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The Borgias S3E10
A Home At The End Of The World
Ch 5 A Completely Other Circumstance
Lucrezia's cheeks reddened at the man seated on the bunk facing her, who had a look on his face that she had never seen directed at her before—was it desire that she saw in his eyes? Her disbelief, and even more, her anger, would not allow her to process fully such a foreign prospect.
Rodrigo began to stir fretfully, then; Lucrezia gathered him into her arms and rocked him gently even as her angry glare returned to Micheletto.
"He sent you..." Lucrezia hissed at him, trying desperately to ease Rodrigo back to sleep, "to pave the way...for this...arrangement...so intent upon having his way—and you've complied with him!"
"Lucrezia, I have not," Micheletto whispered back at her, equally cognizant of the little lad sleeping at her bosom. "It is not my intent to influence you in such a way; only to give you something to think about as you struggle to...find words for your beloved...with your Cesare. Do not doubt that he remains yours. I do not." With that Micheletto quietly rose and left her.
Seconds later Rodrigo stirred fully from his slumber, needing a change of his clout and to be fed; Lucrezia, happily gave herself over to his attention, and put both Micheletto and Cesare as far out of her mind as she could manage.
By week's end they had reached the northwestern coast of Hispaniola and were within sight of the very few haciendas that dotted the hillsides along the Gulf of Guanabo. As their short journey neared its end Lucrezia stood on deck with the children anxious to get to port and off of the caravel. The sun was just rising in the morning sky and she wondered if sunset would find them sleeping in real beds on fresh linens; she certainly hoped so. She'd had few words for Cesare or Micheletto during their short trip, but the sight of land made it impossible to hide her relief or leave it unexpressed.
"I know not how anyone could find life at sea to be a desirable one," she muttered to neither man in particular as they flanked her and the children, watching the harbor grow within sight. Cesare and Micheletto looked over her head at each other, neither daring to answer her.
Cesare smiled his silent compassion above her and over at Micheletto; he understood her dislike of the sea, but he found sailing to be almost exhilarating, even the danger of it; ultimately, a life at sea, such as Diego Ramirez seemed to crave, for instance, was not an ideal prospect for him, either, but it was a necessary means to an end, certainly, and, as such, an endeavor that excited him.
Micheletto felt very much as Lucrezia did, although his own wanderlust, which had once been at issue, had been easily and happily accommodated within the confines of Italy's terra firma; he understood, well, a woman's need for the stability of home and hearth and admired her bravery for leaving Italy at all; still, he suspected that there was the great possibility that Hispaniola would not be the place to offer what she desired most, and that the end of their travels was not truly at hand. He returned Cesare's tentative smile with only his own silent grimace.
"And so, who is it that you are to see here, Cesare? Where exactly is it that we will now be living?" Lucrezia frowned into the distance, for the haciendas they had seen far off from shore were few and looked impossible to breach through the vast, lush hillsides. Though she addressed her brother she refused to lay eyes upon him, still miffed and undone that their freedom to be together had actually become a completely other circumstance.
Cesare's joy at his sister speaking to him at all was quickly and effectively doused as he realized that her anger had only been reduced to a quiet, slow boil. "Don Matias Cortez. He should be here to greet us and show us on our way. I know that you're anxious to feel land beneath your feet, but Micheletto and I must go and find him before we disembark properly; I suggest that you and the children go back below and wait for us—we shouldn't be too long, sis."
As Lucrezia turned to go a loud, heavily-accented, convivial voice issued forth at them all from the dock.
"Permission to come aboard?"
Lucrezia turned back around to find that it belonged a tallish, smiling man accompanied by several Taíno natives who remained on the pier as he strode up the gangplank.
"Don Cortez?"
"Don Ramirez?"
Cesare nodded as he held out his hand for the man to shake. "Yes, so happy to meet you, good sir."
"And I, you," the man smiled. "You have the look of a man who thinks he's been forgotten—worry not, my friend, I am a little late and I apologize, there was some trouble on the road here, that's all. Welcome to Tortuga!"
"And thank you—nothing serious, I hope?"
