Costanza barged into Cathy's room mid- afternoon. Cathy was still asleep; it was the first time she had gotten to sleep in since her arrival in Rome.
"Cathy wake up!" Costanza shouted jumping onto Cathy's bed. Cathy groaned and rolled away from her cousin.
"Cathy please, it is late in the day already and we must get ready for the ball tonight!" Costanza exclaimed rolling over to where Cathy hid under the covers.
Cathy sat up immediately. "Ball? Seriously Costanza we are in Vatican City, why would there be a ball?"
Costanza looked at Cathy confused. "Didn't he tell you?"
"Who?"
"The King of course!"
Cathy looked at her cousin in confusion.
"Oh Cathy, King Ferdinand leaves Rome tomorrow, and the Pope is throwing a going away celebration."
Cathy frowned. Ferdinand had not told her he was leaving. And why was the Pope throwing a ball? Balls were traditionally used to celebrate good news; Ferdinand leaving hardly seemed a reason to throw a ball.
"Now get up Cathy we need to get ready."
Cathy sighed and reluctantly got out of bed.
Zita entered the room with two servant boys who placed a trunk on the ground and then immediately left.
"What's this?" Cathy asked looking at the wooden box.
"Girolamo bought us new dresses for tonight." Costanza cooed walking over to the trunk. Cathy watched Zita flinch as Costanza said the Count's name.
"What? That's absurd, how on earth would he know if they fit us?"
Costanza looked over at Zita before opening the trunk.
Cathy a little surprised looked over at the slave girl as well. Zita simply held her gaze on the floor.
"Oh my god Cathy, it's divine." Costanza said holding golden fabric. The fabric matched perfectly with the grand colors of Rome.
"Help me." Her cousin said stripping out of her current gown. Cathy blinked a few times before walking over to her cousin and helping her into the gown. Cathy tightened the corset strings in the back and guided her cousin to the mirror. Cathy didn't think it was possible but Costanza looked even more beautiful than she ever had. The dress was fit for a queen.
"Oh Cathy, I think I shall die of happiness. Girolamo is truly the most kind man I have ever met." Costanza said admiring herself in the mirror.
"Well he certainly knows how to pick out fabric." Cathy said. Costanza smiled before walking back to the trunk and taking out the second dress. The fabric was a beautiful crème color almost white. The dress was not regal like Costanza's, but simple and elegant.
"This one is for you." Costanza said admiring the fabric.
Riario tapped his foot impatiently on the ground. He loathed balls, parties, anything that involved dancing. The room was filled with all socialites from Rome. This disturbed him. The Vatican was a House of God not a fortress for scandalous entertainment. He stood next to the Pope who looked far too pleased with the set up.
"Anxious Girolamo?" The Pope asked noting the Count's demeanor. The Pope never removed his gaze from the party.
Riario hesitated for a moment. Tonight was the night that the Pope would announce his and Costanza's engagement. Of course he was anxious.
All of his pent up stresses left his mind the moment the two Milan ladies walked into the ballroom. Costanza looked more beautiful then Riario had ever seen her. He almost wanted to marry her. When their engagement was announced all the men in the room would look at him in envy.
His eyes drifted to the woman beside his soon to be wife. Riario felt his heart leap out of his chest. Caterina stood beside her cousin looking like the angels painted on the ceiling of the Roman churches. Her olive skin glowed in the fabric.
The Pope noticed his nephew's gaze on Sforza's daughter. He understood why is nephew was so fascinated with Caterina. Costanza may be beautiful but Lady Caterina possessed something that most woman did not, wit.
Riario danced with Costanza multiple times as he was obligated to do so. His focus was not his partner but another's. Ferdinand whisked Cathy around the dance floor in such a princely manner, Riario was sure Cathy had to be taken with him. This thought disturbed him. Every time he saw her laugh he felt the need to kill Ferdinand.
Ferdinand asked Costanza for a dance leaving Cathy to stand on the sidelines with the Count. He stood silently without looking at her. He did not ask her to dance. Instead they stood in awkward silence. Cathy noted that his hands were clenched in fists at his sides; she wondered why he was so disgruntled.
