Carnevale brought changes to the city Rosa knew so well. Most of them were quite inconvenient for her. The night in Venezia was no longer quiet, especially on the streets of rich Dursoduro, where the aristocrats found no reason to stop their partying. Even worse, the skies were clear and the moon was full. Even the most cautious thieves became easy to spot as they tried to traverse the rooftops and balconies of the city.
Usually, Carnevale was only accompanied by a week or so of bad earnings and bad moods for the Guild of Thieves. This year, the Doge was spending extravagant amounts of funds on public festivals. It seemed as if every square had stands full of merchants and music going until sunrise. The revels had been going for three weeks, with the festivities ramping up every Saturday night.
None of the partying made her job easy. With the crowds packed so closely together, pickpocketing was a risky business, even for Rosa, and she had given up burglaries for the season because of the number of house parties being hosted. It was no fun to rob drunken fools at knifepoint, so she was left with little in the way of gold-earning opportunities, unless she wanted to take up whoring. Plenty of girls like her had ended up in bordellos, preferring to do their business on their backs once they got tired of stealing or begging.
Rosa spat into the canal, watching the water ripple far below her. She had nothing against against the courtesans, but she had chosen another direction for herself. They had their own kind of life, and she had hers. If the thieves were having it hard during Carnevale, she could imagine how difficult it would be for the courtesans when Lent started next week. Men would have to hold off on the vices they loved most. Bordello beds would go cold overnight, as visitors would become infrequent and less extravagant with their spending.
Rosa saw one such example of an infrequent visitor pass over the bridge she was posted at, his hood catching the moonlight. It was Ezio Auditore da Firenze, heading in the direction of the festivities. The first thing Rosa noticed was that he seemed distracted. Usually he would have spotted someone eyeing him from a rooftop. With her curiosity piqued, she decided to follow him.
Someone else would have to be a lookout tonight, Ugo be damned. Ezio never came to Venice without a reason, and he never left without killing a few men. He needed someone watching his back if he was going to walk around on the ground, making a spectacle of himself.
Rosa wondered if Ezio actually thought that his current disguise was working. He was wearing the half-mask that would hide his upper face, but she was sure that the scar on his lip would be visible for anyone who knew to look for it. He was still wearing his hooded robes and she could distinguish him easily as he pushed through the crowds. She used a ropeway to follow him across the canal and then crossed the rooftops on the other side to get a good position overlooking the square. Once she saw there weren't any nasty surprises waiting him there, she squatted low to keep herself out of sight as he arrived. Ezio arrived in the center of the partying, quickly finding his target within the masses of people.
He stalked closer to the center of the square and Rosa felt her throat tighten as he navigated the throngs of people, ducking out of the way of guards and blending into groups. She had never had such a clear view of one of his killings, and it surprised her how calm he was as he approached his target. He circled around a group of noblewomen at an even speed, coming up behind them when they stopped to look at a street performer. Rosa saw his hand reach for a one of the women and expected a spurt of blood to come from her back. But when Ezio walked away and there were no signs of an attack, she had to accept that his mission had not been an assassination at all. Had he picked her pockets?
His true purpose was revealed only when she saw him take a position in a nearby alley, where he took nervous glances towards the square he had just left. He must have left a message in the woman's possessions.
Has this bordelliere really come to Venice just to try his luck with noblewomen? Rosa knew for a fact that any streetwalker in the city could show a man a better time than one of those paragons of 'virtu'. If noblewomen were any good in bed, would their husbands still be flocking to alleyways and brothels to pay for sex?
Rosa got a second look at the noblewoman as she headed for her meeting with Ezio. She was beautiful and her long hair was up in a bun as if she was a married woman. Her dress had a standing collar and layers of fabric that did not hide her figure so much as show off her outfit. Cloth was an expensive thing in Italy, and the woman was wearing six or seven different different fabrics. Rosa knew that dress must have cost more than she had stolen that year.
Rosa dropped to street level to peek around the corner and listen in on the rendezvous. The two seemed to know each other. Ezio called the woman Cristina. She called him Manfredo. Then they began a passionate kissing session well within sight of the crowds. The woman was the first one to step back. In Rosa's view, 'Cristina' took a little too long to realize that she was not actually kissing her husband.
"Ezio? What the hell are you doing here?" Her voice broke from surprise to fury as she realized whose embrace she had been in. "How dare you?"
Ezio tried to comfort her, but Rosa could tell that the buffone had never learned how to placate a woman. He rarely spent more than a night with any of them, after all.
"I haven't seen you in eight years!" Cristina said.
"I was afraid you wouldn't come if I just... asked."
Rosa winced on his behalf. Ezio could at least have started by saying 'sorry'. Something was broken in that man, and Cristina seemed to realize it too because her next words were softer, explaining herself to him.
"Ezio, the last time I saw you, you kissed me in an alley and then left me behind to be married!"
Rosa held back a gasp of surprise. The drama playing out around the corner was more personal than she had expected. This lady must have been Ezio's girl back in Firenze. Considering the circumstances, he should have understood why Cristina lashed out with such force. Still, Ezio still wanted to explain his decision.
"Leaving was the right thing to do. Manfredo loved you."
Cristina's anger returned as frustration.
"Who cares what he wanted?," she said, on the verge of tears. "I loved you."
Ezio was stunned into silence but reached out for her. Cristina backed away, shaking her head. "You had your second chance, Ezio. Please... don't ever find me again."
Stunned, he made no attempt to follow her as Cristina hurried off. She picked up her skirts so that they wouldn't slow her down, going so fast that she passed Rosa without seeing her. By the time Rosa got out of her hiding spot in the shadows, Ezio had already started trudging off in the opposite direction of his old lover.
He was taking a dangerous path out by the Squero di San Trovaso again, one that would bring him directly in sight of guards. Surely he was aware the Doge had the whole city looking for him after his stunt with the flying machine? He was walking into danger as if he was looking for it.
So what if some girl from his boyhood days was done with him? He was Ezio, after all. He made a pass at any woman. He was going to get over this. Right?
Rosa had to get above street-level to follow him but the things that she saw were not good. The guards had easily spotted him as he walked by, but they were only following him at a distance, signaling to the archers above them to set up an ambush a little further from the public eye. On and on they trailed their target, turning away from the crowds and towards the side-streets by the canal where anything could happen. The noose was being tightened around Ezio's neck and he did not have the slightest idea.
Rosa went first for the archers. They were not expecting someone to counter their efforts, least of all in Dorsoduro. She pulled her first target backwards into a rooftop garden and ended him with her knife. The other two bowmen had their eyes set on the infamous assassin below. They were debating where they should set up, which let Rosa cross over the street to their roof without being seen. She came up behind them when they already had their strings drawn, aiming for Ezio just as he entered the alleyway. Her knife sank into one but the other needed to be kicked off the ledge. She planted her foot in his lower back and pushed.
His shout as he fell was taken as a signal by the Doge's men below, and they rushed into both ends of the alleyway. The sound of an archer hitting the ground was what finally woke Ezio up. There were around a dozen men, split to cover both ends of the alley, but they seemed to just be normal thugs pulled from their other posts. Rosa was glad not to see one of the armored brutes around- she knew Ezio could handle anything else with ease.
Ezio drew his sword and went to work, swiping on either side of himself to keep his opponents back. When men dared to go on the offensive, their attacks would be deflected and they would find steel flashing back at them. The mob of men began to be whittled down as more of them tried and failed to slip past his guard. Soon, they had given up on trying to attack Ezio from all sides and instead lined up shoulder-to-shoulder so that they could support each other from one front.
Ezio could parry but not riposte when they were sending attacks in parallel. He started to take a few steps backwards. Rosa wondered what she might be able to do, but then she spotted something that made the question of her intervention an absolute necessity. She saw the blue plume of feathers first, and then the suit of armor it was attached to. A heavily armored soldier was approaching Ezio from behind. He walked slowly, trying not to make a sound.
Rosa had to make a choice. She could shout out a warning, but that would distract Ezio. A shortbow would not pierce through that armor. There wasn't even time for her to climb down to ground level and take her position at his back. There was only one solution she could think of. She had seen him do it a few times.
