The Family Auditore – Chapter 3 - The De' Medici Ward
Esperanza looked up as they arrived in Firenze.
Giovanni had been impressed by her chameleon abilities. They had acted as husband and wife, sharing rooms along the way. Giovanni would often have her near him and gently kiss her cheek and hold her hand. She had played well and convincingly.
That puzzled him. She was able to play a merchant's daughter and banker's wife with ease. She had not been a girl of the streets. She would not speak of her family name to him and he eventually let it go, though he wondered why she was so secretive.
He tended her arm. He had made sure the doctors had set it well and splinted it with a thick binding so it would heal correctly. He had to change the dressing every couple of days. The doctors also gave her some medicine for the pain should she have it.
Now her cowl was over her face from the travel cloak he had bought her.
Giovanni took her to the grand Palazzo of Lorenzo De Medici. His friend would know what to do with her. He knocked on the door. A manservant answered and showed them into the main parlor.
Lorenzo entered shortly after followed by Uberto Alberti, the current Gonfaloniere of Florence. They took in the pair before them.
Lorenzo smiled. "Giovanni. Welcome." Lorenzo said. "What news do you have from Roma?"
Giovanni pursed his lips and nodded to the girl nearby watching the fire as she warmed her hands. Lorenzo watched the girl put down her hood and look at them. Uberto blinked. He had seen that face somewhere before.
"My name is Isabelle." She said before Giovanni could speak. She dipped her body with a flourish, something Lorenzo was only used to seeing in the courts of the city-state great families and within the presence of the Pope. This was not a low-born woman and even Giovanni had picked up on it as Lorenzo returned it.
"Welcome child to Firenze." He said.
"Grazie." She said.
Giovanni gave her a look and she looked right back. He nodded and smiled. "My dear Isabelle needs a home. I found her washed up on the Tiber River bank like trash. She has been severely beaten and I hope to keep her from a family that treats her like trash."
Lorenzo nodded. "Indeed." He spread his hands. "Welcome to my palazzo, my dear. Please. The maid will show you to my room. You are free to stay here as long as you wish."
She nodded. She caught Giovanni's eye. He nodded and she left them to speak of their own business.
ZzZ
The girl lived for two months under the care of the De' Medici's.
Her arm healed well and after six weeks the doctors allowed her to use it once more to gain back its strength. She still had to use it with care, but she became accustomed to being one handed long enough she had to readjust to having two once more.
Lorenzo treated her like his own daughter. Even his wife treated the young girl as a cousin of Lorenzo's , a convenient lie for the moment. She was Lorenzo's ward. She was older than his children, but she liked to play with them, read to them, and even hold the infant girl whom had just been born a week before her arrival.
Lucrezia Maria Romola de' Medici was only three years old, Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici was a year, and the newly arrived Maria Maddalena Romola de' Medici all took up her time. She played nursemaid and nurse to them.
The trouble started when the suitors started asking Lorenzo for her hand. Lorenzo spoke to Isabelle who did not wish to be married off. She wanted to marry for love. Something he thought was a childish dream, but he humored her at least for now.
Uberto was often a guest of the family and he had watched the girl become more confident and lovely in her guardian's care. She was a beautiful spirit and anyone who tried to subdue her would find himself hard pressed to keep her. Lorenzo had told her she was always welcome with his family.
Giovanni came and requested an audience. She of course granted her savior and her guardian's friend the ability to meet with her.
She took a breath as he walked into her study and shut the door behind him. He walked to her and startled her as he grabbed her arm and forced her against the wall. His hidden blade made a metal against metal hiss as it came from its sheath. His eyes looked into her own as he leaned against his arm on chest. "What the hell do you play at?" He asked his knife dangerously close to her jugular.
She looked up at him in naked fear. "I…"
"Be careful your words, Isabelle." He hissed.
She realized he knew about her. All of it. His eyes told her she could not lie or hide anymore.
"Or should we drop the pretense and call you Esperanza Borgia." He said holding her still and painfully against the wall.
She closed her eyes and tears began to drop down her cheeks. "I tried so hard…" she whispered.
"Tried what so hard?"
"To be different. To not be what I am. I wanted to be free." She opened her eyes again. "I am a danger to any who know me."
He cocked his head. "You do not want to go back to your family?"