"It's happening tonight isn't it?" She asked.
"Pardon me?"
"Nobody throws balls to say good-bye." Cathy said glancing over at the Count. He stiffened before returning her gaze. Cathy could have sworn she saw a hint of regret in his brown eyes. It was quickly masked with an expression of indifference.
"Lady Caterina." Riario nodded before promptly walking away from her and out of sight.
The music stopped.
"Cathy what did you say to the poor Count to scare him away?" Costanza said in a breathy voice as she returned with Ferdinand from the dance floor. Before Cathy could defend herself, she felt her heart drop. Her eyes locked onto Lupo who was whispering something into Pope's ear. The Holy Father listened intently while staring directly at Caterina.
Oh god, he knew. Lupo had discovered her secrets and was now revealing them to the Pope. Would they accuse her of hearsay? Would they burn her at the stake?
Lupo left the Pope's side and disappeared out of the room. The Holy Father stood up and waved his hand, soon the whole room fell quiet. Cathy's heart beat rapidly in her chest.
The moment of truth.
"I would love to thank all of you for coming out tonight, it has been a pleasure to enjoy your company. Please have a good night." The Pope said before following Lupo out of the room.
Cathy knew she should go console her cousin who was expecting her engagement to be announced but she had to find out what Lupo told the Pope. She exited the ballroom in pursuit of the two men.
The halls were dark; Cathy could barely see anything as she snuck threw the corridors of Vatican City. She heard the whispers of voices in the distance. She quickened her pace. She snuck into a huge room with tons of columns. She closed the door as quietly as she could. The Pope and Lupo didn't seem to notice. Cathy hid behind the columns in the darkness.
There was a large pool of water in the middle of the room. Cathy assumed it must be some sort of enormous bath. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth to hold in a gasp when the Pope shed his clothes and walked naked into the bath.
Maybe this was a bad idea.
"She knows about the Turk, I'm certain of it. We captured one of the deckhands aboard the ship, and he said that when the Duke was dying he spent his last moments with the Sforza girl…alone."
"I am having a hard time understanding Lupo why a descendant of King Arthur would take the Sforza girl to Constantinople. What does she have to do in any of this? And why is the Turk looking for her now?" The Pope said as swam around in the water.
Cathy shuddered. She was right Lupo did know. She remembered exactly the last words the Duke told her before he died.
Do not trust the Turk.
"The deckhand also said that after the Duke died, they kept on to Constantinople. All that was told to the crew was that urgent news had to be delivered by mouth. When they arrived only Sforza and the late Duke's captain general left the ship. They were gone for three days before they returned to the ship and went back to England." Lupo said.
"There is something else…"
The Pope looked at him curiously.
"There were mysterious circumstances surrounding the birth of the Sforza girl. Her mother was a peasant girl from Vinci."
"What?" The Pope said standing up in the water. Cathy groaned inwardly at seeing the Pope naked again.
"She is the sister of the artist Leonardo Da Vinci." Lupo stated.
"Impossible!" The Pope shouted.
"The Turk is looking for her in case Da Vinci fails and he needs a new champion."
Cathy listened silently in awe. She had no idea the Turk was looking for her. She had come back to Italy because her father requested her and she heard that the Turk was spotted in Florence. She had been searching for him ever since the Duke died. As for her mother, she had never known her. She assumed that her mother was a peasant because her father never spoke of her. She had no idea that she had a brother that was an artist. Lucrezia had mentioned a Da Vinci in her letter to Cathy.
"Does she know?" The Pope asked.
"I have no reason to believe that she does. Her father would have never told her no doubt and the Duke certainly had no idea." Lupo answered.
The Pope looked satisfied with this. "What of Da Vinci?"
"He is sailing towards the West on an illegal opium vessel."
"Does he know where the Book of Leaves is?"
"He has a compass in his possession that can direct him to it." Lupo stated.
"How do you know this?"
"One of your nephew's spies in Florence."