"A few ruts in the wet road...damaged a spoke on the wheel of one of our carriages, is all; it is fixed now and ready to aid with your transport. You must forgive us here, our roads are not as hospitable as those you are accustomed to in Santo Domingo."
Cesare nodded his understanding.
"I understand that you are all originally from the World? Italy, was it?"
Lucrezia and Micheletto both watched as Cesare bristled immediately at the man's question; even if his interest was innocent it was still unwelcomed, but they both noted that Cesare did well to mask his initial irritation.
"Yes," he answered simply.
"Ah, I have never been to Italy but would like to visit someday; we've two families of Italian colonists here, and they way they speak of Italy—I know not why they even decided to leave it."
"I think that the never-ending Italian wars might have something to do with it," Cesare offered. "Our people came originally from Spain." That truth he honored. "Barcelona. It was my grandfather who left for Italy and established his line with the aid of our Tuscan grandmother," he lied effortlessly.
"Tuscany! I have heard much about its beauty—and fine wines. I myself am from Andalusia; and was enjoined in service as a Conquistador under the Spanish Crown; my hacienda is the reward for my labors and my happy home, now; I hope that you will all find the same happiness here that I have been blessed to find."
"Thank you, Don Cortez, your well-wishes are most-appreciated. This is the rest of my family, my—"
"Cousin," Lucrezia interrupted her brother boldly as she stepped forward to greet the man, "Giovanna Ramirez," she gave a demure bow of her head at the man.
Cortez longed to take her lovely hand and kiss the back of it, but in one arm she held a baby and the other hand was firmly possessed by a handsome little boy. "My sons," Lucrezia beamed proudly at him, "Giovanni and Digo. Say hello to Don Cortez, Giovanni."
"Hello, sir." Giovanni held out his hand as his uncle had and waited for the man to shake it.
"Well, hello, Don Ramirez! What a fine little gentleman you are!"
Cortez transferred his delighted smile from Giovanni to Lucrezia who saw a question lurking beneath it and in his eyes; she looked at her brother to find his eyes full of quiet fury.
"We shall not bore you with genealogy today, Don Ramirez," Lucrezia continued, "only to finally introduce you, now, to our cousin, Miguel Ramirez."
Cesare noted, quite angrily, how pleased Cortez appeared to be at the confirmation that Micheletto was also a cousin and not a husband, and the man's wider smile at Lucrezia caused Cesare's hands to ball into fists at his sides.
Micheletto stepped forward then and shook the man's hand. "Don Cortez," he nodded at him.
"Don Ramirez. My pleasure."
Micheletto gave another respectful nod in reply and reveled in the fact that the man was visibly unnerved at his silent and unyielding demeanor, and probably surprised at being intimidated by, what he obviously thought, was a cripple dependent upon his waking stick; the smile on the man's face became even more nervous and hard to hold under Micheletto's continued and grim glare.
"Uh, yes, then," Cortez turned back to Cesare, "I have brought help to assist you with unloading your ship and helping to get you settled in your new home."
"Very good, Don Cortez, between your hands and ours I think we shall have an easy go of it."
And so the task began in earnest to unload their few belongings from the ship onto the three carts, three carriages and a good dozen spare horses; Cesare settled with his Captain, who had been hired for the single voyage; and the Harbourmaster, to whom he paid the necessary funds to secure mooring and maintenance costs for his ship; two hours later they were headed on their way from the port and to the hillside.
Cesare and Micheletto rode in the first carriage with Don Cortez; Lucrezia's carriage held her, the boys, Fati Ba and two other of her female servants; the third carriage held more belongings as all of the other men in the Ramirez party rode the extra horses; the Taíno men with Don Cortez held up the rear and their flank on foot. Just over an hour later they came to the mouth of a creek stocked with an array of small, narrow boats, similar in length to gondolas but wider, with more room to carry cargo as well as people.
"Surely you have seen a canoe before, La Doña?" Cortez asked Lucrezia as she looked on uneasily as the men began to load them up.
"No, I haven't, Don Cortez, although I have ridden once or twice in a gondola."
"Then do not worry yourself, it is very much the same; the creek is the only way to the hillside; you will love your hacienda, it faces the ocean."
"Well, that does sound lovely. What about the horses?"
