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"Ezio Auditore!" the greeting was followed by a swift almost toppling slap to the back. Sometimes Bartolomeo did not realize his own strength. Years of heavy weapon wielding and an excessive amount of time spent on his favorite hobby, bare knuckle brawling made him seem less man and more beast.
"Bartolomeo, mio amico. How is Bianca? Still getting along with your wife I hope." Bartolomeo laughed boisterously. The banter about his sword being his second wife was an ongoing source of humor for him.
"They do not argue as much as they used to. How about your wife?" he replied nudging Ezio sharply in the ribs.
"Prego?" Ezio replied rubbing the newly sore area.
"Your wife. I hear she has you on some very tight reins. Always has to know where you are. Punishes you quite severely when she is displeased." Ezio was still very confused and it was written all over his face. Bartolomeo draped his arm over Ezio's shoulder and with a grin gave another hint.
"A word of advice mio amico, you would not have so many problems if you kept her on her back instead of the other way around." Bartolomeo laughed even louder than before quite pleased with his crafty joke. Ezio could only muster an uncomfortable chuckle when Claudia came to his rescue.
"I would rather not hear about my brother's endeavors in person. It is bad enough hearing about them as rumors."
"Mi dispiace signora. I did not mean to offend" Ezio mouthed a silent grazie as a visibly distressed Niccolò arrived with La Volpe the master thief.
"Things are not looking good for us mi amici. Cesare intends to eliminate the assassin vermin or so he says according to his letters by marching on all of the dens across the city using an increased army. Once the dens have been destroyed he will turn his attention to us here at Tiber. Thanks to our good friend Leonardo we finally have a time. Five days from now we will have a Borgia cani infestation unlike anything we have ever seen." There was a fire in Niccolò's eyes which replaced the overpowering despair that had overtaken him only a few days prior.
"We can handle that easily. Cesare does not have enough support in this region to add more than 100 men to his ranks." Bartolomeo quipped confidently.
"That is what I thought as well until today." The normally silent La Volpe produced a crumpled piece paper from his robe allowing it to roll across the table.
"One of my thieves retrieved this poster accidentally while pick pocketing a Borgia messenger. It offers double the pay to any person willing to enlist for this attack."
"Alright maybe 150 men. I do not think that there will be many willing to enlist for such a small pay increase." Bartolomeo conceded pacing the floor as his worry increased.
"The enlistment is for this single endeavor. The man is released from duty when it is over. Cesare knows he will be unable to find any willing mercenaries to take this assignment. So he is using the citizens of Roma to suit that purpose." La Volpe replied unwavering.
"Mio dio" Claudia whispered.
"I…persuaded an archer to tell me if the poster was real. It is. Stacks will be transported to captains all across the city as soon as today's printing is completed." La Volpe scanned the room. The anxiety was clear on everyone's face. Ezio felt a sickness in his stomach. For double the pay every beggar and lute player in the city would pick up a sword against the assassins.
"Roma is in troublesome times. It will be hard for people to see the light when they are only surrounded by darkness." Ezio gave a disappointed sigh folding his arms.
"There is no way we can defend against this." Claudia said desperately. Ezio gently rubbed her arm for comfort.
"I have a plan. Unfortunately it involves more courier chasing. However, this time it will be strategic. We strike first coordinated and strong." Niccolò's confidence was contagious.
"Bene! The dogs die today!" Bartolomeo shouted, excitedly unsheathing Bianca and swinging wildly.
"Be careful with that thing. You are going to take someone's head off" Claudia growled as she unsheathed her own sword and parried his swing. When she prepared to counter Niccolò stepped between them holding up his hands.
"A coordinated strike not a wild and unpredictable one." Bartolomeo looked away in embarrassment and Claudia found solace on the other side of the room.
"We will split up the city by districts. Each of us will take the district that is most advantageous for medical attention and resupplying. Ezio, you and a group of assassins will have Tiber. Campagna will go to Bartolomeo and the mercenaries. Claudia with the courtesans in Centro. La Volpe you and your thieves will have Antico."
"What of the Vaticano?" La Volpe asked.
