The next morning, Sonia woke to the sound of the loud kitchen staff directly below the bedroom. She shivered and wrapped the covers tightly around her. The room had a dreadful draft and the floorboards creaked incessantly as she shifted positions on the ancient bed. She had left her hair unbound last night and it was draped over the pillows in a tangled mess of curls.

She sat up, running her fingers through the knots, trying to smooth the long locks.

It had been a long night. After Ezio had left, the room seemed to grow much larger than it was. She could not fall back asleep, her eyelids light and mind churning.

Sonia squeezed her eyes shut and tried to rid herself of the memory last night. Her heart pounded as she realized that she would have to face him later on.

There was a loud rap on the door.

"One moment!" Sonia called.

"It's Leonardo! Hobbes had told me that he wishes the party to be ready to leave in a half-hour!" he shouted through the door.

"Alright!" Sonia called back, lifting herself up from the bed.

She dressed slowly. Sonia did not bother with her corset, packing the stiff piece of clothing away with the rest of the strewn clothes from last night. The satchel she carried was hardly full, but had everything she would need in it. When she reached Spain, her uncle would surely provide her with better, more expensive clothing.

She managed to tame her hair into a tightly bound bun and secured it there with a head scarf. Marshaling her courage, Sonia stepped outside her room. As she closed the door behind her, she saw Ezio exiting the room directly across from her. The two stared awkwardly at one another for a time.

"Good morning," she said, plucking an invisible piece of dirt off her skirt.

"Morning," he mentioned. "How did you sleep?"

"Well," she lied.

Sonia was about to return the cordial question, when Livia stepped out of the bedroom behind him. Her long, luscious hair was mussed from sleep, lips pleasantly swollen. Sonia stood frozen in place. Livia smiled at her easily, dressed perfectly in men's attire. She walked past the couple and down the stairs.

"I-" he began.

But Sonia had already rushed down the hall and was half-way down the stairs before he could finish his sentence.

(Sonia)

I will not cry, I chanted in my mind. I will not cry.

But I could feel the tears threaten at the backs of my eyes. I wiped a stray one away hastily. The mare I was riding pinned her ears as I cinched her girth in too tightly.

"Sorry girl," I murmured, loosening the piece of leather.

The dappled mare snorted and shook her head, the pieces of tack jingling lightly. I pressed my face into her mane, choking back my tears. Why was I so upset? This happened to women all the time. It was perfectly normal for husbands to take lovers over the course of a marriage. Women at court would talk about their husband's indiscretions all of the time. It never inconvenienced them.

I thought he was my friend...

"Sonia?"

It was him. I could immediately feel my shoulders stiffen. Wiping my face with the back of my hand, I craned my head around and smiled sweetly at him. "Yes?" I asked as happily as I could manage.

He seemed very taken-aback by my behaviour. "I wanted to apologize," he began bravely.

"Whatever for?" I questioned, pretending that everything was normal between the two of us. More than normal, because I had never held a smile this long around him.

"For last night," he said.

"Oh, you're talking about Livia?"

"Well, um... yes."

"Oh!" I pretended to act surprised. "Well, as long as you're discreet with women its quite alright with me. I realize that neither of us want to be in this marriage, so I can't possibly expect you to be faithful."

His jaw nearly fell to the floor. We stood in silence for a few moments. He ran a hand through his hair. "Sonia... I was not planning on being unfaithful to you."

"Was that before last night, or did you just make that decision now when there are no other females in sight?" I snapped, the words escaping my lips before I could swallow them.

His features darkened.

"And," I continued, my anger spilling over into my words, "I hope you don't expect me to be faithful to you either. That would hardly be fair."

He chuckled, becoming angry with me. "You're right. In fact, I don't even care if you have a child... just as long as you're discreet," he said, poking fun at my own words.

"I plan to be. As for the child, perhaps Leonardo might oblige me. I would want to have a babe with actual potential. An affinity for knowledge, perhaps, instead of whores and murdering," I spat.

He narrowed his eyes, "That's fine, mi cara, you spread your legs readily enough for me last night. He'll probably have better luck than I did if we fill you with some wine first."

I slapped him. Hard.

"I hate you," I said slowly, through clenched teeth. "I hope you die and make me a happy widow!" I added for good measure.

Ezio took a step closer to me. His big hands clasped the sides of my arms, holding me firmly in place. He towered over me. I suddenly felt incredibly small in his grasp. I opened my mouth to say something, but his mouth crashed over mine.

His kiss was hard and rough, making me feel like I had been slapped back. I fought him, trying to bite his teeth and tongue. I could feel his arms lift me off the ground and press me into the wall of the stall. His torso fell in between my legs. I moved my hands up to press against his shoulders.

He took my wrists firmly in his hands hand pinned over my head. His lips still worked over mine, sucking and nibbling them so I could feel my pulse pounding through their swollen flesh. His other hand snaked over my thighs and through the folds of my dress.

A loud sound of protest managed to sound itself from the back of my throat. It was almost as though he inhaled it and continued his hand's path to the throbbing between my thighs.

And throughout it I was not afraid. I was angry at Ezio, but his actions did not feel wrong. It was almost as though he was asking me to trust him, as if he were saying: I'm going to take to you this place and you are going to enjoy it.

And then he pressed his finger right in the middle of my thighs, a place he hadn't quite gotten to last night. Light seemed to erupt into my vision. He removed his lips from mine for a moment.

"Oh. Oh," I breathed. I sounded distant. As though I was surprised at my own voice. Then the fear began crawling through my stomach. I shut my eyes and tried to push him away.

