Istanbul 1511
Padre,
By now you know we followed you and I know you will be angry, can you blame us for worrying about our dear, ageing papa? Jokes aside, something has happened to our cabin mate and the surgeon is just able to keep him alive. Assuming we are as close to you as we think, we hope to receive your answer by tonight at latest – our vessel has given permission to use one of their personal pigeons near the docks, you will know which.
There was an incident in which our cabin mate sustained a hit to his stomach that over the week became agitated until bleeding occurred. This weakened him but my brother believes it is something the surgeon has given him that is making him convulse and is refusing to let treatment continue until he knows of any prior allergies...and my brother, who has become so close to our cabin mate, he is becoming agitated.
Please respond with speed.
Your oldest son.
Ezio watched as Yusuf read the letter once and then twice. Then he was half way up the stairs in the Gelata hideout shouting, Ezio assumed he was calling someone but the language was too rapid to follow, two assassins tumbled out of a door and stood before their mentor, "What was that ingredient Dev is allergic to?"
"The one that made him collapse?" one of the masked men asked.
"Made him convulse?" Yusuf nodded to the other and the two looked at one another before turning to Yusuf, "Jimsonweed, father. You can use it for flavouring but after his reaction the first time mother did not use it again."
The other then joined, "It is the same family as Datura that we use in poison bombs but it is used in medicines too...why what is wrong?" They spoke a while longer, at one point a panic breaking between the assassins in which Yusuf had to calm them quickly.
Ezio had already grabbed quill and parchment, penning a quick message:
Son,
I do not know exactly what has happened but my gut tells me this incident involved you, your brother or even both of you. I need not tell you the damage your cabin mate's death would cause to our entire organisation – our relationship within it. We will discuss things when you arrive and depending on your answers depends how many inches of your life I beat you both to.
Yusuf stood next to him, "Jimsonweed, they would have put it in a tincture to stop internal bleeding, Devrim reacts violently to it...Ezio, if he is already weak..." Ezio was writing the details of the jimsonweed down quickly and finished the note, handing it off quickly to Yusuf's son.
"Giovanni, he is my youngest son, he spent a lot of time with friends of mine who had medical knowledge. He is not a dottore by any standards, I believe he knows enough to keep your boy alive and Matteo says he is getting agitated – probably telling the surgeon that if anything happens he will kill him. Do not worry my friend, you said Devrim has good luck."
That was true, Devrim was strong too and then he remembered the first letter from his son, telling him about his new friends, "Giovanni? Can that be shortened?"
"Si, Gio but only a very select few get to call him that. Vanni is the usual, why?"
"Not Gigi?"
Ezio shook his head in amusement, anyone who wanted to live wouldn't call Giovanni something so ridiculous. "The pronunciation is wrong, if you read his name you might say 'Gee o vanni' instead of 'Jo vanni'" Thinking about it like that made him pause, "I suppose Gigi could be born that way...like you can never say my name correctly. Once again; why?"
"No reason," slinging his arm around Yusuf's shoulder, the Italian gave him a squeeze, "Thank you for your concern, my friend, I know Dev will be back on his feet soon – he has much to do yet." They bid each other farewell, Ezio having a mission to carry out and Yusuf needing a moment to himself after this news. Opening a draw and pulling out a letter he glanced over it;
To my very furry Baba,
Unless you have gone bald from stress, have you had time to polish your blade yet or are you still running the world? I am coming home at last, my business completed and I will be sure to get you a very pleasing gift. If the sea is kind to me I will be there in two months, if not, well do not plan a party.
Picked up a couple of Italians, part of our European business, Twin sons of the owner believe it or not. They were lost and a little down on their luck so I will be bringing them home.
I know you will have mixed feelings about this next piece of news. I have found myself with a special interest in one of the brothers, perhaps it is the constant feel of his eyes on me...and certain incidents involving wooden beams, poor Gigi will not stand a chance.
All my love, your very attractive son.
It seemed Devrim's 'special interest' had been won over. Hopefully he could stop further harm from coming to the Mentor's oldest child. He hoped that he could see if an Auditore boy would be any good for his child, hoped he could tease them about it.
