Hehe, I really loved writing this chapter, so enjoy. :) xoxo
It was a lot of running. It was lucky I was up to that, because I think right near the end, when I could just make out the place, I thought I was going to collapse. My PE teacher would have loved to see this, once upon a time. That was basically nought but a day dream now. I barely wasted two seconds on the idea, even though it pained me slightly. I was about to run straight into the gates, when a sudden shock caused me to misstep. As I was, relying on my momentum and the wooden beams sticking out of the sides of buildings, it hurt when I fell.
I hit the ground extremely loudly, and luckily enough, there was no one around to see. What had surprised me was that there were still two guards hanging around in the gateway of Bartolomeo's place. They were acting pretty sinister, too. Tearing the place apart. They looked up and around for a moment when I hit the ground, obviously having heard me. I picked myself up and slinked up against the nearest form of cover I could find. It was a small set of wooden scaffolding-like objects that resembled stairs a little. They were convenient when there wasn't a ladder nearby. Speaking of which, I looked around.
I didn't have much to work with. I shrinked up against my cover until I knew for sure they'd gone back to their havoc-wreaking. I assessed the damage from the fall, and I wasn't badly knocked up at all. Just a graze on my palm, and my elbow. Awesome.
I looked around, not a guard in sight save for the two who'd gone back into Bartolomeo's place. I could hear them knocking things over, maybe searching for something, I'm not sure. But I used my cover to get back onto the roof, before anyone else showed up. There weren't any archers in the immediate area either... This was extremely unusual. I manoeuvred my way over to the roof above them, and waited in the shadows. It got darker, and quieter, and for a moment I was positive they were never going to rock up. Then, funnily enough, they did. At first it was just Ezio, then Bartolomeo rounded the corner too. Both of them brandishing weapons. I whistled softly, and Ezio caught sight of me. Simultaneously, the guards emerged from the gates.
"If you value your lives, you will stand down." Bartolomeo stepped forward with—was he holding a broomstick?
"Never! What good is a man's life if not lived free, eh? I'll not go back into a cage!"
"Then you'll go into the ground! Kill them." And the guards drew their swords. I shrunk back against the roof, into the darkness, hidden. Ezio and Bartolomeo had beaten them down in a matter of seconds, and so I grabbed the edge of the roof, and swung down. I landed softly on the balls of my feet. Bartolomeo tensed up, ready to attack me too, but Ezio put a hand on his weapon.
"She's with me." He explained, and Bartolomeo nodded. I stepped out of the gateway, and he ran past me, into the courtyard. I fell in step with Ezio, and we followed behind. Ezio shut the gate after us. Well, even if we were all screwed up emotionally, we were still able to work together with minimal problems. I knew to never question anything he asked of me, and he never asked an outrageous amount of me. Things still weren't resolved. I could feel it.
"Look at what they've done with the place! Oh no... Bianca!" Bartolomeo yelled as he opened the door to the building, with us trailing in his wake. I shot a side glance at Ezio, but he looked just as confused as I felt.
Inside, the furniture was upturned, books and scrolls in piles on the floor. I had to dodge something falling off the shelf next to the door. Bartolomeo was searching feverishly for his "Bianca".
"Is everything alright?" Ezio asked.
"What do you think? Look at this place! And poor Bianca... If something's happened to her..." I stood in the doorway, watching him search. Did he have a pet or something? Just as I stood up straight from leaning in the doorway, he yelled triumphantly. Reaching behind the table, he pulled out... A sword. Was this guy really as detrimental as everyone thought he was? I sincerely hoped not.
"Oh, my darling. Thank God you're alright. Ezio, meet Bianca. Bianca, Ezio." Said he, raising the point of the blade to Ezio's face. He knocked it gently out of the way with his hand.
"Charmed." Bartolomeo studied the sword for a few more moments, and then held it firmly in his hands. He looked at me.
"And... you are?" Both Ezio and I replied simultaneously.
"Abigail." I shot Ezio a look.
"Hmm, not Italian... Are you British?" I looked at Ezio, but he seemed pretty content to let me answer.
"It's complicated." Bartolomeo nodded.
"You are both Assassins then?" And again, Ezio and I answered at the same time. I said yes, while he said no. I shot him a glare. Bartolomeo's eyebrows rose, but he said nothing. Okay, yes, I was right. Maybe things weren't as easy-going between Ezio and I as one might have thought.
"So, I know your names, but not why you're here." He addressed both Ezio and I.
"I have business with Silvio Barbarigo. I was told you could help." Ezio answered. Bartolomeo responded with vigour; he obviously wasn't a huge fan of the man.
"Ah. It would be my honour." He grinned. I took a chance to join in.
"But it's going to require more than just the three—" Ezio corrected me quickly, considering the look on Bartolomeo's face, glancing between ' Bianca' and I.
"Four of us to weaken his forces. How do you suggest we proceed?" Immediate business mode with him, I swear.
"I'll go and ready my men. While I do this, I'd like you to rescue those who were captured during Silvio's assault. I cannot, in good conscience, leave them behind."
"Understood. I will attend to it at once."
"Good luck out there Ezio. And to you, Signorina." He said, gesturing to me. I followed Ezio out the door. He picked up a steady pace, back in the direction that he came, with me following him closely. He glanced at me while running once. Then he did it again. When he decided to for the third time, I had to ask.
"What?"
"You're quiet." He regarded me cautiously.
"I'm fine." I shrugged, and tried to diffuse the conversation swiftly. Ezio gave me a look.
"So where are we going?"
