Alfonso was lying unconscious, on his back, in his bed. He looked exactly like he was sleeping, except for the blood flowing freely on his chest. A doctor looked like he was doing his best to stop it right next to him.
"What has happened?" Lucrezia whispered to Sancia.
She felt eerie, sitting still in a room full of frantic people – the servants and the doctor kept moving around Alfonso at a desperate speed. Alfonso himself was lying still, unaware of the fuss.
"I do not know. His guards brought him. I ran to you first."
"Bring the captain of the guard."
"Lucrezia…"
"I need to know what happened" she whispered. Sancia just nodded and left.
The doctor was doing a pretty good job of bandaging Alfonso's wound.
"Will he be alright, doctor?" she asked, trying to desperately to fight the threatening tears.
"He lost a lot of blood. But it looks like nothing vital has been hit. It will be a long and difficult recovery, but a recovery nevertheless."
"What will he need?"
"Someone changing his bandages at least once a day. Plenty of water. At first he may be too weak to eat something too heavy, so you may want to feed him soup and maybe some vegetables. Just make sure they are properly cleaned up – any infection could harm him a lot. When he is able to stay awake for longer periods of time, you can start feeding him meat, so that he gains his strength. In about a month, he should be fine."
"Can he travel?"
The doctor had just finished the bandage and stopped to look at her.
"I would not advise it, your majesty. At least not until he is capable of walking without assistance."
Lucrezia nodded. It seemed all roads led to Rome and staying there.
/
The captain of the guard seemed reluctant to speak at first. Lucrezia felt the need to reassure him:
"I recognize you. You came with us from Naples. I believe you are loyal to Alfonso and did your best to protect him. You will not be punished."
"I do not fear punishment, milady. I have done my duty the best way I could and I am sure any enquiry will show that."
"I need to know what happened."
"A few men attacked us on the steps of St Peter's Cathedral."
"Were they wearing a uniform? Was anyone commanding them?"
"There was no leader that I could distinguish. Their clothes did not wear any mark that could help us identify who they were working for."
"Is there any possibility that this was a robbery?"
"There was never any mention of money. The King was wearing a rather expensive golden chain. They did not even attempt aiming for it."
"Did they say anything?"
"No. They attacked us from behind, which is why we were unable to defend the King properly. Two of my men are dead."
"Do you have any suspicions whatsoever?"
There was a long pause before the captain's reply.
"I do not, milady. I am sorry."
"There will be an official enquiry. Please try to remember anything you can by then. The culprits must be caught and punished."
The captain nodded before leaving.
/
Lucrezia burst into her father's rooms. She was not surprised to find Cesare there.
"Is there truly no security in Rome?!"
"My darling daughter…"
"Don't interrupt me father, I am angry!" She shouted. "Alfonso was not attacked in a dark corner at midnight! He was attacked in broad daylight on the steps of St Peter's! I understand that being a Pope requires focusing on the soul, but Rome is your city and the people in it are your responsibility! Is this what is happening to your city?"
The Pope seemed troubled. Cesare reacted instead:
"I will order an enquiry. I will also tighten the security."
"Please do that, brother. Now, if you don't mind, I have a husband to take care of."
/
The next week passed in a blur. Alfonso was oscillating in and out of consciousness. When he was unconscious he was stubbornly silent. A few times he also refused to eat, to the point where Lucrezia needed to force-feed him. She was always careful that only she and Sancia touched any food he received and had to go to great lengths to check everything.
His attitude was strangely new and it gave her an unpleasant sensation. She was used to him being obnoxious, bullying, loud and strong. Even in their intimacy, when he toned down, he was still someone she felt as very strong and confident. It felt like all was gone and was replaced by an uncomfortable apathy.
She knew that an enquiry had been made and no-one had found out anything. She also knew that Cesare had issued a law that any arms were forbidden in the Roman city center.
/
Cesare was visiting them every day and seemed rather dismayed at Lucrezia and Sancia's determination to control everything that was happening in their quarters. After two weeks, Alfonso had reached the point where he was eating meat. And on Cesare's visit, he decided to return to his usual spoilt self:
"Ah, brother! You have come to visit me, I see! One can always see who their true friends and family are when they are in distress."
"I am glad to see you are doing better, brother." Cesare replied, a little dismayed at Alfonso's sudden talkative mood, contrasting with his usual stubborn silence.
"You know what they say. Only the good die young." Alfonso smiled wickedly.
His tone and sudden look startled Lucrezia for a second. She remembered, long before meeting him, about Juan recounting her about the room filled with stuffed corpses in the Neapolitan castle. Recounting his meeting with Alfonso, Juan had mentioned how he seemed almost giddy and looked like a child who had stolen a candy without anyone knowing when taking him to that room.
He probably looked like he does right now, she couldn't help thinking.
She was not sure what it meant, but she was happy that he was at least showing a progress.
/
That night Cesare visited again. Alfonso, playing a game of cards with Lucrezia, Sancia and Gioffre, seemed completely unsurprised.
"Why, brother, twice in a day. I did not expect such dedication, even from someone as close to me as you." He grinned.
Cesare seemed to not be in the mood for jokes.
"My guard was attacked today. Witnesses say it was done by your guard."
Alfonso raised his eyebrows before playing a card.
"How fast witnesses were found in this case. Pray tell, any progress in finding out who attempted to murder me?"
Cesare frowned. There was a long pregnant pause in the conversation.
"Listen, brother." The Borgia finally decided to speak. "I will only say this once. I was not behind the attack."
Alfonso raised his head and stared Cesare in the face. Cesare also added in a dark tone:
"Had I been, you would not be here now."
He then proceeded to leave the room. Lucrezia stood up:
"Alfonso! What have you done?"
Alfonso's stare, for long fixed on the door Cesare had closed behind him, gave her a blank look.
"Darling wife, it is your turn to play."
"I'd say" she said and proceeded to leave the room. She ran as fast as she could, catching up with her brother:
"Cesare! Cesare!" He stopped in his tracks and turned towards her.
"The witnesses must be wrong. It was not Alfonso's guard that attacked your men!"
"How would you know?"
"I was here with Alfonso all the time. There was no time to plan such a thing without me knowing of it! Even assuming that they did anything, they did it without his knowledge or approval."
Cesare seemed to take this in but did not reply.
"Cesare, swear to me… swear to me it wasn't you!" she almost begged.
He stared at her for another long moment:
"Lucrezia I did not wound your husband… but if I had, it would have been no more than he deserved."
/
Later on when she thought about it she realized she had known it was coming long before it actually did. The signs were there and she had read them and she had known them. And yet when it did happen, it shook her just as hard as though it was completely unpredictable.
She knew it when she saw Micheletto enter Alfonso's room. She and Micheletto had not had much contact but she knew exactly what his role was in Cesare's household and when it was that he showed up. The armed people behind him were there just to make sure that no-one was going to stop him. She and Sancia protested, but she had known that it was all for nothing. She had known when she had looked at Alfonso and seen him unsurprised and calmly waiting for the end. The scream that she was about to produce died in her throat while he just nodded at Micheletto.
They didn't even have time to say good bye, other than a long look.
She didn't know if the fact that the soldiers were ordered to take her away were an act of mercy or a cruel way to dispose of some last few seconds in the presence of her husband.
She had known it was happening, while it was happening. She knew what she was going to find when she went back in there after Micheletto and his men left. And yet the sight of his dead body was just as painful as if she didn't know.