CHAPTER 1: All Roads Lead to Rome
Italy, 15th of July, 1492

Jane and Alec continued their travel by horse from the port of San Marino. Ebecen had had business to do in Venice, which was why they didn't land in Naples. Jane, who was eager to get to Rome before the Papal election would be over, was determined to be a part of the apparently violent politics of the Vatican. But Alec had not felt the same way, apparently. He was, as always, much more interested in the cultural rebirth of the northern states.

So a few miles south of San Marino, he suddenly said: "I wish to visit Florence, sis."

Jane wasn't startled; Alec hadn't said a word ever since they had met that man, who had been preaching of the "rinascita italiana" – the Italian rebirth. A rebirth of ideals that had been dead since the Roman Empire, and Alec, always very interested in historical culture, and who had respected the ancient Romans, had asked the man hundreds of question about this. So Jane wasn't surprised, that Alec wished to leave for Florence.

"What do you think?" he asked after a while of silence.

"What I think?" Jane said, "Why would you need to know my thoughts of this?"

"Firstly, Aro put you in the head of this mission," Alec said, "and secondly, you are my sister and travelling companion. I can't just leave you."

"Well, if you need it, you have my permission. But as you well know, I will have to continue to Rome, and quickly. Pope Innocent might not be dead yet, but apparently it is only a question of time."

Since they were inside the boarders of the Papal States, Vatican news flourished much more than other news - and the illness of the Pope of Rome wasn't just something; it could mean an entirely new life for most people, not just in the Papal States, not just in Italy, but in all of Europe and even some of the countries south of Europe. Therefore it had been easy to find information about the current state of the Pope.

Five days later, Jane was a little more than halfway to Rome (it didn't last long before her patience with the horse ran up, and she had decided to run herself). It was very short before dawn, when she finally reached the city of Terni. Since the sun would soon be up, she was in a rush to get a room, and the first tavern she reached was the one she entered. The man behind the bar was a big man with short, black hair that seemed quite happy about having a young woman renting a room on her own. Jane decided to stay in the bar to find some news about the Pope, but before she got that far, she heard someone say her name.

"Do you have a guest called Jane? She arrived alone," a man asked the owner. Jane made her way through the crowd to talk to him.

"You are looking for me, I believe," she said. He was young, she noticed when he turned around. Four days old at the most.

"You are Jane?" he asked, stupidly. Very human. Definitely young, Serena thought.

"Yes, obviously," she said.

He smiled nervously, and then handed over a letter. "This is from Alec. I am his apprentice."

Then the boy rose and walked away. She realized suddenly, that even as a human, he hadn't been that old. When he was changed, he had probably been 15 or 16 years old, but he already looked much older. It was the eyes, the expression on his face. This was the normal way. Vampires might not grow higher or wider, but in their eyes, in their faces, the age of them was easy to read.

She looked down at the letter and started reading:

To my dear sister, Jane
I reached Florence three days after our parting, and I have already found myself a small shop with a cellar. I have started a medical shop, where I can treat people with those medicines that I have experimented with.
Also, it seems that I can do further experiments in the cellar. This city has all that I need; there is a shop for everything. This is why I do not have the time to write a longer letter than this. I am experimenting with a cream, which will allow vampires to walk in daylight. I know how it sounds, but I am already making progress, and even though the last experiment went wrong, I think I may know why.
You must excuse my apprentice, who delivered this letter, for his abrupt departure, but I need his assistance here in Florence. I will write you again soon.

With all the best of regards
Alec

Jane smiled. She recognized her passionate brother in this letter. He was always like this when it came to physics. Ever since he was a young human, he had started to learn the many usages of the herbs and plants that grew near their home in Britain. She put the letter away in the inside pockets of her traveling clothes, and then retreated to her room.


