The Fixing Mishap 3 (ACII x Xover, Ezio's Twin!SI)
Florence, 1476
The city was buzzing with gossip and rumors. I couldn't blame anyone for trying to give a deeper meaning to the assassination of the main Pazzi males, but I found it deeply hilarious how many were quick to ignore the Auditore family as part of this mess.
Not because there wasn't a hint of suspicion, but rather because there were too many witnesses keeping us all within situations that couldn't see anyone tied to us involved in this mess. It was also too 'simple' for many to just accept.
The size of the 'gruesome spectacle' was indeed something that only a sick mind could have conjured, thus Lorenzo was quite confident in discrediting any attemps to stain the Auditore's reputation. Father nonetheless saw fit to organize a 'little trip' to Monteriggioni for most of the family.
Mother and Federico would go together with Claudia, Petruccio and Ezio, while I would stick around with father to 'be around' the city for questioning and also wrap up what was left of our banking affairs. I also noticed how Giovanni was using this chance to investigate who may have been behind the attack, but I didn't plan to stick around to be noticed as I had to once again move autonomously to prevent that 1) I was caught as the killer and 2) get Lorenzo pleased with the idea I wasn't some rabid dog.
Delivering the papers to him through some of his guards may have given him a clue I knew more or that I was the murderer himself, but rather than let him have me investigated, I decided that a 'proof of faith' was needed.
Asking for a private meeting proved easy due to my reputation, but said privacy was granted by Lorenzo only as I entered his office with guards by my sides, and his brother, Giuliano, keeping by Lorenzo's right. It was private indeed, and extremely safe at that.
"Gianni, it's been a few troubled days."
"They have been, Signore. Truly a tragedy has hit Firenze."
"But you may know more than you are willing to let out," Giuliano argued flatly, the usually kind man not a fellow to tease or play over his calm mercy. "Were you aware of this plot against the Pazzi Family?"
"...I was."
The tension grew at my admission.
"Were you the man that ordained it?"
I sighed, turning to Lorenzo as he asked me this question directly. "I was not."
He closed his eyes.
"You are the man."
"Yes."
...
"Why?"
"How safe are those walls, Signore?" I inquired back, pointing less about the room itself and more to the guards.
"They are long-standing loyalists to our family. Speak true, Gianni. Spare us the theatrics."
"This is not a play, Signor Lorenzo. Rather, the situation is far more sinister than you and my father had predicted," I started to explain with a serious tone. "The Pope and his nephew, the newest lord of Imola, has been planning to see you and your family destroyed. The Pazzi would have been the main tool, Umberto would have acted as the 'facilitator', and then they would have seized control of the Republic."
"H-How can you even be sure that this is-" Giuliano argued, shocked by my wild accusation.
"He does," I interrupted, my eyes aimed at Lorenzo himself. "Signore, we are not fools. Mere posturing is not what either the Papal States or the Templars do. My father got close to the truth and the Gonfaloniere had planned to see him removed by exploiting the law against us. My entire family risked extintion, and then it would have been the turn of the Dé Medici."
I leaned back, Lorenzo keeping quiet as he thought about it. Giuliano was more expressive, trying to conjure a response to rebuke what I just said, but I know the paperwork they found on both Umberto's office and what I got out of the Pazzi manor was enough to validate my reasoning.
However, I wasn't done talking just yet.
"Still, I have not come here to confess out of shame or regret. I came here to offer a single-time deal to 'apologize' properly for what has occurred to Firenze."
Lorenzo raised his eyes at me, frowning. "How so?"
"I wish to take out the major thorn that caused this displeasure. Girolamo Riario, the Lord of Imola, will soon be in a position to be 'removed' from the game."
"Imola is heavily fortified," Lorenzo pointed out but I smiled.
"But he will not be in Imola in two weeks from now."
"How do you know that?" Giuliano jumped back in the conversation.
"I tracked where the money went-"
"Girolamo has no associates that has connections with our banks," Lorenzo argued and I nodded.
"But his wife does."
And the world went quiet all at once, not because of this revelation but because I reminded both Lorenzo and Giuliano of the one thing that truly made Girolamo a despicable individual.