She took a running leap from the roof, aiming for the spot the armored man would be. Her knife was out and ready as she flew through the air. She focused hard on the neckline of the armored man, a tiny space between the breastplate and the helm. Her blade would have to come in at just the right angle above the gorget.
To Rosa, it was a miracle that she landed on the shoulders of the armored man. He toppled to the ground and offered the perfect angle as she brought the knife down in a stab that scraped past armor and pierced through flesh. Blood sprayed up at her, coating her hands as she pulled the knife out. She hadn't been expecting to kill someone that night, but she had no time to adjust. She was pulled into the fighting now.
"Ah, Rosa, how nice it is to see you," Ezio said, batting a dagger away with a vambrace.
"What brings you here?" Rosa backstepped out of the way of a sword. "Other than trying your luck with married noblewomen."
Ezio pretended to ignore her and lunged to kill a man, skewering his leg. He followed it up by disarming the neighboring soldier and slashing across his throat. Two bodies fell to the floor, and the last survivor dropped his weapon and ran. There was no sign that he would be chased. Instead, Ezio pointed his arm at the man's back . Rosa wondered what was happening until she heard an explosion like a firecracker and saw the fleeing man drop dead. Ezio shook the gunsmoke out of the air and let his cape settle over his shoulder before turning to Rosa.
"My business tonight is with the Doge," he said, his voice bitter. "I let myself be distracted, and now I think I will never make it. When these guards are discovered, it won't matter whether I have the Golden Mask or not."
"The Golden Mask?" Rosa asked. "You want to get inside the Doge's private party?"
Obviously, he wasn't intending to steal jewelry and pocket-change from the rich attendees. He was aiming for the prize that would be under the heaviest guard: the life of the Doge himself. Looking over the street full of dead men, Rosa could understand why he needed secrecy so badly.
"Don't be so quick to give up," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "I can get some of the boys to clean this up. They'll do it for the loot."
Rosa knew that Ezio needed an immediate goal, or else he would go wandering off again with thoughts of Cristina in his head. She pointed to the square he had just left.
"If you still want the Golden Mask, you need to get to the Squero, pronto. They like to start the races first."
He shook his head as if to clear it. "Si, the race. I must be going."
"I'll come give you a kiss afterwards, if you win," she added. She thought she saw him smile before he ran off towards the square.
Rosa had to leave on a race of her own. The bodies needed to be cleared from the dark side-street before someone came to look for the missing troops. She got lucky when she found a few thieves lurking around with little to do and told them what was at stake. They agreed to load the bodies onto boats and dump them somewhere in the lagoon. After that, Rosa rushed to her next task. It was also in the neighborhood, at the Rosa della Virtu, the brothel run by the nun.
Sister Teodora was busy organizing her girls when Rosa arrived, but Antonio was lazing about as usual. Ever since they had taken the Pallazo della Seta, he hadn't put up a single serious night of work. He spent all his time with the courtesans, waiting for someone interesting to come walking in. Tonight, he would be lucky twice.
"Ah, Rosa!" he said, making no move to get up from the sofa. "Mio bello. Did you know Ezio is in Venezia? Another Doge dies tonight."
Rosa crossed her arms and looked down at Antionio.
"I saw him," she said. "Along with half the district garrison. The guards were about to butcher him before I showed up. Some of our men will need to be paid for tidying up after him."
Antonio shrugged. "It may be Carnevale now but the Guild still has enough gold to cover such expenses. Ezio is safe and his mission continues. That is what truly matters."
Sister Teodora interjected. "There is cause for caution even though Ser Ezio is alive. If his disguise is already being seen through, he has no chance of entering the Doge's party."
Antonio lifted his hands in the air. "That is why we have your wonderful girls, Sister. With their beauty on display, the guards won't give him a second glance."
"No," Teodora said. "That will not work. No one brings their own courtesans to a party."
Rosa saw Antonio's stupid face lose its calm veneer. Maybe now he saw the problem.
"Maybe I should call upon the thieves to make a distraction..."
"Use your head," Rosa said. "Ezio has been too successful in Venezia for that. They know our tactics now. If we make a distraction at the gate, the party will probably become even more defended."
Antonio sat up, as if he was not expecting his Rosa to use her head. Sister Teodora seemed to approve of her interruption with the slight smile of the Madonna. She obliged her. "Well, do you have any ideas, Rosa?"
It was the first time Teodora asked for Rosa's opinion, after years of following her orders at the behest of Antonio. She was speechless. Her mind jumped to seeing Ezio sneaking into the square earlier that night.
"Why don't we stick with the idea of having women escort Ezio in? But instead of hired company, we make it seem as if he is just a gentleman accompanying another woman of class. Then he can use the mask like he is normal and not il assassino."
Antonio looked around the entry hall of the brothel. "That sounds good, but do you happen to know any women of class around here? No offense, Sister."
"We need not call on the services of a high-born woman," Teodora said, retaining a serene calm. "Ezio only needs his partner to seem like one."
"Seem like a noblewoman? That is an expensive proposition, Sister." Antonio shook his head. "If you factor in the dress, the jewelry, and the sense of superiority, we could be spending a fortune."
Rosa recalled the noblewoman Ezio had tried to woo early that day. She had been the picture of refinement, even able to shout and cry at an ex-lover with a sense of grace. It was amazing to see what life could be like when it was kept off of the street.
"I know a dressmaker who owes this house much," Teodora said. "He cannot deny me if we ask to borrow from him. As for jewelry and other finery, I'm sure Ser Antonio is capable of finding some."
"That is all well and good," Rosa interrupted. "But if all of your girls are all waiting for Ezio at the party, who will get dressed up and pretend to be his innamorata in front of the guards?"
For once, Antonio and Teodora could agree on something. They both looked at her with mirth hidden just behind their eyes.
"What are you staring for?" Rosa asked, indignant. "We don't have any women to call on tonight. Ha, unless you pick... me?"
Antonio started laughing. Teodora intervened before blood was spilled, holding Rosa back and ushering her out to the street.
"You are the only one who can do this," Teodora said. "It may be uncomfortable, but it will be only for one night."
It just sounded too silly to Rosa. Who would believe she was a noblewoman, the kind of person that Ezio would chase around all day? A rich, pampered lady who would never want for anything all her life.
Her hair was unruly, cut only with a knife, and she was still wearing the same leggings from when she had outgrown her dress as a teen. She wouldn't be able to pull it off. The guards would see through her. Ezio would be comparing her to the real thing. If the thieves saw her bundled up in a fancy dress, Antonio and the boys would never allow her to forget it.
"Will you help us?" Teodora asked. "Will you help Ezio?"
She thought of him earlier that night, surrounded and walking into a trap like any other ignorant fool. Rosa could not think of a situation where she would just let him die.
"Fine," she said.
Teodora smiled. "Good. Now, follow me."
They needed to make multiple stops around town and they were running late. The Doge was set to make his speech at midnight.
The dressmaker was still at his shop when Sister Teodora arrived, working on last-minute orders. He immediately put his work aside to listen to the Sister's request. There were gowns available, but the dressmaker could tell it would need adjustments to fit correctly. Rosa grumbled the entire time her measurements were taken.
"Look at my hands!" she told Teodora, showing palms callused and worn by climbing around the city. "I would not even pass for a common girl with these man-hands."
"Add some gloves for her, signore." Teodora patted Rosa's cheek. "Sometimes it takes a girl some convincing to know that she is beautiful."
While the gown was being worked on by the women of the shop, Sister Teodora got Rosa prepared for the dress. It mainly consisted of removing things because clothing made for girls had never suited the things Rosa needed to do. Now she had to remove the breeches and socks that had allowed her to climb with such flexibility. Her shirt and jacket had to go as well, but Teodora promised to keep it all with her. Rosa's outfit had been cobbled together over a decade. She didn't want to lose them over a hackneyed plan like this.
"Where will I keep my knife?" Rosa said, pulling a cotton chemise on. The undergarment covered her from neck to ankle and she knew a knife could not be concealed once she put on the gown.
