Chapter 3

Alcina sterilized the needle and thread that she held nimbly between her fingers and pondered over her next words. Ezio leaned back on his hands and mentally prepared for the stick and pulling the would soon be taking place below his ribs. She tenderly pressed two fingers against the wound and began the first stitch. It wasn't as bad as he had imagined in his mind, but it still wasn't pleasant. Her warm fingers touching his skin was his only consolation occasionally sending a few chills down his spine. "It happened so suddenly," she began. "My brother was... 'unique'. He would see things, hear things, and talk nonsense more and more frequently. We thought it was a phase, but... he never grew out of it. One day he told us, 'They're coming for you. They will catch you... you will die...' We had no idea what he meant, we thought it was just disturbing, useless, chatter... until they did come." Her talking helped take his mind off of her diligent sewing into his side. "Who came signora?" he asked. She seemed pained, "The soldiers, led by a man named Rodolfo Salvatore, Patriarch to Rodrigo Borgia. Rodolfo came to my home the day your father and brothers were executed." He saw a wave of emotion span across her face: anger, hate, grief, and the slightest amount of fear.

"You and I share a common enemy. Rodrigo Borgia is the leader of the templar order and the one who gave the command to kill my family. I will see to it that bastardo falls to my blade." She said nothing else as she delicately tied the last stitch. "Were they... given a proper burial?" he instantly regretted his question. Her eyes stared coldly at her task, "No," was all she muttered as she cut the remaining thread from the needle. She wiped away any remaining blood and gingerly wrapped a linen bandage around his ribs. She was about to get up when two fingers lifted her chin to meet his gaze. Ezio's brown eyes and half smile warmly comforted her. "Tesoro," he whispered, "Thank you for mending me... I wish I could mend your heart as easily as you healed my injury. I am truly and deeply sorry for all you have lost."

"Rodolfo killed my mother and father, and his Commodoro Sergio Uso took my brother away. They both will die at my hand." Ezio could see the fire in her eyes as she said this and knew that not only had this woman become an extremely close and vital alley, but a crucial part of his life.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

-Florence, Italy 1476- (10 years prior)

Enzo Gavino patrolled his office throwing papers across the room and overturning furniture in rage. Giovanni Auditore and sons had been arrested on a false charge of treason against the city, it would only be a matter of time before the guards came to arrest him and his family as well. "Alcina!" He hollered, "Felisa where is my daughter!" he interrogated her house maiden carrying a tray with cups and saucers. She jumped in surprise at his angry tone and tucked her chin towards the floor knowing her answer would not be the one he wanted. "I have not seen her Ser Gavino. She went out several hours ago..." He cursed loudly and swiped the contents off his work desk with a violent outburst. Felisa shrieked and dropped the tray from her hands shattering the china. "Felisa run to the courtyard and bring me the shovel from my wife's garden! You must run!"

"Wha-what?" she barely uttered.

"GO NOW!" He bellowed as the terrified maid scrambled from his sight. He nearly leapt to his bookshelf and heaved with all his might. The bookcase slowly began to slide with a creak revealing a hidden closet matching the one his partner Giovanni harbored in his own study. Enzo dashed for the large chest and emptied its contents for fear that he was already too late.

Alcina strolled around the market district eyeing vendor merchandise and listening to the harmonious calls of the salespeople. "Ahhh buon giorno signora bella, care to purchase a necklace today? Perhaps some lovely pearl earrings, they just arrived today all the way from the traders of the far East!" She smiled pleasantly but shook her head. An unusual sound began to grow from the center of the piazza. She wandered to the outer edge of the shouting mob and looked on in curiosity; to her displeasure she saw three figures waiting to be hung from the gallows, one of which was only a young boy. What horrified her next was that she recognized the faces. "HE'S LYING!" she heard a voice shout and push through the mass of people. One of the men on the blood stained platform announced the sentence of the three prisoners without any emotion or sympathy. "In the absence of any compelling evidence, I am bound to pronounce you GUILTY. You and your collaborators will be sentenced to DEATH!" The older man of the three accused cursed at the speaker, but his threats were drowned out by the sickening and bloodthirsty roar of the crowd. Her eyes widened in shock as the floor beneath their feet suddenly fell followed closely by their bodies. All she could do was look away as the burning tears streaked her face. "FATHER!" a terrified cry exploded over the noise. A white hooded boy ran towards the platform. The sounds around her began to muffle and every moment became more and more surreal as the boy fought for his life against the town guards. She watched helplessly as he was knocked to the ground, sword flung from his hand. Alcina heard an alarming scream that made her hair on her arms and neck stand on end. She was shocked when she realized the scream was her own. The guards impulsively looked in her direction for one brief second. That one distracted moment was all he needed to jump to his feet and run for his life, then suddenly... he was gone. The speaker on the platform yelled commands to his soldiers, "Find the boy! Destroy the home of every conspirator on that document, including all of Giovanni Auditore's accomplices!" Alcina felt a charge of terror grip her body, had he said Giovanni Autitore? Giovanni and her father had been business partners for as long as she could remember which could only mean... those soldiers were now after her family. She turned tail and sprinted away in the direction of her home.