"I will take a group of five and cover it. Its only entrance is through Centro so there should only be a few stragglers. If the past several days have been any indication some of them will guarded. We have very little time to arrange this. We all need to make haste. In three hours we strike." Niccolò rose to leave.
"What of the runners in the red tunics? My men are not so good at rooftop battles or climbing" For the first time Bartolomeo seemed genuinely concerned.
"Neither are my girls." Claudia chimed in.
"I had not considered that." Niccolò ran his hand over his face. The fatigue had set in. He and Ezio had slept so little in the last few days and it was beginning to take its toll. Caveats he was normally the first to think of had slipped by him. The group granted him silence for a moment to think, but only the holes in his idea swirled through his head. Ezio walked over to the window. He could just barely see the rooftop entrance of the Rosa in Fiore.
"The plan will still work. I can trade a group of assassins to Claudia for a group of courtesans. La Volpe and Bartolomeo can trade in the same manner. The distance back to the den will be a little further, but not significant." After a brief moment of contemplation everyone nodded in agreement.
"Niente è vero. Tutto è permesso."They repeated together as a small showing of solidarity before what was sure to be harrowing next several hours.
The promotion ceremony was hasty. What was usually a time for celebrating the hard fought achievement was quickly bushed over with a few well placed words from Ezio. A hearty round of applause greeted the two new master assassins, Tomà and Marco. They briefly exchanged handshakes and embraces before Niccolò added Tomà to his troop and headed for the Vaticano district. Ezio dismissed Marco with fifteen others to assist Claudia in Centro. He had very little time remaining before Niccolò's planned attack time. Rolling out his map across the table he tossed out assignments like loaves of bread.
"The two of you will cover these streets here." Despite the speed Ezio still placed each of them cautiously. Careful to pair recruits with senior apprentices taking into consideration each assassins fighting style and weapon discipline.
"Try to avoid fights wherever possible. Go from one target to the next as quickly as possible. I will be on the move assisting you as needed." The last group bowed in unison fists over their hearts. They filed out in silence the seriousness of the moment weighing heavily on their hearts. As they left Ezio walked to the window closing his eyes to the breeze. He secretly wished to smell a subtle hint of lavender in the air, but nothing. Over the bustle of the city below he could hear a quiet voice.
"Mentore. I did not get an assignment. Am I going with you?" Lucia asked hopefully. The painful reality was he had simply overlooked her. Ezio opened his eyes as the fog cleared. Lucia had finally figured out how to put on her armour properly and it fit her well. Without a hood he could see how beautifully flowing light brown hair framed her face. Her genuinely sweet smile put him at ease. She looked good. Why he had not noticed before was a mystery. Maybe Bartolomeo was right. His "marriage" to Francesca was really getting in the way of the dalliances he would normally enjoy. Lucia's smile faded slowly into concern as the seconds ticked by. Looking her from head to toe Ezio had forgotten to answer.
"Mi dispiace. Your assignment is for the rooftop couriers. You are fast enough to catch them. They are cowards and will give up without you having to draw your sword." She smiled relieved to know that she was not intentionally left out.
"Grazie Mentore." With a bow, she turned to leave.
"Be careful" he called after her before she passed through the doorway. Lucia looked back at him.
"He is actually smiling at me," she thought as his mouth curled into the askew smile every woman in Roma swooned over. In her heart she wanted to run back and kiss him. She had imagined it so many times in her head. Instead she turned away bashfully unable to hold back a toothy grin. Lucia left blissfully unaware that had she given in to her heart's desire at that moment he would have let her.
"Cazzo!" Ezio exclaimed loudly with so much frustration that it caught the apprentices by surprise. They had never seen him so upset. He stood pushing his foot into the chest of the guard he had just impaled with his scimitar. With a forceful jolt, the body collapsed in a bloody heap. This was the fourth fight he had to intervene in since Niccolò's coordinated strike had begun an hour earlier. Each pair of assassins had been easily overwhelmed when trying to overtake couriers. It was an unexpected show of force which caused him to reassign several of them into groups of threes instead of the more efficient pairings. Yet again in the distance, he could hear citizens screaming and the faint ping of steel colliding with steel.
