Desynched
Gothic 1
I apologize with all that I am for the extreme lateness of this chapter. My mom killed herself, and my life simply fell apart. I took a leave of absence at school, dropped all extracurricular projects, I even stopped eating. The official time of death is 5:36 am on Saturday, August 21, 2010. That day will forever live with me. If anyone is curious about details, simply Google search "Cullman Times Pamela Nesmith Horowitz". You may not be able to find method of suicide, but it is probably for the better. If there were crime scene photos, someone out there would be able to access them after a while, and they would have to see her as I did, and my mom bloodied in bed was nothing I ever wanted to witness. I also apologize if this is TMI, but I feel like I owe an explanation as to my absence. Enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 11
Ezio nodded across the road to his lover from his hiding spot in an alley. Leonardo grimaced and forcefully bumped into a guard, who turned and shoved the artist to the ground, spitting insults. The assassin threw a knife, deliberately missing, and openly fled down the middle of the street, causing panic. Patrols and civilians alike called out in terror at the presence of the white shadow. He dashed gracefully between groups of people, twirling and leaping out of the way. City guards and Templars abandoned their duties and joined the pursuit.
Leonardo stood and dusted himself off. The pair had been performing the same scheme for days in hopes that the commotion would make their mutual enemies forget about the defector. It appeared to be working. The engineer sighed and walked calmly down the cacouphanous street. He pushed open the door to his workshop about an hour later, having allowed the city time to calm, only to find a nasty surprise.
"Messer da Vinci, how nice it is to see you again. Mi dispiace that it had to be under such circumstances."
Margaret of York sat at the workbench, idly flipping through a stack of sketches, all of which depicting the artist's lover. Leo stood and stared blankly, unsure of what to do. If she were sitting there so comfortably then there was no doubt her hench men were also in the vicinity.
Sure enough, Lambert Simnel revealed himself by pushing closed the door he had been standing behind. Leo allowed himself a half-turn, so as not to put his back completely to the duchess or her favorite conspirator, and nodded.
"Salute, Lambert. How is Perkin?" The man lowered his gaze and snarled, but otherwise stayed silent. "Oh, yes, I recall now. He was hanged, was he not? That's right! He was caught in one of your Mistress's plots and put to death! They would have done the same to you two, but a connection couldn't proven."
Leonardo smirked as Lambert raised a fist in anger, only to be stopped by a white clad shadow. Ezio squeezed the man's fist and scowled. "I do not suggest bringing harm to my significant other. You see, I will be forced to take it personally and kill you and your family."
He released the larger man's limb and stepped up to his life mate and pressed their lips together in a brief kiss. The two Templar's choked back sounds of disgust at the sight of open homosexuality.
The duchess stood and scoffed, "enough of this-this display of sin! Lambert, we are here for a reason!" The mentioned man gathered his wits and drew a dagger, attacking Ezio with it. The assassin side stepped and brought Leo with him, keeping him as safe as possible.
The dance of thrust and dodge dragged on until Margaret finally got fed up with her lackey's lack of skill. Using the scuffle as a distraction, she lifted one of the many carving tools, a curved blade. She came up behind the defending pair, grabbed Leonardo's should and spun him around to face her, and drove the blade upward into his stomach.
The painter gasped and let out a wet, strangled whimper before falling into his love's arms. Margaret and Lambert curtly left the workshop, satisfied that they had completed the mission assigned to them.
Ezio called out his lover's name, shaking him and using everything within reach to cover the wound. Despite all of his best efforts, blood flowed freely and the older man became paler, his breathing slowed. The younger lifted the man into his arms and bolted into the street. He ran through crowds, causing a panic, but he didn't care. He had to find a doctor, FAST!
Ezio trudged aimlessly through the streets of Toscana, face blank, still covered in the blood of his life mate. He couldn't muster tears, sadness, not even anger. Movement in the shadows of the setting sun caught his eye. He stopped, leaving himself completely open to attack. Soldiers stepped out of alleys and doors from all around, weapons at the ready. They were all eager to finally take down the dreaded assassin.
The city guards closed in hungrily. Then, all at once, they fell. Ezio smirked up at the rooftops where his recruits stood with crossbows. Leonardo stepped out of the ranks and beamed at the younger man, hefting his own crossbow of a more intricate design over his shoulder appreciatively. The lovers stared at each other, the changed boundaries of their alliance was just too beneficial. With Leonardo's role as an able bodied killer revealed, they made an unstoppable team, especially when they were able to play off of worry for the other.
Once Ezio was sure that his mate would be fine, he very purposefully wandered the streets, seeming helpless so as to draw out his aggressive targets. With reports of the artist's death, the plan worked all too well and he was able to turn himself into bait to serve easy prey to his lover and his recruits.
AUTHOR NOTES
Okay, the chapter is up, I have no idea what to do for next chapter, so will someone PLEASE help me out? Just some ideas, plot devices, something? I have no idea what I can do, and if no one speaks up I will have to give this story a premature and abrupt ending that just leaves everything hanging out.