There was little reaction from the crowd at this, and in the silence Caterina raised her head and cried, ‘Ha! No one stoops as low as Lucrezia Borgia. Who put you up to this? Was it your brother? Or your father? Perhaps a bit of both? Perhaps at the same time, eh? After all, you all pen in the same sty.’
‘Chiudi la bocca! Shut your mouth!’ screamed Lucrezia, kicking her. ‘No one speaks ill of the Borgia.’ She bent down, dragging Caterina up to her knees, and slapped her hard, so that she fell into the mud again. She raised her head proudly. ‘The same will happen to any – any – who dare to defy us.’
She motioned to the guards, who seized the hapless Caterina, dragged her to her feet, and manhandled her in the direction of the Castel gates. Still, Caterina managed to cry out, ‘Good people of Rome, stay strong. Your time will come. You will be free of this yoke, I swear it.’
As she disappeared, and Lucrezia got back into her carriage to follow, Machiavelli turned to Ezio: ‘Well, the Contessa hasn’t lost any of her spirit.’
Ezio felt drained. ‘They’re going to torture her.’
‘It is unfortunate that Forlì has fallen. But we will get it back. We will get Caterina back, too. But we must concentrate. You are here, now, for Cesare and Rodrigo.’
‘Caterina is a powerful ally, one of us indeed. If we help her now, while she is weak, she will aid us in return.’
‘Perhaps. But kill Cesare and Rodrigo first.’
The crowd was beginning to disperse and, apart from the sentries at the gate, the Borgia guards withdrew into the Castel. Soon only Machiavelli and Ezio were left, standing in the shadows.
‘Leave me, Niccolò,’ said Ezio as the shadows lengthened. ‘I have work to do.’
He looked up at the sheer walls of the ancient, circular structure, the Mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian built over a thousand years earlier and now an unassailable fortress. Its few windows were high up and its walls sheer. Connected to St Peter’s Basilica by a fortified stone corridor, it had been a great Papal stronghold for nearly two hundred years.
Ezio studied the walls. Nothing was completely impregnable. By the light of the torches flickering in their sconces, as night fell, his eyes began to trace the slight ridges, fissures and imperfections which, however small, would enable him to climb. Once he’d planned his route, he leapt up like a cat to the first hand- and footholds, digging fingers and toes in, steadying his breath, and then, deliberately, unhurriedly, started to scale the wall, wherever possible keeping away from the light cast by the torches.
Halfway up, he came to an opening – an unglazed window in a stone frame, beneath which, on the inner side of the wall, was a walkway for guardsmen. He looked each way along it, but it was deserted. Silently, he swung himself over and looked down, on the other side of the walkway, over a railing into what he quickly saw was the stable yard. Four men were walking there, and he recognized every one of them. Cesare was holding some kind of conference with three of his chief lieutenants: the French general, Octavien de Valois; Cesare’s personal banker and close associate, Juan de Borgia Lanzol de Romaní; and a lean man in black with a cruel, scarred face: Micheletto da Corella, Cesare’s right-hand man and most trusted killer.
‘Forget the Pope,’ Cesare was saying, ‘you answer only to me. Rome is the pillar that holds our entire enterprise aloft. She cannot waver. Which means, neither can you.’
‘What of the Vatican?’ asked Octavien.
‘What? That tired old men’s club?’ answered Cesare contemptuously. ‘Play along with the cardinals for now, but soon we shall have no more need of them.’
With that, he went through a door leading from the stable yard, leaving the other three alone.
‘Well, it looks as if he’s left Rome for us to manage,’ said Juan after a pause.
‘Then the city will be in good hands,’ said Micheletto evenly.
Ezio listened for a while longer, but nothing more was said that he didn’t already know, so he continued his climb around the outer wall, in a quest to locate Caterina’s whereabouts. He saw light coming from another window, glazed this time, but open to the night air, and with an outer sill on which he could partially support himself. Doing so, he looked cautiously through the window into a candlelit corridor with plain wooden walls. Lucrezia was there, sitting on an upholstered bench, writing in a notebook, but every so often she looked up, as if she were expecting someone.
A few minutes later, Cesare came through a door at the far end of the corridor and made his way hurriedly towards his sister.
‘Lucrezia,’ he said and kissed her. It was no fraternal kiss.
Once they had greeted one another, he took her hands from round his neck and, still holding them and looking into her eyes, said, ‘I hope you are treating our guest with kindness.’
Lucrezia grimaced. ‘That mouth on her … How I’d love to sew it shut.’
Cesare smiled. ‘I rather like it open, myself.’
‘Oh, really?’
Ignoring her archness, he continued, ‘Have you talked to our father about the funds requested by my banker?’
‘The Pope is at the Vatican just now, but he might need some convincing when he returns. As will his own banker. You know how cautious Agostino Chigi is.’
Cesare laughed briefly. ‘Well, he certainly didn’t get rich by being rash.’ He paused. ‘But that shouldn’t be a problem, should it?’
Lucrezia wound her arms round her brother’s neck again, nuzzling against him. ‘No, but … it gets quite lonely sometimes without you here. You and I spend so little time together these days, busy as you are with your other conquests.’
Cesare held her to him. ‘Don’t worry, kitten. Soon, once I have secured the throne of Italy, you are going to be my queen, and your loneliness will be a thing of the past.’
She withdrew a little and looked him in the eye. ‘I cannot wait.’
He ran his hand through her fine blonde hair: ‘Behave yourself while I am gone.’
Then, after another lingering kiss, Cesare left his sister by the door through which he’d entered, while Lucrezia, looking downcast, went in the opposite direction.
