Chapter 10

A faint echo of scripture resonated between the cracked shingles of the small cathedral below Alcina's feet. It was a calm Sunday morning, the majority of the civilians were attending mass or else chattering aimlessly in the market surrounding her. She sat silently on the rooftop of the church, leaning against the brick steeple. She sighed softly and rested her head back against the large bell behind her. It resonated a soft ping on impact.

"I did not take you for the religious type," a familiar voice behind her made her smile.

"I feel it only appropriate with my line of work."

Ezio sat silently beside her and eyed her somber face, "What is wrong bella donna? I thought you would be happier..."

"As did I."

Ezio suddenly worried that he had perhaps upset her with his actions from the night before, "I hope you're not displeased with my 'performance' from last night?"

She quickly looked at him with humor, "Oh no, it's not that!" she laughed gently. Ezio found himself adoring the way she laughed, the slight wrinkle above her nose, the light in her eyes, in fact, he found himself adoring everything he discovered about her. He nearly shook his head abruptly to cease the daydreaming and return to reality. The heavyhearted frown returned to her face, "It's just... after the death of my family, all I could think about was avenging them. At last I am halfway there and..." she paused looking bewildered.

"And?"

"And I feel nothing. Revenge was quenching the moment I took it, then... it was as if I had swallowed lead. I felt bitter, poisonous, empty." Ezio felt his own heart weighing with emotion as her words spoke of familiar feelings. He said nothing, only watching her with softhearted empathy. You were right Ezio... Killing another won't bring my family back or return things to the way they once were. I see that now. I suppose I never gave much thought as to what I would do or how I would feel after..." she eyed the mechanism attached to her wrist.

"It is a hard life, the way of an assassin... but you must keep faith, you still have purpose." He kindly rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, "It is what your father would have wanted." She smiled to herself at this thought. Ezio noted her lighter mood and playfully nudged her, matching her pleased look. "So, how was my 'performance' if I may ask?" She laughed and nudged him back gently with her shoulder, "I forget...".

He raised his eyebrows with surprise, "Again you wound me cara!" he theatrically acted out a brutal stab to his heart, leaning all his weight upon her, faking his death scene. He crashed his head against the large bell with a loud clang, making her laugh even harder. He rubbed the back of his skull in embarrassment, "That did not happen how I planned," he muttered sheepishly.

"Oh the mighty assassin," she laughed, shoving him off of her. She smiled his favorite smirk as she gently slid back his hood and ran her fingers through his dark hair, touching the back of his head sweetly. His heart suddenly began to pound in his chest, amazed by how her smallest actions affected him. Her hand lingered for a moment as he smiled an embarrassed smile.

"The Patriarch mentioned sailing to collect an artifact. What would the templar's be gaining from this move?"

"Back to business," he thought. "I do not know. Hopefully it is nothing we should concern ourselves with. All we can do is prepare for their return. We will find them, wherever they run."

She stretched her gaze along the horizon, eyeing nothing but sea and bobbing fishing boats along the skyline. "What are you thinking about?" he murmured curiously.

"My brother. I wonder..." she paused a moment to keep her voice from breaking in emotion, "I wonder if... if he even remembers me. He was only 9 when they took him. He would be almost 20 now, older than I was the night that they claimed him."

Ezio pondered this, he hadn't realized how fast the years had swept by. "Alcina..." he nearly whispered. She turned her head in response. "You said your brother... saw things, even said things that did not make sense. What type of things..." he delicately asked. He searched her contemplative expression making sure he hadn't upset her.

She struggled to find the words, "He... he said he had nightmares of being stabbed by robbed men..." she stared at the roof below her feet, squinting as if reading some illegible text. "He would wake up in the middle of the night, always screaming languages none of us understood. It was as if he was possessed by a demon from another time..." a chill quaked her body as she recalled the sleepless nights in Florence. "He said it called to him... but we never knew what it was. We knew he wasn't insane. He wasn't like the mad beggars living in the alleys, harming themselves and screaming at nothing. My brother was... tormented..." she shook her head in deliberation, her worried features creasing her forehead.

"I'm sorry..." Ezio muttered, "We don't have to talk about this..."

"I'm alright, veramente" she exhaled loudly. "It's strange, I have this feeling that he's alive, somewhere, and not just alive, but that he's alright. He's safe." she faintly smiled. "It keeps me holding on." She looked to Ezio with hopeful eyes, "He's all I have left." There was an almost awkward moment of prolonged silence as they smiled at one another. He struggled to fight the impulse to reach out and touch her face, as he stared at her beautiful smile, her desirable lips. Her mouth began to drive him crazy as he reminisced their kiss from the night before; as he remembered the way she tasted, her soft sigh echoing in his mind... "I envy you you know." Her words broke his wandering thoughts.

"Why?" his voice somewhat shaky as he pulled himself away from his sudden craving.

"Ezio, you have your mother and your sister, and so many friends and allies who love you and would stand by your side without hesitation. What I wouldn't give to have the things you do... to feel that love and respect... to not be alone."

Worry struck his features as he noted the sadness in her voice. He reached for her tender hand, "Thank you tesora. But you are not alone," he sweetly kissed her knuckles, "you have me... and you always shall, for as long as you desire my company..." He ran a finger across her cheek, drawing an invisible trail to her jaw. His touch gave her a sudden rush as he slowly leaned in to kiss her. She did not object to his charming action. She closed her eyes in anticipation, waiting for the contact of his lips against hers. She smiled hugely when she felt his soft polite lips against her cheek, "such a tease", she adored. He leaned back to his spot beside her and cleared his throat awkwardly, "So... how are you feeling?" he gestured toward her wrapped leg.

"Così e così. It is still attached, so I will be alright," she shrugged.

He grinned at her spirit, nothing could stop this woman. She felt his fingers carefully wrap around her hand, "Alcina Gavino, I promise you that I will do everything in my power to help you find your brother."

She thankfully gazed into his determined eyes, moved by their radiating conviction, "Thank you Ezio... I wouldn't have made it this far without you."

" Il piacere è mio bella," he nodded kissing her hand one last time as he silently rose to his feet, letting her fingers slip away from his. "If you'll excuse me bella donna, I am to meet with Antonio... I have a meeting to reschedule that I have been delaying for some time," he smiled at some private joke as he nodded his head in farewell. He took deliberate steps backwards as he let his body fall over the edge of the roof. In a gasping instant, he was gone, leaving her staring at the empty rooftop beside her. She smiled to herself as she replayed his promise again in her mind, the honesty in his eyes. The imagines in her head altered and modified to a new face, the face on the balcony. The darkly handsome, cold, villainous face... the lifeless eyes. The chilling sound of his voice... the voice she hadn't heard for ten years, but still somehow haunted her dreams. The voice she finally heard the night before when she had been so close, so close to her goal. The vision sent her spirit ablaze, as she stared across the stretch of sea. The rising echo below her engulfed her in words of truth, "for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay. To Me belongeth vengeance and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste..." A resounding "amen" responded from the congregation by the time Alcina reached the highest point of the steeple. Her toes balanced dexterously on the large cross topping the pentacle of the cathedral. The rushing breeze was the only thing that surrounded her as she balanced in the open air. The warm rush caressed her face as she breathed in the smell of the harbor. "Amen," she murmured into the soft wind as she plummeted to the ground below.

...

translations:

- cara- dear

- veramente- honestly

- Così e così- so so

- Il piacere è mio bella- the pleasure is mine beautiful