"We will leave these here; two horses and two donkeys await you at your property."
"I see."
"Just a little while longer and we shall be on on our way," Cortez smiled broadly at her, "We will be at your hacienda long before nightfall." He left her then to join Micheletto and supervise his men and Cesare's, to properly secure the loads.
"'Cousin', Lucrezia?'" Cesare hissed at her under his breath after he approached and stood next to her side.
"Giovanni calls you and Micheletto both 'uncle'—it is much better to let that remain the case than to try and coach him to remember a difficult lie. So, not husband...certainly not husband." Lucrezia whispered back at him, being careful to maintain a pleasant look on her face.
"And why not? You've all but given him permission to woo and bed you, although I doubt that he has any true interest in the wooing..." Cesare concluded with a disgusted snort.
"And what should it matter to you, brother?"
"So, that was your intent," he huffed at her. "You don't even know this man."
"You've made arrangements to be happy in your bed—why should I not do the same with my own? And keep your voice down."
"I've already told you, Lucrezia, what my true intent is where you're concerned, for your pleasure as well as my own."
"Well, this is neither the time or place to re-visit that argument..."
"When, then? You've not spoken a full sentence to me in more days than I can remember—"
"Well, I suppose that shall be tonight, after we've chosen our separate bedrooms and before we shall retire to them."
"You would, wouldn't you? Bed this man? As he's made clear that he would you..."
"I don't know what you are so upset about, brother, he's being chivalrous, I believe—you do remember chivalry, do you not? And anyway, I was merely thinking on my feet. And congratulations to you, as well, on the revisionist history of our origins—bravo."
"Do not try and change the subject—you would do it...to spite me." The smug look on his sister's face was answer enough for him. "If we weren't surrounded by people right now I would surely take you over my knee for being the ridiculous little imp that you are!"
"You wouldn't dare—you forget that I am a woman—not a child."
"What I see before me is most-definitely a child."
"And that is exactly the problem between us—amongst others." Lucrezia pushed him away from herself as Fati Ba approached with Rodrigo and Giovanni.
"They have both had a little to eat, La Doña."
"Very good, Fati Ba, it looks as if we may be almost ready to go, now." Lucrezia noticed Micheletto watching them, silent; expressionless; giving nothing away to anyone and so menacing with it; then she noted that everyone appeared to be waiting on them, or at least for a break in their quite but intense little conversation.
"Is everything alright, may I ask?" Don Cortez asked as he approached them. "I assure you, La Doña, the creek is a gentle one, nothing to worry about, at all."
"Thank you, Don Cortez, I shall take my ease in your confidence and direction."
"Allow me?" Cortez held out his elbow for Lucrezia to take and then escorted her to her canoe and its guide.
Soon everyone was boarded and they set off, with Don Cortez, Cesare and Micheletto in the lead canoe, followed by Lucrezia, the boys and Fati Ba and then ten more canoes behind her carrying the rest of their party and their belongings.
The men ahead were in serious conversation that Lucrezia could not hear well and so she concentrated on taking in the soothing sounds and verdant lushness surrounding her as she held tight to Rodrigo in one arm, her other about Giovanni. She had so many questions: was the jade green water safe if you fell in accidentally? Was the river safe to swim in, in general, or were there sharp-toothed or poisonous creatures waiting to help you meet your end? Her thoughts went back to her first time in Naples, and the King that Micheletto had put out of her misery by committing him to the lake of deadly lamprey eels—were such creatures in the water she was gliding upon then?
What kind of ghastly trees was she looking at? That reminded her of furry tarantulas, only preposterously larger, and greener, swaying in the gentle breeze low enough that she felt that they were alive and endeavoring to try and reach down and snatch her up out of the canoe. The frightening visuals in her head were so at odds with the peaceful, almost charming sounds of the gentle river and the musical birds, as economical with their singing as Micheletto was with his words. She wanted to inquire of the guide, but she chided herself over the fact that she was not on a tour; she was heading to her new home. And then she spied something, high in some of the other trees that soared above her, that did not look like a giant spider trying to consume her, but held a different terror for her, that caused her to shriek.
"What is that! Moving in the trees up there? Is it stalking us?"
