Two days later, Claudia was in her Mother's room making her bed, when her Uncle walked in.
"Claudia, are you busy?" he asked.
She smoothed the bed sheet and glanced at her Mother. Her Mother was kneeling down with her elbows on top of the bed and her hands folded. She seemed deep in prayer, yet her eyes were open. Claudia sighed. It was yet another day where her Mother had still not uttered a word. She wished she knew how to bring her out of this shock, but so far, every effort had failed.
"Claudia?" Her Uncle asked again.
She straightened up and glanced at one of his hands playing with the hilt of his sword. He was dressed immaculately in an azure coat and matching pants. His brown boots were polished, although it did little to hide the scuff marks on the sides.
"Are you going on Battle?" she asked. The only time her Uncle ever dressed this way was when he went off to wars. Even though she couldn't imagine what thrill he must get out of it to actually dress up. It wasn't like it was a formal social occasion. It was a war, where men's only assets were their combat skills. Nevertheless, this wasn't the first time she had seen her Uncle look dapper. It seemed to be his custom or a ritual before setting off to war.
All year around he would have uncombed hair and messy stubble growing around his mouth. His clothes would usually be splattered with mud and blood and his sword stained. But come time for Battle and he would suddenly spruce up for it. Although she could only make out the hilt of the sword, she was certain that the blade had been thoroughly clean.
"Vieri has attacked Tosacana. We must leave immediately." He informed her.
Claudia winced at his words. Vieri- Ezio's arch nemesis! How her Brother had loathed him. Almost all his evenings were spent dueling with that despicable man. She had often thought of him as pig-faced and Ezio would snicker at her comments.
Claudia felt her pain cut through her. She missed laughing with Ezio. She missed bossing Federico around even though she was the younger one. And she missed her Father's pampering.
"Oh." She said distractedly. Her heart was squeezing painfully, bringing in a fresh bout of pain. Vieri had won by default. If Ezio were still alive, Vieri would have been beaten to a pulp and he would have never showed his pig-face here.
For a second, she wondered if she was actually rooting for the Assassins? It would be the first time in years that she had for once, wanted Vieri di Pazzi to lose by any means. And then another thought occurred to her.
"All of you are leaving?" she asked and wondered why Machiavelli hadn't mentioned it. She had thought they had become acquaintances at least, if not friends.
"This is what I would like to talk to you about." Her Uncle suddenly looked nervous and Claudia remembered the fight he had with Machiavelli two nights ago. Machiavelli had told her it was concerning her. Was her Uncle finally going to reveal what it was?
"Hmmm?"
Uncle Mario coughed into his hand. "Petruccio has shown desire to go."
"What? No!" she said firmly. "Petruccio has only now started to recover. You are his Uncle! You cannot force him to put his health on the line."
"I have asked him to let me." Petruccio said, coming in. Her Brother was already dressed in red robes. Around his waist he was wearing a weapon's belt and he had strapped a chest guard on himself.
"I will not allow it." Claudia said and crossed her arms.
Petruccio pouted. "It is my duty as an Assassin to serve the people and protect them from Templars."
"I said no, Brother. I am elder to you and you will not disobey me!"
Petruccio frowned at her and then took a deep breath. "Claudia." He said softly and she immediately recognized his tone. Petruccio had one of those special gifts where he could melt one's heart merely by widening his brown innocent eyes and speaking in a soft coaxing voice.
"I will not lose you too." She told him.
"You will not. I promise you." Petruccio blinked at her. "I will return home safe and sound."
"Nobody can guarantee that. In a war, anything could happen." Claudia said, biting her lip from crying out. She was losing and she knew it. Petruccio looked too innocent for her to deny him his wish.
"Please, Sister." Petruccio prodded. "I will grow restless in my room if I do not go. I shall be unable to sleep nights without dreaming about standing by my Uncle and defeating our foe." And then Petruccio said the words that completely broke her resolution. "It is for Ezio. He was Ezio's foe. I want to be the one to kill him. For Ezio!"
Claudia started to weep then. How could her Brother be so cruel to break her such? How could she say no when she had been contemplating the same thing before. "I am not happy with this."
"I will keep an eye on him." Her Uncle assured her.
"I will take my medicines on time." Petruccio chimed in.
Claudia put her arms around her Brother and hugged him fiercely. "You have to promise to let me know that you are fine. Send a message through a thief. And remember…"
She pulled away and put her hands on his face. "You are too important to me. Nothing is more important than you. Not even revenge!"
Her Brother kissed her cheek and smiled reassuringly.
*/*/*/*/*/*
Claudia was standing by the balustrade and looking out into the town. She hated to admit it, but La Volpe's blood stained coins had brought in more visitors to Monteriggioni. The Blacksmith was an eager salesman who called out to anyone passing by to check out his goods and people were queuing up. She saw a young man walk up to the Blacksmith's' and examine a range of daggers on a tray. He looked about seventeen and Claudia immediately flashbacked to the time Ezio had been presented with a dagger on his Birthday.