Her legs felt like fluid as she ran, shaking from fear and adrenaline. She crashed through people leaving a trail of angry shouts and cursing behind her until a heavy blow threw her to the ground. "Mio Dio! My apologies signorina! I did not see you," a large man helped her to her feet. "May I walk you home bella?" She ignored him as she examined the building in front of her. Traveling around the district would take too long and she would risk being too late. She would have to somehow climb over the building. "Signora?" She coiled her legs and sprung straight up grasping an overhanging sign and pulled herself up with all her strength. She found places to hold her feet as she reached her outstretched fingers for the wall. She slowly but surely climbed upwards as if a deeply buried instinct was being awakened insider her. "Just a little farther..." she reached for edge and pulled with one final heave. She panted in exhaustion as she pulled herself over edge and onto the rooftop, "No time to stop," she thought, pushing herself onward and ignoring the shaking muscles in her arms and legs. She could see her home on the adjacent street. While climbing the building, it hadn't occurred to her how she would get back down. It was a straight drop, no foot or hand holds, nothing, except for a large haystack outside of one of the buildings below. "It's too risky... I will surely break my neck..." she feared, but her fear for her family outweighed her own thoughts of self preservation. Her gut told her to close her eyes and just leap. Her conscious was strangely at piece with this, it felt almost natural. She outstretched her arms and scooted her toes forward enough so that they barely overhung the edge of the building. She knew she had to hurry before she came to her senses. Her heart raced and her knees trembled as she closed her eyes and let her body succumb to gravity. She felt her feet slip away from the ledge as a sudden rush of air streamed past her, enveloping her in a heart stopping gust of wind. Then as suddenly as she fell, she landed. She waited for the agony of broken bones to overtake her, but she felt nothing. For a moment she feared that she was dead, but when she opened her eyes she realized that she was somehow unharmed and laying gracefully in the cushion of hay. She quickly whispered and prayer of thanks and was once again on her feet.

She thanked the Lord once again when she arrived home, she had beaten the guards! She swung open the doors and screamed for her father and mother. Her own voice sounded foreign to her in the haze of her panic. Her legs and palms still burned from her tumble in the street and her lungs gasped for air as she ran up the stairs to her fathers office. Everything in the house was thrown about as if they had been robbed. What if they already escaped? What if they left her behind? She cursed herself for sneaking out of the house again, she knew how it upset her father, now she would have to live with that guilt... alone. She pounded on her fathers office with scraped palms, sobbing and praying he was still here. The doors gave way under her and opened with an abrupt swing.

"Alcina?" Her father looked just as terrified as she felt.

"FATHER!" she ran for his arms. They embraced and fell to their knees.

"Alcina, calm down, it's alright child," he calmly hushed her and held her close. "Listen to me tesoro. The guards, are they on their way?"

She pulled away from her father's tear stained shoulder. "Father you knew this would happen?"

"I prayed that it wouldn't... listen to me Alcina there's not much time. I have taken everything I have and left it for you in the courtyard, I buried it all under the tree your mother planted. I know this makes no sense to you now, but you will one day understand. You must go, retrieve what I have left you... and run."

"Run? I don't understand father. I cannot leave you, mother, and Donato!"

