“Well, well. Ezio Auditore da Firenze.” She gave him her hand to kiss. “How pleasant to meet you properly at last. I’ve heard so much about you, especially recently. That is, I imagine no one else can have been responsible for the little upsets we have been experiencing here in Rome?” She paused. “It’s a pity Cesare is no longer here. He would have enjoyed this.”
“I have no quarrel with you personally, Lucrezia. Free Caterina and I will stand down.”
Her voice hardened slightly. “I’m afraid that is impossible.”
Ezio spread his hands. “Then you leave me no choice!” He closed in on her, but cautiously. She had long fingernails.
“Guards!” she shrieked, turning in an instant from noblewoman to harpy, and slashing at his eyes as—just in time—he caught her wrists. Pulling a length of twine from his leather pouch he twisted her wrists behind her and tied them swiftly, before flinging her to the ground and placing one foot firmly on a fold of her dress so that she could not rise and run. Then he drew his sword and dagger and stood his ground, ready to face whatever guards came running from the direction of the apartments. Luckily for Ezio, they were lightly armed and heavily built and wore no chain mail. Though unable to change his position, for above all he could not afford to have Lucrezia cut and run—and already she was trying to bite his ankle through his boot—he ducked below the swinging blade of the first guard and hacked at the man’s exposed flank. One down. The second guard was more cautious but, conscious of the now-snarling Lucrezia on the floor, stepped forward to attack Ezio. He lunged at Ezio’s chest—Ezio parried upward, locking the guards of both blades, and simply swung his left hand, dagger pointing forward, at the man’s head. Two down. The final man, hoping to take advantage of the fact that both of Ezio’s blades were engaged, rushed forward. Ezio flicked his right arm hard—sending the blade of the second guard spiraling up toward the new foe. The final guard had to raise his sword to deflect the blow—but just too late and the flying blade nicked his biceps. He winced with pain but came forward again—sword swinging—at Ezio. Ezio had recovered his stance and deflected the attack with his dagger—freeing his sword hand to slash viciously at the man’s torso. It was over. The guards lay dead around him—and Lucrezia was silent for the first time. Breathing hard, Ezio pulled his captive to her feet.
“Now come on,” he said. “And don’t scream. If you do, I will be forced to take your tongue.”
He dragged her toward the door through which Pietro had left, found himself in a corridor, and half pushed, half dragged Lucrezia back down the tower, in the direction of the cells.
“Rescuing princesses from castles now? How romantic!” Lucrezia spat out.
“Shut up.”
“I suppose you think you’re achieving great things, charging around, creating havoc, killing whomever you wish.”
“I said, shut up.”
“But does your plan have any form? What do you think you are going to achieve? Don’t you know how strong we are?”
Ezio hesitated at a staircase leading down to the next floor. “Which way?” he asked her.
She laughed, and didn’t reply.
He shook her. “Whichway?”
“To the left,” she replied sullenly.
She was silent for a while, then started again. This time, Ezio let her ramble on. He was sure of where he was now. She squirmed in his grip, and he was concentrating on two things: to keep a firm hold of her and to be alert for any ambush by the Castel guards.
“Do you know what became of the remains of the Pazzi family in Florence once you’d brought them to their knees? Your dear friend Lorenzo, the so-called Magnifico, stripped them of all their possessions and threw them into prison. All of them! Even those who’d played no part in the conspiracy against him.” Ezio’s mind turned unwillingly to the revenge Caterina had taken against a rebellion against her in Forlì. Her measures had far exceeded Lorenzo’s—indeed, made them look mild. He shook the thoughts away.
“The women were forbidden to marry and the family tombstones were erased,” Lucrezia went on. “Wiped from the history books. Poof! Just like that!”
But they were not tortured and killed, thought Ezio. Well, it was possible that Caterina had felt justified in her actions at the time. Still, her cruelty had cost her some of the loyalty she had always been able to depend on before, and perhaps that was why Cesare had finally been able to take Forlì.
But she was still an important ally. That was what Ezio had to remember. That, and to suppress whatever feelings—real or imagined—he may have felt for her.
“You and your Assassin friends ignore the consequences of your actions. You are content to set things in motion but you are never willing to see them through!” Lucrezia paused for breath, and Ezio gave her a savage yank forward. But that didn’t stop her. “Unlike you, Cesare will finish what he started, and bring peace to Italy. He kills for a higher purpose—again, unlike you!”
“The ignorant and the passive make easy targets,” retorted Ezio.
“Say what you like,” replied Lucrezia, seeing she had touched a nerve. “In any case, my words are wasted here, youipocrita!”
They had all but reached the cells now. “Remember,” Ezio said, drawing his dagger, “if you try to warn your guards, your tongue—”
Lucrezia breathed hard, but was silent. Watchfully, Ezio inched forward. The two new guards were seated at the table, playing cards. Throwing Lucrezia to the ground in front of him, he leapt on them and had dispatched them both before they had a moment to react. Then he spun around and charged after Lucrezia, who had got to her feet and begun to run back the way she had come, screaming for help. He caught up with her in two bounds, clapped a hand over her mouth, and pulled her to him with his other arm, swinging her around and pushing her back toward Caterina’s cell. She bit and tore at the gloved hand over her mouth with her teeth at first, then, seeing she was powerless, seemed to give up and went limp.
Caterina was already at the grille, which Ezio unlatched.
“Salute, Lucrezia,” said Caterina, smiling unpleasantly. “How I’ve missed you!”
“Vai a farti fottere, troia—Go fuck yourself, you whore!”
“Charming as always,” said Caterina. “Ezio! Bring her close. I’ll take the key.”
She reached out as Ezio obeyed her order. He noticed that Caterina grazed Lucrezia’s breasts as she reached between them and extracted the key, which hung on a black silk cord.
Caterina passed the key to Ezio, who quickly unlocked the door. The same key fitted the padlock securing the chains—Caterina had not, after all, been chained to the wall—and as Caterina divested herself of these, Ezio shoved Lucrezia into the cell.
“Guards! Guards!” screamed Lucrezia.
“Oh, shut up,” said Caterina, picking up a dirty rag from the guards’ table and using it to gag her enemy. Then Ezio took some more twine and bound Lucrezia’s ankles, before slamming the cell door and locking it securely.
Ezio and Caterina looked at each other.
“My hero,” she said drily.
Ezio ignored that. “Can you walk?”
Caterina tried, but stumbled. “I don’t think I can—the manacles they had on me must have done some damage.”
Ezio sighed and lifted her into his arms. He’d have to drop her like a sack if they were surprised by guards and he needed to get to his weapons quickly.
“Which way?” she asked.
“Stables first. Then the quickest route out of here.”
“Why save me, Ezio? Seriously. With Forlì taken, I am useless to you.”
“You still have a family.”
“It isn’t your family.”