"Please…don't make me. I will be beaten and then…" She looked at him desperately.
"What do they want with you then?" He asked letting his blade go back into its holder before let her go.
"It was something to do with my mother. Rodrigo told me he kept me alive because of my mother."
The girl was telling the truth and she had not called her father by a familiar term, rather his name. He took a breath. "I believe you." He said. "Forgive me. I wanted to make sure you were not a threat to Lorenzo."
"Why would I be a threat to the men who have shown me only kindness?"
"The Borgia are known for being less than grateful."
"I am not a Borgia. I may be Rodrigo's bastard, but he has never given me the same treatment as the rest of the lot." She said bitterly.
He watched her go to a chair and sit down heavily. He followed her and sighed. "They have posters all over Roma." He lifted on he had torn down and brought with him. He set it before her.
It had her likeness in a drawing with the words. 'Please help us find our beloved daughter Esperanza.'
She looked ready to spit as she looked up at him. "They never once admitted I was a daughter let alone a beloved one." She said. She shivered. "Why do they want me? I am nothing to them."
"You are something to them, but also you are a female and from your loins could come sons and power." He said. He shrugged and lowered his cowl back. His thick blonde hair cascaded over his shoulders. "Now the question is…" He gently knelt down and took her hand in his. "How we protect a flower?"
"I cannot ask you to do that." She said. "I must make my own way."
"You are a child. What life would you have on the streets? Your best prospects would be to become a whore." He said looking up at her. She looked down at him as though he had slapped her. Gently he took her chin in his hands. "I won't allow you to have that happen, little one."
"Why do you even care?" She asked. "What am I to you?"
"Rodrigo Borgia is not a good man. He has done things. Many things. Keeping you from him is a power play I will admit, but it will keep you from harm and confound him. This is a double win in my book, my dear."
She cocked her head. "You really do care about my welfare."
"Yes." He said nodding. "It is the least I can do."
She touched his face. "It must be nice having you as a father. I wish mine had actually looked at me with such attention and caring." She sighed. "Forgive me, I am unused to…" Tears fell again.
This time she felt arms about her, lifting her with him as he held her. He gently rocked her soothingly as she wept into his tunic. "Shhh. That's right. Let it all out, little one. Let out the pain." He cooed gently as he caressed her hair.
Lorenzo walked into the room and froze seeing Giovanni holding the girl. The girl was sobbing against the man who had his eyes closed and holding her gently. Giovanni's eyes opened as he saw his benefactor walk in.
"What is happening?" Lorenzo asked coming toward them.
Giovanni felt the girl stiffen, but he held her firmly to him. "She has just discovered what love it, my lord."
"What?"
The girl turned her face to her guardian. "Lorenzo." She whispered.
"Are you well, principessa?" He asked gently. He could see the pain written on her face.
"Yes. I am just grateful." She said wiping her eyes on a cloth Giovanni gave her. He gently held her about her shoulders to steady her.
He looked down at the poster. "What is this?"
"The Borgia are missing a daughter." Giovanni said. "They are not going to get her back, however."
"And why is that?" Uberto asked coming into the room. "I would think giving that Templar bastard back his spy would be just what we should do." He glared at the girl. "Quite the rouse my dear. You had us all fooled."
Giovanni stepped before her. "She is not a spy. In fact she is some sort of treasure the Templars want." He looked down. "They call her 'beloved' and treat her less than the servants."
"How do you know this?" Lorenzo asked.
"Her back is forever marred by their cruelty." Giovanni said. "I am not about to give her back to them so they can do so again."
"Spoken like a father." Lorenzo said nodding.
"Spoken like a man who has felt the sting of a whip and no woman should have to endure it let alone more than once." Giovanni said.
Uberto took a breath. "She cannot stay here with Lorenzo. The Borgia may see her here and reclaim her or try to have her murdered."
"Indeed." Giovanni said. He looked back at the girl. She was standing erect, but looking at the floor. "Another will need to take her."
Lorenzo looked at Uberto. "She is to be a secret between us, but two of us do not have children old enough to pass her off as our own." He looked pointedly back at Giovanni.
Giovanni took a breath. "I have three sons and a daughter all near her age." He then cocked his head. "But why merely add her as a daughter. I can give her my name in another way to protect her."
