The Holy See, 1494 to Room 511, Fandom, Friday afternoon
Dany
Dany had ceased to think and instead acted entirely on instinct. Later, her mind and heart would scream for her friends, for the man who'd been kind to her when she'd had no home. But for now, there was no time to mourn a dying man.
Dany and Alfonso had shared but a few conversations, but already there was an unspoken language at work. He'd helped her get Lucrezia to their rooms, ignoring the propriety that would preclude his being where the girls slept at all, and had stationed himself in front of the door so there would be no exits back to His Holiness in his fallen state. It made Dany like him even more, but there would be time enough for that later.
"We need to be gone within an hour," she told him, ignoring Lucrezia as she had been. She would soothe her friend later -- they could not be emotional right now. Elia had been emotional, when Rhaenys had been dragged out from beneath the bed, and Elia had been killed. Her mother had kept her wits about her, and Rhaella had lived long enough to save two children. It was as simple as that. Dany cut her eyes to Alfonso. "I may need your help in our departure."
Lucrezia
It was as if she were hearing a tune in the wrong key, one that kept faltering here and there to repeat itself. A children's nursery song, turned sinister and nauseating by a few missed notes. Lucrezia's head spun, and everything was happening too fast. She had been whisked away -- why!?
"There will be no departure," Lucrezia insisted, wondering at her friend's complete abandon of all rationality. Her brother declared, thus it must be so? Her brother was not the arbiter of what Lucrezia did, or where she went.
And why was Cesare so eager to see her gone?!
"My father is ill. Dangerously so. He needs me. My mother needs me."
And yet, Dany was packing, and Alfonso was guarding the door.
Her father had -- he had been coughing blood. She was sure of it. She needed to be by his side, now more than ever.
Alfonso
"We should go to Biscegelie," Alfonso said, as though Lucrezia had not spoken. "It is impenetrable. All I must do is send word ahead, and we will be secreted in. She will be under constant guard from the moment we cross the threshold."
He was wide-eyed and excitable as he watched the young queen move around the room, and a part of him longed to take his shaken Lucrezia in his arms -- not to restrain her, but to comfort her. There would be time enough later. Her safety was paramount, now, and reassurance could come when she was hidden away from the same fate that had befallen her father.
Dany
"If you send word ahead," Dany said, as Lucrezia looked from one to the other, "then we risk it being intercepted. And -- truly, if we are to hide her, your home would be a very poor place indeed. This -- Biscegelie will be the third place one might look for Lucrezia, after the Holy See and her mother's home." Dany shook her head, folding a swath of silk that might be a gown and tucking it into her satchel. "I would send her to Essos, if I thought my khalasar had secured Qarth enough to hide a refugee. But I fear we'd be leaving one battlefield and walking straight into another. Fandom is safest. I have no doubt."
Lucrezia
"I am not going to your khalasar or to your Dukedom!" Lucrezia seethed. "Pack for yourself, if you are so eager to flee, but I will not abandon my father in his hour of need!"
They were wasting precious time, time that her father may not have. The very idea sickened her, and she did not know if it was fear or rage that caused her to shake.
A few short steps brought her to the door. And to the figure of her fiance standing before it.
"Remove yourself from my path," she said, her eyes blazing in a way she had never imagined they might with her beloved.
He should not test her. He would not like to see how a Borgia behaved, cornered.
Alfonso
"Lucrezia." Alfonso willed the shakiness out of his voice, struggling to meet her eyes. Later, when he looked back on this moment, he'd allow himself a surge of pride at her unwillingness to let others command her destiny. Right now, it was counterproductive to the extreme, and he reached out to hold her by the shoulders. "Please listen, my love, please. We need to get you out of here."
He looked over her shoulder at Dany again. "What if they track you to this Fandom? I can guarantee her protection once we reach Biscegelie -- can you promise the same?"
Lucrezia
Lucrezia wrenched herself away from his hands, her anger spiking to a fevered pitch.
