"I hope," said Cesare down the blade of the knife pointed at the artist's cheek, "you would be smart enough not to doubt my malice, Leonardo." He moved the knife slowly lower, to the other's jaw and neck until the edge of it rested just under the man's chin. When he spoke, he was leaned in close enough to be able to whisper in the other's ear. "So have you changed your mind about joining the Borgia as an engineer?"
By reflex, Leonardo lifted his head, almost as if accommodating the weapon. He swallowed slowly, but having Cesare so physically close gave Leonardo an idea—and the upper hand, if only for a moment.
"Well, Signore," began Leonardo, "the thing is…" A split second passed, and Leonardo suddenly brought his knee up into Cesare's groin before shoving roughly and putting some stumbled distance between the two of them. "I don't work for dogs," Leonardo said over his shoulder as he began to run, "let alone Borgia."
If Cesare wasn't so busy stumbling backward, he would probably be curled in the fetal position. The growl he let out was a mixture between a yell of pure anger and frustration and a scream of agony. "You… little…" He clenched the knife viciously, body bent as if that would somehow alleviate the burning, pulsing pain shooting up from his kicked nether regions. The searing pain made him forget about calling guards—for now. Unsteadily and slow at first, he took off after the fleeing polymath. "When I catch you... I will make you regret ever being born!"
Picking up his pace, the artist thought as quickly as he could: where would he go? Was there anywhere he could easily hide? He wasn't going to fight Cesare, with fists or otherwise (not only was he comically awful with a sword, but he also hated violence). He turned back temporarily to check the distance between them, to also shout back at the Borgia: "The trick there, Messere, is to actually catch me first!"
If there was a scale that could measure how angry Cesare was, it would be exploding into a thousand pieces. It was one thing to kick the Master Templar right in the Borgia goods, but it was an entirely other thing to also flee and mock him. "I swear by the grace of God, I will make you suffer for your insolence!" And it takes some time, a lot of time actually, but soon he could sprint again without tears wanting to pour from his eyes.
Cesare's thighs and groin still burned from the crush of the kick, but it was his pride which burned more, burned like the Roman sun. Leonardo, in the distance, was getting closer and closer. "If you don't stop, little inventor," Cesare yelled, "I will make you hurt ten times as worse when I catch you! And then I shall pay your assassin friend a visit, like I did at his villa!"
Thankfully, Leonardo shot for the busiest part of the city and, soon, the amount of people and buildings started to become denser. Taking a few turns, Leonardo tried to find somewhere he could duck into and hide, Cesare's words burning through his head. He knew, luckily, that Ezio wouldn't be so easy to find plus even harder to kill; for now, he put Ezio's safety to the back of his mind.
"Come on, come on," Leonardo whispered to himself. "There has to be somewhere…" Ducking hastily between two stalls into an alley, he believed he was safe for the moment. He leaned down on his knees to try and catch his breath, a stitch ripping through his side.
Even amidst the crowd, Cesare was obviously irritable by the disappearance of his victim. His dark eyes quickly scanned every face, every body, every nook and cranny he could think to glance at in hopes he could spot a familiar hat, tunic, anything. He firmly pushed people out of his way as he brushed through the crowded street. That man couldn't have gone too far, Cesare was right behind him!
Suddenly, Cesare remembered that he didn't have to go about this on his own. Narrowing his eyes, he rallied his guards with the twirl of his fist in the air and a sharp whistle. He signaled some to go in one direction and some to go in another direction while he followed two others on their search. He would find Leonardo, if it was the last thing he did. The man couldn't hide forever.
After finally managing to catch his breath (for what seemed to be the longest two minutes of his life), Leonardo straightened up, wiping his brow on the back of his hand. Fortunately, the market there was unusually busy, but unfortunately, when he peeked out from between the market stalls, he saw the sun reflect off of something—off of armor.
"Merda…" There hadn't been any guards when he'd been running, so why were there so many now? Scurrying to the end of the alleyway, vainly hoping it led off one way or the other, Leonardo's heart fell when he found a dead end. Turning around, he looked to see if he could somehow climb onto the roof, only to bump into a pair of armored men.
Of course, the guards immediately hassled the poor artist into custody. They were dragging him back to the opening of the alley when a smirking Cesare arrived. Boy, did he look as smug as ever, and he wasn't even the one who found Leonardo.
"Well, well," he said, uncrossing his arms. "Try as you might to run and hide, you won't get very far here in Rome."
Stepping closer, he reached out to tangle his fingers into the artist's hair and yank the sandy-colored head back. He leaned in close, narrowed his eyes. "If you kick me there again, I will not hesitate to cut your heels so you won't be able to run any longer."
Releasing Leonardo's hair, he straightened himself back up. "Bind his arms," he told the guards as he turned, "and bring him back to the castello." There, he would have to seriously restrain himself from not beating everything out of the other man. Perhaps the ride there would cool him off.
Being hauled out into the sunlight, Leonardo knew he was in real trouble. He'd lost his beret back in the alley after he'd struggled with the guards, so his eyes had no protection from the relentless Roman heat. Of course, he didn't need to be able to see to know how smug and triumphant Cesare must have looked. Upon hearing the order for them to return to the Borgia household, Leonardo closes his eyes for a moment, sending his silent apologies and prayers to the Eagle of Italy. This was the last thing Ezio needed, to be running around and risking his safety and his mission to get him out of trouble.
As far as his situation was concerned, Leonardo wasn't sure he even wanted to imagine what he'd be put through—Cesare Borgia was renowned for his ruthlessness, and Leonardo knew that, at the end of it, losing would come down to which one of them would break first. Of course, mental armor was generally stronger than the metal plates that protected the guards, but, then again, this was only a theory.
With his nerves shot and temper (and his pride) still boiling, the ride to the castello was short-mainly because he was the one making the rush.
Thankfully (perhaps) for Leonardo, he commanded the guards to take the artist elsewhere for captivity when they arrived at the destination—more thankfully, a barred and guarded room rather than a dank dungeon cell. For now, other business called his attention, and he was sore and tired of the heavy pull of the cherubic armor not only on his body but his mind.
Needless to say, despite his actions against the Templar leader, Leonardo was a little more than surprised when he was taken to a room rather than a dungeon. Not that he was complaining, though he would have liked for his hands to be untied. That made him smile, if only because of the sheer futility of such a hope.
Once he was left to his thoughts, Leonardo got up and went to the window. The room was comfortable and beautifully furnished, yes, but the view of Rome was far more appealing to the inventor's eye.
And while Leonardo was left in peace for a good amount of time, the doors were soon being thrown open to allow Cesare to pass through. As they closed, Cesare folded his arms across his normally attired chest in the light of the sunset coming through a window.
Leonardo, startled out of his thoughts and daydreams by the opening of the door, looked up at the additional person in the room. Admittedly, he'd never seen Cesare in anything other than armor.
"Are you ready to join us, or are you still planning to be stubborn?" Cesare asked.
"In this case, unfortunately for you," Leonardo responded coolly, "I'm planning on the latter…"