Firenze. This was her home- the place where she was born, brought up and where she was eventually forced to leave. The whole city had once turned their backs on her. Friends of her Father had betrayed them and rendered the Auditores helpless.

This was the city that had taken too much from her and offered only measly scraps in return.

It had been six months since she had left Monteriggioni to come here with her Mother. There was nowhere else she could think of going. Firenze was cold and heartless but it was her home.

They had arrived in the dark of the night, the perfect camouflage to sneak into the city- except she had only come to know during the day that she hadn't needed to be so discreet. The city and its people had forgotten the Auditores. It had hurt terribly but she nevertheless accepted this and moved on…right back inside her home.

She had expected the house to have been torn apart or for some uncaring person to have taken up residence in it. But instead, she found it completely abandoned. Her Mother had uttered a throaty moan when she stepped inside, but that was the only sound she made here on after.

The house was a mess. The plants and flowers her Mother had given so much care to had wilted and stomped upon by the looks of the broken stems. The curtains had been torn down. The wall had been painted on with obscenities by the local thugs, but what drew her attention to it were the words 'Traditore' painted in black paint.

Claudia had taken a deep breath and taken her Mother towards Father's office and then locked the door. She still didn't know the situation here. The real traitors were still probably looking for them and this house was probably being used as bait to lure them towards it.

These thoughts continued to reel in her mind and the rest of the night was spent sleepless. It was in the morning when she had taken a step outside and walked to the market to purchase food with what little money she had, that she found that not one citizen had recognized her.

This had made her cheerful for only a second before she spotted Duccio- the man she had once been betrothed to. She had believed that he would have been engaged to someone else now and possibly married, but instead she found him hanging around with his lackeys discussing his conquests and her name had crept up.

Claudia had thrown him a disparaging glance and wanted so badly to go over and give him a piece of her mind, except the last thing she wanted to do was create a scene and draw attention to herself. The surviving Auditores had arrived in Firenze and this information wasn't about to bode well with their ill-wishers. She was the only one left protecting her family-her Mother.

For six months, she had kept to herself. She followed the same routine every day. As soon as the sun rose, she was out of bed and after washing her face with cold water, she would pick up a broom and start cleaning the house. After that she would take a bath and start preparing breakfast while her Mother would wake up and come downstairs. She was always greeted with silence and Claudia tried fruitlessly to make small talk with her.

Her Mother would sit in stony silence and chew slowly on a piece of bread that she occasionally dipped in her hot tea. She would finish up cleaning, go to the market, prepare lunch and spend the afternoon mending clothes while trying to talk to her Mother again. After that she would prepare dinner and then go to sleep.

Today would be the same.

"It's getting cold outside." Claudia said. Her Mother looked down at the table and said nothing. "I'm going to the Mercato today. Do you want me to get you something?"

Still nothing. Claudia swallowed and stared at her own plate, with her eyes brimming with tears. Taking a deep breath, she tried again. "I found a bag of florins in Father's desk drawer. That should be enough for another few months. After that we'll have to find alternate ways to get money."

Her Mother responded in silence. Claudia pushed her plate and got up. "I should go then." She looked at the flowers growing in the small pots and smiled. "You really have a green thumb. The flowers are growing really well." She went over to her Mother's side, bent her head and kissed her cheek. "I'm so pleased you've taken up gardening again."

Claudia took her purse from the table and clasped it tight in her hands. "A presto, Mother."

She walked out of the house and closed the gates. It was a beautiful winter morning. The skies showed patches of blue and the air was crisp and cold. People were already up and about and she spotted a group of women chatting noisily as they made their way to the markets.

Claudia started to follow them and then paused. She turned left and walked over to the vendor selling flowers.

The vendor, a stout mustached man gave her a friendly grin and handed her a bunch of chrysanthemums. "The usual, Signorina?"

Claudia paid him and bowed her head in greeting. She held the flowers close to her chest and came upon the Arno River. She plucked three flowers and let them fall into the water. This was where her Father and Brothers were supposedly laid to rest. She hated that they weren't given a proper funeral, but there was no use dwelling on what she should have done and what she shouldn't have. The past was done and she had to move forward.

