Half an hour later, she had finally been able to shake off the guards from her trail by riding around a grove of trees on the cliff. Now that she was all alone, she stopped her horse and let it graze while she sat there, doing nothing but clutching at the reins and trying to arrange the chaotic thoughts in her mind.
So much had been revealed about him today. He had been staying away to protect her. He had been keeping the Borgia distracted only to keep her safe. She should have spoken up for him that day instead of letting La Volpe and her Mother decide the fate of their relationship.
But he was with Marietta now. She had seen them kiss and that thought kept burning inside her. If only Machiavelli had said something to her instead of keeping all this from her. If he had told her he wanted to be with Marietta she would have walked away from his life instead of finding about them in such a terrible and heartbreaking way.
The horse beneath her neighed restlessly and she patted his head. "Alright, let's go." She said and rode towards the Hideout. Her heart felt heavy and she wanted to cry, but she had promised herself that she wouldn't cry anymore. Then what was she supposed to do? How much longer would she have to carry the burdens of half-truths and betrayal?
When she reached the Hideout, she stopped her horse and then got down slowly. Once her feet touched the ground, she staggered and would have fallen if strong arms hadn't grabbed her waist.
"I've got you."
She turned to see Borso holding her and she let him help her stand up straight.
"You must be tired." He said. "I would have stayed by the bridge longer, but I was called away on an errand. The fight between Bartolomeo and the French is not going well."
"Then we must help him." Claudia said. "Now that we have our recruits, we can aid Bartolomeo in his fight. After all he's done so much for us."
"He will appreciate your help." Borso said, opening the door and holding it for her.
Claudia stepped in and almost bumped into La Volpe.
"I was waiting for you." He said excitedly.
"I'm here." She said, annoyed. She followed him to the meeting hall, wishing she could just go to her room and lie down after the mission. She was really starting to get tired quickly nowadays. She couldn't imagine what else the next few months in her pregnancy would be like.
"Tell me how it went?" La Volpe asked. "And where is Caterina?"
Claudia pushed down her hood and moistened her lips. "Niccolò got there first."
"That bastardo!" La Volpe said. "You should have killed him."
Claudia immediately found herself reaching for a dagger when Borso clamped his hand over hers and shook his head.
La Volpe noticed her movement and scowled. "I know he was your husband but you don't owe him anything." He chided. "If you can't do it, then I will. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to kill that wretched man with my own two hands."
Claudia wanted to tell him that she knew it wasn't Machiavelli who was the traitor but a thief- him- but she still needed solid proof.
"We could have used Caterina's help." La Volpe said, rubbing his hands thoughtfully. "No doubt Machiavelli must have already started to poison her mind against the Assassins."
Claudia clenched her hands into fists and Borso put his hand over hers and stroked her wrist, trying to soothe her, but it was getting impossibly hard to control the rage of emotions bursting inside her.
Just then a thief entered the Hideout and straight away made his way to La Volpe. The thief looked flustered and sweaty, as if he had been running for miles to get here.
"There is terrible news." He told La Volpe. "Monteriggioni has been attacked! Cesare and his army has destroyed the whole place!"
Claudia felt her heart sink. "Uncle Mario was there." She told Borso and then went over to the thief. "What of my Uncle?"
"I have heard he escaped, but cannot verify that." The thief looked scared. "Cesare had brought his whole army."
"So that was where Cesare had gone." She muttered to herself. "I must leave this very instant."
"There's more." The thief hesitated and Claudia saw fear etched on his face, but he appeared to be scared of her.
"What?" La Volpe asked.
The thief looked at her and swallowed. "The other thieves have ascertained that Ser Mario was wrongly informed of the attack." He then stepped back and Claudia finally understood what he was going to say next. "Ser Mario knew he was going to be attacked, but he received a letter that told him that the attack had been averted and he should return to Roma."
"And who informed him?" La Volpe asked. "Wait, let me guess."
"It cannot be him!" Claudia screamed. "Stop accusing him for crimes he did not commit!"
"Machiavelli was the man behind your Brother's death, have you forgotten that?" La Volpe retorted. "Someone told Vieri to anticipate Petruccio's move against him. It was him!"
"You have no proof!"
"After all this time, you still think he's capable of loyalty?" La Volpe looked at her as if disgusted by her. "He cheated on you!"
Claudia gasped and looked at the thief who stood awkwardly, as if ashamed of what he had just said. "Where is my Uncle?"
"I cannot say." He replied in a tiny voice, as if wishing he wasn't the bearer of bad news or the one caught in the middle of their fight.
"Then I'll head to Monteriggioni." Claudia said and turned on her heels.
"Open your eyes!" La Volpe called. "Machiavelli is the traitor."
Claudia walked out of the Hideout in a huff and made her way to her horse when Borso grabbed her arm. She turned to him and then covered her face. She kept telling herself not to cry, but after all that was going on around her, it was difficult to fight off her tears. Also, her pregnancy was making her even more emotional than she cared to admit.
"Let me come with you." Borso said.
Claudia nodded. She could use a little support or she may not be able to take another step.
"Claudia!" It was her Mother stepping down from the carriage. "There's grave news."
Claudia rushed over to her Mother. "Have you found Zio Mario?"
"You know about the attack?"
Claudia nodded. "La Volpe's thieves told us. I'm going off in search for him."
"Then he's alive?" Her Mother looked pale and scared.
"I can only hope." She got on her horse and Borso called for his own.
"Let me accompany you." Her Mother said.
