*(This is a longer chapter than my usual ones, so I apologize in advance if you dislike long chapters!)
It took a while to realize what they were laughing about. Apparently the only reason why the crowd went crazy after the horse stood on its hind legs was because one of the guards fell to the ground bleeding, with an arrow through his forehead. The arrow came from yours truly, Ezio Auditore. He saw the distress I was in and he came to my rescue.
I only remained conscious for a minute after they finished explaining the reason for their laughter. I remembered being carried up several stairs and being placed on a bed. I would have struggled to be placed on a bed in the Rosa in Fiore but the pain in my shoulder was so overpowering that refusal was out of the question and I regretfully passed out.
I did not know how long I was sleeping in that bed, but I felt as though the germs from the courtesans would crawl into my veins and kill me. At times I would wake up and be confused of my surroundings and when I figured it out in my brain I would pass out again. An irritating pain kept coming from the left side of my body and would wake me from my half dreams. Most of the time I dreamt of nothing but blackness, but when I did dream it was the same reoccurring dream of Cesare.
We were in a vast field and dead bodies were sprawled everywhere. Horses walked about idly with no master, flies hovered over the rotting corpses, and one tall woman with a sculpted body stood over the entire thing. She wore strange robes and her hair was long and untied, it floated as if she were submerged in water and although she was not greatly beautiful, Cesare could not keep his eyes off her. He was blindly walking towards her but never reached her, and I kept running after him, telling him to stop. He said he needed Eden. When I caught up to him I would grab his shoulder and beg him to stop walking, reminding him that it was I he loved, not Eden. The next part of my dream always startled me into tears, even though I knew it was going to happen every time. He quickly turned and faced towards me, and taking his dagger out, he would stab me in the chest. The most confusing part of it all was that he always said to me "Goodbye, Ezio."
One day I finally woke up from that dream and didn't pass out again. I stared at the wooden ceiling and wondered when I would fade into the darkness but it never came. I looked around and no one was in the small room so I pulled the covers off and sat on the edge of my bed. I couldn't find any slippers so I put my bare feet on the cold wood floor and pushed my body up. I do not know how, but I forgot how to keep my body upright. My legs shook and betrayed me and I fell to the ground with a thud. I assumed the pain in my shoulder would worsen but the only pain I felt was the mere one you would get if you ever fell. I wanted to get up but I couldn't so I lied there until I heard the door open.
"Oh Louise, are you all right?" asked a light voice.
"I fell," I explained.
The person came to me and lifted me back onto the bed. I looked and realized it was the same woman I met when I first ran into the Rosa in Fiore, the one who laughed along side Ezio—but how long ago was that? Surely I couldn't have been here for more than a few days, but it felt like it had been months…
"You shouldn't try and do that for a little while, you've been lying in bed for so long that you haven't the energy for walking. Slowly, in time, you will be better," she explained.
"She doesn't have time, Claudia," said a deep voice from near the window.
I looked and Ezio stood there, closing the window shut. Had he been there a minute ago? I was sure no one was in the room.
"What do you mean, Ezio?" she asked, confused.
"Cesare is back, she needs to return to the Castel Sant'Angelo," he answered.
"Were you always in the room?" I asked, looking at Ezio.
"But she can't walk, how is she going to get back?" asked Claudia.
Clearly my question was not important, for he ignored mine and swiftly answered Claudia's. "I'll get her walking. Go fetch the clothes she came with and get ready, we will leave tonight."
"Ezio…" began Claudia, but she stopped herself short and left the room.
He looked at the closed door and then looked at me, smiling from underneath the hood.
"Good morning, Madonna," he said, walking up to my bed.
I suddenly realized that I was in a room with Ezio. My months of searching and daydreaming, it all led to this final moment. I wanted to know so much about him, I wanted to know why he hated Cesare and what his motivation was, how he learned to do the things he did… I opened my mouth to speak my mind but he interrupted me.
"How is your shoulder?" he asked.
"It feels better, thank you," I replied, disappointingly.
"Do you know how your horse is?"
"My horse?"
"Yes, the one you kicked to distract the guards. Surely you thought of him this past week," he smirked.
"No… I forgot about him. I have been here for a week then?"
"Two weeks, Madonna—"
"Please, call me Louise," I interrupted. "Do you know Cesare is away? Then you must know that I cannot stay here when he returns."
"I do. He has returned yesterday."
"Then why did you keep me here?"
"Didn't you want to meet me? I just wanted to make your dying wish come true…"
I turned red, "It isn't my dying wish."
He laughed and said, "To be honest, Louise, I wished to meet you as well."
"Me?" I blurted, "But why?"
"This war is madness, and Cesare is cruel. He will stop at nothing to rule all of Italia and I must stop him. You are very close to Cesare but at the same time you are very distant, I hoped I could trust you…"
He leaned close, mere inches away from me. "Can I trust you, Louise?"
From this close, I could see his entire face. The hood hid the most beautiful part of his complexion—his eyes. They sparkled at me and they looked so pure and kind, surely he was hypnotizing me.