"I warned you what my knife was for," she spat.
Surely he would remember that?
For the next man who thinks he can use his hands however he likes.
Unfair, cruel to throw that in his face. He was nothing like the Lord Sforza, who had held her down and laid bruises upon her skin. But he had no right to lay his hands on her and tell her that he knew what was best, to push her aside and control her fate for her. To talk about her as if she wasn't there, and expect her to accept that it was all in her best interests.
And he certainly did not get to touch her while he did so, fiance or not.
Dany
"Lucrezia." Dany's use of her given name was different than Alfonso's; the poor boy, who was now looking as crushed as Dany suspected dignity would allow, had tried to wheedle. Her voice was sharp, because now was no time for a lover's caress or plea. She dropped the satchel onto the bed, striding over. "Do you know why I have no living relatives?"
She didn't wait for an answer; she was finally allowing the enormity of the evening to hit her, and she needed Lucrezia to understand. Alfonso's way hadn't worked. It was her turn. "It is because the night that Jaime Lannister stabbed my father in the back and Robert Baratheon dueled my brother, Lannister men came to my sister-in-law's rooms and murdered her children."
She did not touch Lucrezia, for fear of distracting her, but came close. "They dragged my niece, Rhaenys, from beneath her bed, and dashed her infant brother's head against a wall. Then they raped and murdered my brother's wife. My mother didn't hesitate to leave when told, and that is why Viserys and I lived. When you destroy a dynasty, you do not leave a trace of their blood." She stared, hard, up into Lucrezia's face. "I will not see my family destroyed a second time. You need to leave, that you might live."
Lucrezia
"Why --" Lucrezia had whirled to face her friend, hands clenched by her side. Her anger faded some in the face of all Daenerys had lost, but why -- why tell her this? Surely Dany was overreacting. Destroy a dynasty? Simply because her father --
-- her father had what, exactly? Fallen ill? Fallen so ill that he had blood coming from his mouth?
And eyes. Oh, Dear God in Heaven. She had heard the stories of how Cardinal Orsini had died; blood frothing from his mouth, blood leaking from his eyes. Those were the signs, weren't they? That was the trace the famed liquor of succession left behind.
"Cantarella," she breathed.
This was no dire injury or sudden illness. Her father had been poisoned.
Alfonso
"Quite possibly," Alfonso said, quietly, his hands now clasped behind his back. He would not repeat his mistake, chastened as he was now. "It seems suspect that his taster might suffer the same illness as he, so suddenly, does it not?"
Dany
"Your father has been poisoned," Dany agreed, watching Lucrezia. "And that is why we are leaving now. Assassins do not often content themselves with a single target, when a family is in question. Your mother is being sent with Micheletto, and I am taking you to Fandom. Now."
Lucrezia
Assassins. Assassins. Her father had been the target of assassins. Her father had possibly been assassinated. But that meant death and her father couldn't die. Not her father. Not now, hating her and hating Cesare and never forgiving her for Juan. Not ever, but not now.
Lucrezia's knees were weak, and she collapsed onto the edge of her bed. One hand was ghosting over her midsection. She couldn't breathe. She was sure she wasn't taking in air.
The word kept playing over and over again in her head, until it was a collection of noise. Assassins.
She had to go, to leave, immediately, or the assassins would come for her. That was what Cesare thought. And Dany and Alfonso, too.
Ridiculous to think they would come for her. She was no threat. Popes didn't inherit the way kings or emperors did. But they were loathed, hated in this Vatican. Spaniards in a city of Romans.
She didn't have time for objections, or to scream, or to throw a tantrum, as inviting as any of those might sound. She didn't have the time to sit here, though she wasn't sure her legs would carry her if she stood again.
"My father," she said. "Will he ..."
Tell me about poison, she had said, on a dark night those months ago. And Cesare's answer: It kills, with no hope of reprieve.
