Claudia tried not to think about how cold the winds felt against her fevered skin as she rowed across the river.
She hated him and she kept telling herself that over and over again. The rage she felt when she thought of Cesare helped her row faster and reach the secret entrance he had shown her. The gondola bobbed and floated towards the lower staircase where she saw the two guards waiting. Her eyes travelled upwards and she wished she knew where the other guards were positioned so that she could plan her uncle's escape.
"Cesare is waiting for you." One of the guards said impatiently when she still hadn't gotten out of the boat.
Claudia scowled at him and then stepped onto the docks, wondering if she should tie her boat when she saw two gondolas hidden near bushes right at the edge of the docks. She shrugged and then walked past the two guards.
"Stronzi." She muttered to them as she entered.
Cesare was waiting for her near the cells as she came in and she looked away when he smiled at her. He was standing with his hands folded behind him and in the low light of the torches; he looked the epitome of royalty. His dark hair shone like silk and his clothes appeared to be new or freshly washed as the Borgia red colors stood out in the otherwise dreary room.
Claudia was suddenly conscious of her disheveled appearance and the mud smears on her blue faded robes. Nevertheless, she reminded herself that she was an Assassin and an Auditore and no Borgia was going to feel her inferior.
She walked with her head held high and looked straight into Cesare's dark brooding eyes.
"You beckoned?" She asked tauntingly.
Cesare nodded towards her uncle. "Your uncle refuses to eat."
Claudia turned to her uncle who was sitting near the bars. He had wrapped himself in a thick blanket that looked too large on his frail frame. She had hoped her uncle would be recovering quickly enough to get out of here, but it seemed that in his present condition, he would be easily overpowered.
She knelt before her uncle and put her hand through the bars to take his hand. "Why aren't you eating?" she asked softly.
"I refuse to eat that filthy Borgia food!" Uncle Mario said passionately.
Claudia pushed back a bit of his blanket to see a large bandage on his shoulder that had some spots of blood on it. This was where Cesare had shot him and made her and everyone believe that he has shot Mario Auditore fatally.
"Have you not shown him to a doctor?" Claudia asked, turning to glare at Cesare.
"Your uncle is receiving the best of treatments and the most exquisite and delicious food." Cesare replied. "One of the perks of being married to me, you know, ever since you reminded me that he is my uncle too now."
Claudia turned away from him and wished he wouldn't constantly remind her of their marriage.
"I will rip your head off." Her uncle said, venomously and grabbed the bars tight. "You will pay for hurting my niece!"
"I haven't hurt her." Cesare said dryly. "Tell him Claudia."
Claudia reached into her pockets and removed three vials of medicine. As discreetly as she could, she passed them on to her uncle who took them and immediately put them in his pocket.
"You should eat." Claudia told him. "You have to get stronger." Then she moved closer to whisper. "I'll tell you when you should make your move."
She felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped. Cesare caught her arm before she fell sideways and then helped her stand. Claudia looked at him and wondered how much he had heard as he started pulling her away.
"It's time we leave." He said.
"I want to stay with my uncle." She said, suddenly nervous. Did Cesare plan to consummate the marriage tonight? Given her present state of health, she wouldn't be able to put much of a fight.
"You don't want your uncle to catch your fever, now do you?" Cesare said.
Claudia blinked at him. "What?"
Cesare clasped one hand over hers and his other hand brushed lightly against her cheek. "Hmmm, your fever still hasn't come down."
"How did you…?" Claudia started to ask and then realized she knew the answer. It must have shown on her pale face that she wasn't well.
"My spies told me." Cesare said, his answer startling her.
"You're keeping an eye on me?" Claudia asked, suddenly feeling dizzy.
"Of course." Cesare said. "As I told you- if you don't comply with my wishes I will have your uncle killed. I've made the same threat to your uncle. If he tries to escape my spy is ordered to kill you."
Claudia stared at him incredulously. The menacing look he gave her, frightened her to the very core and she cursed herself once again for the night she had gone after him. If only she had let him walk away instead.
Cesare seemed pleased with her reaction and used it to drag her away easily up the stairs and into his room. When the bookcase slid back into place, he let her go.
"Who is…?"
"My spy?" Cesare looked at her as if she were joking. "I wouldn't tell you, inamorato." He moved around his desk and then walked to the center of the room where a small round table was placed. "All I can say is that he is very close to you."
"Close to me?" Claudia asked.
Cesare lit the candles on the table and then snapped his fingers. Two servants, who were standing on the other side of the room, came rushing forward and started to set the table. Then they left the room for a brief moment after which they arrived with trays of food.
Claudia looked at them and then at the small table. When the servants had served the food, Cesare ordered them away and took her hand.
"Let us eat." He said and made her sit.
"I'm not hungry." She said, feeling light-headed. There was just too much to process. Her uncle was still not well enough, Cesare had just threatened to kill her if her uncle had escaped, there was a spy amongst the assassins and now of all the things, Cesare expected to have dinner with her?
Claudia was sure she was dreaming when Cesare looked at her kindly.
"You look terrible." He said.
"Grazie." Claudia said sharply and put a hand on her forehead. She imagined her fever must have spiked rowing in the cold night air, but she wouldn't allow herself to appear weak in front of Cesare Borgia.
He pushed a glass of water towards her, but Claudia didn't take it.
Cesare sighed, picked up the glass and sipped from it. Then he put it down near her. "There, it is not poisoned. Are you Auditore all the same?"
"Like I said before, Cesare, I am not hungry." She replied.
"My spy tells me you didn't have your dinner." Cesare said. "It won't do you well to starve yourself."
