Long weekend, yay! Happy Melbourne Cup Day to all!
I returned to the place I was sitting beforehand, and waited expectantly, because Dante would rock up. I knew it. And the problem was, I had to act like I was interested. Euck.
I sat there, awkwardly trying to not look like I was interested at all with the world, looking down at my skirt, when a sudden wave of nausea rolled over me. For barely a second, my vision clouded in streaks of blue and red, and I squeezed my eyes shut, ridding my head of it. My eyes refocused on a pair of feet. This pair of feet, connected to one of the many people I was completely disinterested in seeing at this time. He didn't even bother with a "how are you?". Asshole.
"What did he say to you?"
"That's none of your business." I snapped.
"I feel that it is, considering—"
"Considering what?" I asked, incredulous. Maybe he'd have a good reason... or maybe he was just being pathetic; I had no way of knowing yet, really.
But then he froze. For a moment, I froze with him, because I knew exactly what this meant, but he simply bowed to me and said "Good day, signora." and walked off, leaving me completely confused. I had a strong frown on my face when Dante found me, and immediately I found composure.
"Was that man bothering you, Signorina?"
"No, no, it's perfectly fine. He just seemed to have lost his way and required directions." I replied, a slight smile on my face. Maybe it would be nice if I just let go of Ezio for tonight, and accepted that a relatively powerful man took an interest in me. Sure, it was completely superficial, but that was enough for me. If I never participated in Assassin activity again, he'd never have to know that I was really his enemy. There was still a risk but... one night couldn't hurt.
"It isn't important." I pushed, encouraging him to get on with it.
"In that case, Cristina, may I have the honour of you at my side for this evening?" And I had no hopes of refusing. His stare froze me, and I was afraid to do anything but comply.
"Of course you may." I smiled at him, and he took my hand, linking our arms. We departed the party for a richer part of town; you could tell because as we went, the dresses became increasingly more elaborate. I started to become self-conscious, because my dress was fairly simple. I didn't want to wear the same dress in front of the same people two nights consecutively, so I hadn't worn the one that I'd brought in secret. I was saving it for tomorrow.
Something blue flashed again, just for a second, but Dante didn't notice my reaction. As it turns out, we met up with company, including the man in the red hood. He didn't seem to recognise me, and when his face finally fell in the light of a nearby lamp, my stomach sort of rolled in on itself. It wasn't him. It wasn't the Spaniard, it wasn't my torturer. I thanked whoever the hell was listening up there, and for the first time that night, I smiled. For real. We continued happily along, until Dante decided to check if he still had the mask, and as it turned out, he didn't.
"Cursed Assassin!" he yelled, but of course, I had to play dumb.
"What has happened, signore? Might I be of assistance somehow?" I asked, clutching onto his arm.
"Nothing at all, bella. A thief has managed to take some of my coin, is all." I put my hand over my mouth like I was shocked.
"Will we still be able to continue to the party?" I think I did the right thing. He didn't exactly answer my question, but ensured me we'd meet at the party later.
"You." He chose a random guard standing around. "Please escort these fine women to the festivities. Let them in on the authority of Marco Barbarigo." And I was left with two women, both dressed in extremely rich clothing, and about as much intelligence as I had elegance. I groaned internally, and the guard plodded along happily with the three of us trailing behind him. He looked quite pleased with himself, as if it wasn't obvious.
And then we arrived. We stood for a few moments outside the place, aware that the only way to get in or out involved a guard. And they seemed particularly tense. We were granted entry, and the ring leader scrutinized each one of us as we passed in between them, and through the door. At first, I was hit by a wall of shock, and my vision blurred in fits of red. I chose to take the closest seat, and sat there for a moment, afraid to move but for the fear of falling.
It passed, and by the time I looked up, I granted myself the chance to look around, and fully take in my surrounds. It was incredible.
Like on the streets, there were lines of lanterns ridding the sky of its darkness. Huge, colourful, expensive decorations covered walls, plants. It took me a moment to realize that instead of a table of decorations, there was food. Goblets of wine were being passed around by the tray load. I gathered the strength to move from the seat, and advanced further into the place, wondering where to begin. The food table seemed inviting enough. And of course, someone had the thought to speak to me.
Immediately, the man took notice of my accent, and asked where I can from. I lied.
I had to make up a whole story for myself. Farm girl in England, moved to France at a young age to live with family I've never met. Middle-class family, stretched out all over Europe. Educated, looking to marry. Staying with friend of the family. Probably really cliché of me, but here, it wasn't a cliché. Yet.
"Ah yes, I have a brother who would be most pleased to meet your acquaintance. If you'll excuse me signora." I curtsied and he bowed, and I was left alone. Oh god. But there was already the one guy who wanted me as his play thing. I decided to head to the nearest group of people and engage in conversation, in the hopes that I wouldn't be found by my newest… acquaintance, and his brother. The only way I could really explain how it made me feel to know that almost every male I met wanted to wed me off as a housewife, was always someone relative to being a toy. It felt wrong in every sense to me, this idea of control. It gave me a leash, where I needed an open field. I shivered.
