A Machiavelli quote - yay! Anyhow, thanks to my followers for following (obviously). If you're reading this, you're probably reading the story, and when you finish this chapter, I hope you'll be a darling and leave a comment with your honest opinion. Everything is greatly appreciated.

Also, don't know if you'll notice, but this is about twice as long as my normal chapters... :)

It is double pleasure to deceive the deceiver
-Niccolò Machiavelli

Chapter 10
November 10th 1497

Jane leaned back in her chair, looking at the empty plate in front of her. She had forced the food down her throat, through three different dishes, all the time wondering how on Earth the humans could manage to eat so much. She had to remind herself that she, too, had once been human.

"You really do have amazing cooks, here in Florence." Her voice was a slight bit hoarse from the food that her insides were trying so hard to get rid of. She picked up her handkerchief, pretending to cough and managing to get some of the food up into the folds of the cloth.

"Those who have remained," Machivelli said. They were dining alone that night, Ascanio having left the day before. The amount of dinner parties was, for obvious reasons, not large. "A lot of people have chosen to leave, not only the city, but also the city state in fear of a civil war."

"But you have not?" Jane drank some of the remaining wine in her cup; after having to pretend to eat so often, she had learned tricks to make the pain afterwards more sufferable, and drinking something – preferably alcohol – had a nice effect.

"No." He leaned back as well, having finished the last bit of desert. "If I am to have any chance of winning the election and becoming Head of Second Chancery, I have to at least seem to love this city enough to stay even when times get hard."

"So it's all politics?"

He smirked. "Always."

Jane smiled back and noticed that the intelligent, mischievous even, gleam became clear in his eyes, making her forget all the less charming parts of his looks. The passion and knowledge that he had for politics, the way it came so naturally to him, simply made you forget his looks.

"You seem tired," he said, shifting in his chair.

"I am a bit tired," she lied. It would be a good excuse to get out of there. "I think I will have to retire soon."

"I will not keep you, then." He rose from his chair, servants instantly emerging from the kitchens to clear the table. Jane stood up as well, untangling her dress from the chair.

"Good night, signor Machiavelli." She did a small curtsey.

"Sleep well." He bowed his head, his hands firmly clasped together behind his back. Jane then left the room, walking as fast as possible without seeming suspicious to her chambers.

The room that she slept in was very nice – not as big as her chambers back in Rome, but Niccolò was, in spite of his influence, nothing but an ordinary peasant with less ordinary talents and wit. He was the definition of the borghesia's ideal; educated, clever and hard-working.

"Milady, would you like some help with your gown?" a young woman said as she entered the room.

"Yes, please. Would you help me with my upper gown?" The woman smiled as answered and put the stack of clean sheets that she had been carrying down by the door before walking to Jane.

As she began fidgeting with the knots of Jane's gown, she cautiously said, "What do you think of Signor Machiavelli?" She apparently knew that some women liked to talk while undressing, while others did not.

"He is a great man. The Pope has done well to trust him." Jane looked at the reflection of the woman who cautiously, yet quickly, had the left sleeve of the dress undone. "And you?" She smirked inwardly, knowing that the woman had not been searching for the answer that had been given.

"I know little of politics, milady, but he seems like a trustworthy man." She bit her lip, clearly considering something.

"Yes?"

The servant blushed. "He is also very charming, is he not?"

Jane laughed. "Yes, he is." The right sleeve was now off and the woman began working on the bodice. "What is your name?"

"My name?" The servant looked at the reflection of Jane's eyes in the mirror, shocked. Jane nodded encouragingly. "Maria, milady."

Jane smiled. "My name is Giovanna."

Maria licked her lips nervously while trying to focus on her work. "Giovanni, milady?"

"Yes." Jane tilted her head. "Have you ever spoken to Signor Machiavelli?"

She shook her head. "No. Only when he gives me commands, which is not that often." She loosened the strings of the bodice and let it fall to the ground, leaving Jane in her corset and undergown. "But it is good that he pays no attention to me. I hope to be married one day, and I wish to remain pure."

Jane nodded, slowly. Maria seemed to blush a bit again for speaking so openly to Jane while she put away the dress. "Can I be of any more assistance, milady?"

Jane shook her head. "You have been of great help."

Maria bowed her head before walking to the door and picking up the pile of sheets. "Sleep well, milady," she said right before closing the door.

Jane sighed and turned to face herself in the mirror before walking across the room to the wardrobe that was standing in the corner. She quickly pulled out a simple, brown dress and a dark cloak that she'd brought with her. When she had put it on, she opened the window and lifted herself up to stand. A moment later, after coordinating her jump, she had swiftly landed on top of the roof, a great view over the city revealed before her.

But she didn't take long to enjoy it, because in the next moment she was moving swiftly from rooftop to rooftop in search of a place to hunt – that part of the city where missing people were never missed.

She came across this sort of place after merely five minutes of jumping around, letting herself fall down to the street. It was much darker down there, where the building threw shadows and denied the light of the moon and stars access. But Jane's eyes weren't weakened by the darkness of night; instead, she grew close to invisible, disguised as a peasant in the blackness.

