Ugh…I can't take this stay at home stuff anymore. I just want to go and frolic around so bad right now. Anyway, sorry for the incredibly late update. I've been doing school stuff since classes have been converted to Online. I hope everyone is doing well and everything. I am going to point out that I'm not particularly happy with this chapter (I think I rewrote it about four times trying to follow my outline) because it feels…slow and all exposition and conversation. With that being said, I honestly wanted to skip straight to April 26th 1478 instead of doing this. But stick with the outline right? Forgive me if its slow, I promise things will pick up in the next chapter.
Also, at this point, Ezio is just in denial and Contessina, well, she is being stubborn.
April 24th, 1478
The warm days of April were a comfort to Contessina as she sat in the garden of the Medici home. She watched as Cammillia sat in the grass playing with Renato, who was barely a year old but had begun to take his first steps. The little boy looked so much like his father it amazed Contessina. The only difference between Renato and Federico was the shade of his hair. Instead of the dark Auditore locks that Federico and Ezio had, Renato had a dark auburn; something he had clearly inherited from his mother. Either way, Contessina loved the little boy very much.
Renato Auditore babbled about anything he saw with his dark eyes and even had gone to lengths to reach for those things. Since his birth, he had been the center of Cammillia's attention, and she often forgot about everything going on around her. She barely asked about Ezio these days unlike before, but there was a reason for this. Contessina had known for a while that Cammillia was growing despondent to the lifestyle of the Medici. The blond could not blame her friend for this at all. Lorenzo had finally given in to letting Contessina go out of the Palazzo by herself, but he did have guards in the city looking out for her. Cammillia on the other hand, stayed in the Palazzo of her own volition.
Contessina smiled as Renato fell on his bottom again. He was determined to walk if only he could get his balance as it was the only problem he had. The little boy laughed because he clearly had no fear of falling and then he began to grab at his mother's skirts to pull himself back up. Sometimes, Renato reminded Contessina of Ezio in his pure determination to get something done as a child.
She looked down at the letter in her hands from Ezio. Seeing his handwriting after almost a year had lifted her spirits a little. Contessina had started to think he had forgotten about them, but in this case, he had not. Ezio had been busy rooting out Francesco de'Pazzi and his associates, finally following the man's trail back to Firenze. She had sent him many letters of the events going on in the city since then, but he had never replied to her. This letter came as a surprise and he apologized for his lack of keeping in touch with her.
If she did not know any better, Contessina would say that Ezio was already in Firenze, but the problem was finding him. She at least knew where to start. She gently folded up the letter and put it in the bust of her corset before standing up. Her actions cause Cammillia to look up and give the blond a questioning look.
"Contessina? Is everything alright?" The auburn woman said as she held on to her son's little hands.
"It's nothing. I'm just going to take care of an errand and speak with Leonardo about something." Contessina said dusting off her skirts. "Do you need anything while I am out?"
"Don't you think it is a little late in the afternoon to go out?" Cammillia said as she picked up Renato and set him on her hip.
"It hasn't stopped me before and it won't now." The blond said with a determined smile. "I will be back soon." She said walking up to Cammillia and kissing the babbling Renato on the cheek. "Goodbye Little Man."
She did not waste any time going up to her room and changing from her uncomfortable day dress into something more fitting and easier to move in. She made sure to take the dagger Giuliano gave her and place it in her boot before leaving the room. Making her way down the stairs quietly without being seen. As soon as she made it to the garden, she looked to see if Cammillia was still there and thankfully she had gone to put Renato to bed.
Once out in the streets, Contessina made her way to the only place she knew Ezio might go. It had long since been abandoned, but it was still where he spent a good deal of his childhood and she had not been there since he had left Firenze. By the time she approached the Palazzo Auditore, the sun was inching lower in the sky casing red light on the city. The torches were already being lit for the night and she managed to grab one before opening the gate.
Not much had changed in the courtyard other than the roses Maria had tenderly cared for. They had withered without her care, but at least there was hope in a small bud that appeared to be struggling. She made a mental note to go back for the rose bud later when she could leave with Ezio. In the meantime, she would have to return every day to make sure the plant did not die before then. Pushing forward she moved into what was once Giovanni Auditore's study and began to light the candles around the room.
