Chapter 2

Dusk transformed the sky into a melody of colors that danced on the river ways of Venice. Ezio hardly had time to muse over the gold and purple colors that reflected many feet below him as he tailed Alcina across a hanging arbor. The hollering of the city guards had nearly disappeared as they balanced themselves on a narrow archway. A passing boatman on his gondola gasped in disbelief at the sight of the skulking assassins traveling overhead. Ezio's mind was full of wonder over this new stranger. His better judgment told him to be more alert and not trust her so easily, but how could he ignore the emotion he had felt when they touched, or the look in her eyes when she spoke to him. He may not have been the best at understanding women, but something in his heart told him she was deserving of his trust... for now. He watched her long figure sprinting ahead of him, how the tails of her cape flowed out behind her like wings of a hawk. His eyes admired her legs, her small frame... then suddenly she stopped. Ezio nearly collided into her due to his lack of "focus".

"Wait here, I will only be a moment," her voice broke the silence. Ezio took in a breath of relief that she had not noticed his brief clumsiness. "Va bene," he choked. She carefully crept ahead across the roof and slyly climbed down the north side of the building having memorized every hand grip and foot ledge. She disappeared for a moment then whistled back to Ezio that the area was clear. He peered over to edge to see her waiting directly below him in an alley. "Afraid of heights Ser Ezio?" she laughed.

"Ha! The lady assassin has a sense of humor," he joked as he maneuvered down the wall. "I may not be afraid of heights, but spiders are something else entirely," he smiled a boyish smile in her direction.

She scoffed at his joke, "To think, I heard so many stories of the handsome and vengeful killer Ezio Auditore... when truthfully he is bested by a spider," she shook her head in a teasing manner and continued to lead the way.

"Wait! I'm not really afraid of them, I was just... uhh... aspettare! ... so... did they really say I was handsome?" Alcina laughed to herself and ignored his comical flirting. Embarrassed with himself for his lack of suave, he quickly changed subjects, "I hope we are getting close signora, it is getting dark quickly."

"It is just ahead." They were obviously in the poor district of town; the ground was now dirt and gravel instead of stone and was scattered with wood and debris. She led him into a small dried up courtyard with an abandoned well that had clearly gone dry, forcing the surrounding neighbors to move elsewhere. "This is it," she gestured toward a tattered and shabby looking building to the right. Ezio examined the outer walls and boarded windows. A faded sign caught his eye, "Medico".

"An old doctor house?" he questioned.

"Si, if it's not to your liking I'm sure the guards could take you to a more suitable establishment. I've heard the prison is quite charming."

"As long as there are no spiders," he winked. He noticed her brief smile as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Merda, my technique is rusty! It has been far too long since I have been around a woman who has made me this nervous," he cursed in his mind. She interrupted his silent abuse as she struggled with moving a large beam blocking the doorway.

"Allow me bella," he lifted the board high enough so she could reach through a splintered hole and pick the lock from the inside. "Aperto," she smirked as the frayed door swung open with a pitiful groan.

"Impressive..." he took one last look around the courtyard and shut the moaning, flimsy, door behind him, trapping them both in the dark, musky, building. His senses were heightened in the darkness. The first thing he noticed was the smell; it reeked of chemicals that nearly made his head spin. Some of the medical odors he could name, others however were foreign. He could feel the dampness and muggy feeling that hung in the air, and hear the sound of Alcina's nearby feet, then the quick strike of a match. She lit a candle in the far corner of the room and used it to start a small fire in the homemade flame pit. He could now take in the flickering sights of their temporary hideout. Shelves lined the room with bottles, jars, and dead plants. The walls and ceiling were stained a smoky black, most likely from a tragic fire. Ezio took a step in her direction and cringed to the sound of crunching glass under his boots. The floor was littered with broken jars and debris long since abandoned. He noticed she had made certain areas more livable by hanging documents and other papers on the walls and even a pallet of blankets on the floor that didn't appear to be too comfortable.

"Is this where you live?"

She stirred the fire with a splintered board, "I hideout here occasionally when I need to be out of sight." She clapped some ashes off of her hands and sat down near the fire. He gazed at her through the tranquil orange glow of the flames.

"Why did you kill him today," he finally spoke.

"hmm?" she sighed.

"The agent, why did you kill him? You act as though you have forgotten."

"I am trying to forget."

"I do not understand signora."

"I lied to you Ezio." Ezio felt a twinge of caution. Was she not someone who could be trusted after all? Perhaps this was a trap, and he had fallen right into it completely off guard. "My name is not Alcina Rossini... my last name is Gavino." Gavino? Why did that sound so familiar?

"My father used to work with a man named Gavino... Enzo Gavino. They worked together at my fathers bank."

