All credits to Ubisoft and others where it is given. I own nothing.
Hi everyone! I was a little more timely with this update. :) Also, I was reading my story and what not and I realized that my computer automatically changed Federico to Frederico. I didn't even notice when I was editting because I wasn't paying attention. I'm really sorry about that but I went back and changed all of it to say Federico. oops.
Anyways, feel free to review! I like feedback to improve on my writing. :) It would be most appreciated but I still do appreciate all the reviews I already have as well as all the subscribers. xoxo ENJOY
Chapter Seven: Midnight Fight
Ezio dropped down from the roof, now standing in front of the courtesan building. He glanced around him, wondering if Trinity would suddenly appear beside him.
She was nowhere to be found.
He decided to wait for a little bit to see if Trinity would turn up…otherwise, he may have to assume the worst. He went to lean himself up against the wall, constantly scanning the roofs above and either ends of the street to see a figure in white approaching. But he saw no one that remotely resembled Trinity.
Ezio lowered his eyes for a moment to the street floor, unsure of what course of action he should take. He felt a little bit of guilt rise in his throat for having abandoned Trinity with at least seven guards upon her, despite that she had told him to leave her behind. She had seemed like she knew what she was doing though.
He exhaled heavily and took one final glance up and down the street, but did not expect to see her. After a moment, Ezio moved away from the wall and opened the door to the building. Once he closed it, he removed his hood while going further into the room, looking for a familiar face among the women who were now gazing at him. He didn't bother to smile at some of the courtesans who were giggling quietly at him.
Paola had been waiting patiently for the return of the two teenagers and when she saw Ezio, she quickly stood up from her corner of the room and approached him.
He met her near her corner and wordlessly, she embraced him, proud that he was able to make the assassination. However, when she pulled away, she saw how solemn Ezio's expression was…and she noticed that Trinity was not present.
"Ezio…" said Paola slowly, glancing around him to see if maybe she had missed the teenaged girl enter the building. "Where is Trinity?"
Again, he lowered his eyes for a moment, uncertain of how he was going to explain what had happened.
But as he opened his mouth to reply, there was an enormous bang! behind him, causing the majority of the occupants of the room to jump slightly.
Ezio turned on the spot to find Trinity, hand still on the door and was slightly out of breath; she obviously had opened the door very forcefully in order to grab the room's attention. Both he and Paola were relieved to see that she was all right, though Ezio would never say that aloud.
He couldn't see what her expression was because her hood was shadowing her face but he had a distinct feeling that she was not happy by the vibes she was emanating. On her left upper arm, the fabric was torn and soaked in blood.
Trinity stepped through, slamming shut the door behind her.
Paola rushed over to her. "Trinity, are you all right?" she pressed, gently taking a hold of her injured arm. "You're bleeding. Let-"
The teen brushed Paola off, almost roughly, and pulled down her hood. Though her face was impassive, Ezio could see the anger or heavy irritation in Trinity's cerulean eyes.
"I'm fine," Trinity interjected as she walked towards Ezio. He started to take a step back but then stopped, not wanting to seem like he was afraid of her…though she was coming off as a little intimidating.
The moment she was within arm's reach, she quickly grabbed him by the collar with her uninjured arm and shoved him forcefully into the wall behind him. Ezio was surprised with the amount of strength she had in the movement for it caused him to exhale abruptly when his back hit the wall.
Paola discreetly rolled her eyes, no longer wanting to get involved with the pair's constant fighting, be it verbally for figuratively; even their bickering was beginning to take a toll on her. She figured it was best to let them fight it out.
The rest of the room, again, watched with great concentration on the scene. However, Trinity did not care if the whole world was watching at this point.
"Never announce yourself like that again," she spat. "If you are looking for a death warrant, I will gladly throw you to the guards myself, Ezio Auditore, but if I ever catch you screaming your name like that in the future, so help me God, I will cut off your testicles."
Ezio did not looked perturbed by her threatening him as she roughly released her hold of his collar.
Trinity was bluffing. She would never want to even come close to his groin region but she hoped that her very blunt threat would instill common sense into his brain.
"What did you do?" asked Paola to Ezio as Trinity walked away from him.
Trinity scoffed, not allowing Ezio to answer. "He started shouting, 'I'm Ezio Auditore! I am still alive! The Auditores aren't dead!' after he killed the Gonfaloniere. Half the damn city probably heard him, seeing he attracted at least six guards with his stupidity," she exclaimed, throwing up her hands. "And then he thinks he could fight them. I had to yell at him just to get him to run."
