Naples' royal family was officially invited to Rome in late March, along with some of the other Italian ruling families, to take part in Cesare's triumph. After many discussions among them, both Lucrezia and Alfonso decided to honor the invitation. Surprisingly enough, it was Lucrezia who was decidedly against the visit – while Alfonso claimed that it was the reasonable thing to do to maintain friendly relations with the Papacy. There was also the matter of her two children – in regards to whom she wasn't entirely sure what to do. Alfonso, again, claimed, that they were safest in Rome out of all places. In the end, his opinion won again.
Cesare's triumph was as Lucrezia expected: imitating the ancient Roman triumphs, going as far as comparing Cesare with his namesake, Caesar, it was a magnificent celebration. At the end of it, the Pope officially invested Cesare as Gonfalonier – Captain General of the Church. The celebrations were not in any way hindered by the fact that in Milan a fight to the death was happening between the French armies and what was left of Ludovico Sforza's armies. Even more so, when ten days later news arrived of the French victory and of Ludovico's capture, Cesare and the Pope celebrated their ally's victory.
Lucrezia could not be happy for them. She may not have been entirely Italian in blood but she did not feel that allowing Italy to be conquered by the French was a very smart thing to do. She watched in disbelief as her father awarded 100 ducats to the messenger who brought the news.
Just like in their previous stay in Rome, Lucrezia and Alfonso were being constantly watched by Papal guards. The Pope insisted that it was for their safety and Cesare enforced that view, but Lucrezia could tell that they no longer trusted her. In a way she knew they were right – she had chosen to be a better wife than a daughter – but she also felt that it was a choice that was forced on her. She was convinced Alfonso would not have willingly created this conflict. More than anything, this convinced her that she had chosen right.
/
Cesare entered the dining room with a dark look on his face, pointed directly at Sancia. Lucrezia felt she was missing something and looked at Alfonso, trying to guess what was happening. His face, however, was wearing his usual casual smirky mask, although he did look slightly tense.
Sancia's look of defiance did not bode well.
"I hear our nice Burgundian squire won the duel today." She said with an arrogant tone. "Is that not great news, my dear husband?"
Gioffre just nodded, obviously not entirely comfortable with picking a side.
"In honor of his victory, I have decided that all my squires will wear the cross of St Andrew on their livery tomorrow." She grinned.
Cesare did not say anything – he just sat down and ate his meal. However, Lucrezia could tell that he was furious.
"What has just happened?" She asked Alfonso as soon as they reached their quarters.
Alfonso replied in a low tone of voice:
"A Burgundian squire challenged a French one to a duel this morning. Cesare offered him a great deal of money to give it up and he wouldn't. Now the Burgundian squire has won."
"Why is this such a big deal? Squires duel all the time."
"Cesare does not want to lose King Louis' good faith. A small duel such as this one has led to wars before. He had all the interest to avoid conflict."
"…then why is Sancia making such a big deal out of this? Shouldn't we save our energy for bigger battles? Must we poke and annoy now with such insignificant issues?"
"You may not be aware of this, my love, but your Father has just annulled my sister's marriage to the King of Hungary."
"Your sister…" she replied confused.
"My sister, Beatrice. She is much older than I and I do not even remember ever meeting her. She was the wife of King Matthias and then the wife of his successor, King Ladislaus. They had no offspring and the king has requested an annulment seven years ago, based on the fact that he appears to have been betrothed to someone else before marrying her. There has been an entire commission investigating this issue for the last seven years. Your father has granted the annulment. Yesterday."
Alfonso sat on the bed.
"Also for the last few days, your father has slowly been confiscating the assets of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza."
"What does this mean, Alfonso?"
He sighed.
"It means your father has made his choice, my love, and it wasn't us."
For the first time in her life, Lucrezia felt like fainting.
"You must be wrong! He would never openly go against me and my husband!" She fell on her knees before him.
He slowly took her face between his hands. The look in his eyes was sad, a sadness that she had never seen in him. He looked almost defeated.
"He will never go against you, Lucrezia. You and your son are safe. But Milan has fallen and your father and brother are going to assist the king of France march for Naples."
"But by doing so, he is going against me and my son. Naples is Rodrigo's inheritance! If the king of France conquers Naples…"
"By the time our son is old enough to be aware of these things and to be able to fight for his rights, the situation may be entirely different. It could also be that your father will keep our son as a guarantee of King Louis' good behavior. The way things are changing, you never know…"
"Let us run back to Naples. The King of Aragon's armies and your armies, all combined together, will defeat the French and whoever else is coming with them. Let us fight!"
