"What did he do?" Machiavelli asked.

Claudia could feel her throat clench tightly. She couldn't even breathe anymore. How could she have said those words to someone she barely knew? Whatever she felt for Ezio, was her issue and not to be voiced to just anyone. But the moment she had, something inside her- a raging beast that had been assailing her for ten years now- had finally calmed down. All it needed was for her to speak of her true feelings out loud.

"Claudia?"

She kept staring at the walls, trying to make sense of everything that was going on and everything that had happened, but failing miserably. Her mind was reeling from the nightmare she had woken up to a few hours ago. Everything had been so surreal, so damaging to her soul, yet it was drawing her back in, forcing her to live those moments yet again, but this time in her reality.

"I can't." she managed to mumble. Her mouth had gone dry and she could feel a lump in her throat.

"What happened that night?" he asked softly.

"No!" she begged. "I don't want to…"

"What?"

"Go back." She finished tiredly.

Machiavelli's mouth tightened and she could see annoyance flash in his eyes. But when he spoke again, his voice was gentle even though his words were torture to her ears. "That night, after your Father and Brothers were taken away, Ezio came to you. He wasn't captured yet because he had been away on an errand."

Claudia's breathing quickened. Her heart was pulsating wildly. She looked out the window and tried to seek consolation from the rising sun. Sunrises had always made her feel comforted, but today, nothing was helping her find her escape from her miseries.

"He spoke to you and promised to come back with your family." He continued.

"If you already know everything, then why are you asking me to speak about it?" she cried. Please stop, she wanted to scream at him. I can't take it anymore!

Machiavelli didn't respond to her and went on with his account. "Only when he went to see your Father, something unexpected happened."

Something broke inside her and she was suddenly bursting with anger. "He should have just listened to Father!"

"But he didn't." Machiavelli said. He was mocking her, Claudia thought. How could he be so cruel? What joy could he possibly gain from playing such a sadistic game with her?

Claudia turned and went over to the door. She had enough of this. If he won't leave her this instant then she would!

But the second she opened the door, Machiavelli was by her side and slamming the door shut. "Is that why you're angry with him? Because he didn't do as his Father asked him to?"

"Let me go!" she sobbed and tried opening the door again, only to have Machiavelli close it once more. He placed his hand on the door and refused to budge even when she tried side-stepping him.

"Tell me Claudia, what makes you really angry? The broken promise or that fact that he made a ludicrous mistake that cost him his life?" Machiavelli persisted.

Claudia gasped and before she could stop herself, she slapped him across the face. Machiavelli looked stunned at this and Claudia put her hands on her face. "I…I am so sorry."

Machiavelli looked furious, but his voice disguised his emotion. "I did not expect this sort of reaction."

Claudia bit the inside of her lip hard. She didn't mean to, she really didn't. But Machiavelli was being so exasperating. She stood there looking at the floor. Her face felt warm and her hand still tingled after making contact with his cheek. He would leave her now, she hoped. Even though it wasn't the ideal way to end this conversation, he would leave her now and she could go back to repressing those horrible memories from her past.

"I never thought Ezio would be so careless." Machiavelli said after a while. He hadn't even moved an inch from the door and she knew that if she looked up, she would see him staring at her and searching for answers she didn't want to give. "I thought Giovanni was training him without his knowledge."

Claudia held her breath. Her lips were trembling and she feared another outburst in front of him. She clasped her hands tight. She would have to control her hands at all cost for they appeared to have a mind of their own.

"Giovanni Auditore, from what I have heard of course, was a great Assassin." Machiavelli continued. He was tormenting her with his words again. "He used many devices to train your Brothers without revealing the true motive. So it comes as a shock to me that Ezio not only disobeyed his Father's wishes but came up with a really pitiable plan."

"Does this amuse you." She asked through gritted teeth. She still dared not look at him. If she saw the gleam of amusement in his eyes, she wouldn't stop her hands this time.

"On the contrary it mystifies me considering what transpired."

Claudia looked up and glared at him. She was slightly relieved to see that he didn't look amused but rather inquisitive. "If you saw your little Brother being mistreated by the guards, would you have still left him behind?"

"Mistreated?" Machiavelli raised an eyebrow.

"Si." The anger had returned and she held onto it for dear life. It was a lot better that blubbering through her tears. "When Ezio climbed up the walls of the prison, he saw a guard come in and hit Petruccio on the shoulder with a metal rod. He did what he thought was right by planning an escape for them right then and there."

"So what happened?"

Claudia went over to a chair and sat down. Terror was creeping over her again and she fought hard to placate it. "He went away for a little while and a few hours later, returned with a saw blade. He cut through the bars as silently as possible so as not to alert the patrolling guards. Father begged him to go away and deliver the letter to Uberto instead- a letter that presumably would have absolved them from all these false labels on them. Father feared that Ezio would be captured and imprisoned too, but…"

"Ezio was adamant."

Claudia nodded. "He kept slicing the bars and eventually, he managed a small space for Petruccio to crawl through. But it was obvious that Father and Federico wouldn't be able to pass through it."

"Ezio had probably still tried." Machiavelli said and Claudia noted that his voice wasn't derogatory but filled with sympathy and even a bit of remorse.

"Petruccio was holding onto the sill, but his arms grew tired and he lost his balance and fell down." Claudia continued. "Fortunately there was a haystack below to break his fall, but his cries had attracted the guards nearby. They spotted Ezio and…" Her lips trembled then and she covered them with her mouth. To her chagrin, she was crying again. "Ezio instructed Petruccio to keep hidden as they took him away."

"Well, Ezio did what he thought best at that time." Machiavelli said, coming towards her. "It was terrible that he was captured, but he tried to protect his Brother. He was indeed…"

"I hate him!" Claudia said vehemently and immediately regretted saying that. She really didn't mean it that way. She didn't hate Ezio but by just saying that made it easier to deal with the pain she had felt all these years.

"You don't mean that." Machiavelli said.

"I do!" She said and couldn't believe the words coming out of her own mouth. But she couldn't stop either. "He promised he would save our family and come back! He didn't. He never came back!"

"I can understand..."

Claudia ignored him. The words were erupting violently from her mouth. "I was supposed to be the baby of the family even though Petruccio was the youngest. They took care of me and promised they would protect me! All of them! But they didn't and left me all alone to take care of Petruccio and Mother. I couldn't take care of them." She sobbed into her hands.

"Mother hasn't spoken in ten years and I couldn't help her with it. Petruccio is my little Brother and I was supposed to look after him. But I couldn't even do that right. And now he's dying and it's all my fault!"

"So you're not really mad at Ezio. You're angry with yourself because you think you've failed Petruccio." Machiavelli pointed out.

Claudia wept into her hands. "I have failed him. I'm not responsible enough. I'm not like Ezio or Federico. They would have taken better care of him. If they were alive they would have taken care of me!"

"Claudia ...Petruccio was always sick. Even as a child he was bed ridden."

"Ezio shouldn't have left me! He should have never gone to meet them! He would have been safe and been with me!"

Machiavelli was saying something else but it was all lost to her. His words meant nothing to her. Machiavelli didn't know what it felt like to have failed her own family. He eventually seemed to realize she wasn't paying attention to him and uttered a loud sigh. "What happened then?"

Claudia sniffed. "Then the execution happened."