There was a layer of dust over the books that had been scattered about Giovanni's desk. The books had been untouched by the thieves out of respect for the man, but most of the documents that the Auditore had left behind had been snatched up, most likely by Volpe. Contessina ran her fingers along the edge of the desk before picking up a lamp and moving to where the hidden room was. She hoped she was right because this was the only place Ezio would be able to go without being seen.
The blonde went to the fireplace and slowly pulled down on the sconce to activate the door. She held her breath for a moment while she waited for the door to life and when it did, she was slightly upset and relieved at the same time. She sighed when she saw the pile of old blankets and sheets on the floor along with pillows that indicated her husband had been sleeping there. A pack sat on the floor next to it, along with a tray full of crumbs and bottle of wine. There was also a stack of papers and documents that had Giovanni's handwriting all over them.
Contessina froze when she heard the sound of someone running on the roof and then climbing down the side of the building. She stood there as the door opened slowly and Ezio's face came into the light of the candles and torch. He looked somewhat startled to see her there, not really sure if he was seeing a ghost or not and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She had not seen him in over a year, if not two, but he had changed.
Ezio dropped his guard and removed the cowl from his head. He was sure he was staring at a figment of his imagination, but there was a woman standing there in front of him and she looked exactly like his wife. Not that he thought he would never see her again, but he had not really wanted to bring her into this secret war he was involved in. He blinked and shook his head before saying anything.
"I..." He found he did not know what to say. All the words that he had in his head disappeared the moment he opened his mouth and she just looked at him with watering eyes.
"Shut up." She said before running forward and pulling him into a strong embrace. Ezio was shocked at her reaction, but he could not say he had not been waiting for this moment. The young man put his arms around her with his hand cradling the back of her head and his fingers in her silky hair. "You're here." She mumbled into his shoulder as he held her close.
"I wanted to come to you as soon as I made it to Firenze, but I did not want to alert Lorenzo of my presence yet." He said as she pulled away and put her hands on his face. "What are you doing?"
"Trying to see if it is really you and not some ghost." Contessina smiled at him. "I almost forgot what you looked like." She removed her hands.
"Maybe I should have Leonardo paint a portrait of me before I leave again." Ezio looked at her with a smile on his face. Looking into her blue eyes in the candlelight made him forget why he was in Firenze for a moment. Sometime during his stay in Monteriggioni he had forgotten just how beautiful her eyes were and now he was looking into them once again. The heartache from his relationship with Cristina was slowly ebbing away and was being replaced by adoration for Contessina, the one person who had done everything she could to make his goals possible.
"That would be lovely, but I prefer you in person." Contessina said with a glint of mischief in her eyes.
"I know you would, but I may not be able to take you and Cammillia with me when I leave." Ezio said.
"I'm not sure if Cammillia will leave Firenze." The blonde said turning away from him as he shut the door. "She barely leaves the Palazzo these days. Not after Renato was born."
"There may be a very good reason for that, Contessina." He moved to stand behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I have so much to tell you, but I'm not sure where to begin."
"The beginning is always nice." She was being snarky with him, but when she turned around to meet his gaze, she saw his eyes darken. "Ezio? What don't I know?" She put a hand on his cheek seeing the hurt behind his eyes.
"You should make yourself comfortable." He said grabbing her hand and pulling Contessina into the secret room where she sat on the chest while he began to take off his robes. She sat there quietly watching him in the light of the candles as he stripped down to his undershirt and pants before he removed his boots. "Will you sit with me?" Ezio asked her as he sat down on the pile of blankets he used for a bed. She did not know why he gave her a pleading look, but she complied without a second thought.
"You don't like being alone, do you?" The blond woman said as she moved to sit next to him. She had never known him to dislike being alone, but she supposed that the circumstances were now different from a couple years ago.
"It doesn't bother me, but tonight I feel lonely." Ezio told her as he put his arm around her and pulled her close. "I learned my father was an Assassin while I was away." He had a far off look in his eyes.
"I know." Contessina told him and he immediately looked right at her with a questioning stare. "There is a lot I must tell you too about what I've been doing the last year or so." She sighed as she started to lift her skirt up to reveal the dagger she had tucked in her boot.
"Contessina!" He said pulling the blade from her and looking at it. "Who gave you this?" Ezio inspected the blade with a critical eye.
