Hello all! I am sorry for the late update; my job was taking over my time and I was also sick at one point. Anyway, no more excuses because we are getting serious now.
There is a very sad part at the end concerning a horse, so please, if you are sensitive to the subject you have been warned. This is something every horse owner has to deal with and its hard.
There were seventy bags of grain lining the walls of the small warehouse on the banks of the Arno. Each bag weighed approximately twenty-three kilograms and every morning they were counted twice to make sure no one had stolen any. Over the last couple days Poliziano had been making deals with the merchants to keep commerce flowing. The grain was sold at the lowest price, which would compensate for the farms in Toscana who were willing to keep the grain going to Firenze. All in all, the plan was going well. Thirty bags had been distributed throughout the city in the last day while the rest sat there in front of Ezio.
"How long do you think this will last?" Ezio said motioning towards the sacks of grain as Poliziano counted them for the second time. The man barely missed the well-aimed dropping from a pigeon up in the rafters and gave the bird a glare. Ezio held back a chuckle upon seeing the normally formal man give a bird a devil look.
"Hard to say really. Maybe a week if the merchants keep it to themselves." Poliziano wrote the time and date down in his little notebook with a charcoal stick before placing it in his robes. "We will be lucky to make it to the next load if someone says something." He huffed before moving over to the assassin.
"If the merchants say anything, they will lose florins over it. I doubt that they would be willing to forfeit income over gossip." Ezio may not be a banker by trade, but he was still a banker's son and he knew how to manage money. After all, his father made sure he and his brother had the proper tutoring for it. All the lessons in Spanish and French, plus mathematics, writing, and everything else a nobleman needed to succeed in life were not for nothing. "It is a poor move on their part."
"Indeed." The strict man responded. "My concern is more over the rumors that may spill over into Riario's camp. We do not need him watching for mysterious shipments of grain arriving within Firenze's walls." That was the last obstacle they all needed and Ezio nodded in agreement just as the door to the warehouse opened. "Ah, just who I wanted to see." Volpe did not smirk or smile at either man as he walked up to them and judging by the urgency in his steps, Ezio knew something was off.
"That bastard had spies watching Lorenzo's family for the last two months." The master thief said as he came to a stop before Ezio and looked him in the eyes. "He knew they were in Pistoia all this time." As soon as the words left Volpe's mouth, dread sunk into the pit of Ezio's stomach and Contessina's face flashed across his mind. "One of them returned late last night after being seen."
"Seen by who?" Poliziano asked with a curious look on his face.
"Tito said the spy mentioned a blond woman with the Medici." Volpe looked directly at Ezio in confirmation of what they both suspected in that moment. There was only one blond woman they both knew, and she was hardly the standard dark-haired Italian woman. "Riario is sending out his best spies to assassinate the entire family and they leave at first light tomorrow."
"Are you sure?" Ezio went defensive knowing that Volpe would never lie to him about something that involved Contessina. Poliziano stood there watching the young assassin suddenly become ridged and ready for a fight.
"There can be no doubt about it, Ezio. Riario has played us for fools this entire time." The stern man spoke up. "Did your spy say anything else?" He asked Volpe who only shook his head.
"Merda." Ezio did not know if he should be angry or frightened. He began to pace as he was known to do in stressful situations. He knew it had been a mistake to let Contessina go to Pistoia and now she was in mortal danger. This was probably why he stayed in Firenze instead of staying home in Monteriggioni. He was closer to Pistoia and if needed, he was a day's ride away from his wife.
"There is no way Lorenzo can leave Firenze without becoming a target himself." Poliziano mentioned as the younger man paced with Volpe's eyes following the assassin's movements. He too had a very worried look on his face. "Volpe, tell us everything about what Tito heard."
"He heard the spy recount everything. The girl, most likely Contessina, saw him and chased him through the gardens before running into the caretakers. He told Riario that she fainted not long after." Ezio stopped at the mention of Contessina fainting before Volpe continued. "Riario has been receiving letters from his spies the past two months. One of them is within the staff that runs the villa" Volpe seemed to be holding back on information, but it was likely for good reason. "He knows everything from the time they wake up to the time they go to sleep."
