Chapter 9: A marriage to change the world
June 3rd 1493
The day on which the pearl of the Vatican, Lucrezia, was to marry was nearing, and her future husband had just arrived in the Holy City.
There was to be held a reservation for the most important people in this alliance including Lucrezia's three brothers, Juan, Gioffre and Cesare, her father and mother and various members of the house of Sforza.
It appeared that not a great lot of the Sforzas had decided to come; in fact, the only members of the family who arrived that day were Giovanni and his sister Catarina Sforza alongside Ascanio, who was expected to make an appearance – after all, he was the cousin of the husband and a supporter and ally of the wife's father, plus he had been the main reason for this marriage to even happen.
Since it was a dinner for the two families that were soon to be united, neither Jane nor Giulia was invited, but they would have the chance to meet the Sforzas the next day.
Jane hadn't had the chance to speak with the Pope or Cesare about the man at the masquerade with all the fuzz about the wedding, but she intended on telling them as soon as possible. For the moment, though, she was going to enjoy a night without Vatican meetings or festivities. The past month or more had been so full of them that she had barely had time to think.
The afternoon sun was slowly moving downwards towards the horizon when one of her servants announced that there was a guest for her. She rose from her seat in front of her east facing window.
"Who is it?" she asked, her voice calm after the meditation that it was to watch the sun fade.
"He calls himself Julio. I led him to your living room, if that is okay?" the servant asked, already stepping out of her sleeping chambers to escort her to the said room.
"Of course. He is a friend," Jane answered, following the young servant.
Julio seemed tense Jane noticed when she entered the room. She quickly dismissed the servant and sat down to face the young vampire. The red of his eyes seemed hazy and she could tell he hadn't been hunting for a while.
"You look pale," she said.
"I am a vampire," he said with a small smile. "I have a letter for you," he continued, rummaging through his pockets.
"Have you not been hunting?" Jane asked. Julio looked at her, frozen, letter in hand.
"It's from your brother," he said, holding the letter out.
"Why have you not been hunting?" she asked, looking intently at him.
"I have!" he protested but then added slowly, "just not recently."
"Why not?" Jane asked. She wondered how Alec hadn't noticed since it seemed pretty obvious.
"I am not sure," he said, drawing out the words, "it's just… I just can't."
"Why?" Jane asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
"I mean… it just seems wrong somehow," he said, looking at her, begging for her to understand, "I can't kill, I just can't."
"Of course you can," Jane said leaning towards him, "you need to feed."
"Is there no other way?" Julio looked desperate.
"There is," Jane said, "but that is not the way you should do it." She leaned back in her chair.
"I am not sure if I care. I just know that this is not the way I should live. My single life should not be at the cost of so many," he said.
"You can feed on animals, too," Jane admitted, "your eyes will change and you will not have the same powers, but you can do it."
Julio let out a sigh, and to Jane it sounded as if he had held that breath for a long, long time. It was pretty normal for younger vampires to breathe, just out of sheer habit or because it calmed them. Jane was sure that Julio was that kind of pathetic vampire who didn't marvel in his new skills but would rather worry about the weak humans. Somehow, she managed not to look down upon him.
"Thank you," he said, his voice heavy with weariness.
Jane didn't answer; instead she took the letter from his hand, read it, replied it and gave it back. For a moment she looked at him, and then answered his thank even though it had been more than fifteen minutes since they'd last spoken.
"You shouldn't thank me," Jane answered. Julio smiled a very small smile and shook his head. "You don't even realize how good you are," he then said before leaving the room.
For a moment, Jane just sat and stared into nothing. She had become quite good at that while living with the Volturis. Not to think or to see anything. It didn't take long, though, before she was thrown out of her relaxed state by a Giulia, who entered the room with a very worried expression on her beautiful face.
"Lucrezia has returned," she said, her voice flat.
"And?" Jane inquired.
"Nothing good."
Jane rose from her seat and followed Giulia's hurrying steps down the hallway until they entered Lucrezia's sleeping chambers.
The room was just as richly decorated as all the other rooms in the palace, but right now Jane's eyes didn't wander to any other object than the bed.
Behind layers of curtains, Lucrezia lay in a foster position, clenching a pillow to her stomach. She was crying silently, her entire body cramping together around that pillow.
"Lucrezia!" Jane gasped as she quickly made her way over the floor and pulled the curtains to the side, kneeling by the bed. Giulia sat at the foot of the bed, calmly stroking Lucrezia's hair. Jane understood that that would be the best course of action; to be calm so that Lucrezia could be calm.