"Giuliano." Contessina smiled before taking the dagger back and putting it on the floor beside her. "I asked him to teach me how to defend myself after you left. He was reluctant at first, but then he was more than willing."
"And?" Ezio asked with a curious look.
"And I can hold my own against someone less skilled than Giuliano." She told him before adding. "A lot less skilled." Ezio nodded in response trying to process the thought of Contessina fighting anyone. She was feisty when she wanted to be, but harming another person was hard for him to imagine her doing.
"That is a bit hard to imagine, but I'm not against it." He told her.
"Like you had any say in the matter, Ezio Auditore!" She pulled away from him with a glare and hit him on the arm. "You were not here so what was I supposed to do? Sit here and look pretty for all to see and take advantage of?" She had half a mind to leave him there for that remark.
"Contessina, calm yourself. I know and I am alright with it. I know other husbands don't like their wives to be able to wield a blade, but I'm not traditional. By any means." He said grabbing her as she moved to stand. "My family is far from it and you know this." She calmed down looking into his eyes and seeing the pride in them. Ezio was proud of her for what she did and that made her heartbeat wildly.
"My family is stuck in tradition." Contessina said as she sat still and looked down at her fingers. "I am sick of the Medici." Ezio heard the weary tone in her voice and put his hand on hers.
"You may be a Medici, but you belong with the Auditore." Ezio leaned over and kissed her cheek. He almost wanted to tell her that she belonged with him too, but he was not sure enough yet if that was the case. Maybe he was, but he did not know how to process what he was feeling in that moment. "I missed you." He held her hand in his, feeling how smooth her skin was in his rough palms.
"I missed you too." She replied to him before leaning against him with her head on his shoulder. "Tell me what I missed."
"You tell me how you know about my father first." Ezio said wanting to know exactly what Contessina knew and how she knew it.
"I learned this from someone who you may want to get to know while you are here." Contessina told him as she flipped his hand over to lazily trace the lines on his palm. "He can be very helpful in finding people."
"Who?" Ezio asked.
"He goes by a particular name and there are a few people who know it." She kept her words as vague as possible and it slightly annoyed Ezio. "He goes by the name, La Volpe."
"Can he help me find Francesco de'Pazzi?" The young man felt a little excited at possibly getting ahead of the Pazzi schemers.
"I'm sure he will. He was there when your father and brothers were executed, and he led me to safety." She told him. Ezio felt as though she had kept this from him for a reason and decided not to question it. "He also was able to get me the information you needed on the whereabouts of not only the Pazzi, but of Rodrigo Borgia. Yes, I know about him too." She said before he could say anything.
"I knew that you knew, but did you know about why my family was targeted?" Ezio asked her hoping that she did not know so he could tell her about the secret war going on between the Assassins and Templars. He also just wanted to tell her something she did not know. Call it male pride, but he wanted to be the one to tell her that.
"No. I don't know. I ask myself why every day." She told him and Ezio secretly rejoiced in that little triumph. He nodded before taking a deep breath.
"You will be here for a while." Ezio told her with a smirk on his face as he began to tell her the story of the Assassins and Templars.
Contessina sat there with him completely immersed in the story he was telling her. Ezio was a gifted storyteller in his own right, but she had never heard of a story such as this. Assassins fighting for the innocent while Templars sought control and order. None of it made sense, but at the same time she saw the connections that she had seen before with Giovanni. Now, Ezio was in the middle of this war and he was putting his own life on the line to make sure these terrible things did not happen at the hands of madmen.
"All of this sounds so...I don't have a word for it, but it sounds like fantasy. Codex pages, Pieces of Eden...What does it all mean?" She asked Ezio who knew just as much as she did at this point.
"I am still trying to find the answers myself, but, Contessina, this is what my father was doing." The young man said before laying down on his side with his head propped up on his elbow. "Do you see now?"
"I do, but I'm going to need time to process all of this." Contessina said as he pulled her down with him. "I'm not sure if it is real to me yet."
"I didn't believe it at first either." He said as her head hit the pillow. Ezio moved a lock of her hair out of her face and looked down at her. The look he was giving her made her wonder what it was he saw in her and why he wanted her to believe him so badly. "Will you stay with me tonight?"