"No, I want you to stay here." Claudia said. "The road ahead may be perilous."
"I am an Assassin too." Her Mother said. "I won't take no for an answer."
*/*/*/*/*
They had been on the roads for hours now and the only thought that loomed over her was the possibility that her Uncle may not have survived the attack. Cesare was a ruthless man and if he wanted something or someone dead, then it happened.
She prepared herself for the worst, but a flicker of optimism still burned inside her. Her life couldn't be this cruel to have every person she cared about, snatched away from her. He had to be alive. She didn't know what she would do, if he wasn't.
"We should rest now." Borso said. "Perhaps you should join your Mother in the carriage."
Claudia turned to see the carriage following them and shook her head. "I'll go ahead. You stay with my Mother."
"Claudia, you haven't rested or eaten properly." Borso said. "Besides, in your condition, you would be better off traveling in a carriage rather than a horse. It is dangerous..."
"It doesn't matter." She said, cutting him off. Nothing did matter is everyone was eventually going to be taken away from her in some way of the other. First her Father and Brothers. Then her Mother who had been in silent shock for years. She had been as good as gone in all those years. Then it was Machiavelli and now…it would be her Uncle. Then her baby and then who knew who and how many more.
She started to feel faint and stopped her horse. Borso got down and came beside her. "Claudia?"
She couldn't breathe anymore. The sky overheard was greying with clouds and the air felt heavy and warm.
"I have to go on." She said. "I have to know he's safe."
"Then let me help you." Borso said. "You need your rest."
"I can manage." She said and rode her horse. She would have gone right past him, had she not noticed something in the last second.
She pulled on the reins so hard that her horse let out a shrill neigh. "Oh no." she said.
Borso came running behind her. He had seen it too.
Claudia got down, almost tripped over her own feet and then fell down on the ground beside her Uncle's still body.
Her Uncle was lying on the side of the dirt path and she wouldn't have noticed him if her Uncle's horse had not nudged at his master's boot.
She wiped the dirt and blood of her Uncle's face and saw that his eyes were closed and his skin felt clammy.
"No." she said and reached to touch his hands, rubbing them together. "No!" Borso came to her side and grabbed her shoulders, but she pushed him away. "He can't be dead, he can't!"
Borso went over to her Uncle's other side and put his head on his chest.
"He can't be!" she sobbed. "After my Father died, he was the one who took care of me. He was like my Father. I never let him love me; I never let him take care of me."
"Claudia." Borso said, straightening.
Claudia burst into loud sobs and kept squeezing her Uncle's hands together. "Please, please, don't leave me! Please, please get up!" She heard her Mother rushing towards them and she started to cry harder. "Please wake up! Please!"
Borso grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "Claudia! He's breathing. I heard a heartbeat."
Claudia put her head down on his chest and listened. There was heartbeat, but very low. "He's alive?"
Borso had his fingers on the side of her Uncle's neck. "We have to take him to the Dottore."
Claudia started to pull on her Uncle's arm, but Borso stopped her. "I've got it." He told her and in one swift movement, he had her Uncle slung on his shoulder like a flour sack.
Something fell out of her Uncle's pocket and Claudia reached down to pick it up. It was a letter addressed to her Uncle and she opened it, wiping her eyes at the same time.
She scanned through the document and then felt a coldness clamp its icy claws around her heart. The signature on the letter was Machiavelli's and the letter was the one La Volpe's thief had told her about. The letter asked Uncle Mario to come to Roma as Cesare had changed his plans to attack Monteriggioni.
Claudia kept reading the words, until it blurred and burned inside her retinas. She looked up to see Borso put her Uncle in the carriage safely and then turned back to the letter. The signature was unmistakably Machiavelli's.
It was his signature!
The letter was suddenly torn out of her hands and she saw her Mother read it and watched as her expressions turned to disbelief and then anger. She looked up from the letter and then without a word made her way to the carriage.
"It can't be him." She followed her Mother. "He would never try to get my Uncle killed."
Her Mother turned around so sharply that Claudia almost fell backwards. "This is proof!" she said, holding out the letter.
Borso looked at them inquisitively. "What is the matter?"
But her Mother ignored him. "I thought you were ready to accept that he is the traitor!" Her Mother screamed. "His letter almost got your Uncle killed and you still believe he's innocent? For how long have you been living in that delusion?"
"Madre…"
Her Mother shook her head disappointedly and got in the carriage. "Your marriage with him is over! It has been for a long time and you never realized it."
"If you let me tell you something…" But she was given no chance to explain. Her Mother closed the door to the carriage.
"He has to die for his betrayal." Her Mother said, her face suddenly stoic. "That traitor will ruin us all."
Claudia felt as if she had been trampled upon. Her heart sank and she collapsed to the ground as her Mother's carriage rode off.
Borso helped her up and rubbed her back. "We have to go." He said.
"He didn't do it." Claudia said.
"Wasn't it his signature on the letter?" Borso asked, not looking at her as he readied the horses.
"Si, but….there has to be a reason behind it…"
"Claudia." Borso said morosely. "I think your Mother is right. You want to believe he is innocent. But after today, can you really believe that? Your Uncle could have died."
Claudia started to cry again. No one believed her and no one believed him.
"We have to go." Borso said and walked her horse to her. "Your Uncle needs you."
Claudia wiped uselessly at her tears and got up on her horse. All hope had been lost. She was sure that Machiavelli wasn't the traitor and even though her heart screamed that he was innocent, how could she disregard what was right in front of her?