Even before the Borgia took over, the Papacy had been on the move to expand its domains. Imola was a major conquest, but what really helped in consolidating this position was the strategic marriage between Girolamo Riario and Caterina Sforza.
The issue with this 'power move' was the scandalous effect it held against the current ruling family in Rome: Caterina was 10 when she was married to her husband, a man in his 30s. The marriage itself was a 'second-handed deal' due to the first attempt with another Sforza fell through. The only reason it managed to go through this time around was the promise that Caterina would remain untouched until she was 13. And that time was within a few weeks from now.
"The Sforza have claimed a hefty sum of money a month ago with the purpose of escorting a family member to Bologna. I know that they will try to use the place for a covert 'operation' but I am sure that they will not be as well-protected as they would have been in Imola."
"And since the Bentivoglio family is an ally of ours, they will be willing to limit the investigations due to its... implications," Lorenzo added, offering a tight smile. "A clever plan, Gianni. But I have another question for you: does your father know?"
"For the sake of this deal to go through, he does not. I think that the Templars have found a way to track us. I don't know if its spies within the order, but they are finding us more and more frequently. I wish to remain 'anonymous' through these tough days, especially since it will be a major hit on the current pope's hegemony."
Lorenzo nodded in agreement, leaning back on his chair and glancing at his brother. Giuliano looked perplexed but he had slowly turned to side with me from the way he glanced back at us brother. I wasn't surprised when I was given the green light to do this job.
Officially-speaking, I was going to Bologna to check things there on behalf of the bank. Giovanni was a bit unnerved by this development, but he was relieved it was Bologna and not somewhere in deep Templar's control.
With the promise that I would make it to Monteriggioni after I came back to Firenze to confirm the job being completed, I took my things and departed at once to reach Bologna. It wouldn't do for me to arrive 'just in time' to deal with this kill. I had to be around long enough to not lead any path back to me.
I arrived roughly a week before Caterina was meant to, just long enough for me not only to truly check the bank branch in the city but also check the few interesting people studying in the city. I had a few contacts to make, new friendships to forge, and also get a proper glimpse of the city so I knew what places to run into if I was subjected to a chase.
I doubted I could make it out without being pursuited a few times, but there was a chance to also leave undisturbed.
But... then that wouldn't be a 'fun' game for me, wouldn't it?
Bologna, 1476
Caterina Sforza, daughter of the late Grand Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza, was not happy.
While the idea of marriage had been told to her as something important for her path to womanhood, the sight of a man of three times her age at the time of their ceremony being her husband left her dejected. Girolamo didn't feel like the caring man her relatives had praised him to be.
In fact, it became clear in the lack of communications between the two through the last three years proof that the man wanted her for one thing - the power her blood carried through the claims her now-deceased father had over Milan. It could be used like any noble bloodline could to claim new lands. Her 'husband' wanted Forlì after Imola, a task meant to give the edge to the Papal States against Firenze.
Caterina had never heard much of the republic, only that Lorenzo dé Medici was a kind man to his people, like her father. The mere memory of the good man that was her dad drove her in a darker corner of her mind, rendering her still and quiet through the carriage trip.
Even when they arrived in Bologna and were given a little glimpse of the city that had recently turned into a hub of wisdom, the girl could hardly think much of the classical books available to the city and focused more on what she was to expect with her 'true duties' as Girolamo's wife. Some of her maids had told her it would be painful, and that scared her a fair lot.
It didn't help that these very maids tried to soothe her worries by telling her how a gentle man would be able to limit such suffering, because Caterina knew from just a few glances at Girolamo that the ambitious and yet dry-minded man was far from kind and gentle.
Their destination was a small estate owned by one of the senators of the city. She was told many times that those cities had councils that were meant to dictate the laws, but that only the 'Signoris', strongmen of a particularly influential family, had the true power.
The Senate of Bologna was indeed quite powerless, but their members still held wealth and power to host individuals such as herself and her husband. A grimace quickly adorned her young face as she was notified upon arrival that Girolamo had arrived two days earlier and that he had been 'waiting for her'.
Their first meeting in three years unfolded by lunchtime. The event was brief and quite upsetting to her already weary mind. Girolamo praised her 'growing beauty', but he didn't praise her much more after that. He merely remarked how she was going to like Imola, how that would be a good place for their children to grow.