"Are you certain this is everything?" Poliziano asked.
"Si." The thief said before Lorenzo's most trusted advisor turned away from them with purpose in his steps.
"I must inform Lorenzo immediately." Ezio heard him say as he walked out the door and into the sunlight. He knew that Lorenzo was likely to run to Pistoia the moment he learned his family was in danger, but Poliziano was right. Lorenzo would be making himself vulnerable and Riario would succeed in gaining Firenze if the Medici patriarch was killed. Ezio looked to Volpe who seemed to be anxious to say something to him.
"What is it?" He asked the thief who was quick to say what needed to be said.
"There was something Tito said to me that did not make sense and I wanted you to hear of it first." It was not in Volpe's character to hold back on something, but for some reason he was very reluctant to say what he had learned from his spy. "Riario's spy mentioned that there was three women, one who we know to be Lucrezia and then two who are with child." Ezio stood still when he heard the words. "You have more at stake than you think, Ezio."
Ezio had to sit down. He did not know if he could stand so he moved to the closest thing he could find that was stable enough to hold him up. The sacks of grain seemed to be the perfect rest for him as he felt the world suddenly disappear beneath him. When the words came from Volpe's mouth, Ezio was not sure what to think. At first, he thought it was some sort of mistake and the spy was completely wrong, but then reality sunk in when he thought about it. There had been four women at the villa in Pistoia. One of them had clearly passed on while Clarice was still heavily pregnant, and this left Contessina as the only one young enough to bear children. He put a hand on his face and then sighed before resting his chin on the same hand.
"Riario's spies leave at first light, correct?" Ezio looked up at Volpe who seemed to be waiting for him to collect himself and start focusing on the task at hand.
"Si. If you leave after dark, you will be a few hours ahead." The thief waited until Ezio stood up to put a hand on the young man's shoulder in comfort and of course, support. "Ezio, if you leave through the river gate and follow it past the barricades, you will be able to go unnoticed." The assassin nodded.
"Thank you for telling me the truth, Volpe." Ezio said with a solemn look on his face but the appreciation in his eyes spoke volumes to the older man who squeezed his shoulder.
"I debated on telling you because I was not sure you could put the task at hand before Contessina, but perhaps I should not have worried over it." Volpe gave Ezio a small smile of comfort before backing away a step. "Your father valued his family above all else and everything he did was to keep his family safe. I have no doubt you will do the same."
"My father was also an assassin." Ezio said pulling up his hood and began to make his way towards the door to the warehouse. In his mind there were questions he wished he could have asked his father before it was too late.
There was nothing better than the taste of a juicy ripe pear and Contessina could not get enough of them. Over the last couple days since she passed out in the garden, she had craved nothing but pears. Of course, one could not eat pears without a block of cheese to which was happily provided to her. Her aversion to most foods had gone away, which was a wonderful thing in itself, but the worry over the coming storm did not go away. Instead she pondered the threat of spies coming in to destroy her family quite a bit during the night. Sometimes, Contessina was unable to sleep at all and often found herself going to the storeroom where her favorite treats were.
Sometimes she could sleep, but it was not a deep sleep. Any little noise woke her from what little rest she got, and she had taken to keeping a candle lit next to her bed so that she may find her way. Lucrezia had told Contessina numerous times over the last couple days that stress would hurt the child growing within her, but that only served to stress her even more. As it was, she was still unsure of the child or even how Ezio was going to take to the news. Part of her was terrified that he would be angry because of the timing, while the other half knew he was going to accept the news with open arms. It was hard not to imagine either reaction from her unsuspecting husband.
As she bit into a pear, she could not help but to moan at the flavor exploding in her mouth. Despite her worries, she opted to walk them off in order to keep her mind free at least for a moment and sometimes strolling through the garden did help. The birds singing in the trees kept her thoughts on the different chirps and not really paying attention to where she was going. Contessina found herself walking by the fountain and for a moment she thought about sitting down, but when she noticed the young man that tended the garden weeding, she decided to join him. She had not gotten a good look at the young man before, but he was definitely Spanish. He sang a song in his native language which she understood perfectly given that her mother tongue was a sister dialect. As she walked closer, he did not bother to turn his head to look at her, but somehow, he knew she was there already.
