow the sudden lump in my throat and take note that she has stopped laughing. I must make her laugh again.

I dash around the fountain, and before she can dance out of my reach, I grab her arms, holding them against her sides from behind firmly enough to keep her still. Her hand releases the Cardinal's cap and it falls softly to the floor. I speak into her ear, "And how do I lie, sis?" Her head tilts itself toward me at my words, bringing her ear distractingly close to my mouth.

"You lie with chivalry, do you not?" Her lips sing, bringing a heavy feeling to my heart. If only.

There's an opportunity to hear her laugh, so I take it. "I believe her name was Lotte, though I do not believe a whore would have any scruples with being called such." In truth; I have not lain with concubines for many months. I have lost the desire to do so. No woman can compare to the beauty of my little sister, not even a noblewoman. It will pass, this phase, as it always does. I cannot, in the eyes of God, have my sister, and time will wear on my scruples, and I will lie with, and wed, once I escape this Cardinal red, someone lesser, if only to keep my own sanity. But little lies are well worth it, if they make her laugh.

She does laugh, struggling to escape my grip, likely to hit me for my words. "For all your vulgarity, Cesare, I know you to be unlike other men." I release her, and she turns to face me. She takes my hands in hers, running her thumb across them. Her eyes are shining with the warmth of her sincerity. "You are good." She continues squeezing my hands, and my spirits sink slightly. She cannot truly think so well of me. Lucretzia knows me better than anyone does.

It is my turn to shake my head, "Who's a liar now?" I smile.

"You mustn't be so hard on yourself, my love." She sighs, a hand reaching up to take my own dark curls in her fingers. I lean into her touch, closing my eyes. I am always so grateful when it is her hands that touch me. It does not feel like something that I should feel guilty for, it is not a sin in the slightest. It is a show of affection from my darling sister.

"I have killed, Lucretzia." I murmur, not willing to open my eyes and see the horror on her pretty face. She does not speak, but the movements of her dainty fingers through my hair encourage me to continue. "I have ordered the death of many, and have taken two lives with my own hands." An ache forms behind my eyes and I feel a strange sort of regret, not for the lives lost at my doing, but for fear of my sis's reaction. Would she reject me, like Ursula? How would I react to such a fate? I'm not sure I could bear it. I'm not sure that I could accept it at all.

As if sensing my distress, Lucretzia pulls me against her petit body, embracing me. I bury my face in her hair and her arms grip the back of my robes comfortingly. Her young breasts are soft against my chest, her womanly gowns hiding much from sight, but not from the touch of two bodies pressed up against one another. I wonder idly if she has ever felt my body betray me, in moments like these. The thought makes me shudder.

"You still take me for a child, Cesare." Her words are so ridiculous I nearly have to restrain my bitter laughter. "You do what you must to protect your family. To protect me." I hold my sister out at arm's length.

"I would kill for you. Anyone you asked." I say earnestly.

Her smile is brighter than a thousand suns. "I know, brother, and that is why I feel safe in your arms." But how can one feel safe in the arms of a killer?

I marvel at my sweet sister, still so young and yet forced to endure matters beyond her years. I pull her back against me, wishing to forever remember her like this, beautiful, happy, and still her heart altogether mine, with no longer any husband nor groom between us.

I wish that it could stay that way, for all of eternity. There has nothing I have ever wanted more than to see her smile, and nothing I've wanted less than for that smile to be for another man. He boasts of the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the lord.

"Cesare? You tremble…"

Do I?

I force a laugh and remove myself from her hair. "It is cold out here." I say as explanation. "Let us go inside, or we may both catch our deaths. Or, worse, only you."

"Sometimes I feel as though you're hiding something from me, Cesare." My heart beats erratically in my chest. "Something important." She adds.

I swallow. "And what would I have to hide from you, dear sister?"

Lucretzia's face scrunches up. "Nothing, that's what I want you to understand, dear brother." She grabs my left hand, touching the fingers lightly and examining them absentmindedly. "You don't have to hide from me." She places a chaste kiss upon the tip of each of my fingers. Every touch of her lips sets my nerves afire, and I stop breathing reflexively. It's as if my fingers each have a direct tether to my groin, each kiss causing a torturous pulsing sensation. I wonder if she knows how close I've come to damning us both.

A yawn escapes her throat. "Brother, will you stay beside me while I fall asleep? Nursing seems to make me awfully tired." I nod, "That is why father insists on the wet nurse, sis, so that you might still have the energy to live your day."

She pulls away the covers and settles beneath the sheets while I remain sitting stiffly on the edge of the bed. I feel a tug at my arm. She's smiling, "Come on then, like when we were children?" She pleads, tugging again and gesturing to the spot beside her. My hands unconsciously twist the bed sheets in their grip. "That was because you had nightmares, Lucretzia."

"Please, brother? It is cold out tonight."

I shouldn't even consider it. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. How could I deny her anything? "Yes, sister." I murmur, feigning annoyance, though she would never believe it. I cannot hide from her; not for very long, at least.

Her body is warm against my own, I wrap my arms around it, clutching my prize tightly to my chest as her breathing slows and her eyes see no more in this night. In her sleep, I am able to let my mind wander freely to impure places, for no one is watching but God. She cannot hear my breathing pick up speed of its own accord, or feel the unabashed hardness of my manhood. I limit my hands to her waist and her hair, running my fingers through the latter and inhaling its scent as I please. She smells sweet, like juniper berries.

There is an old saying that if it pleases you, it must be sinful, for how could anything but God please you without sin? It pleased me to kill those men threatening my family. It pleases me to see my sister laugh. It pleases me to imagine beating the lowly groom she shared carnal pleasure with. It pleases me most to have her, here, next to me at night, in her bed, feeling her soft body against mine. Forgive me father, for I have sinned.

"I need not the forgiveness of God, sweet sister." I whisper into the dead, blackness of night. "I have you." My arm around her waist tightens. "God will not forgive me my sins; they are too many and too deadly." I place kisses upon her soft hair. "You are my gateway to eternal Eden, Lucretzia.

You are my salvation, and my one and my only hope."

AN: So, I just started watching The Borgias, so I'm a bit late to the party. I've just finished Season 1, and Lucretzia and Cesare? Oh my. This has got to be one of the best pairings I've ever seen, and I'm kind of new to the world of incest, having only encountered it in cannon Game of Thrones + Vampire Knight and Phineaus and Ferb FF (I know, kind of weird). Their relationship is so deep, and complicated. Innocent and yet not at the same time.

In short, I was inspired. I plan on writing another passage when I finish Season 2 and then likely the last when I finish Season 3.

I'm rating this story M, though I want to stick to the story line for this one because I plan on writing after each Season, it is likely that heaps and heaps of lemons will be at the conclude of this series regardless of what Season 3 ends their relationship on.

Tell me how I did and I'll love you forever! Much love-Midden.