Teodora handed her a stiletto in a tight leather sheathe. "Tie this to your shin with that ribbon you wear around your neck."
She obeyed, but still had plenty of complaints. "And won't my shoulders be too wide? When they see them, they will know I am Rosa, thief-girl of Venezia. Do you think the guards do not know of me?"
The argument was gratefully interrupted by the return of the dressmaker and his assistants. They brought two gowns to be worn together. The bottom layer felt quite substantial, made of forest green cloth. A girdle of purple velvet cinched it tight at her midriff. All concerns Rosa had about the febbraio chill were gone- the fabric of the gown was thicker than anything she had worn before and it was heavy all the way to the hem.
There was even a thinner over-gown that would go on top of it all. It felt like silk under Rosa's fingers, but she thought it couldn't possibly be pure. She only had silk for ribbons before, and it had been quite expensive, even when woven together with wool.
"Ah, yes, that is pure silk, just as the Sister requested," the dressmaker said. "Please, please return it unharmed."
"No promises, signor," Teodora said. "We shall see what the Father has fated for that dress, and you must accept His will. Consider it an indulgence paid so that your sins may be forgiven."
The dressmaker reddened and shuffled his feet while the dark-blue gown of silk was fastened over Rosa. It plunged deep at the neckline to reveal the layers underneath (and to save on material, she guessed).
"It has also been hemmed well above the floor for your convenience," the man added. "I presume that the lady will not need chopines."
Teodora broke off from admiring Rosa. "No, I think slippers are the better choice here. I could not be forgiven in the eyes of heaven if I put her in platform shoes on her first night."
"Ah, I see," the dressmaker said, obviously struggling to understand. "The lady is making something of a late season debut, then."
Rosa scowled. She was a woman in her twenties. It was more than a 'late season' debut for her, even if she was still of marriageable age. Only rich girls could afford to wait so long. Commoners got married early, if at all.
Her feet were squeezed into tiny slippers and then the Dressmaker directed them out the back door. Rosa took a few steps in the courtyard and found that the dress did not restrict her as much as she feared. It gave her a certain amount of confidence until they reached the brothel again.
As they walked through the door, Antonio spotted Rosa's dress and rolled out of his chair onto the floor, eyes wide.
"What's the matter with you?" Rosa's voice raised. "Porca puttana, do you think this is funny?"
Antonio uncovered his face. He wasn't laughing.
"No no no," he said. "You look amazing. I could not even believe my eyes."
Her fury dissipated when she saw that his eyes were wet with tears. Antonio could be rather sentimental, at times.
"To think that the little girl who tried to steal from me all those years ago would grow to be such a fine woman, ah Madonna, there are such mysteries in this life."
"Calm yourself, vecchio, this isn't my wedding day," Rosa said.
"And the transformation is not yet complete," Sister Teodora added.
The work continued upstairs as some of the maids came to help. Rosa's hair was washed and brushed, and she had the vague impression of someone working with scissors. They would leave her hair down, to suggest she was seeking marriage. There was a slight touch of rouge added to her cheeks, and two women each took a hand and smoothed down her nails while she tried not to twitch. When she returned, Sister Teodora crossed herself when she saw the changes and whispered a silent prayer.
"Truly beautiful," she said. "You don't believe me? Come look."
They kept a mirror in one of the rooms upstairs. It was yet another extremely expensive item Rosa would be introduced to that evening, and it was retained especially for those men who had a taste for seeing their reflections while they fornicated. When she saw herself, she pulled in a sharp breath of surprise.
The woman in the reflection seemed as fair as someone of noble birth. Sun-touched skin was lightened by makeup and her cheeks seemed red with life. The silver jewelry Antonio had scrounged up stood out against dark fabric. Whatever the actual state of her shoulders, the dress seemed to flatter her figure so that all of the muscle she used for climbing would not make an impression. It gave the impression that she had the soft body of some other girl. Rosa stood frozen, looking at the mirror.
Teodora touched her on the shoulder. "I would let you stay longer, but one of our scouts has reported that Ezio is about to start the ribbon-collecting challenge. You should get to the Squero."
"Si, si," Rosa said, absentminded.
She turned to leave but a part of her mind stayed with her own reflection. With her dress and jewelry and with her hair down, she thought she looked even better than the lady Ezio had been talking to. As she crossed the bridge and entered the square, she could feel the eyes of others on her. She did not have the richest dress but Rosa could tell that she stood out from the crowd.
A man in a colorful outfit was handing out ribbons to women in anticipation of the next competition for the Golden Mask. Ezio would be competing against other men to earn ribbons from the women gathered around. As Rosa passed by the man, he pressed five ribbons into her hand.
"Five tokens of virtu, for a woman worth five times the usual," he said cheerfully. She didn't believe her ears.
Rosa bunched the ribbons up in a fist so they couldn't be snagged by the competitors. She tried to relax, but it felt impossible to stand around by herself with so many people watching her. It grew unbearable.
She was used to being a face in a crowd or a silhouette on a rooftop. Now she was surrounded by people trying to inspect her. The pressure of all those eyes was pushing her out of the square. She needed to get somewhere more open. Maybe if she stood by the canal for a while and listened to the water, she would feel better. Once she found a bridge that wasn't too busy, Rosa calmed herself. It felt like her face had been burning, but it was cooling now in the shadow. She relished the change from lamplight to moonlight. The Venezia she knew was a cold blue in the night, not all red and warm and festive.
She still had a view to the square and could see the games begin. Most of the men went directly to women and tried to chat them up to earn their ribbon. Rosa thought she could see Ezio taking the more direct path, using sleight-of-hand tricks to snatch the ribbons off of entire groups of women.
She was sure that they would have given it up if Ezio asked nicely. He was a charming man, in a way that was unmatched on the streets. Most of the people who thought themselves 'ladies men' were really just slimy manipulators, but Rosa had never felt a sense of dishonesty from Ezio. Just a feeling of disconnection.
After pilfering from most of the women in the square, he ran off in another direction. Not even a second was wasted. When Ezio knew what he wanted, he would take whatever action necessary to secure it. The debacle with Cristina was an example of that. Once Ezio had felt love for that woman, it was likely that he had never let it go. Maybe his heart would always have a space for her.
Rosa looked down into the placid waters of the canal. She didn't know why she was thinking of that. Maybe it was the dress. She knew she shouldn't be looking for a place in Ezio's heart. They had already had their fun, a few days after her thigh was healed. She had given him a little present and he had taken it with obvious enjoyment, but nothing further had developed. This was not the night to try and re-kindle that spark. Ezio had just had a disastrous encounter with a former lover. Or maybe that meant that it was the perfect night to try her luck...
Rosa heard footsteps rushing up the street towards her, and turned to face the threat. The man at the center of her thoughts had ran all the way on the outside of the square to reach her.
"Signora," Ezio said, his voice barely changed from running. "I would be honored if you would grant me the honor of having your ribbon."
He bowed slightly and presented his hand with great panache. Rosa feigned handing over all five ribbons but held them back when he reached for them.
"I think not, signore."
Ezio looked up from his bow and finally recognized her. She could see his total surprise under the mask.
"Rosa? How-"
She shoved the ribbons into his hand. "I'll explain after you win, buffone."
Ezio looked back towards the square across the canal. The men were lining up to be judged. He would be late.
"I won the race," he said, already planning his trip back with his eyes. "Do not think I forgot about the kiss, bella."
He climbed up one of the canal-side buildings, using the move she had taught him and then disappeared around the corner. When next she saw him, he had launched himself off of the building and into the middle of the square, causing quite the disturbance. Ezio's solutions were clever, but not smart. Honestly, that was one of his charms.
She had to take the long way back to the Squero di San Trovaso but she made it just in time for Ezio to take her by the hand and drag her up onto the stage. The crowd cheered even harder for him when she showed up. It felt strange to be shown off, especially when attached to someone else, but Rosa did not hate it. In fact, something about being shown off with Ezio had her buzzing, growing ebullient just like when she was in the middle of a great haul.