Ezio glowered at her, wishing greatly to grab her by the throat. "I wanted Firenze to know that the Auditore line will never die-"
"It was about to end right then and there!" she retorted scathingly, ignoring the stares from the courtesans. "…You are lucky that in this situation, it hardly matters. They were out looking for us anyways and knew who we were…but in any other assassination, you never compromise yourself like that…ever. Do you understand me?"
Ezio made no move to reply, making Trinity narrow her eyes again.
"Va bene," interceded Paola with a slightly firm tone. "That's enough."
The two teenagers didn't argue with her but they both continued to throw nasty glares at each other.
"Now, let me take a look at your arm."
Trinity sighed, having no interest in being tended to…though the wound was beginning to throb painfully now. She knew that she could not defy Paola, especially when it was in her own interest, so Trinity started to pull off her raiment of weapons and placed them on the nearest table.
Ezio turned away, feeling the slightest bit awkward as she started to pull off the top portion of her clothes, bearing more skin than he had ever seen her bear in his life. A tan, sleeveless, thin shirt covered her torso but watching a person he despised undress was… slightly uncomfortable for him, even though she was attractive.
"I wonder how you bed any women when you can't even watch me strip halfway without growing embarrassed," she mocked, smirking at him. Trinity pulled off her last piece of clothing and set it down. She knew she shouldn't have said anything but could not resist and the taunt came out automatically.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" he replied smoothly, turning back to her and folding his arms. "Clearly you've never been pleasured by a man before with how foul your attitude is all the time. If you had more of a sex life, you'd be much more pleasant to be around."
At this, some of the courtesans around him giggled at his comeback. Ezio returned her smirk, purposefully eyeing her. Trinity was only wearing her brown breeches, her leather, knee-high boots, and her shirt, leaving her open to view since all the fabric clung to her skin in every which direction.
Trinity looked as if she was going to kill him and she muttered a string of profanity under her breath, causing Paola to laugh.
Ezio was amused with how easy it was to infuriate her with this subject and decided to give her hell since she was giving it to him for the last few days. He immediately set about circling her like predator to helpless prey.
Trinity ignored this as a courtesan brought Paola a bowl of clean water with a small hand towel in it.
Paola quickly set about cleaning up the laceration, holding back her smile at the two bickering yet again. "You've stopped bleeding for the most part," she said after a moment. "It's not deep…though I do recommend letting this arm rest and heal before you hurt it further."
"Yes, yes, yes," said Trinity dismissively, irritated that Ezio was still slowly circling her and looking her up and down.
Paola had a long piece of fabric and wrapped Trinity's arm tightly to stem the rest of the flow of blood. Once she was finished, the teenaged assassin rounded on Ezio.
"Are you satisfied?" she growled.
Ezio stopped, his ever-prevalent smirk on his face while his arms were still crossed. He was about two feet from her, which was closer than she would have preferred.
He reached out with his hand and put a finger under her chin to lift her head up slightly. Trinity did not move, frozen with fury that he was even touching her…as well as aware of the audience she had.
"You know," he said, dropping his voice to a low whisper and leaning closer to her, "despite your pretty face…I would only let myself be in the same bed with you if you were to beg me."
Rage erupted within her chest and she struggled to remain emotionless and indifferent to his words. Ezio already knew that she would be angry…but he was enjoying the game.
Trinity pushed his hand viciously away from her face. "As if I would beg," she replied offhandedly, turning away and to her clothes on the table. "You're the last man on earth I would ever spread my legs for."
Ezio laughed dryly and dropped the subject because Paola was giving him a look of warning about not pushing Trinity too far.
Despicable, Trinity thought furiously and she let her mind run away with a slew of offensive names for him. She didn't understand how he could behave like this when he only just recently lost his father and brothers. To so easily forget that his family was gone and be able to flirt with her…or any woman, was ridiculous.
"I think it's best if we leave Firenze," said Ezio to Paola, changing the subject, while Trinity redressed herself.
At this statement, Trinity froze once more, her temper spiking.
"Now you want to leave?" she exclaimed, turning on the spot and glaring at him. "I'm glad everything depends on your decisions."
He smirked but ignored her.
"And where will you go?" asked Paola, also disregarding her comment, causing Trinity to groan in frustration.