Instead his rubbed his thumb over the spot again. My hips bucked. I opened my eyes. He was wearing a light smirk, looking down at me. My breathing was becoming laboured, my cheeks hot. I closed my eyes once more, biting my lip as he did it again... and again... and, oh god, again...

And then it was over. He let me to the ground, adjusting my skirts for me. I suddenly felt cold... hungry. Like he had left me in the middle of some frustratingly steep hill.

"You don't hate me, so don't ever say that to me again," he said, his face close enough to mine that I could feel his breath on my lips.

"And," he added, "I dare you to find a man who can finish what I just started with you."

He and his ego seemed to vanish away from me. There were still spots in my vision, I felt light headed. The horse looked over at me and nickered. I shivered, feeling cold. Sucking in a deep breath of stale air, I reached for the horse's reins.

(Ezio)

I knew that Sonia had declared war on me when she emerged from the stable. She hardly kept eye contact with me and pretended as though I were not part of the company. In fact, it seemed that she was imagining herself in another world. She only spoke when spoken to and examined the foliage around us with a glazed, far-off look.

Leonardo rode beside me, chattering about lore surrounded with the Ark of the Covenant. I came in and out of his long-winded descriptions of the make and depiction of the Ark in literature.

"Can you tell that my wife wants to draw and quarter me?" I asked Leonardo suddenly.

"Yes," he answered quickly. "I was meaning to ask you about that. What did you do this time?"

"She thinks I slept with Livia," I answered.

"Did you?" he questioned.

I did not answer. Leonardo sighed, "Well, I cannot blame her. But I thought the two of you would have been, erm... together last night... after the way you were acting with one another."

I was about to explain the situation to him, but then Hobbes rode up beside us. I kept my mouth shut as they talked about the documents, my mind drifting to last night and things beyond that. I glanced over a Sonia, who was wearing her own thoughtful look. Things were certainly complicated between the two of us, I wondered how they had gotten so in such a short period of time.

"Ezio has access to ships, but I assure you, the sooner we reach Granada, the sooner we will be able to really sit down and go through our options. I have more documents to go through in terms of the Ark, the ones that you sent me." I snapped to attention at the sound of my name.

"I must confess Leonardo, that some of the papers I sent to you were already in coded form. They were ancient documents from the Romulan society, explaining the projected whereabouts of the artifice," Hobbes said, his face turning stoic as he spoke of the clan.

"We are not far from the coast. My suggestion is that we ride through port towns until we come across one of the DeMarco's ships. Sonia's mother was from France so he probably was looking to forage more connections in the country," I said.

The two men considered my suggestion. "That is a good idea," Hobbes said, nodding. "However, I have gotten word that the Remians are banning together and looking to find us. I think we will have a better chance at reaching Spain if we split our congregation into smaller groups."

"So we split up?" Leonardo said, simplifying Hobbes' statement.

"Into groups of two?" Livia's questioning voice piped up from the front of the company.

"I prefer threes," Frederic mentioned.

"Alright," Hobbes began, leaping off his horse and motioning to the group to do the same. I dismounted, Asher stomping the ground and snorting in annoyance. Hobbes retrieved a stick and began drawing lines in the sand.

"What we need," he said, continuing his makeshift drawing, "are groups to cover land and sea."

He pointed at me. "Since you have the actual documents indicating your ownership of the shipping company, you get to go to sea," he explained.

"And," he added, waving his stick at Sonia, "you get to accompany him since you know your way around your father's boats and company. So you will join your husband at sea."

"I could go with them. I have known Sonia and Ezio for a long time," Leonardo suggested hopefully.

Hobbes shook his head. "No, I would prefer you to be in the company of practised body-guards. We cannot allow you to be kidnapped again. I'll send my son with the two of them and you can stay with the rest of us."

My ego was piqued slightly at his comment. However, Hobbes had some truth in his words. I was heartily out of practise and Leonardo would be better in the hands of people who would readily protect him.

"It will not be a long voyage from here to the Spanish coast," Sonia offered. "If you like we can meet in Seville when the time is right."

Hobbes nodded, "That sounds quite possible. We have to agree on a date when we will be able to meet."

"Could you make it in three weeks?" I questioned, knowing the task was daunting with the amount of horses and people they had to escort across terrain and into southern France.

Hobbes nodded. "We might be able to if we keep up a good pace," he said, glancing around at the waiting horses and anxious people. In three weeks autumn would be upon us. The wind was already starting to cool with the realization that there was not much time before the cold weather would hinder travellers.

"The Seville Cathedral would be a good place to congregate," he mentioned. The group nodded in agreement.

"Here," Leonardo said, withdrawing a leather folder from his cloak, "take these." He handed the folder to Sonia who gripped it readily. "They seem to be better off with you," he winked.

"Guard those with your very lives," Hobbes cautioned us as Sonia secured them in her rucksack. "The Remians need those to find the location of the Ark. This is no longer a war... it has become a race."

Sonia climbed atop the burly dappled plough horse and readied herself for riding. Angelo swung up gracefully onto his tall bay and I patted Asher's neck, glancing back at Hobbes' crude drawing. I could feel the marriage certificate pressed up against my skin under my doublet to keep it safe from the weather. It chafed a little.

"Three weeks then!" the leader of the Romulan Order reminded us as he mounted his own horse.

Leonardo waved goodbye and I raised my hand in farewell. I glanced over at Sonia and she had squinted her eyes against the sun, which had now climbed high in the sky. I reigned Asher southward, where we would surely find the Mediterranean and hopefully, safe passage to the Spanish coast.