00
Open Sea 1511
"Jimsonweed." Matteo said to his brother once he'd read the letter, "There is a recipe for a tincture to flush it from his body and the surgeon is working on it now, apparently the medicine he has been giving Devrim had small amounts in and that is why it took so long to build up to a dangerous level. Devrim's father made sure one of the ingredients came with the pigeon, seems this has happened before – he will be alright, fratello." It appeared he had arrived in time for another set of convulsions to rock through their friend, he helped hold him down until they calmed and sighed loudly.
Giovanni was acting as if Matteo were not there, his sole interest being Devrim, stroking back the man's hair in a soothing gesture, talking to him quietly and using a damp cloth to dab at heated skin. And Devrim just lay there, limp and pale and lifeless. "Take a break, Vanni, I will tend to him."
It was the first time the younger Auditore looked at his brother in hours and his eyes burned with disdain, "You will not touch him." His voice was raspy but the threat still clear, "I swear to you, on Mama's grave, Matteo. If he dies – I will kill you." He was livid, "I promise you."
"You are being a little dramatic...it was an accident."
"I do not care!" Giovanni lunged at the other, no one to stop him this time as he crashed his brother into the wall, a blade sitting on his neck, "Accident or no, you have done this to him and I will never forgive you! I am warning you, that if he does not survive I will give us matching scars," Matteo winced as a keen blade nicked his neck, "Only you will not be as lucky as I was...Capito?"
"...Si, fratello mio." Giovanni let him go and returned to Devrim's side. All Matteo could do was watch and wonder how everything had gotten so out of hand. When he had attempted to seduce the Turk it was supposed to be a test, if all the man wanted was the face and the body then Matteo would have warned him off. Devrim had said no, had defended Giovanni and had been outraged at the offer of a swap...it should have stopped there. Matteo should have been satisfied and happy that someone adored his brother so truly but...he couldn't just keep his mouth shut. And he couldn't just have walked away without that sucker punch.
How was he to know Devrim would suffer in silence though? If the man had just said something sooner instead of letting himself get so ill.
The surgeon arrived with the tincture but refused to enter the room after Giovanni had threatened him earlier, Matteo took it and handed it Giovanni, who carefully administered it to his lover. There was nothing more to do, "I need water to wash him, it will cool him down too hopefully." Matteo slinked out of the room to run the errand. Finally alone, Giovanni slumped next to the bed and pulled his hair back into a fresh pony tail, he didn't really know what he was doing, assisting the assassin doctors was hardly enough to let him heal this but he was right about the medicine. "I did not know something so simple about you, please wake up...you have to because I want to know everything about you. What you are allergic to, what you like to eat, your favourite colour, your brothers name's, what your mother and father are like...even past lovers."
Obviously there was no response yet but he knew there would be, "You tried so hard so that I would not fight with Matteo and all I want to do is tear him to pieces and leave him like..."
Matteo returned with the water, placing it down near his temperamental twin, who looked a little shocked. Usually he would ask what was wrong but it seemed hard to do, it was the look he got when he realised something important or was figuring something out in his head...or the look he got when he was recovering from one of his attacks. And then, as if nothing had happened Giovanni started up again and stood up straight. Rolling his sleeves up before dipping a clean rag into the warm water and going about cleaning stale sweat from the Turk. "I know you hate me right now, but I want you to know that I am sorry and that I am an idiot, I want you to know that I love you. The note said he may have a seizure as the tincture gets to work...I will be sat outside that door and if you need me all you have to do is call me...alright?" No answer came so he left quietly.
Listening to Devrim's ragged breathing, Giovanni decided to speak so he wouldn't have to listen, "You are on his side, I can tell, you have this disapproving little frown on your face and I do not like it. He was trying to protect me, it was a sweet thing to do but he went about it the wrong way and he hurt you...if you die I will have to kill him – I swore to. I am so angry at him right now but you do not want to make me follow through..." He stroked the cloth over a strong bicep all the way to the man's fingers, "I will wait until he begs on his knees for forgiveness and then I will make him buy me new clothes, anything I want really...maybe make him promise not to go whoring for a year."
