Claudia turned away, before she drew more attention to herself. A woman beside her had looked on at her with concern and was nudging her husband to look at her.

She got up quickly and headed towards the exit. She couldn't stand to be here anymore.

"Claudia! Hey!" she heard Duccio call, but ignored his cries. She had to get away from here, before she broke down completely.

The wind was getting colder and she caught her breath when it brushed against her. She started to run then. She didn't know why, but she just had to.

The heaviness in her heart had begun a dull ache in her chest and proceeded down to her stomach. She stopped near the canals where the gondolas were docked and bent over. Her breath heaved and her stomach churned, but as she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, there were no contents in her stomach to hurl.

"Signorina, are you feeling okay?" a guard asked.

Claudia clutched at her stomach as her mind was suddenly alerted to the fact that if she didn't get away from the guard soon, he would ask her questions which she wouldn't be able to answer.

"I am…just tired and resting." She lied. She kept her head bent when she realized that she had dropped her mask when she had been running.

"Why don't I walk you home?" The guard's tone was a bit of slur. When he stepped closer, she could smell wine.

Claudia got up quickly. "My husband is waiting for me." She started to walk quickly then, realizing that she did want to vomit now. She couldn't breathe and her hands were numb.

She walked on the docks as it curled around the buildings and then stopped. There was no one here. No guards nearby or following her, no people on the gondolas and definitely no people from her past popping up to torment her with memories she wanted to forget.

She took a few breaths to calm herself down and then burst out crying. She fell on the dock and cried until her heart stopped aching from the heaviness.

It wasn't fair! This wasn't what was supposed to happen. They were all supposed to live normal lives in Firenze. Her Father was supposed to be a successful banker, Federico was supposed to join the business, Ezio was supposed to marry Cristina, Petruccio was supposed to get healthier and she was supposed to get married to Duccio.

But everything was ruined. Her Father was an Assassin and he died for it, Federico never got a chance to fall in love or take over the business, Petruccio died because he never got healthier, she never got married and Ezio…

Claudia wanted to scream then. Ezio was fortunate never to have married Cristina. How could she do this?

In Firenze, she had always believed that Ezio loved Cristina as much as she loved him. They were soul mates and she fit so perfectly into their family. Everyone loved her and they were almost about to be married which was why she had thought of Cristina more as a sister-in-law than her neighbor.

She had always thought of Cristina as someone who was loyal, but tonight, the last good memory she had of her life in Firenze was shattered. Cristina knew that Ezio hated Vieri, so how could she, of all the people, marry him?

In her mind she continued to see Vieri talking boisterously and then all of a sudden, Cristina walked in and he had watched her lovingly. He had then snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

And what was Cristina doing? Her mind continued to taunt her until she recalled the way Cristina had smiled at her husband and then let Vieri peck her on the cheek.

The tears rolled down freely now and she tried hard to clamp down on the scream she wanted to utter. There was no one around her. The Carnivale was long over and the people had gone back to their homes to sleep. But tonight, she wouldn't sleep. She was cursed to never be able to close her eyes without seeing the people from her past betraying her.

She pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them, gazing at the gentle waves before her. There was a numbness spreading inside her and she was finally glad that she had stopped crying.

She must have sat there for hours, because when she next gazed up the sky, it was turning into fiery gold hue. She blinked, feeling the dampness of her own lashes on her upper cheek. Above her, she could hear a woman waking up her children for breakfast and Claudia suddenly realized that her Mother must be worried about her.

She intended to get up then, but found no energy to do so. Just a few more minutes, she promised herself. For a little more time, she would allow herself to wallow in her sorrows before putting up a façade for her Mother.

"Claudia?"

She straightened her legs and turned to see Machiavelli coming towards her. His stride was fast and his face was contorted in annoyance. His eyes were dark with ire and his mouth pressed, as if he was trying futilely to control his temper.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a raspy voice. Her throat had gone dry and felt itchy after staying in the cold for so long.

"What do you think? Looking for you!" Machiavelli stopped by her and held out his hand.

Claudia looked at it and couldn't bring herself to let him help her get up. She didn't want to yet. It felt nice to be here where no one was, except for a small house above her where the Mother was still trying to awake her children. No one was bothering her here and no one was asking for second chances that she was unbelievably actually considering giving.

"Are you crying?" His voice did soften then.

Claudia looked down at the gentle ripples on the water surface. She didn't want to talk- not to him and not to anyone else.

"Are you hurt? Did anyone hurt you?" He seemed alarmed and Claudia decided that she would have to talk to him.

"No one did anything." Her voice sounded numb to her ears. Except break my heart.

"Why are you here?"

"Why are you here? Weren't you travelling to Firenze?"

Machiavelli heaved a sigh and then lowered himself on the dock beside her. "I should have known better than to make travel plans during Carnivale. There were barely any carriages exiting Venezia. My plans have been postponed, I'm afraid."

"That is unfortunate." She replied, watching the sun rise up to illuminate the sky.

"Are you going to tell me why you're hiding out here and looking as if you've been crying?" Machiavelli asked. "You had us all worried. The thieves have been on the lookout for you for hours now."

Claudia leaned her head back on the wall, still not wanting to look at him for fear that he may read her mind. She had talked to him on previous occasions and she did trust him to keep her secrets and even help her, but this was something that was completely breaking her.

The memory flashed before her again, followed by a malicious thought that it was better that Ezio had died before he knew betrayal. If he had married Cristina and later found out that she was only using him, he would have been devastated.

"No." she replied simply. "I do not care to talk about it."

"I can help you."

She smiled and felt her tears pricking her eyes. She blinked them back furiously. "I know, but I would sincerely never want to even think about it much less talk about it."

"Bene. And you are sure no one hurt you?"

"Not physically."

"If you are fine, then we could go back and I could train you some more."

Claudia took a deep breath, taking in the sweet fragrance of flowers and the wood beneath her. "In a little while."