Rushing past a few shocked people, he ran up a wall and grabbed a window ledge. Hand over hand until he reached the roof then another bounding leap to the top of the rooftop garden. Ezio peered in all directions trying to discern which assassins he had to rescue next. A small flash of white caught his eye. A sole assassin valiantly holding his own against three guards, but there were several more running to intercept.
"Where is his partner?" Ezio thought as he took off in a blaze. He jumped from roof to roof careful not to lose sight of the battle. As he got closer, the question was answered. There was not a partner. The awkward stance the unsure swings, it was Lucia. He quickened his pace until his legs hurt. Even though he was going as fast as they would propel him it seemed that everything was moving at half speed. He was painfully aware of every breath. The clinking sound of the clay roof under his feet was almost deafening. The summer air whistling past his face felt as cold as ice. He extended his blades and leapt onto the back of the Elite locked in battle with Lucia. Ezio could feel the snap of the bones as he drove both of them deep in the guard's back. As the blood flowed and he dropped gasping to the ground, Ezio caught Lucia's eye with a smile. A small sigh of relief escaped her lips before he saw the look in her eyes that he dreaded to see from friends, a sudden awareness of death followed by a shroud intense pain. She was driven through by a Brute's halberd.
Ezio caught her as she became rigid from shock. He cradled her head in his arm and caressed her face. When she started sobbing uncontrollably, he gently wiped away the tears. Ezio could feel her going cold. He pulled her closer in what he knew to be a vain attempt to restore her temperature. As he touched his forehead to her own Lucia could feel a single drop of his sweat drop to her cheek.
"Mi dispiace tanto." He managed to sputter between pants. Even through the excruciating pain, Lucia still managed to smile.
"Va be…" Death's angel saw fit to take her before she granted Ezio forgiveness.
"Requiescat en pace mio caro" He ran his hand tenderly over her eyelids to close them for the final time. The whole plan had fallen apart and Lucia's death was a testament to that. He could only imagine that the others were fairing just as badly. The number of guards prepared to fight in any given location was more than he had ever seen in Tiber. He could not save all of them. He could not even save one of them. What originally started out as frustration now rushed through his veins boiling his blood. A blistering anger he had not felt since Uberto Alberti. Ezio laid her corpse carefully on the stone street. Unsheathing his sword, he turned to face his opponents. Nostrils flared with a breath he was unable to calm or quiet.
"Il diavolo" one of the guards whispered. Even from under his hood, the fire in his eyes was clear. The first guard did not even have time to react. Ezio was on him in seconds with a blade through the sternum and a crossbow arrow between the eyes. As he fell clutching the blade in his chest Ezio swung around slicing his companion across the jugular with one of his hidden blades. A spray of blood covered the bystanders that were brave enough to stick around. A pair of knives hit their target right in the throats of two agile guards. Even after one of them managed to extract the obstruction he continued to drop to his knees with gasps and gurgles. Ezio retrieved his sword from the first body and proceeded with a scowl towards the final two guards, shooting a rooftop guard mid stride. One them immediately lost his nerve and took off running. Ezio willingly granted his retreat with a smirk. In exchange for reprieve he paid with a bullet shattered kneecap. The other shakily stood his ground too mortified to run but too stupid to yield. Mentally Ezio went through the dance, their dance. Strike! Strike! Strike! Thrust and turn. The power strike was coated with so much fury the guard was decapitated. His head rolled across the street and rocked back and forth at the feet of an elderly woman.
"Dio abbia pietà tua anima" she said shaking her head at Ezio with eyes that had seen too much pain, too much bloodshed. He dropped his head. The storm had passed and at the end of it, his white robe was white no more.
"Mentore." Several assassins dropped down from rooftops and stood from benches having witnessed the massacre. However, only one of them was brave enough to speak. He attempted to place his hand on Ezio's shoulder, but Ezio shrugged it off and knelt beside Lucia's body. Placing her body in burial position, he lifted her slowly and began carrying her back to the den. The recruits followed in solemn procession.
"Give the signal of return," Ezio said expressionless to one of the assassins.
"To who Mentore?" The unspoken "Everyone" resonated so loudly in his head he swore he saw it shake the top of Castel Sant'Angelo.