"I shouldn't. Lorenzo will go looking for me if I do not show up for breakfast, but I can stay for a while longer." She said before yawning finding herself completely relaxed with Ezio by her side again.
"You are my wife." Ezio said with possession in his voice. "Lorenzo can..." He was about to say when she put a finger to his lips.
"I am your wife." She said with a smile and moved closer to him.
"Bene. Now that is out of the way, I am exhausted." Ezio said giving her another kiss on the cheek before settling down next to her and wrapping his arms around her.
Ezio woke up just before dawn feeling refreshed and ready to do what he came to Firenze to do. Francesco de'Pazzi was not going to leave the city alive, Ezio was going to make sure of that, but the first thing he had to do was make sure Contessina made it back to her family. During the night she had turned over to face him with her head resting on his shoulder. His fingers were tangled in her long wavy locks and he wanted nothing more than to stay there with her, but this was not the time.
The young man had thought about the woman in his arms more than he realized while away from her and he wondered if she had thought of him in the same way. Ezio had not forgotten her face or the way her voice had a pleasant ring to it. He had not forgotten how she walked with an air of pride and a spring in her step. There were no more comparing women for him anymore as he knew exactly what he had in front of him now. The question for him was how much did he want it? He did not know exactly. Looking down at her, Ezio saw how peaceful she was but underneath all of that was a fierce tigress.
"What time is it?" She mumbled as he moved a strand of her hair away from her face.
"Early. Almost dawn." Ezio said looking at the dull morning light coming through a small window.
"I don't want to move." Contessina said moving closer to him and burying her face into his chest. "I don't want to hear Lorenzo complaining about how I didn't go home." Her fingers grasped at Ezio's shirt.
"You have to go home, Contessina. At least for now." She did not reply to his statement and when he looked down, she had already fallen back in a comfortable sleep. Ezio rolled his eyes and laid back down. What would it hurt to sleep another hour or so?
Sometime after the Sun rose, Contessina was awake again. She slowly opened her eyes to adjust to the light in the room only to see Ezio dressing himself. She had wondered why there was no warmth beside her at first, but after seeing him fastening the last of his gear, she figured it out. The blond caught the attention of her husband when she sat up and he turned to her with a small smirk on his lips.
"What is it?" She asked him as she ran her fingers through her hair to get the tangles out.
"Nothing." Ezio said trying to hide his wondering gaze from her and then he turned back to putting his cape on. "I must go see Leonardo; would you like to come with me?"
"I knew you two would become good friends. The last time I visited he wanted to know if you were still alive and well." Contessina said as she stood up and smoothed out her slightly wrinkled dress.
"He will find out how alive I am in a little while." Ezio chuckled.
"I will go with you to see Leonardo. Besides, he has something that belongs to me." She told Ezio. She had to retrieve the original letter from the Pope about her annulment and hide it elsewhere. She had been meaning to do it for some time now, but she had not found a place for it until now. "After that, you must bring me back to my jailors." She said with a sigh.
"You mean your family." Ezio said and she gave him a deadpan look.
"I call them my family only when it suits me." She told him as he handed her the dagger Giuliano gave her. "They have even corrupted Milia. Now she believes everyone who isn't Medici is out to get her." She put the blade in its proper spot before allowing Ezio to lead her out of the room.
"But you think otherwise?" Ezio said as he guided her out of the room.
"It is the Pazzi that has Lorenzo fighting like a mad dog to keep Firenze in one piece. If anything were to happen to Lorenzo, Firenze would sink into a pit of despair. Our economy is stable for the most part, but we cannot take any more hits, Ezio. One more and it all comes to a bitter end." Contessina told Ezio and he understood perfectly. Being a banker's son and having been tutored in the arithmetic needed to run a bank, he understood how fragile economy was.
"You have allies here that can help me find Francesco, which is the most important thing right now. If I can deal with him first, then whatever plot they have against the Medici can't succeed." Ezio told her as they walked outside into the courtyard. "If I can be in the place where Francesco plans to gather his allies before he knows, then we have a chance."
"Then you will need someone who knows the city better than any of us." She went quiet as they made it to the gates. "We should continue this conversation at Leonardo's."
"Agreed." He looked around before pulling his hood over his head and going out into the streets. Thankfully Leonardo's workshop was not too far away from where they were.