All of that energy vanished once she had to explain Antonio and Teodora's plan to Ezio in between competitions. The deception relied on her ability to behave like a noblewoman and she made it clear to him that she thought it was impossible.
"You should give yourself more credit," Ezio said. "You have more charm and allure than any of these women."
"You think so?" Rosa asked, unsure if she was blushing or if her head was still hot from being on stage.
"Yes, I think so. In fact, your character may even be too refined to pass as a woman your age," Ezio said. "Why don't you try acting spoiled? Along with that dress, such a display would convince anyone that you belong."
She pouted and lifted her nose in the air. "I'm hungry."
It wasn't a total lie. She hadn't ate since noon and she had been running all over the district.
"The lady is hungry?" Ezio feigned the mannerisms of a servant. "What would she like to eat? Please, tell me."
Rosa inclined her head even higher. "I don't feel like telling you."
Ezio took both of her hands in his and pretended to plea for mercy. "Please, you must tell me."
"Fine," she huffed. "Bring me fritelle. And they must be hot!"
Ezio scurried off and returned with the fresh-fried dough-balls. They seemed to have a double the amount of powdered sugar coating them. She took one from him with exaggerated daintiness. It was hot enough that she had to roll it around in her mouth to keep it from burning her tongue.
Ezio grinned. "Is the lady satisfied?"
"Perhaps," Rosa said, then held out a frittole to his mouth. "You deserve some payment."
"The lady is most generous," he said, and took the morsel into his mouth.
Driven by the fleeting sense of power, Rosa let her sugar-dusted thumb rest on his scarred lower lip. Ezio kissed her finger. For a half second they looked at each other as if they thought it had been silly, but the magic of the moment won out. She stepped closer and brought her lips to his to taste the sweetness, the kiss chaste enough that their masks did not even touch. Ezio pulled back first.
"Magnifico," he breathed.
She saw the crowds gathering back in the square. The moment would have to be cut short.
"Maybe you'll get a second kiss if you win the fist-fight, too."
"I am not worthy of such a prize," Ezio said. "After all, I have fought with much steeper odds in Firenze."
Once the fisticuffs began, it became obvious that Ezio was not being cocky. The fighting was too easy for him, Rosa could tell. He was taunting them, maybe more for the benefit of the audience than any strategy.
Even when the Doge's cronies called in men with knives, Ezio faced them barehanded.
"What, do you think you are the first honorless bastardi to come at me with steel?" A dagger was wrenched from one hand into someone's head.
Rosa didn't mind the bloodshed so much. The fact that Ezio was holding his own against multiple people also had its own effect. When she had heard about a rich man from Firenze showing up in town, she had written him off as soft, but she had learned quickly that his campaign against the murderers of his family had given him plenty of experience.
He used that experience to eliminate the armed thugs sent to kill him in the fighting ring. There was only one of them left standing, but he was agile. Like Ezio, he fought as if this wasn't his first time in a brawl. He was careful with his blade and didn't leave any room to be countered. It seemed as if the two could dance around each other all day.
Ezio was the first to break the pattern. He stood still and let his cape cover his shoulder again. His opponent took the opportunity to thrust at his chest, aiming for the heart. Rosa saw the blade disappear into the cape. Ezio's hand went to where the dagger was buried, his mouth opening and closing without words. He staggered backwards, the weapon still in him.
Without fully processing the situation, Rosa pulled the stiletto from its sheathe and let out a terrible howl. When the knives had showed up, most of the crowd had already left, but the sound of Rosa's yell was terrible enough to send the last few stragglers away. The corners of her vision darkened and she focused on the thug's back. She would get revenge, at least. Her mind was filled with a compulsion to kill .
But her target fell before she even reached him. Ezio was still upright, his hidden blade retracting even before the blood-spray was finished. He tossed the cape behind his shoulder and lifted his arm. A dagger dropped to the wooden planking beneath him, unmarked by blood.
"That man was only a little better than the others," he said.
Rosa rushed over to touch him. "You fool!"
"What?" Ezio didn't understand. He had won the fight.
"It looked like you were dead," Rosa said, grabbing hold of him.
"That is the point! The knife gets trapped under the arm and it looks like you've been stabbed. My brother taught me it."
She headbutted his chest. "You really don't get it, do you?"
And he never would have it explained to him, because the organizers of the competition were very eager to just give him the Gold Mask and get him out of the Squero before another massacre occurred. Ezio put on the full-face bauta mask and led Rosa out in the direction of the party. With luck, they would not be too late to catch the Doge's final address to the crowd. She could feel her heart racing from all of the excitement. After weeks of quiet nights, she was welcoming chaos .
The guards on the route to the party were the first obstacle, but Ezio let his hood down and kept an arm around Rosa. The guards were looking for a lone man in a white hood, and paid little attention to the couples. The scrutiny got increasingly heavier as they approached the square that the Doge had reserved. The guards at the bridge to the party seemed to be from a more selective group, wearing armor and the insignias of the Doge. They actually inspected Ezio's mask to make sure it was genuine, almost to the point of asking him to take it off. To stop them from getting too inquisitive, Rosa had to take action.
"How much longer until we reach the Doge's party?," she whined. "My feet hurt."
"Soon enough, cara mia," Ezio said, in a passable Venetian accent.
The guards waved them through. No one was being paid enough to deal with the spoiled women of the nobility. On the other side of the canal was an entire squero reserved entirely for the Doge and his invited guests. Teodora's courtesans were already organized throughout the mass. Patrols of heavily armored guardsmen moved in even lines around the crowd, and there were many, many more waiting in reserve for a single sign of il assasino.
The Doge would make an address from the deck of a ship docked right next to the square, but there was no signs of movement from the ship outside of its sentries.
"What are you going to do?" Rosa asked.
Ezio gestured to the hidden cannone on his left arm. "We wait until the Doge appears, then get as close as possible to the ship. I'll aim and fire, and then we have to run."
It made more sense than trying to run up to Doge and stab him, but Rosa felt that it was not much better.
"What about our escape?"
Ezio shrugged. "Maybe we'll take a gondola. Or take to the rooftops."
"Si," Rosa said. "Let me just remove my dress first so I can move. Cazzo! Is every assassination this poorly planned?"
Ezio shrugged. "What can I say? I usually don't have to worry about somebody else. But I know for a fact that there are gondolas available right by the ship. We'll just have to jump down to reach them."
The first step of his plan had them joining the dancers to get out of the open. This late in the night, dancing was a simple routine of two dancers using their hands as a fulcrum and spinning around each other. Rosa had never danced like that before, but she quickly understood why people did it so often.
She found herself giggling. Ezio definitely heard her and his smile widened.
"Enjoying yourself, donna?"
"That is a secret, messere."
She embraced the sense of enchantment that developed as they executed the same circling steps around each other, their hands linking them. Rosa felt as if she could dance with Ezio all night, if it weren't for their purpose there. Earlier, she had been sick to her stomach worrying about the plan, but all of that fear was gone now. It was it was all just part of a plan to assassinate the elected leader of the Venetian Republic.
Marco Barbarigo announced his arrival to the party with a volley of fireworks. She could feel Ezio stiffen as he noticed his target. He forced himself to relax as he began to draw them closer to the Doge's ship, still circling slowly around each other. Rosa could spot more guards surrounding the party now. Ezio had killed plenty of men today, and it was likely that they were on to him now. She saw men appear on the rooftop, too, their bows held loosely while they watched over the crowd.
"Goddamn archers," she whispered to Ezio, and he held her a little tighter.
Their dance was right by the edge of the square. They could see Barbarigo's torso, but no one on the ship could see them. The elite soldiers of the Doge began searching through the crowds from the entrance-side, coming ever closer to the front. They needed to act, now. Ezio placed his left arm on her shoulder, the bicep pressing against her ear. The other arm pulled her closer by her waist. Rosa held her breath, knowing that he was about to fire at the Doge.
For a few moments, all she could feel was his even breathing and the minute adjustments of his arm as he aimed. She could see the guards coming closer over his shoulder.
He whispered a count-down in her ears."Tre, due, uno."