"Please Alcina, do not fight me on this. You MUST listen and do as I say. They are coming for us..." She could hardly breath as she gagged for air in panic. "Go to the courtyard! Now!" She did as she was told and stumbled through the hall and down the stairs. Her heart felt ready to burst. She slid to a stop at the bottom of the stairs when she heard a loud pounding at the door directly ahead of her. She could see a mass of silhouettes in the windows, all carrying torches. She stared dumbstruck at the door unable to believe what was happening around her. "Enzo Gavino! By order of the city of Firenze OPEN THIS DOOR!" A loud voice commanded. Alcina had frozen in panic. A loud booming thundered against the door causing her to scream in terror. They were forcing their way in! She quickly swung left into the parlor and slid under the large table her mother once served dinner to guests during grand parties. She silently peered under the table cloth that hung elegantly about an inch off the floor. The pounding continued as the door began to buckle and finally give way, surrendering to the intruders as they poured into her home like water. Two men stuck out among the guard. One was a tall and almost handsome looking man with a grin that horrified her. The other man was shorter, older and much more repugnant and awkward. "Well hello dear boy," the tall evil looking man cooed. Alcina had to cover her mouth to keep from screaming as she saw her innocent little brother Donato curiously gaze up at the strangers. Tears burned her eyes as she battled back hysterical sobs.

Donato's tiny voice whispered to the men, "I knew you'd come. You're looking for it, but it's not here." Alcina's body began to heave and shake violently. "Please... Mio Dio, protect him... please don't let them kill him..." she prayed over and over in her mind. The evil man knelt down to his level smiling a handsome grin, "Oh really?" He looked to his short partner, "This is the child. Find Enzo and the rest of his family... burn the house."

"Uomini! Cerca la casa per i traditori!" the short man commanded. Loud footsteps and clunking of armor surrounded her as they searched through the house overturning furniture and plundering through valuables. Alcina prayed they would not find her, but mostly she prayed that all this would be just a horrible nightmare. She heard the cursing of her father as he screamed at the men to release her mother and brother. "Rodolfo you bastardo! I swear you will die at the hands of my family! You and every member of your alliance will fall, and I hope to God above that you are punished last so you will know what is coming for you!"

"Hmmm," the tall man snickered at her father's empty threats, "Come along child," he said to Donato as he reached and outstretched hand for the child.

"But my mama and papa and Alcee? Are they coming too?"

"No boy, they are staying here." Donato began to cry as the short, ugly man suddenly grabbed him and dragged him out the front door. Alcina could hear her mother screaming and sobbing at the sound of her son's cries. The guards filed out the door and closed them behind them. The loud torture of silence immersed the house as the smell of smoke began filling her nostrils. Alcina commanded her body to crawl out from under the table but it refused. The light around her began to glow a terrifying orange and red as her surroundings were set to flame. She fought to regain control as she pathetically crept from under the table. She struggled to scramble up the stairs as the family tapestries burned up the walls. She searched for her parents hoping there was still a chance they were alive. Her heart fell deeper and deeper still as she followed a trail of blood across the floor. "Alcina..." a faint voice mumbled.

"Father no!" She gasped and collapsed at his side. "Father I'm here, you will be alright." her body trembled when she saw his blood soaked shirt.

"Alcina..." he muttered again, reaching for her hand. "Luce della mia vita... you must run from this place... you must live on... you must help... help the prophet... you... are the protector," he fumbled to kiss the palm of her hand as his eyes began to haze.

"Father it is alright, I'm here..." she tried to calm him, but Enzo was gone. She pressed his lifeless hand to her face and screamed with sobs as her life burned and lay in ruins around her. More than anything she just wanted to stay there and die with her family, "No... I must stay alive, for my father, my mother, and the sake of my brother. I will not disgrace their sacrifice!" She kissed both his and her mothers foreheads and shut their eyes, muttering a prayer before running to the stairs. A beam from the ceiling suddenly collapsed in her way threatening to claim her life to the flames. She felt trapped in the darkest pit of hell as the walls burned, ready to take her. In a quick moment she leapt over the large burning structure and tumbled down the steps covering herself with scratches and burns. She choked on the black smoke around her as she bolted for the door burning her hands on the handles. With a firm shove of her shoulder the doors swung open and she collapsed into the street. Her lungs stung with the sudden change of air as her head spun due to the lack of fresh oxygen. She took a quick glance at her hands the lay bleeding in the dirt and recoiled at the sight of the charred and melted skin that replaced her palms. She pushed herself to her feet and only managed to take a few steps before collapsing again. Her movements felt heavier and heavier until she felt herself sinking and the world around her went black.

...

translations:

- tesoro- my treasure (nickname)

- Commodoro- commodore

- buon giorno signora bella- good morning beautiful lady

- mio Dio- my God

- Uomini! Cerca la casa per i traditori- Men! Search the house for the traitors

- Luce della mia vita- light of my life