"I'm taking him and his mother and sister back to Monterriggioni," snapped Trinity before Ezio could as she tightened her belt. "As I was trying to do this three days ago…. Ezio's uncle lives in the family's villa there."
Paola nodded in understanding and clapped her hands as she turned towards the stairway. Both Trinity and Ezio turned their gazes up there as well, finding Annetta leading Ezio's sister and mother down to them.
As the Auditore women approached Ezio, Paola stepped away to give them time to talk, since they haven't seen each other for some time.
"Ezio!" cried Claudia once she saw him at the bottom of the staircase. She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around her older brother. "Where have you been? They wouldn't let us leave…"
She released him as Annetta brought their mother to Ezio.
"And mother…ugh, she hasn't spoken a single word since we left the house," Claudia continued to babble, not noticing Trinity standing a few feet behind Ezio. "Father will need to sort things out."
Trinity noticed immediately that Ezio's disposition changed completely, having been sexually harassing her only a minute ago, to deep sadness as he embraced his mute mother for a long moment. It was clear that Claudia was clueless about what had happened.
Claudia's eyes fell upon Trinity finally.
"Trinity?" she said with surprise. "What are you doing here!"
She quickly hugged Trinity tightly around the neck, and though Trinity returned the embrace, she felt awkward, never having related well with Claudia. When they were children, the Auditore girl always thought that Trinity and her were close friends…but Trinity always failed to see that way.
"It's…a long story," replied Trinity once she stepped away from the Auditore sister. She hesitated before adding another statement. "I came to see your father."
At this, Claudia rounded back on Ezio. "Where is father anyway, Ezio?" she asked, looking about the room. Trinity lowered her eyes, feeling Ezio's unspoken unease. "And Federico…? And Petruccio?"
Ezio took a moment to speak, grief beginning to creep into his eyes. "Something's…happened…" he said finally, unsure of how to continue.
"What do you mean?"
Trinity could see that Claudia was still confused. "Claudia…" she said as gently as she could manage. "Your family…they…"
But even Trinity could not find the right words to try to relay the situation delicately.
Claudia understood why they were at a loss for words and her eyes widened in astonishment. "No!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. "No…it's impossible."
Ezio frowned. "Claudia…" he whispered, stepping towards her. His sister instinctively backed away, muttering "no" over and over again, trying to deny the idea of her brothers and father having been executed.
"I did everything I could, piccina (little one)," consoled her brother, holding her into a supporting embrace. Claudia began to weep uncontrollably.
Trinity looked away, feeling the same envy that she had felt about how Ezio at least had people he could run to in his time of grief…when she had no one.
It wasn't that Trinity didn't sympathize with their situation…because she did…but she hadn't even had the chance to deal with her own emotions and thoughts because she had been charged by her father to come rescue the Auditores.
Ezio let Claudia weep for a minute or so. "Listen," he finally said sternly, taking her by the shoulders, "right now, what matters is getting us all someplace safe. But to do that, I need you to stay focused."
Claudia was reduced to whimpering.
"Do you understand?" Ezio asked, a little more softly. His sister nodded, drying her eyes. "Good…please watch over mother for me."
Claudia nodded again, sniffing slightly, before she went to her mother and led her gently towards the door.
"Are we ready?" asked Trinity, making sure to keep her usual acid tone out of her voice whenever she spoke to Ezio. She may hate him…but she knew when to be respectful.
"Yes."
Paola approached Ezio and gave him a swift kiss on the cheek before she turned to Trinity, giving the young girl a long, warm embrace and a kiss on her forehead.
"Please stay safe, my dear," Paola whispered to her. "And stay strong. Your father wouldn't want you to lose sight of everything he has worked for."
Trinity lowered head respectfully as a response.
"Stay vigilant, Ezio," said Paola as she turned back to him. "I suspect the road ahead is yet long."
Ezio nodded, not quite understanding her cryptic talk but he did not comment on it. And with that, they said their final goodbyes and left the building. The street was still crowded with civilians as Trinity pulled them aside.
"We have to be quick," she said quietly to the Auditores. "The entire guard is out searching for Ezio and I…and I have no guarantee that we will not be caught. So please, listen to me when I give commands."
She asked them if they understood and they set out into the streets. Ezio and Trinity both separately blended in with the crowds of the city, Maria and Claudia following closely behind them. They would be unrecognizable and the guard was not out looking for them, so Trinity was not especially worried about the female Auditores.
