Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

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 Forli. 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 Forli.

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 Forli taken, I am useless to you.”

“You still have a family.”

“It isn’t your family.”

Ezio kept walking. He remembered where the stables should be in relation to where they were. It was fortunate that Caterina seemed to be the only prisoner in this section. There were no other guards about. Still, he trod softly and moved quickly, but not so fast as to lumber into a trap. Every so often he stopped and listened. She was light in his arms, and, despite imprisonment, her hair still smelled of vanilla and roses, reminding him of happier times they had had together.

“Listen, Ezio—that night in Monteriggioni—when we…bathed together…I had to ensure your allegiance. To protect Forli. It was in the Assassins’ interests as much as mine, but—” She broke off. “Do you understand, Ezio?”

“If you had wanted my allegiance, all you had to do was ask for it.”

“I needed you on my side.”

“My loyalty and my sword arm on your side weren’t enough. You wanted to be sure of my heart as well.” Ezio walked on, shifting her weight in his arms. “But,e la politica. Of course. I knew it. You need not explain.”

Within him, his heart felt as if it had fallen down a bottomless mineshaft. Howcould her hair still be scented?

“Caterina,” he asked, his throat dry, “did they…? Did Cesare…?”

She sensed, however dimly, what he felt, and smiled—with her lips, though, he noticed, not with her eyes. “Nothing happened. My name must still have some small value. I was left…unspoiled.”

They had reached the main door of the stables. It was unguarded, but firmly closed. Ezio put Caterina down. “Try to walk a little. You must get the strength back in your ankles.”

He looked around for a means of opening the door. It had no bolts or handles. But there had to be a way…