"Girolamo has done well with the rats in the Florence." The Pope stated. "You and Girolamo will set sail after Da Vinci the week after next."
"I beg your pardon your Holiness? Isn't that soon? With the wedding…"
"Time is an allusion now. Girolamo is not going to marry Costanza." The Pope cut in.
Before these words registered in Cathy's mind. A firm hand covered her mouth and she felt a blade jabbed against her side. Her heart raced in fright. She was doomed. Her captor dragged her away from the columns and further into the darkness. The sight of the bathtub, the Pope, and Lupo faded.
Cathy felt her back hit a stonewall; the blade at her side was now hovering over her neck. She opened her eyes.
"I should slit your throat." Riario whispered. His dark eyes glistened with anger unlike Cathy had ever seen. He really did mean it. He grabbed Cathy roughly by the arm and dragged her out of the room and through the corridors. She dared not try to resist. Once they were far away from room Cathy entered to spy on Lupo and the Pope, Riario slammed her against the wall again, his hand firmly around her neck, his breath hot on her face.
"I should kill you for overhearing what you did. I should kill you for spying on the Pope, I should kill you for disrespecting your host in such a manner, I should kill you for defying God's will." Riario yelled as hand started to squeeze Cathy's neck
Cathy gently placed one of her small hands on Riario's wrist. Her dark blue eyes penetrated his own but he did not detect a hint of fear in them. This enraged him even more.
"Are you really going after the Book of Leaves? Is that why you are to marry Costanza? So you can get ahold of Milan's navy?" Cathy challenged.
Riario looked incredulously at the woman in front of him. How dare she ask him such questions after the crimes she had committed! He couldn't believe she was questioning his character after what she had done!
"If you are sailing to the new world, I am coming with you." She said plainly.
Riario stepped away laughing, releasing Cathy in the process. Her hand flew up to her neck instinctively.
"I'm serious. I am coming with you." Cathy said a bit peeved with his sarcastic laughter. Riario's face turned to stone again.
"You will pack up your things and leave Rome tomorrow." He growled. "Consider yourself lucky, you should be dead."
Riario gave Cathy a once over glace with a scowl before turning to walk down the hall.
"What if God willed me to do what I did?" Cathy called after him.
Riario stopped.
"What if God wanted me to know you and your pious pope were going after the Book of Leaves and that's why I was so inclined to follow him?" Cathy challenged further.
Riario turned around to face his opponent.
"Maybe God doesn't trust you or his holiness with such a task." Cathy stated sarcastically.
The back of Riario's hand slammed into Cathy's cheek. She stumbled back in pain. He had slapped her.
"And what do you know of God's will? Who are you to question his Holiness, God's chosen spokesmen?" Riario yelled.
"Clearly I know more about your God than you do." Cathy stated.
Riario raised his hand to slap her again.
"To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other one also." Cathy quoted stabling herself for Riario's fist.
Riario dropped his hand to his side. Cathy noticed his reaction to her words and walked toward him, He simply stared at her the closer she got.
She placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned into his ear. He stood as still as a statue.
"Kill me and you'll never capture Da Vinci." She whispered. Her lips lingered in his ear for a moment before gently kissing his jaw line.
Riario couldn't help but let out a relieved sigh the moment he felt her lips touch his skin. He could feel her tongue lightly tracing the outside of his ear. Cathy smirked to herself at how incredibly wicked she was being. It was as if something foreign had possessed her, something she had no control over.
He turned to face her, no longer being able to stand the teasing. His brown eyes latched onto her blue ones. His gaze lingered down to her plump lips; he could hear her breathing speed up as he stared at them.
"Ahhh Riario!" A voice from across the hall interrupted. Cathy swiftly stepped away from the Count.
"Just the man I was looking for." Lupo said walking towards them.
Cathy took this as her cue to escape. She took off down the dark hallway not daring to look back.
Longest chapter yet! Cathy is starting to get into some trouble. And she has been hiding some pretty big secrets! What do you guys think? Should Riario trust her?