They passed more than a handful of guards but thankfully, they did not notice the two assassins as they passed by.
Ezio just didn't understand how everyone could be so oblivious to him and Trinity. Even the civilians that walked the street could guess at who he was merely by his outfit, or at least, so he thought. The act of placing yourself within a group of individuals and therefore hiding in plain sight, still confused him immensely.
He was surprised with how little trouble they had making it to the gate out of the city. Ezio had figured they'd have to fight at least one group of guards…but nothing happened, other than heavy anticipation for the four of them.
As they rounded a corner, Trinity saw further down that eight guards were blocking the gate like a barricade, all of them standing in an arc in front of the exit. Trinity cursed under her breath, catching Ezio's troubled look. She stopped and had the Auditores gather next to her.
"How are we going to get past them?" Claudia asked in a low tone.
It was silent for a moment. "I'll distract them," said Trinity. "They will all come after me, knowing who I am. It'll give you three a chance to make it out of the city."
"You're going to fight all of them?" asked Ezio, slightly surprised. "You didn't make it out of the last fight-"
"Shut up," Trinity growled, cutting him off, not wanting to hear about it."Protecting your mother and Claudia is more important. Just get them out and to Monterriggioni. I'll catch up with you once I escape the guards."
Ezio looked unconvinced. "Are you sure?" he asked, giving her one last out before they executed the plan.
"Ezio," she said warningly. "Just do as I say, all right?"
He half glared at her from under his hood before she broke away from them to go distract the gate guards.
The Auditores followed several yards behind her, waiting for her to make her move. She had hardly walked very far when a troubadour appeared from her right, following her with his mandolin. He started to sing about a tragedy of love of young adults, to which Trinity tried to ignore. However, he was pushy, seeing that he ran in front of her path to stop her.
She did her best to keep her temper in check, always having been easily annoyed with troubadours, and navigated her way around him, nearing the gate…but again the troubadour blocked her progress. At this, she froze on the spot as he continued to belt out his song.
"Move…" she said darkly to him. He didn't hear her though because he was singing so loudly while mindlessly strumming his mandolin. He wasn't very good, as far as troubadours go.
After dealing with another five seconds of singing, Trinity impulsively ripped his instrument from his hands and slammed it onto her knee, snapping it cleanly in half. At this, the troubadour sort of yelped in fear and ran away.
She threw the pieces on the ground, irritated and wondering why the troubadour targeted her for his idiotic song and not someone else who would have been much less intimidating. She was fairly sure she heard Ezio chuckle at her but she ignored that as well.
Wasting no time, Trinity dashed the rest of the way to the gate and planted herself in front of the guards, hands on her hips in taunting fashion.
"Hey!" she called to them, though their attention was already on her. "I bet if one you catch me, you'll be promoted to errand boy instead of a guard dog!"
"Get her!" was one of the guard's immediately responses. Trinity laughed loudly to mock them and sprinted to her right down the street, leading them away from the gate. With a quick glance behind her, she saw the Auditores make a mad dash to escape.
Ezio led his mother and sister past the stables, avoiding a few questioning stares, and down the dirt road. They kept a pace of a jog before slowing down to a quick walk once the city walls were out of their sight.
"How could this have happened to us?" asked Claudia quietly.
Ezio, who was about six feet ahead of them exhaled heavily. "I don't know," he replied, sounding angry.
Claudia glanced at her mother for a moment, who had her eyes cast to the floor. "Will we ever be back…?" Claudia said.
"I don't know."
She caught the heavy irritation in his voice and she fell silent. Ezio, glanced behind him, looking to see if Trinity was coming up down the road…but she wasn't anywhere.
"What will happen to our house?" said Claudia quietly.
"I don't know!" Ezio snapped, turning on the spot to give her a stern look. His sister averted her eyes from him as they stopped in the middle of the lane.
Claudia fidgeted with her fingers. "Were they…" she began, hesitant. "Were they given a proper burial…?"
Ezio turned away from his mother's sorrowful eyes. "Yes," he said in barely above a whisper. "They were…"
He started walking again as they all went silent.
"Hai paura (Are you afraid)?" laughed Trinity darkly, her sword raised as the remaining three guards of eight circled her. She had easily killed three of them, all of them impulsive with their attacks. She had no issue with counterattacking, as none of them were very agile.
Trinity didn't run very far from the gate, not wanting to have a problem of running into more guards. There was a large crowd of civilians watching, cheering loudly, though Trinity couldn't hear exactly what they were saying.