Ezio fired. He had covered her ears but the sound still hurt. There was the crack of the explosion, and then the Doge collapsed where he stood. It felt like another three-second count of silence before anyone else reacted, and Ezio's gaze seemed locked on some far-away place that she could not see.
His eyes refocused and she pulled at his hand. "Run!"
A woman in the crowd screamed and the stillness of the square evaporated. Panic broke out as all of the party-goers tried to leave from one exit, while the guard were headed in the opposite direction, trying to get to the front. The archers had no such limitation, and Rosa decided to take a leap of faith into the water instead of taking an arrow.
She jumped, but couldn't remember anything between leaping from the wall and hitting the cold, cold water of the canal. Her dress trapped some air at the beginning, but it began filling up with water with increasing speed. It was going to drag her all the way down to the bottom if she didn't get out of it.
Her problems were only escalated by Ezio's arrival in the canal. He had followed her, but his mask and his body made two separate impacts and he didn't move at all as he sunk below the surface. Arrows were being sent down from above, so Rosa had to take another gamble. She swam over to him with pathetic splashes and dragged him down into the water, relying on the combined weight of her waterlogged dress and all of his armor to keep them below the surface and away from the arrows.
Rosa could understand things underwater. A childhood on the streets of Venezia ultimately meant a childhood in and around its canals. She knew she could swim across the Grand Canal on one lungful of air, but she wasn't sure what was happening with Ezio. When she opened her eyes in the ghostly world of the moonlit water, his blood was not trailing out from him. She needed to bring him back to the surface, but somewhere out of sight.
The docks on the other side of the canal were the perfect shelter, but she knew she couldn't surface and climb up while the guards were looking for them. She would have to come at it from below, in the jumble of support beams. She began swimming with one arm, kicking her feet as hard as she could in a dress that was dragging her down deeper and deeper.
It had been less than a minute since the Doge had been shot, but each moment that she struggled against the weight of Ezio and her dress felt unreal. The struggle wasn't even over once she crossed the canal. Once she bumped against the piles of the dock, Ezio would need to be dragged straight upwards. That would be impossible with her dress on. The clothes had cost a fortune and were very pretty, but they were going to get her and Ezio killed.
The stiletto was still tied to her shin and she used it to slit her gown down the front. She ripped it off of herself, letting it drift into the depths. When she got around to pulling off Ezio's boots, she felt him stir. With one arm hooked under his own, she kicked upwards, brushing across a layer of slimy algae and looking for a wooden bar to pull their heads above water. She found it and breathed sweet air.
Ezio had to be propped up against a pile to get his head above water. Rosa had to use her own body to pin him there, giving her an opportunity to inspect him face-to-face. His eyes were half-lidded but he was breathing- not unconscious, just dazed. If he had been truly unconscious, he would have been taking water into his lungs. She had won a rather dangerous bet.
"Wake up," she whispered. "Wake up, Ezio."
The docks they were sheltering under were right outside the Doge's palace. She couldn't be any louder, but he responded to her. The first sign of him stirring was his nose wrinkling.
"Che schifo," he mumbled. It was near low tide and the canal was not smelling its best.
"Shut up," she said, covering his mouth. "This is your fault."
Ezio looked around and saw that they were under the dock. Then he looked down and saw Rosa still pressed against him, her chemise soaked through to her skin. Enough of the moon came through the dock to give him a good view.
"Do you never have a plan of escape?" she asked. "You would not have lasted one week as a thief."
Ezio lifted her hand off of his mouth to speak, now that he was conscious enough to tread water and hand onto the dock himself. The exhaustion was setting in.
"You look beautiful," he said.
Rosa scoffed with displeasure. "You must really have scrambled your brains, talking like that."
After making sure there were no guards above them, the two climbed up onto the dock. Rosa was already shivering, but she turned down the offer of his robe as they looked around. It seemed that the guards were confused back at the square, searching the crowd but also believing that they had already killed the assassin.
"Just get the boat back to the Sister's place," she said. "I need my old clothes back."
Ezio stole a gondola from its mooring nearby, choosing one with the tiny customary cabin meant to shelter its passenger. They would take the long way around, hoping not to catch the notice of any guards. Rosa watched the canal through the blinds, glad that no one would be around to see her in the transparent chemise. She began wringing water out of it at the hem, not even caring that Ezio was taking an interest at her feet and calves. She was in no mood to play the noblewoman anymore.
"Cazzo," she cursed. "You are probably pretty happy about how this turned out, aren't you?"
"The Doge is dead and we are not," he said, eyes still on her legs. "Venezia is liberated and I am one step closer to taking my revenge. This is quite the victory."
"Gradasso, I had to swim like a damn fish to keep you from dying. They had us surrounded and you still went for the attack. Is revenge really that important to you?"
"Yes," Ezio said, still moving the boat along. "They killed my family. I have done nothing but pursue my vengeance after that."
He sounded offended, as if Rosa should have known better than to question the lengths he would go to. Rosa found that she was also getting irritated. Controlling her volume mattered less right now than getting her point across.
"You've been chasing vengeance for ten years, Ezio." Rosa remembered poor Cristina from earlier that night. "Don't you realize that life is still going on while you chase these men? Your life still goes on, even if you don't have a single care for it."
"Of course I know life goes on," Ezio said, but he did not sound as if he believed himself after the events of that night.
Rosa took that as a sign. "Really?" she said. "Over at San Travaso, you seemed to forget that you had left Cristina to another man years ago. You spent four years with us, and then left without warning. You never return for a visit unless there's a man you want to kill."
They were both cold and wet, and the brewing argument assured that they would be miserable. But Rosa could still feel her heart beating with excitement. Not over the death of the Doge, as she had seen men killed before. She was still adjusting to afterward, to the actions she had taken to keep Ezio alive. This wasn't a spat caused just because she was shivering and tired.
"Why do you care whether I come to Venezia or not?" Ezio asked. He stopped rowing, as if something was just dawning on him.
Rosa leaned forward from her covered seat.
"You're really going to make me say it?" she asked. "What, did you think I put on the dress and came down to the square because I want to help Antonio and Teresa out with their secret society business?"
Rosa could tell Ezio did not understand the reference about secret societies, but he did seem to get the hint.
"Rosa. You came for... me?"
Rosa shifted in her seat. "Yeah."
"But why?" He looked confused.
"Did you already forget what I gave you?" Rosa asked.
They had lain with each other a few times before the attack on the Palazzo della Seta, but Ezio had never initiated their encounters. After a few visits, she began feeling a strange sense of distance from him, and they had slowly returned back into being nothing but flirtatious friends. She thought he had gotten bored of her.
Ezio looked stunned.
"What, did you think that I was like that with just any man?" Her voice was accusatory, the anger overpowering all else.
After being lectured once before by an angry ex-lover that very night, Ezio could see the signs coming.
"No, no, I didn't mean for that to happen," Ezio said. "I'm sorry."
"Then why did you leave Venezia without saying anything to me? Why have you never come back? Why was there anything between us in the first place? You just needed me for what was between my legs?"
Rosa let her frustrations out. She liked Ezio, more than any other man she had met. He had his charm, his playfulness, his spirit, the magnetism of his body. He had felt like a man who had much love to give, but Rosa had never really felt any of that directed towards her.
"Why did you never come back?" she asked.
She had waited in their spot every night for a month before she realized that Ezio had not put the same weight on their nightly trysts as she had . Even with all the words he said, with all that they had shared in their fight for justice.
"I thought you didn't need me," he said. He still hadn't started rowing again. "You have Ugo... or Antonio. I don't know."
"Ugo?" Rosa asked. "He is like a brother. And Antonio? You really think Antonio was interested in me?"
Ezio looked embarrassed, for once. "He said he cared deeply for you."
"Like an uncle, maybe," Rosa said. "Why do you think he spends all of his time by the Rosa della Virtu?"
Ezio shrugged. Looking at his clueless face, Rosa let out a snort of laughter, but held back anything further until she could explain.
"Let me just say this: He's not there for the working girls."
Ezio cocked his head sideways. "Then he is there for Sister Teresa?"
Rosa tried to hold in her laughter. "He's the other kind of man. I thought you were from Firenze? His tastes are not so obvious. Like that friend of yours... the one with the flying machine."