He threw her a tired look and then laid himself on the bed.
"We will start preparing to leave back to Naples." He whispered. But his whisper was nothing like the strong, obnoxious bullying he was known for. Lucrezia fell next to him, horrified.
She could not sleep all night. She sat and watched his troubled sleep instead.
/
The Pope did not react favorably to his daughter and son-in-law announcing their intention to leave back to Naples.
"I apologize, Holy Father" Alfonso said with as much calm as possible. "I am sure you understand that my kingdom needs me just as much as Rome needs you."
"You have people to handle your business. People you maintain constant contact with. We only have a few months in a year to spend with our daughter."
"The last time he left without me, all Italy was in talk of us. And you were correct in assuming that that did not make for a good reputation for me. You understand that I must follow my husband where he goes. And his duty calls that he returns to his Kingdom." Lucrezia added.
The Pope rose from the table in a sudden, annoyed move.
"Your arguments will not deter me from wanting to spend more time in your company, Lucrezia. I am a sixty-nine year old man and no-one expects me to live much longer. Forgive me for wanting to spend as much time as possible with the children I have left!"
A dark silence ensued at the table, in remembrance of Juan. Lucrezia's eyes shone with tears but she would not give in:
"Father, we have decided. We will start preparations and will leave in two weeks' time."
At the end of April, as Lucrezia and Alfonso were preparing to say their goodbyes, waiting for the Pope to give them one final blessing, when Gioffre came in a hurry:
"Lucrezia, father is ill."
Lucrezia threw a look at Alfonso.
"Well, we cannot go now" he shrugged.
/
It took almost a full month for the Pope to recover, a month in which the whole of Rome was filled with rumors of his death. Cesare's usually dark posture, darkened even more.
"Lucrezia, have you considered what will happen in the event of our father's demise?" he asked her in one of the few moments they had alone together.
"I prefer not to think of such things."
"But, Lucrezia, what he said a few weeks ago is correct. He is sixty-nine years old. Few people live to this age, let alone much longer than that. Provided he survives this illness, there will be another one after it. And another. What shall become of us then?"
"You are the Duke of Romagna and of Valentinois, Cesare. I am the Queen of Naples. Gioffre is prince of Squillace. I would say we are in a position to be hopeful of our future."
"But are you sure that these titles will be maintained once our father dies?"
"Whyever should they not?"
"Lucrezia, we are the children of the Pope of Rome, which is what has made us valuable. But this has made us valuable while the Pope of Rome is alive, to threaten with excommunications and such. As soon as the Pope is another, we are no longer children of the Pope of Rome. Our armies may choose to no longer follow us when the next Pope threatens with another excommunication. Our spouses may choose to discard us…"
She finally understood what he was getting at.
"Cesare, I do not know your wife and what feelings lay between the two of you. However, since she is expected to deliver your child any day now, I am sure she would not want to make her own child a bastard. As for my husband, I am sure he would never discard me."
He threw her a pointed look:
"Your husband is the King of Naples. As soon as you are no longer the Pope's daughter, you are nothing but the illegitimate daughter of a priest. Living in Rome, you have seen how marriages are made and unmade. Are you entirely sure he will not discard you in favor of a considerably more advantageous and permanent alliance?"
"My marriage to my husband is based on more than just an advantageous alliance."
"Why? Because he whispers sweet nothings and words of love in private?"
Lucrezia faltered only for a second. Alfonso had never been the type to whisper sweet nothings and words of love. Yet he had his own way of showing his true feelings and she was much surer of them this way, than if he had.
"Lucrezia, listen to the words of reason. All kings have mistresses to love and wives to sign alliances with. This is how marriage works in the world of royalty. Depending on who the next Pope is, you may either be unimportant, or even a defiance against the Papacy, if one like Cardinal Della Rovere is elected. Neither one of those positions will help Naples, which is already in a very fragile position."
"I do not know where you wish to go with this, but I refuse to listen…" She started to leave when Cesare grabbed her arm.
"You know perfectly well where I am going with this, Lucrezia. We are your family. The Borgias are your family. We are the only ones who will stand by you when you are no longer the Pope's daughter."
"My husband will stand by me, Cesare. Mark my words. He will stand by me."
She forced her arm out of his grasp and ran.
/
When the Pope recovered from his illness, Lucrezia and Alfonso once again made preparations to leave.
With only a few days left before going back to Naples, however, Lucrezia received Sancia's distressed visit:
"Lucrezia! Come quickly! Alfonso…"
Her breath stopped.
"He was attacked."