Dany
"If the maesters get to him fast enough, there is hope," Dany said, having absolutely no idea whether this was true or not. She prayed it wouldn't show on her face, though, as she made a sweep through the room to see if there was anything she may have left, yet. "I know Cesare will write to us with news, when he can. But we need to leave, Lucrezia. We need to."
She cut her eyes to Alfonso, then back to Lucrezia as she brought over a dark cloak to drape around her friend. It would not do to be spotted.
Lucrezia
Lucrezia accepted the cloak absently. Cesare would write, if her father ... whether her father ...
There was nothing to be done. If she stayed, she risked her life, and the lives of those around her; Dany, faced with assassins, would fight, and she would not have her dearest friend harmed. Nor her betrothed.
It was that thought which stirred her to her feet, unsteady but standing. She turned to face her beloved Alfonso, guilt flooding her for the harsh words of only a few moments before.
"My love," she said. "I --"
They had no time. Daenerys had just said so. But he deserved an apology, once she could properly sort the words out. And a better good-bye than he would receive.
Alfonso
"I know," Alfonso said quietly, shaking his head. His hands stayed behind his back, firmly, but his expression had softened. "It's all right. Go, my love, and be safe. It's all I ask, now. I will write to you when I know it is safe to do so."
Lucrezia
Lucrezia reached up, cradling his face in her hands, and stole a fleeting kiss. Not long enough, and not deep enough, but they had no time.
"Be safe," she said. "I beg you. Until we meet again."
Alfonso
"I swear that I will," Alfonso breathed, reaching up to gently take her hands and squeeze them lightly. "I will work with your brother to secure Rome, that you might return all the sooner."
He glanced over her head at Dany, and added, "See that she's safe on that island of yours, I beg you, or -- "
Dany
"Or I shall all seven hells to pay," Dany said, sounding a bit long-suffering at this point. "I know, Your Highness, and I would lay my life down before hers. And in order to ensure that safety, we truly need to depart now."
They needed to depart ten minutes ago, but Dany was hardly heartless enough to refuse to allow Lucrezia and Alfonso a goodbye.
Lucrezia
Lucrezia could not linger, but her eyes could, and did. They stayed with Alfonso as she grabbed what little she needed and allowed Dany to pull her from the room.
Dany
She was beginning to thaw, on this brisk walk back up to and into the dorms, despite the chill of the air. The trauma of the day was finally something Dany was beginning to feel, rather than something happening outside herself.
It made the decision she'd made back in Rome all the easier.
"Do you need anything?" she asked quietly, reaching to touch Lucrezia's arm. She'd been harsh with her friend earlier, and they had precious little time to make up for that now.
Lucrezia
Lucrezia covered her friend's hand with her own. She felt no rancor towards Dany; her anger had dissolved into a helpless dread. The anger had at least not seemed so overwhelming.
"I need a great many things," Lucrezia said, softly. "None of which any living person may provide."
The first, her father's life. Only God could decide whether His vicar on Earth would live. Only time would reveal the Lord's decision.
Another thought occurred to her. A horrifying one, that made her stop in her tracks. "Dany, if -- if we are all in danger, then Cesare --"
She might lose her father this hour. Alliances could fall in a heartbeat. The Sforzas had turned their backs on the papal throne even while she was married into that great house. Those with power liked to side with the winners; a dying Pope and a Gonfaloniere was not likely to be the side to win.
How long could her brother stand against the tide, should he defend Rome by himself?
Her heart could not bear the thought of such catastrophic loss. Better to return to Rome; better to die by Cesare's side than to outlive all her family, here, alone.
Dany
Dany watched her friend's face for a long moment, letting the name hang in the air, until finally, she squeezed Lucrezia's hand.
"Don't worry about Cesare," she said, very softly. "I know you will, regardless of what I say, but your brother is brilliant and very, very crafty when it comes to these things. Remember the cannon? And he has powerful allies and resources he hasn't yet realized or tapped. He will be fine. I promise."
Because she would see to it herself.