Ezio's mouth widened into an O. He was shocked into silence. Rosa saw they were drifting close to Teresa's place. She got to her feet to help him moor the boat.
"You're too eager to let another man have your girls," Rosa said. " You did the same thing with that other girl, Cristina. Can't you think of a day that you won't be hunting your enemies? A day must come for love."
She took a step closer to him. His eyes were still wide with surprise, as if he couldn't understand the words that were being said to him.
"Sometimes, Ezio, you should put yourself first," she said.
She placed a cold hand to his warm face.
"Sometimes, you should be honest with yourself and enjoy the things that are in front of you."
Rosa wasn't sure where her words were coming from. So much had happened in one evening that it took her a moment to realize that she was the one pursuing Ezio. She was not playing their old game, with teasing and jokes. She had spilled blood for him, had become involved in his revenge, and had even saved his life. She could not go back to being his little alley-cat in the city.
"So, Ezio," she said. "What do you want right now?"
She took his hand and slowly moved it up to her chest. His palm pressed through thin cloth and against her breast. Her heart was beating so strongly that she was sure he could feel it. Ezio's eyes were serious as they pored over her.
"Rosa," he said.
"Yes?"
He looked into her eyes. "I want you. I was a fool for ever thinking otherwise."
To answer, she pressed herself against him, wrapping her arms around his back. The gondola rocked a little. Ezio held her behind the waist, and she could feel the strength of his emotion through his arms. Their embrace felt stable and secure, even though it was on a narrow boat.
Rosa tilted her head back and offered her lips. Ezio met her with a kiss. At first it was tender, but both of them were feeling something more intense that night. It was not the time for light, sugar-dusted kisses. They became entangled with each other, their mouths searching for what they needed.
Ezio's hands lowered, and Rosa felt a jolt of energy when he grasped both of her buttocks. With everything from their tongues to their legs pressing against the other, he was able to feel her response. He lifted and played with her, fingers pressing in so that he could feel her through the chemise. Rosa felt her body respond to his touch, the heat of lust blooming across her skin.
A sudden chorus of cheers interrupted them. Rosa stepped back to look around and saw a trio of drunk men hoisting bottles in the air from a balcony across the canal. Ezio shielded her body from their view and they booed him for it.
Rosa would not let them interfere. She pulled at Ezio's hand and he followed her off of the boat and onto solid ground. She found herself rushing off, but she did not where to go at first. She could find an alley, and enjoy Ezio as a street-walker would. Or they could go to one of the Guild's safehouses, but those were all too far away and lacked much in the way of bedding. There was only one place of safety and comfort nearby.
Ezio noticed where they were headed.
"Sister Teresa's bordello?" he said.
"Where else will we find clean beds?"
"They will want to know the details of the Doge's death," Ezio said. "It will be some delay..."
They stopped outside of the edifice of the Rosa della Virtu.
"Who said anything about using the front door, buffone mia." Rosa pointed to the roof. "We will enter through the balcony and take her most expensive room."
She rolled the hem of her chemise all the way up to her hips so that she could climb up the Bordello. Ezio followed behind, and Rosa knew that he would be availing himself of the view. Once they got to the top, even the slight breeze was enough to chill Rosa to the bone. Ezio's face had also gone pale from the cold.
The people of Venezia did not take much to the idea of heating their homes with fire, because a single stray ember could set off a disastrous chain through dense streets. Most people weathered the cold of winter by bundling up for a few months, even indoors. Thus there was little for them to do inside the room but strip out of their wet clothes and get into bed. Once they got under the sheets, they still needed time to heat up again.
"That dress seemed quite expensive," Ezio said, propped up on one shoulder.
"Yes," Rosa said. "But the dressmaker was in much debt to Sister Teresa."
"You looked so beautiful in it, too," Ezio said.
Rosa turned her head away. "Do you talk to all your girls like this?"
"Only the beautiful ones," he joked. "With you foremost among them."
She moved her feet to his legs, trying to warm her toes. "You're just saying that because I was all prettied up for you tonight."
"I am being serious," he protested. "Any other woman pales in comparison."
"Even Cristina?" Her voice came out sharper than she wanted, and Ezio looked hurt. It was a sensitive subject for the both of them, especially when Rosa confronted it head-on.
"I loved Cristina," Ezio said. "But if you were there by the alley, you must have heard that it was only foolishness on my part."
"Foolishness? That is a good word to describe it."
Ezio winced. "It is as if I have lost track of time. The years seem like weeks as I chase my foes. Even the four years I spent here with the Guild passed in front of me like a dream."
Rosa thought it sounded incredibly lonely. Ezio ran back and forth across Italy. Outside of his surviving family, he had few people to remember him. Of course a man would forget how to be normal after so many years spent displaced. It had been a long journey, and it was likely still not over. What could be done?
"What if you had something to anchor you?" Rosa asked. "Something to remind you that there will be a day that your chase is done."
Once again, she had traveled beyond the bounds of her own comfort. Ezio didn't understand what that meant for her.
"An anchor?" he said. His eyes looked around the room and then settled on her.
"Yes," she said. "I can be your anchor. Antonio taught me how to read and write, you know. I could send you letters when you're away from Venezia. And I would always be here for you to return to."
"You would?" Ezio said. "But what about..."
She touched his forearm under the sheet. "Forget about the usual excuses. Do you want this?"
"But I could be gone for years at a time, maybe even in other countries. And all of the dangers..." His face tightened. "If I died out there, your future would be wasted on me."
Rosa let out a harsh chuckle. "What future? I am a thief. Even if I were not, an unmarried woman of my age has no place in Venezia. I can't keep thieving forever. Some day, Antonio or Sister Teodora will make me the madam of a bordello when I can no longer be a thief. What a life!"
"That is still a position with much respect," Ezio said. He had been under the protection of such a woman.
"I don't care about respect!" Rosa's outburst startled them both. "My mother was a courtesan. I will not take up her work, even if in a 'respectable' position."
"I did not know that," Ezio said.
"A fatherless girl in this city is only two steps away from becoming a whore," she continued. "My life has been like walking a rope, trying to stop myself from falling into the pit below me ."
She had never told anyone about her mother. There wasn't much to say, with how early she had died.
"I need an anchor, too," Rosa said. "I want to stay true to myself, and it is getting more difficult with every year."
"You want to stay true to yourself through... me?"
"Yes, Ezio," she said. "I want you. And if you want me as well, I will wait for you. I don't care how many years it will take."
He reached a hand out to touch her hair. "I want you, bella, more than I have ever wanted anything in my life."
"You do?" she said. "What do you like so much about me?"
"Your beauty."
She teased his feet with her toes. "That's all? What else?"
"You are clever; Your wits are enough to make up for my own faults."
"Is that all?"
"Well..." his eyes trailed off and he grinned. "I have a soft spot for women in distress."
"How fitting for a man in your situation," Rosa said.
Their time under the sheets had given them enough time to stop shivering. Rosa had felt their desires returning while they talked with each other. They were already nude and the space between their bodies was minuscule. She could feel his heat on her skin.
Ezio made the first move, drawing her closer within an embrace. Rosa found herself pressed against his chest. When they were like this, she could feel just how much larger he was than her, his shoulder looming over hers and his arms enveloping her. They held that position for quite some time.
When she began to feel Ezio's member stiffen and press against her thigh, Rosa had to act. She lifted her head off his chest and wriggled up through his grasp to get a better location. When they had last been together, Rosa had loved to kiss him. The scar on his lip had such a strange texture, and he always had taken his time, progressing with a sense of ease.
Rather than probing her mouth in obscene haste, Ezio kissed with a certain sense of sophistication, drawing her lower lip between his. He repeated it several times, always with an airy assurance that made the moment more romantic than Rosa thought it would be. Even if they were in a bordello, they had exchanged vows (of a kind). His luxuriant pace resembled none of their previous encounters.
Her hand ran through his hair, and Rosa wondered how he kept it so smooth. It passed between her fingers as she kept his head even closer to hers. She took an active role in the proceedings, her tongue the first to reach out and tickle his. They both laughed.
