Short chapter this time, sorry. I decided to put a quote in the beginning of each chapter, sometimes quotes by famous people, sometimes just my own musings. If it's my own 'quote', then I won't write any 'author' to the quote (like in the first chapter). Good reading! 3

In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.
-Graham Greene, 'The Third Man'

Chapter 2
November 1st 1497

Julio and Jane passed through the gates of Rome early in the morning. The sun had barely left the horizon and the air was still thick with morning dew. Julio hadn't planned on leaving his friend and maker behind, but Alec had been persistent that he travelled with Jane to take care of her. Not that she needed any care, he had admitted, but he wanted someone with her nonetheless. Had he known about Jane and Julio's relationship, he would probably not have been as persistent, Jane mused.

The city hadn't changed much since she was last here. The wide streets flowed with life and were filled with voices. The peasants stepped out of the way for the richer couple on the horses and Jane saw young girls that were beginning to change to women look at her with awe and jealousy, wishing it was them in the beautiful, red dress with the warm fur and accompanied by the handsome man that was Julio.

Jane turned to the left before reaching the center of the city, moving towards a more quite part of the city.

"Where are we going?" Julio knew the city well enough to know that the Basilica was in the other direction.

"To my home," Jane smiled.

They had reached the more expensive, rich part of the city now. The streets were wider and cleaner, and the booths were bigger and sold expensive jewelry, silk and various items from faraway lands.

And right there, a two-story building rose, no different from the others. You wouldn't have guessed that this sand-colored-and-red building hosted three of the most powerful women in Rome.

Jane dismounted the horse and stroked its strong neck a couple of times before taking hold of the reins and leading it to a stable. She knew that Julio followed her.

"Do you have the space for two more horses?" she asked the owner of the stable, a middle-aged man.

"Certamente, signora." She handed him the reins and while he put the horses away, she took a small pouch out from the folds of her dress.

"How much will it be?" she asked when he returned, her pouch already opened.

"One tenth of a florin for both horses for two days."

She found half a florin from her pouch and gave it to him. He weighed it and nodded. "I am not entirely sure how long the second horse will stay. I think companion will leave tomorrow morning."

"I will give you three nights for your horse and a single one for his, signora, if only his horse is gone before noon tomorrow."

Jane smiled, knowing she had made a good deal. "Thank you."

The man nodded silently and carefully cut of one fifth of the coin she had handed him. He weighed the smaller bit and nodded before turning the weigh so that she could see that he had cut off exactly the right amount of the gold coin.

After thanking him once more and taking the rest of the coin, she walked towards the house that she had been close to call home not long ago.

It took less than thirty seconds for a servant to get the door after she knocked and she faintly recognized the man.

"Signorina Volturi!" He bowed deeply for her. "Welcome back."

"Thank you. Is the lady Farnese home at present?"

"She is in her chambers. Do you want me to get her for you?"

Jane's lips curled into a mischievous smile. "Yes, please, but don't tell her that it's me. I want it to be a surprise."

The servant's eyes were the only ones that revealed his amusement as he said, "Right away, milady."

As soon as he had disappeared up the stairs, Jane took Julio's hand and led him to the dining room where he sat down. She, herself, was unable to do so.

Soon after, she heard the quick, but light steps of Giulia Farnese. She entered, her back straight and wearing a beautiful, richly colored dress, her auburn hair pulled up into a braid the formed a circle on the back of her head. A smile broke on her face.

"Giovanna!"

With the blink of an eye, the two women were embracing each other tightly, ignoring the presence of a third in that room.

"I have missed so while you were gone."

"And I you." Jane pulled away a bit.

"How did it go with your brother?" Giulia asked as they stepped away from each other.

"Our father finally decided to absolve him for his sins." Jane's voice was thick with irony and Giulia laughed.

"And yet, I spot a male companion." Giulia lowered her voice. "Is he with you?"

"He is," Jane said and walked over to Julio to present the two, "my brother's apprentice, Julio. My brother sent him with me to take care of me."

Giulia curtseyed for him and Julio bowed politely. "Signora."

"If I know Giovanna as well as I think I do, then it is you who needs taken care of."

Julio smiled. "Indeed."

"I was hoping to get an audience with the Pope soon." Jane looked at Giulia once more.