A guard behind her swung at her, but she had already felt it coming and ducked, the sword coming only a few inches over her. Trinity landed a well placed back kick into the guard's chest, sending him stumbling backwards, as another one made his attack in front of her. She quickly and easily sidestepped the move before stabbing her sword into his chest.
She wrenched it out just in time to deflect the last guard's lunge and give a counterattack to kill him.
Trinity rounded on the guard she had kicked, just recovering from the kick. He fell to his knees, cowering in front of her.
"Please, don't kill me!" he cried, throwing his arms above his head.
The assassin snorted, glaring down at him from beneath her hood. "Why should I grant you such mercy?" she snapped, her sword tip at his neck. She glanced around to see if any more guards were coming but she couldn't see past the throng of civilians.
"I have a wife!" he exclaimed, his voice trembling. "A-a-and three children."
"These men had wives and children too," she spat, gesturing to the dead or dying guards around them. "That does not make you special."
The man started to weep, head on the floor now. "Please," he said. "I'll do anything!"
Trinity rolled her eyes, almost disgusted at his groveling. "Have you no dignity?" she asked, more to herself than to him. She scoffed, sheathing her sword.
At the sound of metal ringing, he looked up and saw her still staring at him but without a weapon. After a second, her left hand shot out and gripped him by the collar.
"Get up," she hissed, wrenching the man to a stand. She pushed the guard forward, through the crowd of citizens towards the gate. Her hidden blade point was touching the man's back as she guided him through the street. "If you try to run, I will kill you."
She pushed him out through the gate and around the corner, away from civilians. Once they were relatively out of sight, she kicked the guard to the floor and stood over him with a threatening air.
It was silent for a moment as the guard cowered away from her, which caused her to walk forward a few steps after him.
She sighed audibly.
"You are possibly the most useless, pathetic guard in existence," said Trinity, losing most of her hostile demeanor. This caught the man off guard, not expecting a lighter tone to come from her lips.
She pulled her hood down, growing hot under its cover even though the sun was setting.
"However," she added, relaxing her stance somewhat, "I won't kill you if you do something for me."
The guard stared blankly at her, very confused now, and didn't reply.
"See that horse right there?" said Trinity, pointing to the chestnut mare that she had ridden to Florence a few days before that was at the stable about fifty feet away. "It's mine…though I can't just walk up and ask for her back anymore, seeing that I'm a wanted criminal."
She paused, letting the information sink in his brain. "Get my horse," she ordered.
The guard looked away for a second in uncertainty. "That's it?"
Trinity smiled slightly, though it was a dark look. "No," she replied. "I want two other horses as well...fast ones."
The guard's eyes widened. "But I can't just-"
She flicked her wrist, her hidden blade springing forth and cutting him short. He backed about a foot away, still on the ground, at the sight of it, especially with that arm being stained with blood already.
"Do you want to live or not?" she asked, the intimidating tone coming back to her. The guard quickly scrambled up and ran towards the stables. Trinity couldn't help but chuckle to herself, enjoying the authority she was able to command through fear.
She watched as the guard argued with the stable master, though she had no idea what he was saying. It was about a seven minute long endeavor and Trinity was steadily growing bored waiting. If they didn't hurry up, she would just take her own horse and leave…
Finally, it looked as though the guard one the argument, especially since he drew a small dagger on the man. The stable master looked incensed as he led a black and white stallion, Trinity's horse, and beige mare over to the guard.
"Grazie," said Trinity pleasantly, mounting her horse when the guard finally brought them over to her. "You've been most helpful."
She tied the reins of one horse on either side of hers so that they'd follow alongside her. The guard started backing away, wanting to make a run for it. Trinity was actually surprised that he hadn't tried to overtake her at all…she guessed he held to much fear of being killed by her to want to try to capture her.
"Hey!" she said, halting him from bolting. He froze on the spot.
Trinity smiled gently at him. "Make sure you treat your wife and children well," she said seriously. "Otherwise, I'll hear about it…and I will hunt you down…and I will kill you."
The guard visibly swallowed, frightened, and nodded.
With that, she had her horses start into a trot down the dirt road. She didn't think the Auditores had gotten that far, especially since Trinity assumed they were walking, not running.
The countryside was quiet, aside from the very rare passing person on the road. Trinity didn't run into anyone for quite some time. Now that she was out of the bustling city of Florence, she was happy to breathe in much cleaner air.