Ezio sat up and Rosa turned to her back to watch him towering over her. She bit her lip as he looked down across her body into her eyes. It was his first good view in ages.
"You grow more beautiful with every time I see you," he said, climbing over her with care.
Rosa could see his manhood, still awakening. When Ezio saw her looking at it, he gave it a few tugs to enhance the visual spectacle. Her view was brief, but her reawakened her memories of the past. The rooftops had been theirs, and she had enjoyed him in several unorthodox places.
Her recollection of the past was interrupted by Ezio's sudden descent to her breasts. One hand was reserved for each, and he massaged them with a series of slow squeezes, almost as if he was a very patient baker kneading dough into shape. His thumbs would tease her tips, sometimes going directly for the nipple. Rosa found herself quite sensitive to it. The insistent motion of his hands made her press her legs together as her desire grew, shaking with lust reawakened.
He noticed her movement, and smiled. His eyes seemed to be captivated by what they saw. Rosa knew that her gaze could not leave him. He leaned to her ear.
"Rosa, amore mio," he whispered. "Bloom for me."
Her body thrilled with his words. Ezio kissed her clavicle, but did not spend long below her neck. His objective lay even further downwards. Rosa watched him as he passed over her chest, kissing the side of a breast as he descended. He pressed his face into her abdomen, feeling the firm resistance there.
At last, he arrived at her figa. Rosa's anticipation had built during his demonstration, and an intense feeling of curiosity amplified everything she was feeling. He had never paid such direct attention between her legs. They had preferred quick rendezvous with minimal buildup, but he was lavishing her with attention and pleasure.
She first felt his breath against the lips of her figa, and then the first tentative laps as he familiarized himself with her details. Rosa knew that her taste would be on his tongue now and the thought made her even wetter. He hooked his arms around her thighs and encouraged them to be drawn closer to his head. He could hold her lips apart and lick even deeper into her with such a position.
Each movement of his tongue brought a wave of pleasure up through her body, but Ezio was being wily enough to limit his pace so that it could be drawn out. She raised herself on her arms so that she could look down and see him at work, eyes closed as he explored her. He began to shift his licking further upward. Rosa could feel a crescendo coming, and knew he would start it by going directly for her bud.
She felt her mind begin to blank out as she began to anticipate her orgasm. Ezio was still taking his time, even as the twinges of her figa were almost becoming painful with their intensity. She nudged him with a thigh and he looked up, his soft smile emerging on a face dripping with succo freshly squeezed from her.
"What?" he asked, dipping his head for another taste.
"Hurry it up," she told him. "The maids will check the beds before they leave."
He obliged, planting his mouth right over her bud and sending the tip of his tongue across it in a frenzy from all directions. She dropped onto her back and reached for his head, her head pressing into the mattress as her body began to arch. Ezio continued on, braving her bucking hips and the tightening vise of her thighs to bring her over the edge.
Rosa cursed as she felt the shock of her orgasm hit her. "Cazzo!"
She trembled once or twice but then let herself fall back against the bed, freeing him. He held her hand, stroking the back of it while she stared up at the ceiling through eyes made heavy by sex. She had not came like that in a while. Or maybe she never had came so hard before.
Once most of the fog had cleared from her mind, Rosa got onto her knees and came closer to Ezio. She did not quite know what she was going to do until she saw his pene lying against his thigh. Her hand went to his ankle first, and then rested at his knee. She sat alongside him, legs bunched up beneath herself.
"You do not have to return the favor," Ezio said, but Rosa shushed him.
"You gave me something that I wanted. Now it's your turn. Tell me what you want."
After spending so long unsatisfied, it did not take much to convince him. He decided to direct Rosa in another oral 'first'. He sat himself on the edge of the bed and bade her to get in a kneeling position on the floor in front of him.
She had a vague idea on what he wanted, but had never done it before. It was technically sodomy, and thus a taboo to any God-fearing Venetian. It did not seem very difficult to her. Ezio's pene was standing at attention just by his looking at her.
Rosa tapped it, letting it bob while she got a little closer.
"Are you sure you wish for this?" Ezio asked.
"Only for you," she said.
She kept her eyes on his and leaned forward, bringing her open mouth closer to the heat of his length. It had a vein further down the shaft and almost seemed to throb as she approached the head. She tasted it first and found it salty, already lubricated with the lesser essences. There was something exciting about experiencing it so closely, just as he had experienced her.
She tentatively closed her lips around his tip, keeping her teeth away. She heard Ezio's breath hitch and felt the devilish thrill of success. He grabbed onto her shoulder to brace himself and that only encouraged her to go deeper. The rest of him tasted just as salty as the tip, and Rosa recognized the taste of the brackish canal.
She was a quick study and had a rhythm established. She would drive herself forward, her tongue rolling across the underside, and then pull back, creating a tight seal that made him stomp his feet with the feeling. Each time, Rosa tasted more of him, held more of his heat inside of herself, feeling her body respond to the obvious reminder of sex. She lost track of herself, enjoying the push and pull while Ezio made noises and tightened his grip.
She knew she was having an effect but she had no idea how strong it had been. She only broke out of her trance when Ezio moaned something in a sharp tone and pulled her forward by the shoulders. She was brought all the way forward between his legs. His pene slid smoothly into her throat, her mouth pressed all the way into his groin. It jumped a little inside of her and she felt his come spill out within he. At first she thought she was disgusted, but the more she thought about it, the less it angered her.
Ezio's arms went slack and Rosa could finally extricate herself from between his legs. He was splayed out on the bed, breathing as if he had just been running in the streets.
"Scusa," he said. "I couldn't... That was amazing."
Rosa wiped her face with a hand-towel from a cabinet. "Forget the apologies. Find me some water. Or wine."
Ever gracious, he rolled over and looked under the bed. He clearly had seen enough bordellos to know where they kept the wine. He uncorked the ceramic container and took a whiff.
"Not bad at all," he said. "I suppose this is what the customers get in the city's top brothel."
"The girls need it too," Rosa said. "Unless you take to the idea of being sober when servicing 6 men per hour."
"I do not," he said. "But I know bad wine when I smell it, and this is something better."
He passed the jug to Rosa and she swished it around her mouth before swallowing. He took the next pull from the bottle. After all of their strenuous activity that day, the wine had a restorative effect. They sat thigh-to-thigh and swapped glugs until it went dry. A comfortable buzz settled in for the both of them.
"I guess I owe Sister Teodora a few lire more for tonight," Ezio said.
Rosa leaned against his shoulder, and discovered another thing about the room. The mirror was opposite the bed. Which meant that her rear had been on display for Ezio while she had been fellating him.
She pointed to the mirror. "You go so deep in my throat and you want to see my culo at the same time?"
Ezio shrugged, and put on an air of grace. " Grazie mille, It was a honor to experience both at once."
She laughed and they spent some time looking into the mirror. Ezio was the next to talk.
"It feels so strange to see yourself there. It is like a painting, but true."
Rosa took a look at herself. Hours before, she had been dressed up and made pretty. Now she was entirely nude, her face flushed with wine and arousal. Her hair was damp and mussed from Ezio's hands. She could see her reflection leaning all over him in the mirror, like a woman she had never seen before.
"This is me," she said, pointing to herself just to see her reflection move.
"Those two look good together, don't you think?" Ezio said.
Rosa did look comfortable next to him, with his shoulder sloped down to meet hers. Ezio's face was no longer drawn tight. Rosa knew her posture was better than it had been during Carnevale.
"Is the reflection real?" Rosa asked. "What is it?"
"Leonardo told me his theory once," Ezio said. "He said that it was something... something about vision. Venezia has the best glassmakers in Italy, and they can make a backing so shiny that everything in front of it appears to be behind it. The mirror and the reflection are real but the vision is not."
"Bravo," Rosa said. "You almost sounded like a scholar."
He leaned over and cupped his hand to her ear. "Scholar? Si, but only a scholar of eating your figa."
His whisper had an instant effect. The hair stood up at the back of her neck, her nipples perking. His voice was powerful to her. When she did not say anything, Ezio knew he had been successful.