There was a pause as she flicked a splinter of wood into the fire. "Enzo Gavino was my father," she muttered. All at once the pieces began to fit. All the years of his childhood were spent believing his father was a banker when in fact he was an assassin. Enzo must have been a close alley to his family and raised his daughter Alcina to complete his work should anything happen to him. "He always wanted me to be such a proper lady," she chuckled at some private joke, "I hated the etiquette classes he forced me to take. I would sneak out all the time to avoid them and go play with the boys. I loved running through the street, playing ball, I even picked fights when I had to. Father was furious when I came home one day with a bleeding lip and bruised eye." Ezio smiled as memories of his own childhood came to mind.

"I remember you," Ezio smiled. She looked up at him with a half smile and blushed slightly. "When our fathers worked together they would tell us to go play in the street." Ezio pointed at her and smirked, "You were just like one of the boys. I remember you clobbering a poor boy for teasing your younger brother. Oh yes, I certainly remember you now!" He chuckled as he remembered the young, scrawny, scarecrow of a girl from Florence pummeling a boy twice her size. Ezio came to join her by the fire pit sitting directly across from her. She noticed him wincing slightly as he sat down on the dirty stone floor.

"Are you alright?"

"Si, I had a run-in with a brute of a guard yesterday... a rather large brute at that."

"Let me have a look."

"Onestamente, I am fine. I will see a doctor if it gets worse."

She raised an eyebrow in an annoyed fashion, "Where are you injured?"

"I was nicked right here, but it is only a small scratch, I am fine caro," he pointed with two fingers to a place below his left ribs and cringed momentarily as he applied pressure.

"I do not believe you. Let me have a look," she was already at his side waiting for him to reveal the wound. He rolled his eyes at her worry and slipped his hood onto his shoulders. She looked away to give him some privacy. When she returned her gaze to him he was standing up and had removed his cape and armor, now displaying his halfway buttoned silk shirt, pants, and boots. He sat down slowly this time and tried to hide a pained groan.

"Try not to take advantage of me bella madonna, I am feeling rather weak all of a sudden," he smiled.

"Ragazzo stupido..." she mumbled under her breath.

He brought a hand to his heart and hung his head, "You wound me with your cruel words donna."

She sighed, "You should be more worried about the wound bleeding on your side! How long ago did you say this happened?"

"Yesterday... or maybe longer..." he shrugged with an embarrassed expression.

"It has reopened and will need stitches," she began to search the shelves for her tools, squinting in the warm flickering light.

"I truly am fine."

"Ha! Have you even looked at it?" Ezio peered down through the top of his shirt and saw the 4 inch gash that began to leak fresh drops of blood.

"merda..." he sighed. She returned to her spot beside him with a rag, a small box, and one of the few unbroken bottles from the shelf. He sat cross-legged in front of her examining her face in the warm glow of the fire. She swallowed hard as she suddenly began to pay closer attention to his muscular chest that was now revealed under his partially unbuttoned shirt. He caught her stare and unhurriedly undid the bottom buttons of his shirt. She was finding it harder and harder to keep her focus as he be began presenting more and more of his chiseled olive skin, his eyes never leaving her face. Her nerves were racing making the faint crackle of the fire place sound like a blazing wildfire as her heartbeat pounded. She delicately held the opening of his shirt in her fingers and followed the seam up to his collar bone opening it carefully trying not to touch his beautiful skin. The silky material gently slid down his shoulders just enough so that his sculpted chest and lean abs were exposed. Once again his smell engulfed her and she fought for composure. She cleared her throat to chase away any "distracting thoughts" as she examined the bleeding gash more closely. It was a clean cut, easily mended. She opened the bottle and applied a decent amount of fluid to the rag. The terrible smell of the chemical helped clear her head, "This will burn at first but it will prevent against infection and dull the pain."

"You are sure you know what you are doing?"

"Trust me Ser Ezio, I have taken care of myself for a long time now. Sewing up wounds has become second nature to me."

"Sounds like you need to learn how to duck." She spitefully pressed the rag against his wound forcing him to jump and curse loudly.

"Hold this there firmly," she instructed as she quickly threaded a long and curved needle. Ezio cringed in discomfort at the sight. He quickly began starting conversation to take his mind off the throbbing in his side.

"You still haven't told me why you killed that templar."

"It's a long story," she huffed as she untwined some extra slack of string.

"On the contrary, a long story would be a relief at the moment."

"This one isn't the happiest of stories..." her voice trailed off as she removed the blood spotted rag from Ezio's gash. Her expression made him understand the real question that he should be asking.

"Alcina... what happened to your family?"

...

Translations:

- va bene- okay

- aspettare- wait

- merda- shit

- bella- pretty girl

- aperto- open

- onestamente- honestly

- caro- dear

- bella madonna- beautiful lady

- ragazzo stupido- stupid boy