She uttered a small prayer and walked towards the gates that led out of Firenze. This was the gate she had come into Firenze. It had been dark and breezy. She had felt the warm embrace of the city then, welcoming her back home. But she had pushed those feelings away, made her Mother comfortable in a nearby bench and had started to dig in an open ground.

There were no other sounds other than metal against the earth. It was quite late and Claudia had used this as an advantage to dig a grave for her Brother. When she was done hours later and the sky was starting to lighten, she had asked the carriage driver to help her carry her Brother's body-which she had covered with a white sheet- and lay it in the freshly dug grave. The carriage driver had agreed and even helped her shovel earth over him. When it was done, Claudia had paid the carriage driver and then fallen down from fatigue and wept.

Claudia looked at the small grave and knelt down. Her hands touched the soft fine mud and she laid her flowers over them. She felt oddly calm whenever she came here. There were no thoughts; only a heavy numbness. Occasionally there were flashes of her Uncle promising he would take care of his nephew and even those of Machiavelli who had done the same. Both men had lied. They had broken their promises and it was because of that, her Brother was now lying under the earth.

Today was different though. She was only aware of the wind sweeping over her causing her to shiver and the chirp of birds. In a distance she could hear people talking, but that was about it. No thoughts of her Uncle or Machiavelli disturbed her.

She got up, dusted her skirt and made her way to the Mercato. Lost in her thoughts, she made a mental note of things she needed to buy. Her Mother's clothes needed to be patched up, so she desperately needed a spool of thread-particularly white-and needles. She had broken her last needle yesterday while stitching up a rug. The rug was made of thick material and she should have known better than to try to stitch it, but she wanted the house to look beautiful for her Mother and at this moment they couldn't afford a new one.

She would have to do something about money. Perhaps offer tailor services? Claudia frowned at the thought. She wasn't very good at it. Maybe she should sell something she cooked. Another sigh escaped from her. She wasn't very good at cooking either and last night's dinner of soggy bread and uncooked potatoes were evidence of that.

Claudia passed by a bank and paused. For ten years she had looked after the account books at Monteriggioni. Maybe she could….

A familiar voice broke into her thoughts and she froze. It was the same man's voice she had heard since her childhood.

"Piccina, come here." Her Father had once called to her when she was ten.

She had come running instantly and looked up at a man standing by the front door. He was tall, had a large round face and wore red robes. His eyes were small and dark, his nose pudgy and his mouth thin. He was smiling at her, but even then she hadn't wanted to respond to him.

"He's my dear friend Uberto Alberti." Her Father told her. "But you shall call him Uncle."

Claudia turned around slowly to see Uberto walking inside the Mercato with an elderly man. Claudia started to turn the other way and run back home, when she stopped. He was but ten feet away from her and she was absolutely certain she had heard him talk about the Auditores.

Claudia immediately jogged inside the Mercato and saw Uberto making his way to the Tailor's. She followed him, keeping her steps as soft as possible.

"The people have noticed activity at the Auditore Villa." The elderly gentleman was saying.

"Probably beggars." Uberto said distractedly as the Tailor laid out a rich blue cloth before him. Uberto felt the cloth between his fat fingers and nodded appreciatively.

"My spies tell me they are women."

"Hmmm…maybe it's a new Brothel. Firenze could use more of them." Uberto chuckled.

The elderly man rolled his eyes. Claudia crept behind a large basket or fruit under the pretense of buying them.

"Shouldn't you take a look into this matter?"

Uberto scoffed. "The Auditores are gone! They're dead! Each and every one of them. It's taken Firenze a long time to forget about them and the last thing we need is to dig up that old mess. We have more important things in mind. The Spaniard has called upon us."

The elderly man scratched his grey beard. "Still, the Auditore women…"

"Basta!" Uberto said irritably. "The Auditore name has been scratched out of our books and minds. The Auditores are no more. Their last surviving son has been killed by Vieri and the women are probably working in a Brothel somewhere or have died of shame. Come. We have to leave."

Claudia moved out of hiding spot and clenched her hands into fists. She was surprised by the ager running swiftly through her veins, causing her vision to blur. Uberto had to die! He was the one who had betrayed her Father. He had to pay…with his life.

Claudia stormed towards the Blacksmith's and put down her money pouch. "I need a dagger." She told him. "Whatever the cost, I need one!"