Jane entered the large, white gate, which was the northern gate of the city of Rome, on the night before the 24th of July. The city was far more magnificent than she had expected; tall buildings rose towards the sky, some were up to four floors high; the streets were wide, with room for two carriages; fountains and monuments would every now and then appear and add to the beauty of this eternal city. Even though the streets were dusty and the buildings dirty, and even though you sometimes passed groups of homeless people or orphans, Jane looked beyond this. Some of these buildings had stood there since the great days of the Roman Empire; some of the houses were old insulae that had been rebuilt and renovated throughout the years. The city, which every road leads to - the eternal city - that was soon to be the center of the world again.

Jane had not realized the time, that had passed, or the distance that she had walked, before she suddenly stood in the midst of the greatest beauty, she had ever seen; she had stepped into St. Peters Square. It would have been impossible to describe the beauty of this place – if it was beauty as much as it was magnificence. The Square was larger than she had thought any city would have been able to find room for, and not only that; the pavement was white and clean, and it was surrounded by white stone arcades, that lead the eye directly to an even more unbelievable sight; the St. Peter's Church was frightening in its beauty, in its prefecture. Jane could do no more than stand, astonished by all this beauty, which was collected in one place, put together so beautifully. Behind all of this, you could see the rest of the Vatican City and its astonishing estates. Jane couldn't imagine how it would feel like, to live here every day. Did you get used to this marvel?

Jane uttered a low curse when she realized, that dawn was close. That cream, which Alec had spoken about, sounded very appealing in that moment. She wished, she had had time to look inside the church, but she knew already that it would probably take hours for her to make herself leave again, and she needed to find shelter before dawn. Jane wasn't interested in art as much as politics, but architecture wasn't just art – it played a role in politics, too. You couldn't rule a country without being able to make beautiful buildings. Also, Jane found it hard to look into and be moved by statues or paintings. They were never perfect, never so close to reality, that she could comprehend them. But architecture didn't just look like reality, it was reality.

She finally backed out of the Square and went back into the normal part of the city, which now seemed dark and dirty compared to the Vatican's beauty. She found an inn as close to the Square as possible (it wasn't very difficult to do, since the Vatican was the heart of this city), and rented a room.


When Jane entered her room, the first thing she did was beating the shutters to avoid the sunlight, but as soon as she had made these precautions she started her investigation of those Italian politics. Rumor had it that the Pope had called the cardinals to his rooms to say his last words to them, and she was in a hurry to find out, which her ally should be.

She decided to change her clothing into a long-sleeved dress and a veil that let almost no skin bare to the sunlight, so that she could go down into the dark barroom. She wanted to ask a few questions about the Papacy.


Jane had just returned to her room after successfully having found some information about the cardinals - she now knew who were the likeliest to win the election that would follow a Pope's death, and she knew both their strengths and weaknesses; she had found that surprisingly often a cardinal's weakness would be closely linked with, if not the same as his strength – when it knocked on the door.

"Jane?" asked a familiar voice, though Jane couldn't put a finger on it. She went to the door to answer it. Outside stood an Italian boy with black hair and dark eyes, young and thin, but very attractive. Jane recognized him as Alec's new apprentice. Since she didn't know his name, she simply said "good morning," and let him in.

"Thank you." he said, and passed by her. He placed himself to stand awkwardly in the middle of the little room, which had only one window, a bed and a stool as interior. Pieces of paper were spread all over the wooden floor, with notes scribbled all over them. The young man pointed at the papers and said: "You have been busy, I see."

"I have," Jane answered, "'Alec's apprentice'" she added with a smile.

The apprentice smiled back - a charming smile, Jane noted, but a nervous one. "My name is Julio," he said. After some silence, he said: "Before I leave you this time, I must know where to find you the next time I am to bring a message from Alec. It took me a good while to find you."

Jane suddenly realized something: to arrive now, he had to have walked in daylight: "You were out in daylight," she said.

"Yes, and that is partly why I am here," he said. "I have a letter for you."