"Back into the heart of the district. I'd imagine Bartolomeo's men are being held in small groups—they're more manageable that way and less likely to overwhelm their guards." I nodded. So we were just freeing them. Fair enough. We kept up a light jog until we hit probably the busiest part of the district. Ezio sent me off in one direction, after making me swear I'd be careful, and then ran in the opposite. I really hoped he knew where he was going, because I sure as hell didn't. He'd told me to use my keen "intuition".
I didn't even know what I was looking for until I ran full-pelt into two men. Dressed in full armor. With swords. Immediately I backed up and kept my head down, but they picked up on it. I apologized profusely. Gold shone from behind them.
"How dare you! I'll teach you some respect, peasant." The man all-but yelled, towering above me. He could probably tell I was female, but I simply backed off slowly. If I wanted to take the chance that he'd simply hit me head-side and continue on with his merry day, I would've stayed still, but in this case, I just ran. I think he gave up once I turned a couple corners, and I made sure he wouldn't follow by hitting the rooftops. There was a single archer nearby, who was easy to avoid.
I found Bartolomeo's men quickly—they hadn't exactly gone to lengths to be hidden. And they weren't trying to be quiet. An entire courtyard had been blocked off to segregate them from the public. Only those who lived within the area were really allowed to pass through the guarded pathways in and out. It was reminiscent of when I'd helped liberate some thieves from a similar situation on the other side of the district. Fortunately, the buildings that created the barriers of the courtyard all linked to form an easy path around. I saw also, there was an easy path with a ladder that landed directly on top of their cell. Okay, now they were just asking to be freed. It was pretty pathetic, if I do say so myself. They weren't yelling abuse like Bartolomeo though; just the occasional remark.
I slinked around, feeling really good about myself because of how well I was doing, and then descended down the wall side, softly landing on the top of the cage. None of the mercenaries had noticed me, so I quietly whispered to them. Psst. One of them looked around, but not up. Seriously, didn't I just land on the cage? Did that not make a noise at all? I tried again, and he looked up. At first he was pretty damn surprised, and then he nudged his friend next to him. God, these guys reminded me of Arturo, and melancholy rose up in my stomach. The word got around pretty quickly, and they watched me as I reached over the edge, to unlock the cage. I couldn't reach. I stretched as far as possible, still nothing. Just an inch short. I glanced up, but the guards mostly seemed to be not-moving at all. I chanced it, and let myself down onto the ground.
I unhitched the lock, and the six of them barrelled out of the cage. They immediately ran to the opposite side of the square, extremely loudly, in order to pick up their weapons. Of course, the guards heard them and rushed to intervene. I barely moved, and as such, no one noticed me. It was right to have locked them up in small groups, because hell, they took out everyone in a matter of seconds. When the last guy had fallen, they stopped for a minute and looked around for me. I stepped forward, with all my five foot height, and filled them in.
"I've got to get you back to Bartolomeo." I told them, as they gathered around, slightly too close for comfort. Everyone seemed pretty okay with that, so I took point and ran with six very large, and extremely not-subtle burly men behind me. I didn't have to do any fighting, at all. Every time a guard picked a fight, let's just say that they picked some pretty bad fights. We arrived at the designated meeting spot and I left them with another group. Bartolomeo was there, too, but I didn't waste time checking in. I took off in the direction I'd just come, but stopped when I caught sight of Ezio running with a third group behind him.
"Hey, how'd you do that so quickly?" I asked him as he got closer. He stopped right in front of me.
"I sent you to get the furthest group." And I slapped his arm; I knew what he was up to. He barely noticed. There were about twenty people here, either getting patched up or standing around and talking. They began to dissipate, and Ezio decided that we ought to leave aswell. After giving Bartolomeo a short timeline on when he'll be needed in the next few days, we left for the Della Seta. Conversation was light.
In fact, I didn't say a word to Ezio. I hadn't exactly forgiven him. I didn't know what was going through his head, I didn't know how genuine he was when he told me how he felt. I didn't know, and it was terrifying. He hadn't pushed me to say anything, and I barely uttered a 'good night' before going into my room and closing the door behind me. I did sleep that night, uneasily, but sleep I did.
Ezio knocked on my door and told me that I should be getting up. He was going to leave to go out somewhere and I politely informed him I didn't want to come. He closed the door behind him, and I lay in bed, my fingers tracing over my scars. Hm. I think it was more than a year ago, bordering on two, since I was freed of my prison. And then it was only a few weeks ago, maybe a couple months, when I'd found about Cristina, and from I think then on, everything seemed to turn sideways slightly. I'd spent so much of my time in Monteriggioni obsessing over being fit and being strong and being unstoppable… and then I was so utterly happy to simply give it up out of spite. Ezio hurt me, I hurt him right back. Only, did it really hurt him?
I thought, and really, my thoughts seemed to quench my hunger, for a time. The greatest question was, did I really want this? Or better yet, what did I really want? Did I want to spend my life risking everything, never completely sure that one day I'd return home, and have Ezio aswell? Or did I want to get out now and find a husband and a family; maybe it'd be easy to find a husband. Maybe. But the thought of finding another man, someone probably with some kind of problem, with drinking or gambling or with keeping a job, didn't appeal to me at all. I didn't want anyone else.
So really… Ezio really was all that I wanted. Was he? Yes. There was no denying this; I loved him. Absolutely. And if I really want him, I suppose my life choices are now chosen. I'd be an Assassin, I'd fight and die for this one day. And for the first time in a long time… I wasn't terrified.