"Shh," Giulia whispered. A cramp that had taken hold of Lucrezia calmed, and she slowly relaxed. Jane could feel her own muscles relax, and she wondered when she had started to have such feelings about the human girl. She was once more pulled out of her thoughts when Lucrezia once more started crying, sobs and spasms taking over her body. Jane reached out to dry away the young girl's tears.
Jane could hear some turmoil downstairs, and Giulia was about to rise to see what was going on, but Jane knew that Giulia had better stay in the room with Lucrezia.
"Stay here," she said in a low voice before leaving the room and going downstairs. Halfway down the staircase, she was met by a raging Cesare.
"Where is she?" he roared, putting his hands on each of her shoulders, ready to shake her if she didn't answer.
"In her room, upstairs," Jane answered, shocked by the rage in Lucrezia's brother's voice. She followed him up the rest of the stairs and into the room. Though she couldn't see the expression on the man's face when he saw Lucrezia, curled up on her bed, she could only imagine how terrified and enraged it was.
But right now her cast those feelings aside. Cesare walked around the bed and curled up behind his sister. He muttered something into her ears and Lucrezia smiled a weak smile as Cesare's hand began stroking Lucrezia's arm. Cesare pressed a kiss to his sister's temple and used the hand that wasn't already stroking her arm to brush her hair back. He whispered into her ear once more and Lucrezia nodded somehow bravely. Then Cesare let his head fall down upon the bed, his left hand still stroking Lucrezia's arm.
Giulia rose from the bed. "Come," she said before leading Jane out of the room. "Let him work his magic."
"He really loves her," Jane commented when they'd left the room. Giulia just nodded in agreement. "What happened?" Jane then asked.
"Let us just say that it would be a miracle if this marriage becomes happy," she answered.
When Cesare left the room hours later, all he said was 'she's sleeping' before he left. But it was obvious that he would have agreed with Giulia's statement.
Jane had no doubts that Cesare had visited his father several times to complain about the marriage and to try to stop it, but apparently they hadn't worked.
Jane was happy to see that Lucrezia had, in spite of her apparent disgust with her future husband, managed to find joy in picking out the perfect wedding dress (apparently she had planned for months that she would be wearing beautiful, white veil with pearls, and she had almost decided how her dress would look like) and she had even been able to face Giovanni on several occasions since the dinner. It was still clear that Lucrezia could think of no worse thing than to marry this man, and Jane knew that Cesare already had several ideas as to how to kill the man in the most painful way, but they kept their appearances, and that was the most important thing.
Jane got to meet Giovanni two days before the marriage, and even though it was brief she still understood why Lucrezia was so appalled by the man; he was no genius in anything but military matters – which Jane knew that Lucrezia despised – and he seemed to have no opinion on any political matters. Also, he was fat and had a very unflattering haircut.
Jane was thinking these thoughts as she watched Lucrezia walk up the aisle, wearing her light and beautiful dress with that white pearl veil. Jane could feel how her respect for the girl – no, the woman – rose as she watched the composure and honor that she carried herself with; her head was held high and her back was straight and not a single tear was falling as she walked a road that would lead to her doom.
She hadn't even gotten to have her mother at present on this terrible day. But still, not a single tear formed in her eyes. She looked so perfectly beautiful and fragile, and Jane knew that this - her strength and mind – was what gave her the title of being the most beautiful woman in the Renaissance world.
Jane hadn't spoken much to the Pope, but it hadn't been out of anger. Jane wasn't really angry with Rodrigo for putting together this marriage. Many women went through this, and Jane knew how significant this marriage was to the survival of the Borgia family. Still, the ceremony seemed to last forever.
The dinner that followed afterwards was an awkward event. It started out pretty well; all the richest and most important families were at present. After the dinner had been finished, it wasn't exactly considered strange that the newly-wedded couple decided to spend time away from each other – after all, it was an arranged marriage and it was obvious that they shared no affections for each other.
Lucrezia had spent most of the night with various upper-class women that she knew from balls and parties and just from being at mass together, whilst Giovanni had spent his drinking with some of the men he apparently knew.
The night had been ruined when Juan performed his scandalous and perverse 'play' with prostitutes as actresses. Juan, of course, had been positively drunk and even though most of the guests (especially the men) had enjoyed the play, it would still be seen as a scandal.
Jane was now sitting with Cesare. Jane was a little worried for him; she had noticed that he had been drinking quite a lot and his mood hadn't become any better of that reason. Now, he was glaring holes into the back of Giovanni's head, muttering half-finished sentences. Although, he didn't need to finish them.
