She hadn't had the best sleep last night (that was an understatement) and in the early dawn she was awoken from her slumber by gentle hands. Agostina, her maid whom she appreciated dearly was trying to force her from her bed and she just wasn't going to have it today.
"Per favore Agostina" she whined, yanking the blankets over head "do not disturb me." She turned away from the older woman.
"Cristina, Cristina, Cristina" she sung "cara Cristina, Cesare has requested you." Agostina tried again to remove the blankets from her, with failure.
Cristina swore, and freeing a hand from the entrapment of the blankets, she began vigorously making crude hand gestures. "Tell that figlio di puttana that it is maybe illegal to wake someone up this early in the morning and that I am not having it."
Agostina slapped her hand down. "Cristina!" she chided, although Cristina could detect the hidden mirth in her voice "It is the Pope's order."
Cristina groaned and heaved her self upright. "Mio dio Agostina" she sighed sadly, rubbing sleep sand from her eyes. "I feel like the whole world is against me today."
And that's how she found herself crouched sleepily on a rooftop near the Castel. Cesare had sent her off to do some scouting along with a few incognito guards to look for "signs of the Assassins Brotherhood." In all honesty, she didn't know what signs to be looking for-were the Assassins going to do cartwheels in the streets of Roma? Would they openly declare their animosity for the Templars using signs, messages, anything? She didn't know. Cesare had been very vague when he had given her the orders. Truth be told she believed him putting up a ruse, trying to get her away from the Castel as to conduct meetings in privacy, away from light feet and sharp ears. Of course, she could not go too far from the Castel, and Cesare had seen to that by stationing guards nearby, keeping track of her in case she decided to escape.
That cazzo, she thought sleepily.
And of course, there was that thing from yesterday...
Maybe, it was not him. The hood covered most of the man's face in the picture and really, she couldn't be sure that it was the same person.
She pushed it out of her mind. And settled back into a crevice on the roof, her head falling onto her chest. Cesare had told her to remain vigilant and unseen, but this she thought, was unfair to ask of someone in the early morning. Anyways, the mist was thick enough up here that it provided a good enough cover...
"Signora you should not be up here" a deep voice bellowed, knocking her out of her sleep. The sun was blinding, and the man who loomed before her appeared dark and ominous against the light. She felt hands on her shoulder and she punched wildly, making contact with soft flesh.
The man cursed angrily and reached out as if meant to grab her hair, but she was already up and a sweeping kick brought the man to his knees and a blade to his throat.
"I meant no harm, Signora" the man-a guard pleaded. "I have two daughters."
Her breath came out in gasps and she had to take a moment to steady herself. She had never told anyone of dreams that pursued her night after night, of being ambushed when alone or assassinated in her sleep. She would never admit it but though she did not see eye to eye with Cesare on many things, he was still a presence, still a body that made her feel less alone, less vulnerable.
"It is quite alright" she said, dropping the man onto his knees. "Next time, don't touch a woman while she sleeps" she added, rather snappishly.
She took off then, her feet pounding against the shingles as if they had done her great personal wrong. She took care to avoid other rooftop guards and other various groups on the roofs-grubby thieves stood clustered together, whispering secrets and stretching their muscles. She thought they looked like cats, wired and ready to spring, agile and quick.
Homeless cats, she smirked.
She didn't feel quite at ease until she reached the Castel, slipping past the Papal Guards at the entrance.
"What is the meaning of this Cesare?" she shouted, as she stormed into the Papal Apartments. This was a ruse to get her away from the Castel and she was furious. How come she couldn't be part of any plans?
Cesare looked up, his gaze meeting hers and she realized he wasn't alone. A man, whom she had never seen before, stood up. He was very ugly, she couldn't help notice and yet he held himself high, his eyes full of contempt at the storm that hurled itself through Cesare's door.
"Puttana" he sneered. "Show the Borgia some respect."
In three strides, Cristina had crossed the room and slapped his face hard enough to send him reeling into a bookcase.
"Vaffanculo, stronzo" she spat. "Do not even dare give me a passing glance."
Cesare, who had been quietly watching the exchange with a sneer on his face, raised his hands.
"Enough" he drawled. "The Signora you have just been slapped by is none other than Cristina."
The man who was tenderly touching his face, looked up with widened eyes.
"Her?" he said incredulously. She shot him a withering look and he glanced away. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.
"Cesare" Cristina hissed through gritted teeth. "What is going on?"
"What is going on" Rodrigo Borgia said as he strode into the room "is that plans have been being made, ever since you stepped into the Castel for you to bring death and destruction upon the Assassins Brotherhood."
Cristina froze, her heart thudding erratically. All those years training, fighting in the darkness, the seclusion...she was finally going to get some answers.
"My Lord" she said bowing her head in humble servitude, "what is it you require?"
The Pope swept forward and placed a hand upon her shoulder."Burn the Brotherhood within" he said quietly "destroy all that the Assassin loves, and finally when he has been backed in the corner and when everything he has worked for has burned and perished-" Rodrigo Borgia slid a finger across his neck.
If jaws could hit the ground, Cristina's had thudded through the ground and crash landed in the lower floors.
She had always thought the Borgias did not trust her as she was never allowed in any planning or meetings. And yet here she was, being handed perhaps the task to end all tasks. How could one person ever do this much? How much faith could be put in one person? If she were to fail, the consequences would be...she didn't want to think of it. And yet the chance to exact revenge on the Assassins was something she had been waiting for for too long. She was in the prime of her fitness and the finesse of her art was unmatched. Her dance was powerful and strong and swift and deadly and she knew it, they all knew it.
"I told you Father" Cesare said, with a twinkle of mirth in his coal eyes, "she's not ready. Look at her balk like a rabbit about to be speared" he laughed.
The Pope looked at her, an eyebrow arched in questioning. Father and son seemed to be challenging her both.
"All we need is your word, your infallible commitment to our cause" Rodrigo said, clasping his hands behind his back.
"My Lord, before I give you my consent I must ask" she began, squaring her shoulders. "Why not give this task to Micheletto Corella?"
Cristina Vespucci was not scared of many people, but she was petrified of Micheletto Corella. Cesare's personal assassin and closest confidant, she would many times see him striding the halls of the Castel in all his haughty glory. Micheletto was a sadist, and took great pleasure in killing. It did not help that he was unfairly gifted at it either.
"Micheletto" Rodrigo said "is busy with other affairs. And, he is too well known to the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood however does not know that you exist."
Nor does anyone outside the Castel, she wanted to say but she bit her tongue. And yet her body tingled and her blood bubbled in eagerness.
The chance to destroy the Assassins, she thought almost dreamily.
She would be glorified for centuries to come. A hero of the Templars. There would be poems written of her, songs and myths. And more than that, she would finally, finally avenge the murder of her parents.
Meeting his gaze, she bowed her head. "My life is yours, Rodrigo Borgia."