Jane took the letter that Julio handed to her. She sat down on her stool and opened it:

My dearest sister
I send you another too short letter, but I am so busy with my business that I have barely had time for experimenting on my own. Fortunately, I have finished that cream I told you about. Except it did not become a cream, but rather an elixir. It is very strong; I must warn you, so when you use it, only take a few drops. I sent my apprentice with a bottle for you, and he will tell you more about this.

Jane knew that Alec, however intelligent he was, had no talent whatsoever for explaining. Or talking, or expressing himself in words at all.
I hope that you have equal success in your quest. You must send a message back with Julio, my apprentice, this time.

Alec.

Jane looked up at Julio. "You have more for me?" she asked, rhetorically.

"Oh, yes," he rummaged around in the pockets on inside of his cloak, until finally revealing a glass bottle, that Jane recognized from one of the many times, she had watched Alec in his laboratories. "It is an elixir that allows you to walk in daylight."

Jane took the elixir and held it up in front of her eyes. It was a clears substance, which looked like water, except it had a gleam of red in it. "How does it work?" Not that Jane really cared, but she knew that her interest made Alec happy.

"If you mix human and vampire blood with some alcohol and some water, it will make your blood – or poison, if you will, seem humanly. You will become more human. Because of the alcohol, your poison will not start rejecting the human blood right away, and the human blood will reject the sun's attempt to reveal you. Simply, the blood will minimize your general vampire features, like the shining, but unfortunately also your speed and strength. Alec is working on that, though."

"And why add the water?" Jane asked.

"To bind it all together," Julio answered simply. Jane nodded. It made perfect sense, in fact. This was the first time that she had really understood some of that nonsense that Alec worked with.

"You don't like physics?" asked Julio, "Or just don't understand them?"

Jane looked at him, shocked. "You read my thoughts?" she asked, more surprised than angry.

"No!" he said, shocked. "But I may have sensed your feelings," he continued, only having realized it in that moment.

"Interesting," Jane said, but then thought no more of it. It was Alec's responsibility to tell Julio about the abilities that he might or might not have in the future. But Julio looked so shocked and frightened, that she couldn't help herself. "It's your ability. Some vampires have them. Alec will explain more about it," she said, not in a soothing voice, but the fact that she had even said something was very relaxing to the young vampire.

"Do you have one, too?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, and found that she wasn't able to tell him about it. She didn't know why she was hiding it from him; she had never been ashamed of her 'talent', actually she was usually proud of it. But now, whether it was his innocence or that she was afraid of him thinking badly of her, she didn't know. Usually she didn't care what people thought of her. But Julio – he gave her a feeling, that because of his youth and innocence, he was actually in his right to judge her.

"What is it?"

Jane hesitated. "It doesn't matter," she finally said.

"I'm sorry," Julio said, surprisingly. "I shouldn't ask you such questions. I didn't know if our talents are supposed to be kept a secret."

Jane nodded, not wanting to continue the conversation. The silence quickly became uncomfortable. Finally, Julio broke the silence: "Can I ask what you have been working on?"

"Of course," Jane answered, relieved that the awkwardness was over, "I was trying to find out whom I should support in the Papal election."

"The Papal election? Surely the Pope hasn't died yet?"

"He will, soon enough." Jane kneeled on the floor and found a piece of paper, on which some names were scribbled. "These are cardinals that I find likely to win." She pointed on the paper, and Julio read aloud: "Cardinals Oliviero Carafa, Rodrigo Borgia, da Costa, Michiel and Giuliano Della Rovere. Who do you expect will win?"

"Most people would say Carafa or Della Rovere. But if find that Borgia has, well, some other qualities, which should be to his benefit."

"And which qualities would they be?" Julio asked, looking up from the papers. Jane realized that they had ended up sitting very close to each other. She had never been as close to a man as this, except for her brother and Aro.

"He has the best kind of allies that you can have: family."