The many memories of her begging her now-dead father of refusing the agreement came to mind. He had tried to find a solution to this legitimate fear, to give her daughter a chance to be free from that dangerous ordeal but- but then he was assassinated.
The memory still a bleak spot in her mind, haunting her as she saw Lampugnani, a noble that once she thought kind and loyal, stab and kill her father. It made her realize that loyalty was fickle before money and greed.
And her happiness couldn't be spared by what was to come once the evening began and she was 'invited' to their bed. Caterina had wept hours before, trying to find anything that could have pulled her out of that heinous situation.
Still, she marched forth, head bowing in defeat as she stepped inside the room and found Girolamo already undressing.
"Prepare yourself in bed. Let's get done with it."
Caterina felt the tears getting back by her eyes, but she held back a sob as she undressed as she was told. It would be quick, she told herself, it would be quick and it wouldn't hurt too much. Still, the fear lingered as she found herself lying in bed, with some covers to give her the last chance of protection, with Girolamo uncaring and already moving those when- When the fear froze momentarily, a gust of wind confusing her as she found it distracting enough to see the previously closed window now open.
"Now, be quiet so that I can-!"
Girolamo didn't finish that sentence, a sharp knife stabbing through his throat, making him gurgle and spit blood on her. She didn't scream, yet her eyes widened as she pushed him away and she pulled on those sheets to cover away from what was going on.
Struggling, Girolamo lunged around, trying to catch the one that stabbed him, but his chances were cut short when that very knife got pulled out of his throat and then stabbed behind his back. He went stiff, then fell on the floor to die a rapid death.
Caterina's horrified glance was then aimed at the masked fellow responsible for the attack, the man sighing as he cleaned the dagger with a cloth he found nearby. He then turned to look at her, and a primal fright took over her heart and mind.
She expected him to kill her next. She was a witness, a fool of a girl that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time but-
"Did he hurt you?"
The girl paused in her terror, confusion swelling as she digested the question. "W-What?"
"Did he do it with you? Did you lose your maidenhood?"
"N-No, but- but why?"
"Because it would have been tragic had you lost your maidenhood to a man so close to the grave," The assassin mused darkly, leaving her relieved it wasn't for something dangerous for her. "Still, I suggest you move fast once I leave."
"W-What do you mean?"
"A dead man by your bed, and an assassin that is soon to leave. You will have to scream for the guards and then rush to get out of this manor at once," The murderer answered readily. "Make it to the Bentivoglio family, they will aid you in claiming Imola as the proper lady of the land."
Her mind was not fully aware of what he meant, but she rapidly grasped the few lessons of politics she had under her sleeves, realizing how dangerously incriminating this sight was if the assassin was to leave her without a chance to have a 'defense' for any accusation of her being the killer of her own husband.
But... why was he helping her?
"W-Why would they- they help me?"
"You will find friends with the Bentivoglio family, signorina. They may not seem like it, but they have a reason to give you support to your claim."
"But-But we never-"
"There's blood on the bed, that's enough proof for anyone that cares for that. You were already married to the man so you are the current heiress to Imola," The assassin interrupted, a large pool of blood indeed staining the bed and becoming 'proof' that she lost her virginity in this encounter even though she didn't. "Now, get the acting going and focus on surviving with what I told you, signorina."
Gulping nervously, Caterina nodded and then she struggled to scream in fear. Despite the surreal situation, she found it difficult to be genuinely horrified by what happened. The man had quite saved her from her own marriage, and while it was embarrassing how she couldn't be scared of a murderer, she found it easier to still think she was going to be assaulted by her dead husband and-
"G-GUARDS! ASSASSIN!"
And the man rushed out of the window right as the men entered the room. The guards bolted for the window and they screamed for the running assassin, the alarm being given as she was given the chance to safely make it back to her entourage and give orders on what was to come.
As promised, the Bentivoglio were quite accepting of her, giving her a safe room and some more guards to recover while a small force was assembled for her to claim Imola as the new Signora of the city. All was moving fast for Caterina, but in that disorderly matter, she felt at ease when a single feeling and thought emerged from that terrible week:
She was free now, and she had to survive to keep herself as such.
AN
Next time... Monteriggioni!
