"Father, you cannot be serious!" Ezio had not expected this. "Contessina? What will Cristina think?" The young Florentine paced in his father's study as his mother sat watching. Giovanni was expecting this reaction, so much that he was willing to bet Ezio would be shocked and furious about the match.
"Ezio, you know that you cannot marry Cristina. Her father is in line with the Pazzi and we are supporters of the Medici. I gave Lorenzo my word that I would support him and I shall." Giovanni told his son before looking to his wife. Maria could only give him a small smile of courage because Ezio could be reasoned with. "Son, I know you love Cristina." He walked over to the young man and put a hand on his shoulder. "But you have a duty to this family too. A duty to your city."
"Perhaps Contessina feels the same as you do right now. If I were to have a choice, I would have you marry for love like us." Maria interjected placing a hand on her chest before standing. "Ezio, my son, Contessina is not the worst choice for a bride. She is your friend after all and who knows, she may be your greatest ally." Ezio wondered if there was a way to still hang on to Cristina while being married to Contessina. He was not willing to give up the love of his life just yet and the beautiful blond woman he had known for the last several years of his life could also be a constant companion. He looked at his mother and relaxed his posture.
"Alright. I accept Contessina as my bride." He said sadly. Maria could tell his heart was aching at the news.
"You are making the right choice, Ezio." Giovanni put his hand on the back of Ezio's neck in comfort. "I am sorry. I truly am." He pulled his son into a hug before letting him go. "We are going to Palazzo de'Medici for dinner tonight to announce your engagement." Ezio said nothing; only nodded before slowly walking out of the study with a broken heart. Giovanni wondered if this was all a mistake, but perhaps it was not. Perhaps Contessina would allow his son to be free and not hold him to the standards that most marriages had. She was at least agreeable.
"I wonder if Contessina loves him already." Maria said walking over to her husband. "She has known him all this time, but I've seen them together before he met Cristina. She works in tandem with him, not against him."
"Like you and I, my love?" The Assassin said leaning over to kiss his wife on the cheek. "Perhaps this will end up better than we all anticipated."
Ezio found himself walking towards Cristina's home after the conversation he had with his parents. A thousand thoughts were racing through his head, all of them on how he was going to break the news to his beloved. More importantly; how it was going to change the relationship he had with Cristina and Contessina. Both women knew that their place in society was to eventually marry the sons of nobles in order to maintain alliances, but it did not change the fact that he loved Cristina.
He wanted to blame Contessina, but he could not. She could not have known the choice her cousin made and he cared for her a great deal as well. Fate, it seemed, was not in favor of his heart and part of it withered away the moment his father announced that he was to be married. The blond beauty was not Ezio's choice, but he could not disappoint his family. The thought had crossed his mind to run to Cristina and tell her to run away with him; to elope in the countryside and all of this could be avoided. The truth was it would only make things worse with the Pazzi. Messer Vespucci would likely call for Ezio's arrest and the elopement would be immediately annuled.
He only had an hour before the dinner, so he had to make the conversation quick. Ezio stood below Cristina's window like always after the sun had gone down and called her name. After a few moments, she opened the window and looked down at him. The look on his face told her that something was not right.
"Can you come down?" He asked her.
"I will meet you in the square." She said quietly trying not to grab anyone's attention. "Go! I'll only be a minute or two." Cristina smiled at him. Just as she said she would, the brunette met him in the square with a concerned look on her face. "Ezio, what is wrong?" She put a hand on his arm.
"I need you to promise me you will not get angry with me...or Contessina." Ezio looked her in the eyes for a moment before turning away.
"Why would I be angry at either of you?" She grabbed him and made him face her again trying to understand what was going on. "Ezio?"
"Contessina is getting married." He said and Cristina smiled.
"We both knew she was going to be married soon, why are you upset about it? You should be happy for her. Tell me? Who is it she is to wed?" Cristina seemed more excited that her friend was getting married than how Ezio was acting. "Ezio? Tell me. Is it Manfredo? Please do not let it be Manfredo. Or Vieri de'Pazzi. She will be miserable with either of those two idiots." She said but became surprised when Ezio sighed and grabbed her shoulders. "Mio Dio." Her face fell when she realized. "No."
"I'm sorry, Mi Amore." He could not bare to look at her, but he could hear Cristina go silent. The sound of her quiet sniffs told him that she was hurting. "I had no choice."
"You had a choice." She backed away from him. "You could've said no!"
"Cristina, please. Listen." Ezio was desperate to save his relationship with Cristina. "I don't want this. Contessina is my friend, she is your friend, but she doesn't have a choice either. On the way here I thought about asking you to run away with me; to elope."
"Then let us run away. Ezio I want to be with you forever." She grabbed his hands and pressed them to her mouth. "Please, let's run away. Contessina will have to find another suitor, but we could be happy." She kissed his hands. "Please, Ezio."