I lifted my hand and placed it on his shoulder and he placed his own hand on top of mine, but his shoulder was covered by armor and the touch reminded me of Cesare. I took my hand away and looked away, realizing the true meaning of his question.
"I cannot betray Cesare," I said.
"You already have, but if you do not want to help us, simply say so."
"Us?"
"The Assassins."
"That's what you are?"
"Yes."
"I have not betrayed Cesare," I answered.
"You came here, didn't you?"
He was right. I did betray Cesare. The thought of meeting Ezio Auditore was too hard to let go, and now he wished for my help. I never cared much about Cesare anyway; surely this would be for the greater cause. I was tired of the way Cesare treated me and although my reasons were mumbled together and petty, I felt better about accepting his offer than rejecting.
"You can trust me, Ezio," I finally replied.
"Thank you," he said as he got up.
He extended his hand out to me and I grabbed it. "What are we doing?" I asked.
"Teaching you to walk. You need to be at the Castel Sant'Angelo soon or there will be no point in our trust. You need to make Cesare believe you are completely devoted to him and have no secrets. Can you do that?"
"Yes," I said.
He took my arm in his and we walked out of the bedroom and onto a balcony filled with flowers that overlooked the water and the other side of Roma.
"You need to find more about his plans and report them to me weekly. You will give the letters to a man named Leonardo da Vinci. He works there and studies... something for Cesare. Leonardo will give your letters to me, and I will hand you my letters personally."
"Won't you get caught if you hand them personally?" I asked.
We were walking around the balcony and I focused on moving one foot and then the other.
He chuckled and said, "Don't worry about me. The rest of our discussions will be on paper, and if we are to meet I will write to you on the letter. Never leave the Vatican again unless I tell you otherwise. Do you understand me?"
I did not know why he demanded this, but I nodded anyway. He sighed in relief and we spent the rest of the time walking in circles until I remembered how to do it by myself. Claudia came out after a while and said it was time. Ezio nodded and told me to follow his sister. We walked back to a big room and Claudia gave me the dress I originally was in but it was torn and dirty.
"I don't remember my dress being in this condition?" I stated.
"It is part of the plan, Louise," she explained. "Ezio will walk straight past the guards with you in tow, and they will try and arrest him but he will escape, forgetting to take you with him. Then those guards will get a nice raise for rescuing Cesare's lady from the thief who kidnapped her last week."
"So everyone thinks I have been kidnapped?" I asked.
"Yes. Play the part, you can just say that after you fell off your horse Ezio—or rather, the theif—killed the guards and took you hostage. He then made you a slave and did horrible things you dare not speak of and you cried and prayed that Cesare would find you, and surely enough; your prayers had been answered. Think you can remember that?"
"Won't Ezio be disgraced?" I questioned.
"Rumors will not hurt him, do not worry," she smiled.
That evening we parted ways. The plans had been described to the smallest detail; I thanked Claudia for her hospitality and bid the Rosa in Fiore adieu. I walked with tight ropes around my hands as Ezio led the way. It was getting dark and I wondered how much longer we were going to walk, for it felt like it had been hours. We finally heard guards run up and say "There she is!" I looked at Ezio and he said "Forgive me, Louise." I did not know what he meant until he took the end of his sword and tapped me on the head. It wasn't forceful, but it was too much for a weak soul who had been asleep in bed for two weeks so I collapsed to the ground. I was not unconscious, so I heard the swords clash and the screams and I felt the blood drip onto my face until it went silent. A few minutes later I heard and saw the blurry heads of three guards come up to me and pick me up and put me into a carriage. The steady rocking and the numbness in my forehead made it so much easier to fall asleep but I was sick of passing out. I did not want to lose consciousness and wake up in two weeks, so I tried to keep myself awake. I wanted to get out of the carriage—the rocking was too much, but hands pushed me back into my seat and told me to calm down. The rocking finally stopped and in its place was yelling—angry, vicious yelling. It was just the thing to keep me from passing out because I was so frightened. As the yelling got louder and closer I realized it was Cesare.
"Move! Move! Get her out of the carriage you idiots!"
I was taken out of the carriage and my head tilted back and I involuntarily looked at the night sky and the crescent moon. Cesare's firm hand pushed my head back to normal and I looked facing him. His complexion was darkened by the night but I was disappointed. He did not have beautiful brown eyes.
He lifted me up and carried me into my bedroom. Rather than call for a maid, he stripped me of my dirty clothes himself and dressed me in a clean nightgown. He put the blankets over me and he kneeled beside me, placing his hand on my bruised forehead.
"Cesare," I began, in a whisper.
"Sleep, Louise. Please, sleep," he whispered back.
"I cannot," I sighed, closing my eyes.
I resisted the urge to sleep but my eyes were so tired. The final trigger was Cesare's soothing voice, begging me to sleep. I did it for Ezio, because he told me to seem devoted, so like the "devoted" lady of Cesare Borgia, I obeyed him and slept.