Ezio stuck out like a sore thumb. At first I looked at him, and I didn't realize it was him. He didn't do the ninja fade-into-the-background kind of thing, he was well visible. It was just he way he acted, and the way he stood. The guards were shallow as anything, so they weren't looking for faces, they were looking for someone making a break for it. He slinked from group to group, following in the wake of waiting staff, and wanderers. He caught my eye, and I scrutinized him for a minute, just because at the moment I had a genuine chance.
He approached the circle, and the two men closest to him gave him funny looks out of the corner of their eyes, but said nothing. He had the long robes on his back, so no guard decided to pull him up on his front. There were probably twenty guards looking at him right now, and thinking nothing of it. They're looking for someone, but they haven't any idea what he looks like. I smiled.
He quirked an eyebrow at me, and I went to respond with the same, however I got tapped lightly on the shoulder, and turned to look at the man, who'd now found his brother. I got the impression that Ezio chose to move on, and relaxed a bit in the knowledge I had slightly less chance of being compromised as he got further away from me. So both of the men in front of me had masks on, but the brother was the larger of the two, with broad shoulders and lovely eyes. The mutual acquaintance introduced us, and we spoke lightly for but a few moments, until I caught Dante's eye.
So he was here.
He began to stride his way over, and I hurriedly excused myself from the conversation, wanted to meet him half-way.
"Why haven't you joined in the festivities, Dante? Haven't you another mask to wear?"
"I'm afraid it is not that simple, signora." He said, refusing to tell me more. I pushed for it.
"But why? It was probably stolen by a poor man who wanted to be fed tonight."
"Do you see any poor men here?" he asked me in a hushed voice, gesturing to the crowd. I looked around for a moment, and picked out Ezio like a rock in a haystack. Fortunately for him, Dante didn't know where to look, or what to look for. The two brothers were trying to be inconspicuous as they glanced over in our general direction.
"No, I don't. Maybe he has not arrived?" He pulled me away from the majority of people by the shoulder, and left his hand there, uncomfortably enough for me.
"There is someone already here. He is very dangerous, and the men at the doors tell me that there have been 50 golden masks go through the doors tonight. So he is here, and he is up to something." He told me, almost whispers. My eyes widened at the appropriate parts, and I feined shock.
"Is he… the man they talk about? The heralds. They say he's completely evil." My voice slowly raised in pitch, and for a moment it was very close to genuine. Dante sought to calm me.
"Hush, signorina, it will be fine. There are less than a hundred people here tonight, and after Marco has spoken his piece, I will escort you to your home. I would hate for you to see anything… unpleasant." There was a really tiny part of me that just wanted to slap the guy.
"Maybe I should leave early. Perhaps I could meet you again tomorrow." I tried to save myself from staying much longer, but just then, none other than Marco Barbarigo stepped out of the boat at the edge of the party. We both halted the conversation and turned toward him, and a saw a group of prostitutes—probably better to call them courtesans though—advance toward the boat. Marco's speech took a matter of three minutes, and when he'd finish, the fireworks went off. They were as spectacular as they were in my time. Probably even moreso. But that's not what people were screaming about.
Marco was dead. The guards found Ezio immediately, but he jumped into the canal and started swimming. More than twenty guards stood awkwardly at the edge of the land, wondering whether they should go after him. One guy even fell in, and I had to stop myself from laughing.
"Get out of here, signorina. Stay at home tomorrow night, and stay safe." He said, at first kissing my hand, but then he pushed me toward the exit. "Go!" he yelled, marching off to find his master. I turned, and bunching up my skirts in my hands, ran for it. Everyone was freaking out, so it didn't look that out of place. I ran until my legs just about gave out, and then I looked for something familiar. Anything would do. I didn't have a clear idea of where I was, but I had a feeling I was going to pretty soon.
I stopped for a moment to catch my breath, and leant on the closest wall. I retraced my steps in my head, and it hit me where I was. I reached Leonardo's door without incident; and he was still up, painting. He looked me up and down, noticing that my hair was windblown from running.
"Is everything alright?" he asked, letting me in.
"Yes. Ezio decided to crash a party, is all." I said, plonking down in one of the seats.
"The idiot decided to go for a swim afterwards aswell." I untied my mask.
"You shouldn't call him that. It's his job." He scolded.
"Self-appointed duty."
"Inherited."
"Whatever." I said, frowning. The thought of Ezio reverted back to annoying me again, now that I wasn't in possible danger by his presence. Leonardo was reading a book, as it turned out. I sighed, and decided to go to bed. I'd need it if I was going to stay up late tomorrow. Beauty sleep was a must.
"I'm sorry." I mumbled at Leonardo before turning to the stairs. I was sure he heard, but he didn't reply. I spent a lot of time just lying in bed that night. How the hell was I going to get rid of Dante? He would probably show up everywhere for the next five years, until the Templars have completely annexed or been flushed out of Venice. Really, if I just hoped I wouldn't see him tomorrow, maybe I could get by.
My dreams were strange that night. There was always this constant flash of blue, sometimes red, and then at one point, there was gold. And there was this compulsion to journey toward it. I did, I couldn't control myself, but every time I ventured closer, it got farther and farther away. I called out to it, I reached and reached. Ran and ran. And then I had to jump. That gold was falling, and so I did too. The ground came up below me—
Silence.