Lucrezia
"Allies in Rome shift as the power itself does," Lucrezia said. "My marriage did not stop the Sforzas from betraying the Papacy, when the French invaded. Father's ... illness will be seen as a sign of weakness. An opporunity."
Of course, the Sforzas had paid for their betrayal, and few in Europe were stupid enough to cross Cesare. Those thoughts were cold comfort, now.
It was as Dany said: she had to have faith in her brother's abilities. If anyone could save the family, Cesare could.
"Do you suppose my mother is safe in Ostia?" she asked. "Joffre, in Squillace?"
Joffre no longer operated within the same spheres as the rest of the family. Perhaps that would save him.
Dany
"Your mother has Micheletto with her," Dany reminded her. "And he will guard her with his very life. She will be fine. I'm not worried in the slightest. Joffre, to be very honest, is hopefully both too far removed from your family and too young to be trifled with." If the Papacy didn't travel down a bloodline, a child in Squillace would likely be ignored. "But I'm also sure that Cesare has remembered him, and...." She steeled herself for a moment, and added, "If he hasn't, I will remind him of the necessity of doing so when I see him."
She couldn't stay here. Not when she was wasting time here, and her khalasar didn't need her and Rome so desperately did.
Lucrezia
When she saw him? Lucrezia turned to study her friend for a moment.
"You're ... returning to Rome?" she asked. "When, my love?"
Dany
Dany worried her lower lip for a moment. "As soon as I've secured you here and gathered my things," she confessed. "I've been thinking about it since we left. Since before we left. Rome needs a stable ally right now, and I have assets that your world does not."
Lucrezia
"Like dragons," Lucrezia said. "But it's ..."
It was hardly fair, that Daenerys could return to Rome while she was left here to sit and worry. But the childish sentiment was drowned out by others far stronger: relief, that Cesare would not fight the unknown alone. And fear.
"How do you know that you will not be targeted?" she asked. "I can't allow you to risk yourself, in Rome's defense. Your khalasar, your people need you."
Dany
"I don't know that I won't," Dany admitted, "but the likelihood is far, far lower that I'll be sought out, and I've already survived one assassination attempt when I was with child, anyway. And Cesare needs help, and I can provide it. And -- " She hesitated, looking worried, and added, "And there is one more thing, but it hardly seems the time to discuss it."
Though maybe Lucrezia would like some good news, in the midst of this tragedy. Dany was fairly certain her friend would view it thus.
Lucrezia
"If you have important news, now is the time to share it," Lucrezia argued firmly. "It shall only hang over us in your absence, if you truly intend to leave."
Lucrezia herself was still unconvinced on that point; she could scarce stop Dany from going wherever she may like, but she could threaten to accompany her, thus undoing the work of spiriting Lucrezia here in the first place. It would at least make the decision more difficult.
Dany
Dany stopped, looking over at Lucrezia, and took a deep breath. She still hadn't vocalized this development, scarcely believing it herself -- and, honestly, she still wasn't entirely sure what her answer would be, if the question were actually asked, rather than merely implied.
"Cesare intimated that he...would like to marry me, now that he's able to," she said softly, looking far more nervous than she had earlier. Assassination attempts, she knew how to outrun. But young men who wanted to marry her -- and who, furthermore, she didn't outright reject the idea of wedding, herself? That was an entirely different matter.
Lucrezia
Lucrezia had been steeling herself for more dangers lurking in the shadows; happy news was the most pleasant of surprises.
"He did?" she asked, staring at her friend as a laugh rippled forth. "It isn't enough to intimate. Tell him he has to ask properly or I'll be very cross with him."
Dany
Dany smiled a little, shrugging. "I was teasing him about hiding in the shadows at your party and that he'd never find a wife doing so, and he said something quite gloomy about how he'd already found a woman he'd like to marry but hadn't held onto her, and...he obviously meant me, and -- if everything hadn't happened, I would have told you then, but it seems we've all had rather a lot more on our minds."