This was where she had belonged ever since the day Aro had taken her with him. For a moment, her mind flashed back, but she denied it to stay for long. Those were dark times, darker than the years that followed after.

She was suddenly taken aback by the low sound of gurgling, the soft sounds of clothes moving and the distinct smell of fresh blood from an open wound. She hurried her pace, alert to these sounds that definitely did not belong to a city night. When she turned the corner, she was met with another surprise; she was too late.

A young man, now paled by the lack of blood, lay discarded on the ground, another young man's body lying not too far away. And on the ground, in the middle of the mess, a just as young man kneeled, his head bowed and hands collected in deep prayer. Jane just stared, trying to figure out if he was victim or attacker.

Jane walked further into the otherwise empty alley and the sound of her steps alerted the man. Mere seconds later, she was no longer in doubt; he was the attacker, and he was a vampire.

The man took a leap from his kneeling position with a speed that Jane's eyes could barely follow and instead of relying on her ability to beat the vampire in a fight, she closed her eyes and sensed his presence before finding the pain that she knew was collected somewhere and let it flow.

In that instant the man cramped together before her, only a meter away from reaching his goal. Jane looked at him, tilting her head in thought. "What is your name?"

She let the pain increase for a moment, then changed it to a dull ache. In a cold voice, she repeated her demand, "What is your name?"

He looked up at her, his fingers still twitching from the pain. "Am…" The rest of the name was a whisper. He breathed in once more. "Amadeo."

Jane smirked at him, reveling in the pride of having the upper hand. "You are a newborn, Amadeo," she stated in a light voice as she walked closer to him. "Who is your maker?"

"I… What do you mean?" His voice was still raspy. Jane looked down at him, tilting her head slightly.

"Who created you?"

"God."

Jane narrowed her eyes at him, then laughed breathily. "I think you misunderstood my question, Amadeo. Who made you what you are now?"

He stood up slowly as he regained his strength. "What exactly is that? What is it that I am now?"

Jane sighed. "Do you know the legends of vampires?" He shook his head. "Then the answer to that question is irrelevant. Now tell me what happened."

"I do not know."

Jane wondered if he even knew what she was referring to. "When did you feed from a human for the first time?" He looked at her quizzically. "When did you drink human blood for the first time?" He shook his head in denial. "When? I know you have done it, the proof is right here. I need to know when the first time was."

He swallowed and then nodded. "Please, signora, if I tell you, will you help me?"

Jane thought it over for a moment, wondering what this help would include, but finally nodded. "You have my word."

"Thank you." He paused. "It was September – early September – and I had just arrived to a monastery just outside of this city. I was a monk, you see, and I was there to meet with a man called Giuliano Della Rovere…"

"Della Rovere?" Jane stared at him as he nodded nervously. "Della Rovere." Always, always, was he involved somehow. "Why? Why were you to meet him?"

"We met some months prior. He said he needed some help to… well, it is irrelevant."

"Nothing is irrelevant," Jane corrected, her eyes never moving from him.

"I cannot tell you. It was a secret."

Jane laughed and shook her head, her eyebrows rising a bit in pity. "The most important rule of deception; never tell that something is a secret. Now, what is this big conspiracy?"

He swallowed a lump. "He helped me. I was ill and he gave me a medicine."

Jane almost laughed at what a terrible liar he was, but she kept it in. This man was desperate for her help, and she knew that if this secret was so important that he wouldn't tell her in return for her help, then she wouldn't be able to get it out of him so easily. So instead of interrogating him further, she nodded. "What then?"

"I was transferred to the said monastery, and I had just arrived the day… it happened." Jane nodded, recognizing fear and spite in his eyes. "I had just taken my medicine when I went into cramps. And I blacked out, when I woke up… I had killed the man who brought me the medicine."

Lies, she thought, All of it. But the best way to reveal this web he was building was by building one herself. And she was a much better liar than this man. "I am so sorry."

"Thank you." They stood in silence for a few seconds. "Will you help me?"

"Of course. Of course." She reached out her hand to hold his shoulder affectionately. "I cannot believe what you have gone through."

"Are you… too?" His eyes' focus changed between hers.

She licked her lips in an imitation of nervousness. "Yes. I am like you."

"What is your name?"

"I am Giovanna Volturi de Volterra, one of the Pope's supporters." She saw the shocked expression on his face when she mentioned her support of the Pope and her suspicions were proved right; his attachment to Della Rovere had little to do with medicine. But what they were planning, she had yet to find out.

"How can you…? We cannot walk in daylight, so…" He was honestly confused.

"My brother, working as a pharmacist in this town, invented a cure – or, well, a way for us to walk in daylight unharmed."

"How?" He was being awfully curious.

"It is a potion that he makes. But he is with the rest of our clan in Volterra, so I have only enough for myself, I am afraid." She stepped backwards from him. "Now, we must find you a daytime place. Where do you usually rest?"

He shrugged. "Wherever I find safety."

Jane nodded her head. "Find a more permanent one tonight. You have many hours before sunrise. Tomorrow, meet me here again, and I will train you in being a vampire."

He shook his head. "You misunderstand. Training was not the help that I was seeking for."

Jane narrowed her eyes at him. "What then?"

He stepped forward towards her again. "I wanted help to find Della Rovere."