"We can't. Your father will be infuriated and have me arrested. My family will be disappointed and it would give the Pazzi another reason to undermine the Medici." He told her as she dropped his hands. "I can't do this to my family."
"Who cares about the Pazzi and the damned Medici!" She yelled out before grabbing his face. "I love you. Please, don't marry her." She searched his eyes for any sign of giving in, but there was only sadness. "Please."
"I'm sorry, Cristina." He removed her hands from his face and then kissed her on the cheek. "I wish there was another way." Inside he was lost and heartbroken. Ezio turned away from her and began to walk towarded the Palazzo de'Medici. He wanted to look back at her when he heard her sobs, but he convinced himself that he had to do the right thing.
Contessina sat quietly as Lorenzo's guests lingered about the dining room with cups of wine in their hands. Her mother stood beside her watching the interaction between the noble families of Florence that supported the Medici. One of those families was the Auditore and she saw Maria Auditore at her husband's side as he spoke with Lorenzo. She wondered if they spoke about her and Ezio, or if they were speaking about the next political match that could be made. Ezio had yet to make himself known while his brother Federico was preoccupied with his wife.
The young woman had dressed in her finest dress that evening like her mother told her to. A light green that contrasted with all of the red of Firenze. Her hair adorned with a simple silver pin and hanging off of her shoulder. She was sure to look her best at the request of her mother. She also made a promise to not 'act out' during the dinner in her rebellious ploy to forego the marriage that she hesitantly agreed to.
She watched and waited for Ezio to walk in at any moment. She wanted to speak with him first, to let him know that this was not of her choosing. She could only imagine how heartbroken he was at the news and how he had to give up the woman he loved for his best friend who could not hold a candle to Cristina. With that thought, she could only guess that Cristina would not be speaking with her for a long time. Cristina had Ezio's heart and Contessina knew she had inadvertedly destroyed it. Contessina felt sick to her stomach. The room was getting stuffy and she wanted to breathe fresh air; if only to clear her thoughts.
"Contessina? Where are you going?" Ginevra asked her daughter as she stood up from her seat.
"I need some air, Mama. I will be back." Contessina smiled as she left the room and entered the courtyard of the palazzo.
In the courtyard were various statues of roman generals, emporers, and gods that her grandfather, Cosimo de'Medici, collected through his years. The one she admired the most was the statue of Prosperpina, the goddess kidnapped by Pluton and brought into the underworld. She had been very little, only five when Cosimo told her the story of Prosperpina while they stood in front of the beautiful marble statue. She remembered it so well.
"My little Contessina, do you know the story of the beautiful Prosperpina?" Cosimo in his old age asked her. She held on to his large hand as he brought her to the scantly clothed goddess made of marble. She looked up at her grandfather and shook her head. "Well, perhaps it is time for you to know." He squeezed her hand as he began to tell her the wonderful story.
Cosimo de'Medici passed away not two weeks after and barely a year after that her grandmother, Contessina de'Medici the Elder, joined her husband. After that the Medici bank was spent and the Pazzi had taken the place of the Albizi. If it were not for the investments of art and literature that Cosimo made in his time, the bank would be flourishing. Her uncle had done everything he could to bring the Medici back into the fold, but in the end the bank owed more money to the Pope than it did to Florence and because of this, the Pazzi family were trying to take control of the Papal accounts.
"Contessina?" She turned around to see Ezio, who had only just walked in from the streets. She did not answer him, only looked back towards the statue before he came to her side.
"I don't know what to do." Contessina said softly. "I did not ask for this, Ezio. I never meant to hurt anyone, especially you and Cristina."
"Look at me." Ezio grabbed her by the shoulders to make her face him. He did not want her to go through life in regret for something that was never truly her fault. "You did nothing. Our families are only doing what they think is best, even if it costs us someone we love. You and I are caught in the middle of a political game and maybe we have to make the best of it." Ezio was wise beyond his years in some moments and Contessina greatly admired him for it.
"What about Cristina?" She asked him and he sighed. She had to have known Cristina was furious about this. He removed his hands from her shoulders and sagged wearily.
"She didn't take to the news very well." He said. Contessina could not contain her emotions anymore and felt tears falling down her cheeks. There was no way to fix the friendship she and Cristina had anymore. From now on they were estranged and possibly even rivals. "Please, do not blame yourself for this. You could not have known that our families had arranged this." He put a hand on her cheek and wiped the tears away. "What matters right now is how are we going to deal with this together." She looked up into his honey brown eyes in quiet shock.
"What do you mean?" She asked him, not really grasping what he said.