She shook her head, coloring faintly. "I don't even know how I'd answer, if he did ask, but...I'll hate myself forever if I don't go back, for a thousand reasons."
Lucrezia
"Then you must go," Lucrezia beamed, reaching to embrace Dany. "If we are to be kin, then it is only right that you fight by his side. You would be miserable here. I would be much the same, should Alfonso be in danger."
It didn't matter that Dany had said that she may not accept the offer, were it properly given; Dany was already the closest Lucrezia had ever had to a sister, and this only solidified the bond in her mind.
They were sisters regardless of whether Dany accepted Cesare. She dared someone to contradict her.
Dany
Dany leaned into the embrace, sighing softly. "I would go anyway, regardless of any romantic intentions I may have towards your brother," she assured Lucrezia softly. "Because I love your family dearly. But...this does make it a bit more of a possibility that I may call myself Borgia in earnest someday, doesn't it?"
She shook her head, pulling away. "And I swear to you, I will do everything in my power to keep him safe, and I'll send you word of your family once I am able."
Lucrezia
"I trust you," Lucrezia replied. "If anyone can keep him safe, you can. We Borgias would be blessed to have you among our number."
Somehow, it seemed less frightening for Dany to return to Rome if she was possibly to be Cesare's wife. There was no logic that made sense of that; the risks and dangers were still the same. Perhaps her heart was so pleased by the possibility of joy for two such beloved creatures that she had decided nothing could go wrong.
"What of classes?" she asked. "Your khalasar."
Dany
"My people are still settling Qarth," Dany said, shaking her head. "And what more could Fandom teach me that would be more important than this? I have been adrift for months, my love. I finally have found a purpose. It isn't permanent -- I'm sure I will go back to Essos, when I am able again, but I will never forgive myself if I don't go to Rome now."
She thought for a moment, and added, "Before I go, I will leave you with some Dothraki documents, that I might write to you in a code that cannot be broken by any who might intercept it.
Lucrezia
"Then go," Lucrezia said, simply. "I suppose I must leave the defense of Rome to those of my kin who are better suited."
Staying in the Vatican would only make herself a target. She was no healer; her presence by her father's bedside could not restore him to health.
She realized, suddenly, that if it were Cesare lying near death, Dany's entire khalasar could not keep her from his bedside, however dangerous that place might be. Did that mean she did not love her father enough? Or only that Cesare was, and always would be, a law unto himself, in her heart?
"If Papa should wake," she began. "If he asks for me, or if -- if he should take a turn for the worse ..."
Dany
"Then I will come here and spirit you back to Rome, if it's safe," Dany promised. "I swear on all my queendom." She reached to take Lucrezia's hands. "You are the blood of my blood, Lucrezia, no matter what. And I will send you word the very moment your father wakes, or turn up on your doorstep. And I'll watch over Alfonso, if he's still there, too. I promise."
Lucrezia
"Blood of my blood," Lucrezia repeated, a gentle smile crossing her face. It had the sound of a mantra. Or maybe a promise.
"Be safe, my love," she said, taking Dany's hands in her own and squeezing.
She did not need to remind Dany of that; her friend would be careful.
More importantly. Dany and Cesare would have one another. They could keep each other safe.
Dany had left Lucrezia at her room, and was now bustling around her own and packing as quickly as she could. She'd changed from the gown she'd borrowed from Lucrezia and let her hair out of that stupid net, and now wore instead her comfortable leathers. She pulled a bundle of letters written in Dothraki together for her friend, to use as a cipher when writing from Rome in code would be necessary. With that accomplished, Dany was trying to determine what she needed -- what she could use where she was going.
Her iPhone she left on her desk, because she hardly had use for it there. The same went for most of her Fandom clothes. She needed to pack lightly, if she was to leave tonight.
[door and post open, and yes, it's her last in Fandom for awhiiiiiiiiiile, at least. Preplayed, natch, with the fantastic holy_daughter. Pretty much immediately following this, yeppers!]