Claudia stared at him, the word 'spy' increasing her curiosity. Who could it be? As always, she had been surrounded by recruits and mentors all day. And then in the evening her brother had come to her. All those people in the Hideout were her friends and family, how could one of them be betraying her?
Cesare sighed again when she didn't pick up her spoon. The soup in front of her smelled delicious, but her stomach was clenching and she was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she might vomit.
Cesare picked up a spoon and drank a bit from her bowl. "See, your soup is not poisoned either."
Claudia picked up her spoon but made no move to drink her soup.
"I can understand you aren't feeling well Claudia." He said. "I assume it has something to do with all the stress you have been lately. So let me make things easier for you."
Claudia looked up at him. "What do you mean?"
"You must be stressed about when I would call you to meet me." Cesare said. "So how about you come see me every night. That way you won't have to be tensed about when my letters would arrive."
"Every night?" Claudia raised an eyebrow. "I can barely stand to see you for a minute!"
"We are married now, Claudia. You must perform your wifely duties and one of them is to obey your husband's wishes." Cesare smirked at her and then took a large bite of the meat on his plate.
Claudia considered taking out her dagger and using it on Cesare, but his threats to hurt her uncle, loomed over her head. How she hated him!
"And how else am I supposed to please my husband?" Claudia asked sarcastically. She picked up the spoon and drank a bit of the soup. The warm aromatic liquid seeped down her throat, warming her chest before settling down into her stomach. She had to admit that she did feel a little better after eating.
"Well you are sick and I don't intend to bed you tonight." Cesare said, wrinkling his nose.
Claudia felt a burst of anger and drank another spoonful of soup. "How horrible for you." She said, refraining from throwing the bowl of soup on his head. Then she thought of another idea to aggravate him. "I am sure you could find a replacement in the time being. Perhaps a whore or maybe even your own sister."
Cesare paused suddenly and gave her a murderous look. Suddenly Claudia wished she hadn't dragged his sister into her fight. They were all alone in the room and he was still stronger than her. There was a bread knife close to him that wasn't very sharp but if he intended to use it….
She instinctively reached for her dagger and then gasped when she didn't find it. Had she forgotten it in her room? How could she be so careless?
Cesare reached into his own pockets and slammed down a dagger before her. Claudia gasped when she saw it was hers. She made to reach for it, but he picked it again.
"I learned a few tricks myself." He said, his tone sharp.
Claudia sat back in her chair and glared at him as Cesare ran a finger down the blade.
"Not very sharp." He remarked and then looked at her. "But you sure are."
Claudia decided not to reply and kept glaring at him, challenging him to try and hurt her. She may not have her weapons, but she would fight him nonetheless. Until her last breath, she would fight him.
Cesare put the blade down again and pushed it towards her. "I guess I should tell you about Lucrezia." He said.
"I don't care." Claudia said, staring at her dagger but not picking it up, just in case he was tricking her.
"A few months ago, my friends and I drank a little too much." Cesare said. "I was too inebriated when I came home and happened to enter my sister's room by mistake." He shook his head regretfully. " In my drunken state, I mistook her for one of my regular whores. I grabbed her by the waist when she yelled. I realized who she was and backed away. The next day I apologized profusely to my sister, but she was so terrified of me, that she wouldn't come near me."
Claudia played with the tassels on the tablecloth and avoided looking at him. Her anger for him was being replaced by pity and she hated feeling anything but hatred for him.
"By then the news had spread to the servants and the maids passed on a rumor that I had done much more." Cesare continued. "Lucrezia was too frightened to come near me and I knew that I had forever ruined my relationship with her."
"Does your father know?" She asked.
She saw Cesare's jaw harden. "You should finish your dinner."
Claudia pushed the bowl away defiantly and crossed her arms. "As I have told you before, I am not hungry."
Cesare started to argue when they heard a noise outside. He turned in his chair and then got up. Claudia leaned forward and heard a woman sobbing.
Before she could ask him who it could be, Cesare was pulling her up and taking her to the bookcase. He pulled on the switch and led her outside. "You should go now and get some rest."
Claudia narrowed her eyes. "What..? Who…?"
The bookcase slid into place and she found herself staring at an empty wall. From the other side, she could hear Cesare opening the door.
"Lucrezia? What is wrong? Why are you crying?" She heard him say.
"Leave me alone!" she heard a woman's voice. "Stay the hell away from me!"
"Lucrezia if you would just…" She could sense the desperation in Cesare's voice and for the second time, Claudia found herself feeling sympathy for Cesare. When he had first told her the story, she had thought that he may be lying to her once again, but hearing his interaction with his sister, she wondered if the story had been true.
"Get the hell away from me!" She heard Lucrezia sob.
Minutes later, she heard the door close and then suddenly a loud thumping sound. Claudia gasped and almost fell off the stairs. She clutched her forehead as her dizziness returned. She wanted him to open the door and let her see if he was telling the truth.
She wanted him to lie to her and show her how wrong she was in loving him. Claudia felt her heart beat faster. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead and she clutched the walls for support. Before her eyes she started to see dark clouds, but also memories of the time Cesare had been kind to her.
He had shown her some of that kindness again tonight and she had seriously begun to consider that Cesare may have just been misunderstood. He could have hurt her anytime he wanted, yet he hadn't.
Did that mean that he may not be such a terrible person after all?
Claudia climbed down a stair, lost in her thoughts. No, she was wrong. Cesare was anything but kind and undeserving of sympathy. Her fever was making her delirious which was why she was imagining the flash of kindness in Cesare's eyes.
Her dizziness returned in full force and before she could catch her balance, she found herself crumbling down and falling down the stairs. Pain erupted in her limbs, but before she could react to her injuries, the darkness enveloped her and threw her into nothingness.