"I am sure he hopes to see you soon as well." She paused. "He has been… troubled lately, and I worry for him."

"I have heard rumors since I arrived here," Jane admitted. "About Lucrezia's marriage being annulled?"

"Those rumors, I am happy to say, are true." Giulia took Jane's hand and the sat down in front of each other. Giulia shot a glance at Julio as to include him in the conversation.

"You already know how reliable Giovanni was, and he has made one too many mistakes. Our Holy Father has decided to break the alliance and the marriage."

"But the only reason for an annulment is if the marriage was never consummated, and Lucrezia herself has made it very clear to me that it was."

"Then she is lucky, her father is the Pope." Giulia got a mischievous expression on her face. "All that is needed is to make Giovanni seem impotent."

"And how do they plan to accomplish in that?"

"As soon as the accusation is made, Giovanni will have to make a public demonstration of his potency, which I am almost certain he will be incapable of."

"I am terribly sorry, Giulia, but I think you should not get your hopes up. I am convinced that Giovanni is very… potent."

Giulia smiled slightly. "In his own chambers, he may be, but in front of a group consisting of middle-aged cardinals the case may be entirely different."

Jane couldn't help but burst out into laughter at the picture that formed in her head. "So by 'public' you mean the college of cardinals?"

"Yes. They decided that it would be less humiliating for the poor man." Giulia smiled when Jane laughed once more.

"But of course it is only strategic," Giulia added and Jane fell silent. "To prove potency in front of a group consisting of selected citizens may be hard, but it would be possible. Proving potency in front of a group of cardinals, now that is a challenge."

"Of course." Jane suddenly realized how cleverly this was planned out.

"But these are not the only news," Giulia said. "Do you remember Savonarola? The preacher?"

Jane thought back three years. "He was the one who preached against the Pope."

"Well, not directly, but yes. He has become more influential since you left."

"How much so?" Jane was worried; she had heard, from Cesare, how talented a rhetorician the man was.

"Too much." Giulia ran the tip of her tongue over her lips, a nervous gesture. "He has gathered a larger group of people who believe in his words. We suspect Della Rovere might be counted a part of that group."

"Della Rovere is alive?" Jane raised an eyebrow in surprise. She would have thought that the Pope had succeeded in catching him by now.

Giulia nodded. "Florence is a state of insecurity right now. They have gotten their republic, but it is still weak. Machiavelli is doing his best to keep an eye on the Papacy's enemies in the state, but he has not been given the Second Chancery yet, so right now that is what he must focus on."

"What of the French king?" Jane asked, wondering how the negotiations that she had witnessed the day she left Rome had ended.

"The Pope gave him the throne of Naples, but as soon as the King had left, the Holy Father began assembling forces for a new alliance, the Holy League. We managed to get most of the riches that the King took from us back before he made it to France."

"I have heard that he died," Julio suddenly said. Both women looked at him, surprised.

"He did, from an illness that he got in Naples. Apparently, the state was infected by a plague."

"Oh." Jane was shocked by how quickly all this had passed. "Well, that is one less enemy to worry about, is it not?"

"Charles was not our enemy. He was persuaded to go here by Della Rovere and several other men, but his decision had nothing to do with him being against the Pope."

Jane nodded. "You met him?"

"I did, and he was a surprisingly gentle man. A very sad one as well. I think he was in love with Lucrezia at some point."

Jane raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Lucrezia? Surely she did not return those feelings?"

"Not at all, though she was saddened by his death. She had a mourning period of three full days."

Jane smiled and shook her head. "That is how I remember her."

"She has grown, both in strength and in beauty. You will soon see that, when she is finally released."

"Released?"

"Yes. Giovanni has requested that she is locked in a room alone when she is not in court until the decision has been made. Her only contact to her family is a servant, Perotto."

"How long will it be until she is released?" Jane asked.

"Not long I hope." Giulia rose from her seat and gestured for her guests to do the same. "She has been locked in for more than a month now." Giulia turned her head to smile at Jane and Julio. "But let us not spend today in worry, since today is a day of happiness. You have returned and I am sure that the Pope would not want me to wait any longer to present you."

She fetched a servant and told him to run ahead with a message for the Pope about Jane's arrival and then, after finding a coat, they were on their way to the Pope's court.