"I see you are feeling much better, Signora." He said pulling out weeds and sitting them to the side.
"Much better." She smiled as he turned around to face her while still on his knees. He was handsome and had the same deep brown eyes that she had seen in many Spaniards before. "I suppose I have you to thank again for coming to my rescue?"
"Think nothing of it." He said standing up before wiping his knees off. "I am only doing my duty." He gave her a smile.
"Duty? I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand." Contessina's face contorted into that of confusion because of his words and he simply waved them off.
"Ah, right, I suppose I should explain." The Spaniard said putting his hands on his hips and looking down at his feet as he bit on his bottom lip. "I was told to look after the family by Signore Lorenzo." He looked up at her with honest eyes confirming that he had nothing to hide from her. "I owe him a great deal since he helped my family settle here in Pistoia."
"You are refugees from Castile?" She asked him and he looked out at the garden as if he were deciding on how to answer the question. Most of the Castilian refugees were Muslim and some did not believe in religion at all so she could understand why he was hesitant to answer. "I'm sorry I did not mean to pry."
"No, no, do not think you are hurting me by prying." He said taking off his gloves. "The truth is, we fled from Castile because we had no choice. My family is neither Catholic or Muslim and the Inquisition is relentless no matter what. I was only a boy at the time, so I did not understand." He was incredibly honest with her but at the same time she had a feeling he was holding something back that he did not want her to know. "You can only do so much when you are a child."
"What do you believe in then, Signore?" Contessina asked feeling as though he could be a potential ally if Riario sent his spies.
"Please, call me Miguel." The Spanish man said with a polite smile making his demeanor more welcoming and she smiled back at him. "I believe that a man is free to choose his own destiny despite the circumstances and it does not matter what god he believes in as long as he knows what is right and wrong." Miguel said it with such pride that she could see his heart swell. It seemed that Miguel and Ezio had a lot in common.
"Don't let the religious zealots here you say that." Contessina joked before taking another bite of her pear and then threw what was left of it into the bushes. "Do you have a family of your own?"
"I do." He seemed to beam with even more pride. "My wife is Serafina." The blond knew who he spoke of. The brunette girl who arranged the flowers in her room every morning and made sure the candlesticks were exchanged. Contessina had only spoken with her a few times, but the woman was very polite and seemed intimidated by the family that occupied the villa. "She likes you, by the way. She is a very nervous person and often feels as though no one really likes her."
"That cannot be further from the truth. I happen to think she is very pleasant to speak with and I appreciate her very much." She did not want to sound ungrateful to Miguel, because she was not. She often did things for herself because she enjoyed it, but Serafina did not have much to do for her and Contessina was very thankful for what little the woman did. Miguel gave her an appreciative look.
"She will be happy to know that." He bowed his head at her in thanks before putting his leather gloves back on. She smiled before turning away and then turned back to inquire on something that had been in the back of her mind.
"Miguel, who was the man you were with in the garden the other day?" She asked him and he looked up at her with raised eyebrows at the sudden inquiry.
"That was Luigi, the new gardener." The Spaniard told her, and something did not seem right. "He started working here not long after Signora Medici and her children arrived." Now she was sure of it. "I do not know him very well, but I can never find him when I need him. I often find him lurking around places he shouldn't be."
"I think you should fire him." Contessina said with a serious look on her face and he seemed to catch her meaning. "If he hasn't left to inform Riario already."
"Signora?" He gave her a questioning look.
"Please keep looking after us, Miguel. You do not know how much we appreciate it." Contessina said before bowing her head in thanks and then leaving the groundskeeper there in a state of confusion.
The new moon gave Ezio the cover of darkness he needed to leave Firenze unnoticed by the river gate. His bay horse blended in with the night perfectly as he trotted away from the walls of the city following the banks of the Arno. The muggy air was almost unbearable as he pushed Orgullo into a gallop across the land. The gelding's hooves pounded on the dry ground while his stride ate it up in haste upon feeling Ezio's impatience. Orgullo was a warhorse, he was not built for speed and Ezio knew this, but the young man trusted his steed and that was what mattered.