He quieted as he washed over the bruised stomach carefully, guilt gnawed at him as he remembered how he had forced Devrim to eat and what damage that may have caused. "You stupid bastard...this could all have been avoided! ...you could have – Devrim?"
Devrim's eyelids were flickering rapidly, his breathing escalating and recognising what was about to happen Giovanni shouted for Matteo without a second thought.
00
Istanbul 1511
Papa,
Our cabin mate has asked me to send this message to alleviate any fears his father may have. I know you taught us never to send too many correspondences in a short amount of time but the difficulty in which he had to convey the request has forced my hand.
The tincture you sent us has flushed the poison out but the resulting seizure has left him out of sorts...he is confused, his limbs will not obey him and he finds it frustrating, it gets better as hours pass. I am worried about the trouble he is having giving voice to his thoughts, I hope this is temporary and would like Mentor Tazim's input on the matter.
Papa, before you kill us for disobeying you, I need to talk to you about Mama...about what happened and what I saw – I am begging you not to turn me away.
Your youngest son, Gigi.
p.s. If it would please you, I can kill my brother to save you the trouble.
Yusuf sighed in relief, "That is good to hear, everything he has described is the same as the two times before, give him a day and he will be chatting away like birds in a tree, his movements will take a week or so to return to him fully. Is that all the note said? It looks longer than two paragraphs."
"The third is for me, he wants to talk about...something." They were sat in the library, waiting for a scouting party to return with information on the attempted assassination of Sulliman. "He signed it Gigi...I am going to assume that your son had given this pet name to mine. It is strange that he would use it after a short time of knowing someone, Devrim must be very charismatic to make an impression on Giovanni, he is usually so shy."
"Charismatic or sleeping with him." He cut himself short at the flippant comment, being so comfortable with Ezio and tired from all the drama he had said something he probably shouldn't have, "That was not appropriate."
Ezio waved it off, "I am not offended, Yusuf, if either of my boys took an interest than I am sure they could do no finer than your son. They spend more time in brothels than they do at home though, so it must be your family's winning personality."
Grinning at the compliment, Yusuf went about doing something he hadn't time to do in a long time – polish his blades. As he did so his thoughts went to his son, he had always tried to keep jimsonweed and datura away from Devrim ever since he had first reacted to it when he was four. At age fifteen Yusuf had been teaching him to craft a poison bomb when he went into violent convulsions, the twins who had only been twelve had been nearby and panicked as their brother went down. Yusuf hadn't understood it at the time as he had made sure Devrim had not breathed any in and then someone explained that jimsonweed and datura were related – not to mention that jimsonweed was used in most medicines. He wanted to be on that ship to make sure Devrim was really doing better, he wanted to make sure Giovanni was being honest. "Your boys have very different ways of writing to you, and they call you different things, that must make telling them apart easier?"
"Matteo stopped calling me Papa years ago, calls me Padre because I usually have to scold him and he ends up having to pretend to be sorry whilst I pretend to be angry, he is brash, speaks his mind and sometimes acts before he thinks. Giovanni never grew out of calling me Papa but he and I are...distant. He tends to be quieter, he observes and acts accordingly, sometimes pulling Matteo out of trouble. Visually you need to look at their hair and their necks."
"Usually I find, 'whichever child you are, get over here' works well for Sedat and Seref. But so I know, what do I need to look out for when we receive our brothers?"
Brother? He never really thought of them like that, he was their father and yes, they were assassins but they were his children first. "Giovanni wears a scarf around his neck and plaits his hair. Matteo never does up the top four buttons of his shirts – has actually removed them sometimes – ties his hair back simply. It will not matter because I will kill them."
00
Open Sea 1511 Five days from Constantinople
Swallowing was hard for the Turk, Giovanni feeding him wasn't easy either but he was still out of it and dropped everything he tried to hold onto. "My hands are usually the first thing to gain control, sorry to make you do this." A spoon went into his mouth to stop him from talking.
"Shut up and eat your...I do not know what this is but it is the only thing you can take right now." He was just relieved that Devrim's mind remained undamaged and that he could speak easily now, when all he could do was make half sentences and try to communicate without success., "I thought I was going to lose you at one point..."
"I could hear you," he said as he rested back against the pillows, "Do you really think you could get Matteo to stop having sex for a year? Seems impossible to me."