The sun was almost gone from the sky when she rounded a bend, seeing three very familiar figures walking slowly. Upon the sound of the horses' hooves, the three Auditore turned, surprised to find her with steeds.
"Trinity!" exclaimed Claudia as Trinity slowed to a halt. "We were worried you didn't make it out."
The young assassin couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you for your vote of confidence, Claudia," she said. "Come, walking to Monterriggioni will take a day's time. Riding there will cut that time in half."
"Where did you get the horses?" asked Ezio, eyeing her while she untied the reins.
"A parting gift from a guard," she replied simply as he mounted the black horse. Claudia and her mother mounted, with difficulty, the other mare. Ezio did not reply.
She must have stolen them…he mused.
They kicked their horses into a gallop, riding hard into the darkness of the countryside of Italy.
It was well into the night when Trinity, Ezio, and his family slowed their horses to a walk. The moon was hanging dully above them, but still providing enough light for them to see where they were going.
"We should be close," said Trinity, noting the trees and the general scenery.
"Grazie a Dio (Thank God)," sighed Claudia.
They rounded a bend, one with a small rock face blocking their view. Once they came around the corner, they saw city walls of Monterriggioni.
However, further up the road were about seven men standing across the lane, blocking them.
Trinity let out an audible groan, not in the mood for another fight. She hated to admit it, but her injured arm was sore.
"What's going on?" Claudia whispered, but no one made to answer as they approached the men.
"Buona sera (Good evening), Ezio!" said one of the men who looked like he was the leader.
Trinity quickly analyzed their opposition, realizing they weren't going to be much of a fight. None of them, including the young man with the navy beret and clothes, were wearing any armor. They didn't even look like guards.
"How could you leave Firenze without saying a proper goodbye?" said the man in navy, a snide smirk on his unattractive face.
"Who the hell is he?" Trinity asked, unimpressed with how showy and arrogant the young man was trying to behave.
"Ezio," said Claudia, noticing that more men were circling behind them.
Trinity glanced around, counting about twenty-five men now. At this, she was now concerned. They were heavily outnumbered, and Ezio wasn't precisely handy with a sword.
Fuck…she thought coarsely. They must have been hiding in the trees.
Though, she vaguely did wonder why the man brought so many men with him just to kill a few people. Did he really think Ezio was that much of a challenge?
"What do you want, Vieri?" asked Ezio, noticing the guards starting to slowly close in on them.
Trinity quickly dismounted, not wanting to get caught off guard on her horse.
"So many things," said the man in a sort of mocking tone, who Trinity guessed was named Vieri.
"A larger palazzo, two new steeds," he paused, "…a prettier bride."
He smirked at Trinity, who rolled her eyes and felt like gagging.
"Oh and yes," said Vieri, unsheathing his sword and pointing at Ezio, "your life."
Trinity immediately unsheathed her twin daggers. "If you want his life," she said with an air of her own arrogance, "you'll have to claim mine first."
In truth, she really did not want to die for Ezio's sake…because she hated him…but her father asked her to protect and save the Auditore family…and she would do so to the bitter end, even if that meant her own death. She had failed with Giovanni, Federico, and Petruccio…she would not fail with the rest.
Ezio turned a surprised gaze down to the figure in front of him, astonished to hear what she had said.
"Mi dispiace (I'm sorry), pretty," Vieri laughed derisively. "But I have no intention of killing you."
"Is that so?"
He smirked again and gave a motion for about half of his men to start attacking. "You'll be coming home with me, as you will be my prettier bride," he concluded, as his men drew closer. Trinity burst out laughing in spite of the situation.
"I don't go home with little boys who don't have the balls to fight for themselves," she countered as she started to fend off attacks at her. At this, she saw Vieri's smirk fade dramatically and was rendered speechless.
Ezio had been wrenched off his horse by a guard but luckily, Ezio was able to roll away out of danger quick enough before his attacker slammed a mace to the floor, just where Ezio's face had been.
"Ezio!" shouted Trinity, tossing her sword to him when he stood up. "Protect your mother and sister!"
He turned to find his mother and sister had also been pulled from their horse, Claudia screaming for Ezio's help. Two guards were converging onto them but Ezio sprinted after them, driving his sword into the small of one of the guard's backs.
"My condolences for the loss of you father and brothers!" shouted Vieri mockingly over the ringing of metal. He was standing with another guard, watching Trinity and Ezio fight their way out. "What will happen now that there is no one left to help you?"