The Taíno guide in her canoe looked up to where was pointing, as did everyone when they heard her squeal.
"La Doña, it's alright, those are only sloths—they are harmless! As with most beasts, you leave them alone, they leave you alone," Don Cortez called back to her.
It was little consolation to Lucrezia but she clamped her mouth shut and tried to compose herself; her eyes traveled back down the length of the tree, scanning for such creatures in the lower branches when they finally became rooted on a low hanging vine that they were slowly passing by; her eyes adjusted more to the lovely, yellow-green gnarled mess when she realized that what she was looking at was not a tiny little vine swaying in the breeze, but something slithering toward the outermost length of the actual vine it was coiled around and camouflaged by.
"Snakes? Snakes in the trees!" she shrieked alarmingly enough to set Rodrigo to crying.
Cesare almost slipped and called her out by her real name but caught himself. "Lu—look away from the trees, Giovanna, just keep your eyes trained within the canoe—it's really alright—calm yourself, my love..." He wanted to jump out of his canoe and go to her but he saw Fati Ba take her in hand and do what he could not, as she soothed Lucrezia and Rodrigo both. Little Giovanni's eyes caught his and he smiled at the boy as he nodded his approval at him and mouthed "It's alright." Giovanni, still stricken by his mother's outburst, managed to nod back; Cesare gave him a big smile then and another nod of reassurance.
"Shall I? Cousin?" It was Micheletto's gruff, almost angry voice that came at Cesare then, offering his intent to jump back into Lucrezia's canoe and comfort her, for Cesare had been in discussion then with Don Cortez about the honest difficulties of milling lumber in the area.
"Would you, cousin? Thank you."
Micheletto waited for their canoe to slow down and for Lucrezia's to come closer and easily, if carefully, stepped from the stern of his to the bow of hers; Fati Ba moved with Giovanni to allow him his seat beside her.
"What is this horrid place that we've come to, Mi—Miguel? I thought that it would be like Santo Domingo, if only less inhabited—this is a jungle!" Lucrezia shivered as Micheletto took her into his strong, reassuring embrace. "I'm sorry to be so...so...such a cowardly thing—you must find me completely contemptible, at this moment." Lucrezia's shame was evident in the dejected slope of her shoulders against him.
"I do not, little sister; you are in a foreign land, so very different than anything you've ever known; you are allowed to be a woman on this occasion, instead of the warrior, I think." Micheletto hugged her tighter to him.
If only my brother understood the same about me...Lucrezia lamented silently; she sank into Micheletto then, grateful for his sensitivity and not as surprised by it as she thought she should have been. She became aware of him suddenly, holding her as he was, and that such intimacy had never been shared by them before.
What must we look like? What are we doing? As much as she wanted to linger in his embrace she felt guilty for wanting to do so; Lucrezia comported herself and slowly drew away from him, but not before she heard his whisper at her.
"So, you feel something, as well, then? Or am I alone in this strange and glorious sensation? Cousin?"
Just as they separated from each other Don Cortez and Cesare turned back to them.
Lucrezia looked at Cesare, whose worried look mirrored her own; he gave her a hopeful smile which to which she acquiesced and returned; his smile of relief at her next was as a ray of light shining her way, and only after it did he turn around and continue his conversation with Cortez.
Beside her, Micheletto was quiet and still. She wanted to turn to face him, say something— but had no idea where to begin with any words; she dared only to quickly cut a shy glance at him and, just as quickly, she cast it away to her hands clasped in her lap; she questioned that she had actually heard what she thought she heard him say, at all.
I was frightened and he comforted me, that is all. He wants Cesare and Cesare wants him; it has all changed and I must be consistent where Cesare is not. Micheletto likes men. Little sister; cousin—I am little sister! In spite of everything, we shall always be great friends, that's all!
Just then she felt one of Micheletto's hands upon hers; he raised one to his lips and gave the back of it a sweet kiss, then placed it back upon the other at her lap, never once taking his eyes away from the river before them.
"La Doña!"
Lucrezia was wrenched out of her newest shock at the sound of the excited voice issuing at her.
"Just around the bend there—only a mile more and you shall have your comfort!" Don Cortez called happily back to her.