It was about this time that Lucrezia came over and sat in the couch beside her brother. She leaned her head on her brother's should and let her eyelids fall closed.
"I am very tired, brother," she said sleepily. Cesare looked down at her and said, "You must keep yourself awake a little longer, my dear."
"Can you speak to my husband…" she trailed off. She woke up from her doze and continued, "Can you…?"
Cesare sighed. "Giovanna, could you take care of Lucrezia for a moment?" he asked and Jane nodded, letting Lucrezia rest her head in her lap. Then Cesare was off to talk to Giovanni.
Jane observed the discussion with interest and finally decided to use her vampire skills to listen in on the conversation.
"With all respect, signor Sforza, she is still just a child. I am sure a man of your class can understand that and wait a little to perform your… duties." Jane could hear the disgust in Cesare voice even from across the room.
Giovanni looked over at where Jane was sitting with Lucrezia and almost feared that he knew that she was listening to them. Of course he doesn't know! Don't be stupid, Jane, she chided herself. It had been too long since she'd used her vampire abilities.
"If you say so," Giovanni said, looking back at Cesare. Jane stopped listening to the discussion and within a minute Cesare was once more standing by the couch.
"Here, let me take her," he said, lifting Lucrezia from the couch and out of the room. Jane followed Cesare with her eyes.
During the last few days she had realized the man's affections for his sister, and she envied his capability to love someone so infinitely. She knew how much hurt these feeling towards his sister had caused him, but they still didn't seem to falter in the least bit. Instead, he buried them deep within, ignoring them until she was so far away from him that she wouldn't see his hurt.
Jane had asked him the day before why he did that, and he'd answered, "Because she loves me as I do her, and therefore I know that she would be even more hurt by seeing my feelings."
But even though Jane found their relationship so beautiful in its selflessness it still worried her. Every time she saw the fire that lid up their eyes when they looked at each other or just thought about each other, she couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before their relationship crossed the boundaries of what was appropriate between brother and sister.
Cesare returned some minutes later, sitting down in the coach. He looked like a man who had just fought a thousand battles.
"She's asleep," he said. Jane had never realized how much the Pope and his son's voice reminded of each other; they were both hoarse and husky, both just as deep and masculine. Cesare in general reminded much of the Pope; perhaps that was why the Pope seemed to prefer his other son, the sinful, but charming and carefree Juan. Except Cesare had much more kindness in him than the Pope – or perhaps he was just still young enough to not have the same responsibility as the Pope had now.
"You worry for her," Jane said, more a statement than a question.
"Have you not met her husband?" he asked. Jane smiled and looked upon the scene where the scandalous play had been performed. "You remind me of her sometimes," Cesare continued.
Jane looked at him. "Me?"
"Yes," he laughed breathily. Jane looked back at the stage.
"I can see the resemblance in looks but nothing more," she said, inquiring for him to continue. Jane knew how flattering that comment was, taken Cesare's affections for his sister.
"You are more alike than you think, Giovanna," he said, drawing her gaze back to his, "You are both clever," he began, "but you are older and have more experience in life. I suspect she might be very much like you in a few years – she certainly hopes that herself." Jane smiled. "And you both grow very silent when the subject falls on mature topics."
"Like?" Jane asked, frowning.
"Sex," he answered simply, "I have known you for very long, and I have never seen your eyes wander to any man, and I have never heard you talk about love. Of course, I have heard Lucrezia talk about love, but…"
"Perhaps I do not speak of it because I have nothing to say," Jane answered. Cesare looked at her questioningly. "You could say that I lack experience," Jane elaborated, looking at the stage once more. It was true that she didn't like the topic, just as it was true that she didn't have enough experience to be able to say a lot. That would be no experience.
"You are…?" Cesare frowned at her.
"Yes," she answered, "did you expect anything else?" She wondered when she'd given reason for him to think anything else.
"It was not my meaning to hurt you, Giovanna," he said, trying to catch her gaze once more – and succeeding – before continuing, "It was merely the fact that such a beautiful and clever woman like you still could be married. I could only see one reason for that."
Jane smiled. "You have not hurt me in the least."
"You are lucky, then," Cesare said and shifted in his seat, "since you are both free of husband and of sins."
Jane laughed and said, "It would be sad to say that I am free of sins."
Cesare looked at her quizzically, but she just turned her gaze back to the empty stage once more. "I wish my sister was like you in one more way," Cesare said.
Jane turned to look at him again. "What is that?"
"I wish she was yet unmarried."