She still remembered how ecstatic he had been when Federico had pushed a wrapped parcel in front of him and looked on cheekily as Ezio opened it. Father had immediately scowled and reprimanded his sons for carrying daggers. But he had also been easily convinced when Ezio pointed out that he could use the extra help since Vieri had been giving the Auditores a lot of trouble lately. Father had relented but asked them to use the weapons as a form of defense and not attack.
Vieri di Pazzi. How she hated him. More often than not she had seen Ezio arrive home late at night with a bloody lip or a bruised face. He had joked that Vieri looked much worse but she had prayed that one day the fight would end. Claudia swallowed down on the bitterness that had clamored up her throat. The fight had ended with Ezio's death. Vieri was reigning only because Ezio had died. If he were still alive her Brother would have won.
She shook herself from these thoughts and looked at the sky. She loved the shades of yellows and oranges as the sun set for the day. It filled her with tranquility and made her forget her worries, although today was entirely different. A look down showed the new guests and her Uncle walk down towards the gates. La Volpe was at the Blacksmiths and purchasing bags of ammo while Petruccio picked up a sword and studied it.
Claudia looked down at her sleeve and saw that the lace of her cuff was sticking out. She pulled on it until it ripped slowly from the stitches. She hated that she couldn't stop Petruccio from going away. He had a point and he had made a promise to her, but still…
She twirled the lace around her index finger and tried not to watch her little Brother practicing with his sword. In her head, she could see flashes of the Battle and it was tearing her apart. She tried to push those dreadful thoughts away, but her conscious wouldn't let her. It was forcing her to see and feel all the bad things that could happen to her little Brother.
"I thought I might find you here."
Claudia turned to face Machiavelli and tugged at the lace in her hands harder. "You surprised me."
"I have come to say goodbye." Machiavelli said.
Claudia looked down at her hands and saw that she had pulled out all the lace from her cuff. She put her hand over it so that Machiavelli couldn't see it. "Buona Fortuna." She said.
Machiavelli nodded. "You seem perturbed by something. Or is it just another haphazard assumption?"
Claudia managed a small smile recalling the manner with which she had accused him of interfering in her private life. "My Brother is going off to Battle. My mind is in a state of unrest."
"I can understand your concern for him." Machiavelli replied. "He is indeed fortunate to have a sister like you to take care of him."
Claudia started to absently roll the lace around her finger again. "If you do not mind, may I ask you something?"
"By all means."
Claudia took a deep breath. She may never see him again and she had to know what was going on. "That night, you and Uncle Mario had been arguing about something. You said it was concerning me."
Machiavelli's face hardened and he looked away as if annoyed. "And I did tell you that you didn't need to know."
"Perhaps I do." Claudia said softly. "If it concerns me, I do need to know."
Machiavelli hesitated and put his hands behind his back. He stood beside her and gazed down at her Brother. "It is not my place to tell you." He said. "Do not worry yourself with it. It will not come to that, I promise you."
"I have no idea what to make of this." Claudia said. "You have completely befuddled me."
Machiavelli grinned. "As I have mentioned beforehand, I have no right to meddle in your family affairs."
"Yet you have, on my Uncle's insistence." Claudia pointed out.
Machiavelli looked shocked, but composed himself quickly. "You were eavesdropping."
"I promise you I wasn't." Claudia said. "I just happened to walk in on both of you discussing my welfare."
"Your Uncle was concerned and I was unable to say no."
"Do you have reason to believe his concern was misplaced? Did he want me to be free of my demons so that I could be of some use to him?"
"So curious!" Machiavelli laughed. "It is not a conspiracy against you. You needn't be so riled up by it."
"And more cryptic replies." Claudia frowned. She folded her arms and turned back to the people below them. Why couldn't he just tell her already? He had pushed her once to tell her about her nightmares, so why not tell her what was going on and what secret her Uncle was keeping? She could feel his eyes on her and she turned to see him staring at her.
His expressions were soft and filled with concern. It was a soft look, yet it made her feel uneasy somehow. She put her hand on her hair consciously and found the silence between them too unnerving. But what could she say?
"I have to leave." He said quietly. "Arrivederci, Claudia." He took her hand in his and pressed his lips softly on it.
As he turned to go, Claudia couldn't help but smile at his gesture. "A presto." She said. Machiavelli paused and then faced her.
"I will take good care of your Brother. I promise you." He said.
Claudia smiled and felt tears brim her eyes. "Grazie." She said.
She stood there watching as Machiavelli joined the small group gathered near the gate. Petruccio turned around and waved at her and she returned the gesture. She stood there watching as the small group of Assassins, walked out the gate and got on their horses.
The feeling had returned; the dark dreadful feeling had returned. Her heart screamed at her for letting Petruccio go. He and their Mother was all the family she had left. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to get rid of those thoughts.
Petruccio had promised her he would stay safe. Her Uncle had promised to take care of her little Brother and most importantly, Machiavelli had given his word.
No, nothing would happen to Petruccio. She wouldn't allow herself to think something could. She walked back into her office and sat down on her chair. The numbers on her ledger blurred before her and she closed it and clasped her trembling hands.
"Nothing is going to happen to him." She tried assuring herself. "Nothing terrible will befall him." But as minutes passed by, Claudia knew she had failed in distracting herself. The ominous feelings remained within her, promising a catastrophe.