Trinity, who had cut down about six guards now, was steadily nearing Vieri.
"I have such wonderful things in store for your mother and sister!" he called over to Ezio. At this, Trinity could feel more anger begin to explode in Ezio.
She dodged an attack by diving to the right, going into a roll, and swiftly coming back up to stab her daggers into a guard's back, leaving two for her to deal with.
"And the Aldinucci family is no better off, I hear," said Vieri with his ever present smirk. Trinity looked over at Vieri, surprised that he knew who she was. "At least they kept you alive so that I could keep you as my own."
Because she was distracted with Vieri, a guard lunged at her, catching her off guard. She barely had enough time to block the attack, which caused her to stumble back.
"Who is the man that killed my family!" Trinity demanded, finishing off another guard and giving Vieri a dark look.
"Mi dispiace," he replied unapologetically, "but I'm not at liberty to share that with you, who is an enemy of my allies."
Trinity, in all her anger, stabbed her dagger of the chin of the final guard and wrenched it out and she rounded on Vieri and the rest of the men he had.
But Claudia shrieked from behind her. "Ezio!"
Trinity turned, seeing that Ezio had killed two guards but the remaining three were giving him trouble. One of them had grabbed a hold Claudia by the waist and started dragging her away, but Ezio was still on the defensive with two other guards.
She dashed back down the road, throwing her two daggers at the two guards Ezio was fighting when she was about four yards away. Her daggers lodged themselves into the backs of the guards as Trinity sprinted past, flicking her wrist with her hidden blade.
The guard who had Claudia immediately released her but he didn't have enough time to defend himself before Trinity leapt onto him, slamming her hidden blade into the junction of his shoulder and neck.
When they hit the floor, she wrenched it out and turned to see if Claudia and her mother were all right.
"I grow tired of these games…" said Vieri indifferently.
Trinity pulled out her daggers from the two guards she had thrown them at as she and Ezio advanced on the remaining guards. She wanted to say something but she decided to keep her mouth shut instead.
"Finish them!" he shouted, motioning for the last ten guards to attack. "Only spare the girl."
The guards started to rush but a volley of arrows came flying from every which direction, killing three of them. Ezio and Trinity stopped on the spot in surprise, unsure of where the arrows had originated from.
"What sorcery is this!" cried Vieri, looking around frantically with his sword drawn.
There was a hearty laugh from somewhere they couldn't pinpoint. "Not sorcery, boy," said the voice. "Skill!"
Vieri raised his weapon. "Show yourself!" he demanded.
"As you wish," said the mysterious voice before a small hand axe was thrown at Vieri, knocking his sword from his hand.
Trinity saw Mario and about five mercenaries emerge from the trees surrounding the road. She let out a small sigh of relief, glad to have someone next to her that actually knew how to use a sword.
"Kill them!" shouted Vieri to his remaining guards. "Kill them all!"
At this, Mario looked amused and ran after Vieri. Scared for his life, he bolted, leaving his men to defend themselves.
They were easy to defeat, Trinity having taken care of two, Ezio one, and Mario and his mercenaries finished off the final four.
Once it was over, Ezio made to hand Trinity her sword back. She shook her head, waving him off dismissively.
"Keep it."
Ezio thanked her before he pulled down his hood and approached Mario. "You have my thanks," he said, lowering his head respectfully, hand at his heart.
"You don't have to thank me, Ezio," said Mario, smiling. Ezio raised his head, eying Mario with wary confusion.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked. Trinity snorted from behind him, shaking her head.
"Don't you recognize me?" he laughed. "It's a-me, Mario!"
"Uncle Mario?" said Ezio with surprise as his uncle reached out and bear hugged him.
He hugged him so tight that he lifted Ezio off his feet for a second. "It's been too long, nipote (nephew), far too long!" said Mario, ruffling Ezio's hair. He looked over at Trinity, who was standing by Claudia and Maria.
"Mario, I-" she broke off, unsure and guilty. "I wasn't able to reach them in time. I…was too late."
Mario smiled as gently as his face could manage at the girl and put his hand on her shoulder. "You did what you could, Trinity," he said. "There is no blame to be placed on you. I already heard what had happened in Firenze."
"I'm so sorry," said Trinity quietly, lowering her eyes.
There was a silent moment between everyone before Mario spoke up again. "Come, let's get you all inside. I'm sure you need rest."