The trees along the banks of the river concealed the horse and rider from sight of the visible blockade on the road. Ezio had to slow his horse to a stop and watch from the darkness as seven men guarded a wooden fence that had been erected in the middle of the road. On the fence were stakes that would not allow for a horse to clear the structure without being impaled or injured. When Contessina left Firenze, this blockade had not been there. He could feel Orgullo growing antsy underneath him and he put a quiet hand on the bay's neck to quiet him.
"Easy." He whispered to the horse before turning him away from the blockade to continue on his way to Pistoia. "Let's go." Ezio kicked the horse into a slow gallop in order to get away without being noticed.
He only made it a little further when an arrow planted itself into Orgullo's hind quarters. The gelding screamed out in pain and stopped before bucking hard to get the arrow dislodged from his flesh. The horse put his head down which threw Ezio off balance enough to fall onto the ground with a heavy thud. He had not expected this at all. The sound of hooves trotting up behind him made Ezio get to his feet quickly as two riders came into view. They must have been hidden within the trees waiting for someone to come along. Orgullo had not run away but stood there with his leg limp and head down in submission while Ezio prepared to fight.
"Look at what we have here." A crossbow in the hand of the rider on the grey horse was pointed at the assassin while the other man held a sword. "If I did not know any better, I'd say we have the assassin right here in our grasp."
"Clearly you do not know better." Ezio said as he put his hands on his hips and shook his head. He turned his head to look at his horse who was no good to travel now, but the grey horse seemed sturdy and fast enough to take Orgullo's place while he recovered. This was going to set him back a while. "I like your horse." Ezio smirked before taking a throwing knife and launching it at the man on the grey horse.
The knife hit the man on the grey right were Ezio intended it to hit causing him to reel back on his horse and grab his bleeding neck. The other man saw this and immediately acted by pushing his horse forward in order to hit Ezio, but the assassin was too quick and dodged. The man let out an irritated yell before turning his horse around and swinging his sword at the assassin only for the swing to miss. Ezio was able to grab on to the man and pull him off the horse before stabbing him in the neck with his hidden blade while the other man fell off the grey horse having passed out from blood loss.
Looking over at his wounded horse, Ezio sighed knowing there was nothing he could do for his trusted companion. Perhaps someone in Firenze could look after him, but the arrow looked as though it went deep. He stepped over to Orgullo and put his hand on the bay gelding's neck to comfort him before moving to have a look at the injury. The wound was dripping blood and if the arrow was removed, Ezio was sure it the bleeding could be worse. A horse could not live with a wound like this and that was the heartbreaking part. The old warhorse did not deserve to be left to die after having been through several battles before so Ezio decided he had to do what was right.
Ezio did not like having to do it, but it had to be done. He removed the saddle and bridle from the old warhorse he had come to rely on so much before going to stand at the old horse's head. He rubbed the gelding's ears without saying anything, giving Orgullo one last ear scratch before it came to the end. There was never a good feeling when it came to putting a horse out of its misery. He had seen it done once or twice before, but it had never been his horse. Giving Orgullo one last sorrowful look, he took his dagger and held it to the gelding's throat.
"Grazie, mi amigo. For everything." Ezio said before cutting into the horse's flesh.
Not long after the horse fell to the ground lifeless, Ezio picked up his saddle and moved to where the grey horse stood grazing next to its old rider. The horse was loyal at least, but how would it accept another rider? He was sure he would find out after switching the saddle and riding it. From the looks of it, the horse was a mare. She would do well to carry him to Pistoia in a haste, if she did not test him as mares tended to do. Either way, he needed to move quickly because he was running out of time.
The assassin mounted the grey mare, giving her a pat on the neck before kicking her into an easy gallop which seemed much faster than Orgullo. She ate up the ground as though it were nothing more than air beneath her feet and she seemed pleased about it too. Her ears flicked back and forth listening to Ezio and then watching ahead as they went on to the road far away from the sight of the blockade. She was young and full of energy, but she was looking out for danger as she should. Ezio knew then that he would make it to Pistoia in good time.