"What?" The girl's eyes lifted to look at him. "What are you planning?"
"I plan to marry you to my elder son." He said. "He needs a wife and you need a safe place."
"So I am to be sold to a man for my own safety."
"Is that so much to ask? I am not asking you to marry a man twice your age who cannot bed you well." Giovanni said looking at her. "Federico is seventeen." He smiled as she blushed. "The Borgia will not have you back. Not while I live, Esperanza."
"Isabelle." She corrected.
He waved a hand. "Whatever. You will soon be an Auditore." He said. "That is if I am not stepping on the toes of Uberto and Lorenzo." He looked back.
Lorenzo swallowed. "I swore I would let her marry for love, but this may be the only way to keep her from the Templars."
"Indeed." Uberto said.
Giovanni lifted the girl's chin to look at him. "Would you be able to live as my daughter-in-law?" He smiled. "I am well enough off. I am a banker and my elder sons are learning the trade as well. You will be well looked after. Certainly better than a servant in your own home. My daughter Claudia will be a good friend to you, I am sure of it."
She looked up, her eyes bright. "Why are you so kind to me?"
"Call it a father's instinct." He said and kissed her cheek. "It is settled then?"
"I will go with you Giovanni." She said.
He lifted a finger to her lips. "Papa." He said gently.
Tears sprang to her eyes again. All she had wanted in the world was to have a father who cared for her. "Yes, Papa." She whispered.
He nodded and pressed a kiss to her brow. "It is settled then."
Lorenzo nodded. "He will keep you safe, Isabelle. There is no one else I trust more."
She nodded.
ZzZ
It had taken her a day to pack up her meager belongings, all of which had come from Lorenzo and his wife. The pair were sad to see her go, but Lorenzo quietly told his wife that her life was in danger and she understood.
Isabelle was humming softly as she put her last few items in a chest. She did not notice a form move from behind the curtains. She lifted a mirror, part of a set Lorenzo had given her as a late birthday present, and she looked in it adjusting her hair, but then she saw a man behind her with a wicked knife.
She ducked the blow and drew the knife Giovanni had left in her care. He had replaced his boot dagger telling her two months ago when he left her in the care of Lorenzo that women who were not armed could still die by blades. She had taken the gift from him pensively. Now she was grateful.
The man was surprised and he lounged. He cut the sleeve of her dress and she stabbed violently down as she looked away. It cut the man's arm, but not badly.
He bellowed in pain and the sudden blood going down his arm, fouled his grip on the stiletto he held. She back away from the man, crying out for help.
"I will take pleasure in ending you, bitch."
"Help!" She cried as the man moved attempting to trap her, but she managed to get to her balcony doors, open them and back away. Now trapped she would have to jump and it was three stories to the cobbles below.
Outside, Giovanni had been waiting at the door, allowing the girl her privacy, but when he heard the voice of a man within her rooms, he opened the door and charged in.
He took in the scene before him. He ran forward grasping the man's face with his gloved right hand and driving his hidden blade into his chest with his other. The man gasped in surprise thinking no one was about.
"Giovanni!" The girl gasped in surprise.
He nodded a little at her. "Are you hurt?" He asked.
She shook her head and he looked at the man he held.
Giovanni dropped with the body. "Who do you work for?" He asked kneeling beside him.
The man said nothing and went limp, eyes forever holding the shock of having an assassin kill him rather than he killing the girl and making off before anyone knew. Rodrigo had wanted her dead as a last resort, he would have preferred her trussed up and brought back like the stray dog she was.
Giovanni rose to his feet after closing the man's eyes and whispering something to the corpse. He looked at the girl who was holding the knife firmly, but she was shaking so hard she would never be able to use it.
He came to her and gently took the pommel from her hand. "Hey, it's over." He whispered as he gently took her in his arms and held her as she quivered. She did not weep, just shook like a leaf in the wind. He tucked the blade into his belt and just held her, as any father would.
When she settled down he put her at arm's length. "You are safe now, piccola."
"Papa…"
He smiled a little.
Lorenzo's guards burst in, but Giovanni shook his head.
Lorenzo sighed and nodded. "It is well she leaves this night."
"Yes." Giovanni agreed. "Come, child." He said.