"I still love Cristina, but I am willing to do as my family asks of me. I can't give you my heart, but I can give you a promise." He grasped her hands. "You have been my closest friend for many years, Contessina, and you will always be my friend. I promise that I will take care of you like you have taken care of me all this time." It was not an admission of love, or solidarity, surely not fidelity, but it was a promise that he could keep. Whatever was to come, he was sure that she was going to support him. He did not say anything more before kissing her cheek.
"Ezio! There you are!" Federico's voice interrupted the pair. He came striding over and clapped a hand on Ezio's shoulder, earning a groan from his younger brother. "Where have you been little Brother? We have been waiting for you."
"I've been here." Ezio rolled his eyes as Federico laughed. "I was only discussing the future with Contessina."
"And in front of a nearly naked statue no less." Federico looked to Contessina. "Your grandfather had exquisite taste in marble statues."
"Federico Auditore! Are you drunk already?" Contessina asked seeing the behavior of her soon to be brother in law.
"No. Not yet." He put an arm around Ezio's neck and then hers. "Come, we are all waiting for the two of you."
"Federico, you are quite possibly the worst." Contessina said as the eldest of the Auditore siblings ushered the intended couple into the dining room. Once inside, Contessina took her seat next to her mother and Ezio was lead to the seat across from her. A roasted pheasant sat on the table along with a boar's head. Several dishes with soft Fetta and bread littered the table in front of all the guests. In front of Contessina was a fresh chalice filled with wine from Lorenzo's vineyard.
Despite the delicious food in front of her, she could not eat any of it. Looking up at Ezio she found him picking at his own food as well and when he looked at her, she saw that he was just as pensive as she was. Lorenzo was busy talking with Giovanni who sat to his left drinking the wine out of his cup.
"Lorenzo has arranged the wedding to take place a month from now." Ginevra said leaning over to Contessina. "The bride price has been settled on and all things are in preparation." The smile that Ginevra had on her face made Contessina feel worse. Despite her intended husband being her closest friend already, this was not what she wanted.
"That is good news, Mama." She said putting on a small smile to throw off her mother. "I cannot wait." The young woman continued to pick at her food before her mother continued.
"Lorenzo has arranged the wedding to take place a month from now." Ginevra said leaning over to Contessina. "The bride price has been settled on and all things are in preparation." The smile that Ginevra had on her face made Contessina feel worse. Despite her intended husband being her closest friend already, this was not what she wanted.
"That is good news, Mama." She said putting on a small smile to throw off her mother. "I cannot wait."
"Neither can I." Ginevra put her left hand on top of Contessina's right and smiled. "You will be safe with the Auditore family. I never told you this, but the Medici name is not safe for any woman." The older woman looked over at the other end of the table where Lorenzo's wife, Clarice, sat. The dark haired woman was doing her best to look the part of a dutiful wife and hostess, but in her eyes, there was unease. "Clarice was going to give her devotion to God, but your Uncle, Carlo, convinced her that marrying Lorenzo would be the same as serving God. He used the Medici name to influence her decision. Now she may love Lorenzo, but she is also caught up in the Pazzi's schemes like the rest of us."
"You are marrying me off to save me from the fight between the Pazzi and the Medici?" Contessina asked in quiet surprise.
"Not only that, but I could not see you with anyone other than that young man over there." Ginevra squeezed her daughters hand and nodded towards Ezio. "I know he will take care of you." Contessina did not say anything more as she looked over towards her future husband as he spoke with his brother. She wondered what they were talking about, but her thoughts were interrupted when Guiliano leaned over and spoke to her.
"I have it on good authority that Sow-Kisser Soderini is absolutely heartbroken that you are getting married to Ezio Auditore and not him." He said coming so close that she could smell the wine in his breath. "You did good, Cousin."
"You know as well as I, Giuliano, that I had nothing to do with the pick of suitors." Contessina bit back before taking a sip of her wine. "As for Manfredo, he was never worth my time."
"Manfredo Soderini is worth no time at all." Guiliano said before leaning back in his chair. It was at this point that Lorenzo stood up and began to talk.
"Dear friends, tonight is a wonderful occasion where we celebrate the upcoming union of two families. The Medici and the Auditore!" There was clapping before he continued. "Long have the Medici respected and admired the Auditore family; even depended on the Auditore. For this, I am eternally grateful, Giovanni." The Auditore patriarch nodded his head in thanks for the kind words Lorenzo offered. "Tonight, our families are celebrating a permanent union between our families with the marriage of Ezio Auditore da'Firenze to Contessina Giulia de'Medici!" Lorenzo motioned for Contessina and Ezio to stand. The two youths looked to one another, feeling outed and slightly embarrassed with all the eyes that set upon them. The claps of the people around them made Contessina's face turn red as Lorenzo motioned for her to go to him and Ezio as well. "I wish you both a healthy and happy engagement." The elder Medici took each of their hands and clasped them together with a smile on his face.