"I love you," he said again, his voice somewhere between a rasp and a growl.
Rosa let out a squeak enitrely without her own volition. Her face in the reflection was blushing red in a way that she had never seen. They were just words, but the proximity made them real. When he whispered, she knew he was meant only for her. She could also see his free hand begin to coast along her thigh, over her hips, and then onto her breasts.
Rosa caught onto his game. He was going to tease her again and draw out his caresses to the point that she wouldn't be able to think straight. She wanted to counter that plan.
She turned her head so that she was now the one doing the whispering. She seized his pene and gave it a firm tug as she spoke her next words.
"I'll be your woman," she said. "Your private cortigiana for whenever you end up in Venezia."
They looked at their reflections. Rosa was leaning into him, almost lifting her body onto his. They both saw the whispered promise be processed through Ezio's face.
"My private courtesan? But I thought-"
"I will still send letters," she said. "But we both know you need a better reason to draw you here."
Rosa increased the speed of her hand on his dick.
"If you come to Venezia every few months, I'll suck and fuck you like no one else will," she said.
Ezio's mouth dropped open when he heard her vulgarities. He grew even harder in her hands.
"When you are done with your vendetta, we can talk of our futures," Rosa said. "But until then, what more do you need?"
"What... what about you?" Ezio asked, trying overcome the force of her methodical strokes.
"I can wait," she said. "You are a catch. I just need one promise."
"What?" Ezio said. "What promise?"
"Promise me I'll be the only one," she said. "I can't do anything about the girls in the past. Or the women that might come into your life if I die. But while we're waiting, swear to me that you will remain faithful."
"Si, si, si," he said, wincing as he felt an orgasm wane away. "You're the only one for me now."
She let go of his dick and instead went to kiss him. All of the teasing he had done and the feeling that came from whispering to him had made her ready. At first she tried to face him and descend from above, but it did not feel right. His eyes were always over her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder to see him staring at their reflections in the mirror again.
"Porca Puttana!" she cursed.
Rosa spun around to face the mirror but remained in Ezio's lap. She could see her slender form stretched out in front of Ezio, his hands already reaching to guide her hips down. His aim was exceptional, and she felt him slowly in the rest of the way.
"It's so tight," he exclaimed. He felt her lower abdomen from behind, his fingers finding muscle just under the surface.
He tried to pull back, but the tightness forced him to go slow. Rosa was drawn further back into his lap for a better angle.
"Amore mio," he breathed. "Tesoro"
Rosa assumed that Ezio had not been fornicating as often as she had presumed. He was going ecstatic. Or perhaps he was actually in love.
They alternated on providing friction, lifting herself up and letting him ease her down into his own upward thrust. She could look up and see herself moving with that rhythm in the mirror. It still felt strange. There was no sign that she was Rosa, the girl-thief of Venezia while Ezio held her and they sought unity in pleasure. They were doing a good job of it, too.
Her figa was now perfectly primed to take him, the walls made looser and the passage made easier by how wet she was. She advanced a little further forward so that she could sling her hips up and down with greater speed. When she came down upon him, the impact would send a vibration through her. Each time that it happened, Rosa was driven to go faster. Ezio also found himself caught up in the loop, driven by her moans and the way she held his dick so tightly as she crashed down upon him.
Neither had the stamina nor the inclination to turn this into an endurance session. The night was late, and they had come into the room half-drowned and cold. When Rosa felt her climax approaching, she did nothing to hold it back. She slung her hips back to Ezio one last time, and let the impact carry her over.
She was not prepared for the strength of her orgasm. Her legs stopped obeying her, preferring to tremble as her walls roiled against Ezio. He almost came within her, but he held on until he could roll her off onto her back. He knelt over her, His fist moving so fast over his cock that Rosa felt her own juices splattering back onto as she watched on.
His hips jerked and he let out a loud groan, coming all the way up her torso, from her furred mons all the way to her heaving chest and her slender breasts. He collapsed next to her, but his arm dangled over the bed for a few moments until he found a towel for her.
She took it, but was too tired to start cleaning herself up right away. Just lying there felt too good.
"That was close," Ezio said. "That almost ended up inside of you."
Rosa looked down at her chest. He had left a lot of come all over her. If he hadn't been so good at coitus interruptus, they might have had a problem to worry about. She liked Ezio, but there was no way that either of them were in a position to think about children. She wasn't even sure that she would ever be ready.
All that she knew of motherhood was from seeing Teodora's girls and the wives of the thieves. In one case, children were occupational hazards and the girls tried to prevent. For the wives of thieves, each new child was another mouth to feed, and if the father was caught and imprisoned, the Guild might not be able to keep the family comfortable. Rosa was an orphan, which meant that she had to adopt her own family- she chose to add people to her heart. If the time ever came for her to add a new member, Rosa wanted to choose.
"You already gave me one bellyful of it," she joked.
Ezio's eyes widened as he recalled. "My God, that was amazing. I was afraid that you might have choked, but you did not even gag!"
"I was born like that," Rosa said. "Don't get any funny ideas."
"Of course not," he said, correcting the saucy look on his face. "But I have never experienced anything like that."
Rosa laughed softly and began to wipe her chest clean. "You know our deal. Each time you come back to Venice, I'll give it to you just like that."
He smiled at the thought. "With the right horses, I might be able to give you frequent practice."
Somehow, she liked the thought of that. Knowing that he wanted her bad enough to ride horses all through the day and night like the messengers would. She kissed him by his temple.
After cleaning themselves, they ended up pulling the sheet back over themselves and dropping off to sleep as soon as the lamps were blown out.
They both woke up in the later afternoon when their door opened and Sister Teodora stood by, her arms crossed.
"That door was locked," Ezio said, pulling the sheets up to his neck.
"Yes, it was," she said. "How long do you plan to sleep in? There are things to be done."
Ezio got up and put on his robes, kissing Rosa's hand before her left the room. Teodora stayed at the door, but Rosa did not understand why until she finally gestured to her.
"You, too. After your performance at the Doge's party last night, Antonio and I decided that you might be capable of more important work than he had thought."
She gave Rosa's clothes back to her and turned her back to let her dress.
"Does this have something to do with your thing?" Rosa asked. "With those strangers who come visiting and the meetings you hold in secret?"
"Yes," Teodora said. "That is, if you are interested in our work. It is a place for those who would protect freedom itself. Come, let us discuss this more."
On the previous night, she had gone from thief-girl to noblewoman to lover. Today, she was being called up to become an Assassin. Rosa wondered how many more changed the future would have for her.
Rosa and Ezio were initiated into the Brotherhood on the same night, their fingers branded with the same iron. The pain was considerable, but Rosa dealt with it.
When the rest of the brotherhood leaves, just Rosa and Ezio are left up in the tower. They took a moment to look at Venetia from above, silent until Ezio spoke.
"I must leave tonight."
"And where will you go?" Rosa asked.
"First, Monteriggioni and the Villa Auditore. There is business to settle there. After that, I make for Forli."
She knows what he was after in Forli. It would be dangerous, like anything he did.
"In boca al lupo," she said. "Come back safely."
"Crepi il lupo," he answered. "I will let nothing block my way back to your side."
"Expect to hear from me in Forli," Rosa aid.
He nodded, made his way to the edge, and leaped, shooting for the cart of hay piled up at the bottom. When she saw the white of his robe streaking off to the gates, Rosa felt feelings bubble up within herself. There was some amount of pride that she was connected to him. There was also a sense of satisfaction that her abilities had been recognized by the Assassins. The foremost feeling that she had was one of loneliness.
She was entrusting her future on Ezio, even if there were no formal ties between them yet. It was a little worrying to let someone in after so long, especially after they had drifted apart before. Rosa resolved that this time, she wouldn't leave it up to chance. She wouldn't simply wait for him to make his moves.
It didn't matter if he was a noble from Firenze or that she was a thief from Venezia. It didn't matter that he would be so occupied with his quest for revenge. She was willing to look past that and choose a future for herself, one that had them both together. It was a matter of mutual needs, after all. She would not let anything stand in her way.