"My dress. I need to…"
Lorenzo nodded and shooed the guards away after ordering them to remove the body. He and Giovanni looked at each other and then turned away from her.
She looked at them and realized they were not leaving. Sighing, she then dressed in an older more modest dress for travel. When she walked around to them Giovanni chuckled a little.
"What?"
"Nothing. You make it look like I am bringing him an governess for my children, not a wife for my eldest son."
She sighed and Lorenzo stepped forward. He kissed her cheeks. "If you have any trouble you come home, my dear one." He took a hold of her upper arms and shook her lightly. "Do you understand me?"
"Home?"
"Yes." He gave Giovanni a rueful grin. "I doubt you will have problems, but as your guardian, I want to make sure your welfare is looked after." He looked at Giovanni. "We will talk dowry after the love birds hit it off."
"Dowry?" She looked at him. "I am not your daughter."
"Ah, but I must provide for my ward and since you do not have other family my dear little cousin, I will give you a dowry befitting a De' Medici."
"But…"
"Lorenzo, I do not need this. We are…"
"Giovanni?"
"Yes?"
"Allow me to honor you both, will you?"
Giovanni clapped his mouth shut and nodded.
ZzZ
Lorenzo told them he would have a man deliver her small chest later, but for now she followed Giovanni into the streets. Giovanni carried with him the final gift he had gotten from Lorenzo. Lorenzo had paid a forger, through a third party naturally, to make forged papers for the young girl now known as Isabelle De' Medici. Birth certificate, Christening certificate, Baptism certificate, and her pass to live in the city of Florence. All forged, but all with the correct seals and would never be questioned with the seal of Lorenzo De Medici himself on them.
The girl looked like a young merchant daughter. She walked quietly taking in the sights as a free woman. They passed the market, a place she wanted to return. Giovanni himself was in his white clothing she had always seen him in, well-armed, and watchful under his cowl.
She followed him closely. The tall man moved among the crowded streets like a hot knife through butter, but he kept the pace easy so she could keep up with him. Once she paused as a cart passed. Giovanni had ducked just behind it, but she lost track of him.
After a few moments he took her hand and smiled at her as he gently led her to his own palazzo. They did not go in the front as she expected. They went in through a door that looked very much like the wall. They walked in through a narrow tunnel in the walls and then emerged in a small room.
The room looked like a small study and at once Giovanni began to remove the tunic, hood, knives, sword, throwing knives, and his bracer with the hidden blade. In a white shirt and his woolen trousers he looked at the girl as she looked around the room.
Clearly this man also had secrets.
He pulled on a long robe, the robes of a banker, and smiled at the girl as he pressed a brick. The wall dropped down revealing another room.
He took her hand and pressed a finger to his lips. She nodded and he led her out into a larger study that held a desk, several chairs, books in bookshelves, and several works of Venetian and Roma art. He smiled she looked about.
He pressed a part of the mantle and the fireplace rose up and back into its position hiding the secret study beyond. "Well, child?"
"It is perfect." She said looking up from studying his books.
"Welcome home." He spread his hands. "Palazzo de Auditore."
He walked to her. "You like to read?"
"Yes." She said.
"We will have to find you something of interest then."
She smiled.
"Amore." Came a soft voice from the doorway.
Giovanni turned and grinned. "Maria." He softly kissed her mouth.
Isabelle looked at the woman. She looked to be in her late thirties, but her face was beautiful. She giggled as her husband nuzzled her ear affectionately. "Giovanni." She scolded. "Who is your guest?"
"Ah. Welcome Isabelle. She is…a cousin of Lorenzo De' Medici." He lifted a hand and the girl came to him. "Lorenzo has proposed a marriage suit. Since none of his children are old enough to wed Federico, his young cousin and ward will serve well and unite our families."
Maria nodded. She smiled happily. She knew of Giovanni's friendship to the De Medici family. The girl was or marriageable age and she was beautiful. This would prove an asset to them and she knew it.
Isabelle listened. The man was no stranger to lies and wove a plausible enough story as to why she would be marrying Federico. Lorenzo would back the story as well.
Maria stepped forward and took the girl's hands as she kissed her cheeks. "Welcome Isabelle." She said.
Isabelle dipped her head. "Thank you."
For once, Isabelle De'Medici, formerly known as Esperanza Borgia, felt safe.