"I do not want to talk about him."
Devrim frowned at the other, every time he bought Matteo up, Giovanni shot him down or changed the subject or forced him to eat the unappetising soup. "I have four brothers and a sister. I am the oldest, turning twenty back in January, my brother Karamat, which means 'miracle' was born two years after me and nearly did not survive. A year later my twin brothers were born, Sedat, which is 'just' in your language, and Seref, 'honour'. Then there was a long break, five years after the twins came my baby sister, Ece...'queen' and believe me when I say she is treated like one...damn brat."
Giovanni listened with a pleased smile on his lips, Devrim had heard him when he had said he wanted to know more about the Turk, "That is a lot of siblings, I assume the last brother came after your sister?"
"Sef...it means 'yesterday'. My parents had some special meaning for it but I never asked. He was four when he died, too little to fight a fever...he just fell asleep and that was it." Feeling his hand being held, Devrim just shrugged a little, "My mother died of the same thing, it happened last year a few months before I left for Cyprus. I could not bare to see my father so destroyed and volunteered for the mission...kind of wish I had stayed. I wasted a whole year and missed him terribly – maybe my siblings a little but mostly him. My parents got married when they were eighteen, they had known each other since they were children and apparently she was supposed to marry a prince but Baba stole her away from Bursa and brought her with him to Constantinople." Trailing off, the assassin had to think hard to remember what else had been asked and then made a pleased sound as he recalled them, "I am allergic to Jimsonweed, I hate red spices, my favourite thing to eat are honeyed dates and my favourite colour is gold. Past lovers...my first one was a bastard and used me – so Baba beat him up and had him transferred – second was a merchants son, who felt bad about having sex against a religious monument and spent the rest of his time praying. Third was...I was a bit drunk and he ended up setting his eyebrows on fire at some point..."
Giovanni made a choked sound and signalled for him to stop, "I can not remember all of that! And I really do not want to hear about guys you slept with..." What was his favourite food again? "Are you making up for not being able to talk all day yesterday? I am still wrapping my head around your large family!"
"Oh, I did not mention my nephew and niece yet or – mmph." Lips had quickly sealed over his and the message was clear; 'you are talking too much'. He hadn't touched the other man like this in over a week, Giovanni's kiss was needy but so much was passion was being held back for Devrim's benefit. Even when he managed to get uncooperative hands to rest on his shoulders and pull him into a deeper kiss, the Italian wouldn't let go. Breaking apart for air, Devrim tried to continue but was rebuked quickly, "Tease."
Panting out a little laugh, the Italian rested his forehead against Devrim's, far too affected by the kiss than was normal, "If I continue I would go too far, I would want to climb on top of you and devour your lips until I passed out from lack of air." A look from his lover told him that was completely acceptable, "Your fever has only just broken, you are weakened from lack of food and it would cause too much strain to your body, the bruising is better but if you were to bleed again..."
"I am not so wounded." came the reply, "If we were careful and you were to be on top of me, we could do it – it would mean you doing all the work and I am not sure you are ready for that without hurting yourself."
An indignant sound came from his side, "Hurting myself? Are you challenging me, Tazim?"
"Maybe tomorrow I will challenge you but today," trying to stroke his hand through brunette hair and coming up short reminded Devrim he wasn't quite able, he rested it back on the bed as if it weighed a ton, "Today I am tired and you look like crap, you have been awake for nearly two days nursing me. You do not want me to become ill because of worry for you, do you?" He didn't like such a cheap trick, "Lay here and take a nap with me, Matteo will continue to guard that door until you allow him back in, you do not need to protect me from anything."
Giovanni glanced at the door and for a second his heart clenched at the sentinel assassin that was behind it. As he had said, Matteo was waiting outside the door waiting to be called and as the younger twin helped Devrim lay down on his back, putting the pillows he had been using to sit up on in place, Giovanni felt a little guilty. "What does your name mean?"
They settled down together, Giovanni's head resting on the man's shoulder and instantly feeling all the stress from the past few days boring down on him. "My name? It means Revolution...and it also means; man who steals the covers."
(Next chapter I attempt to write porn and the ship arrives at the dock)