Where was Cesare going? Was he leaving immediately? From that leave-taking, it looked likely. Quickly, Ezio manoeuvred himself around the circumference of the wall until he could take up a position that overlooked the Castel’s main gate.
And not before time. As he watched, the gate was being thrown open amid cries from the guards of, ‘Attention! The Captain-General is leaving for Urbino!’ And shortly afterwards, on a black horse, Cesare rode forth, accompanied by a small entourage.
‘Buona fortuna, Padrone Cesare!’ cried one of the officers of the Watch.
Ezio watched his arch-enemy ride off into the night. That was a flying visit, he thought to himself. And no chance to kill him at all. Niccolò will be very disappointed.
24
Ezio turned his attention back to the task in hand: finding Caterina. High up on the western side of the Castel he noticed a small window set deep in the wall, from which a faint light came. He made his way to it. When he reached it, he saw that there was no sill on which to rest; instead there was a narrow transom projecting above the window, which he could cling to securely with one hand.
He looked into the room. It was empty, though a torch burned on one wall. It looked like a guardroom, though, so Ezio hoped he was on the right track.
Further along on the same level was another, similar window. Ezio made his way to it and peered through the bars, though there seemed no reason for them. No one slim enough to escape through this window would be able to climb down a good 150 feet to the ground and then make it across the open ground to the river and possible safety. The light was dimmer here, but Ezio could see immediately that it was a cell.
He drew in his breath sharply. There, still in chains, was Caterina! She sat on a rough bench against one wall, but Ezio could not see if she was chained to it. Her head was down, and Ezio did not know if she was awak
e or asleep.
Whatever the case, she raised her head at a thunderous hammering on the door.
‘Open up!’ Ezio heard Lucrezia cry.
One of the two guards outside the door, who had both been dozing, hastened to obey. ‘Yes, Altezza. At once, Altezza.’
Once inside the cell, and followed by one of the guards, Lucrezia wasted no time at all. From the conversation Ezio had already heard, he could guess the reason for her fury: jealousy. Lucrezia believed that Caterina and Cesare had become lovers. He could not believe that to be true. The thought of Caterina being defiled by such a monster of depravity was something his mind refused to accept.
Lucrezia rushed across the cell and pulled Caterina to her feet by her hair, bringing her face close to her prisoner’s. ‘You bitch! How was your journey from Forlì to Rome? Did you ride in Cesare’s private carriage? What did you get up to?’
Caterina looked her in the eye. ‘You’re pathetic, Lucrezia. Even more pathetic if you think I’d live by the same standards as you.’
Enraged, Lucrezia threw her to the floor. ‘What did he talk about? His plans for Naples?’ She paused. ‘Did you … enjoy it?’
Wiping blood from her face, Caterina said, ‘I really can’t remember.’
Her quiet insolence drove Lucrezia into a blind fury. Pushing the guard aside, she seized an iron bar used for securing the door and brought it down heavily across Caterina’s back. ‘Perhaps you will remember this!’
Caterina screamed in intense pain and Lucrezia stood back, satisfied.
‘Good. That’s put you in your place at last.’
She threw the iron rod onto the floor and strode out of the cell. The guard followed her and the door slammed shut. Ezio noticed that there was a grille set into it.
‘Lock it, and give me the key,’ ordered Lucrezia from the outside.
There was a rattle and a rusty creak as the key turned, then a chain clattered as the key was handed over.
‘Here it is, Altezza.’ The man’s voice was trembling.
‘Good. Now, if I come back and catch you asleep at your post, I’ll have you flogged. One hundred lashes. Understood?’
‘Yes, Altezza.’
Ezio listened to Lucrezia’s footsteps as they grew fainter. He considered. The best way to reach the cell would be from above.
He climbed up until he came to another opening, which gave onto a guard’s walkway. This time, sentries were on duty, but it seemed that there were only two, patrolling together. He calculated that it must take them five minutes to complete the circuit, so he waited until they had passed, then swung himself inside once again.
Crouching low, Ezio followed the guards at a distance until he came to a doorway in the wall from which a stone stairway led downwards. He knew that he’d climbed into the Castel two floors above where Caterina’s cell was located, and so, two flights down, he left the stairway and found himself in a corridor similar to the one in which he’d seen the encounter between Cesare and Lucrezia, only this time it was clad in stone, not wood. He doubled back in the direction of Caterina’s cell, encountering no one but passing a number of heavy doors, each with a grille, suggesting they were cells. As the wall curved following the line of the Castel, he heard voices ahead and recognized the Piedmontese accent of the guard who’d been talking to Lucrezia.
‘This is no place for me,’ he was grumbling. ‘Did you hear the way she spoke to me? I wish I was back in fucking Torino.’
Ezio edged forward. The guards were facing the door when Caterina appeared at the grille. She spotted Ezio behind them as he withdrew into the shadows.
‘Oh, my poor back,’ she said to the guards. ‘Can you give me some water?’
There was a jug of water on the table near the door, which the two guards had been sitting at. One of them picked it up and brought it close to the grille.
‘Anything else you require, princess?’ he asked sarcastically.
The guard from Turin sniggered.
‘Come on, have a heart,’ said Caterina. ‘If you open the door, I might show you something worth your while.’
The guards immediately became more formal. ‘No need for that, Contessa. We have our orders. Here.’
The guard with the water jug unlatched the grille and passed it through to Caterina, closing the grille again afterwards.
‘About time we were relieved, isn’t it?’ said the Piedmontese guard.
‘Yes, Luigi and Stefano should have been here by now.’
They looked at each other.
‘Do you think that bitch Lucrezia will be back any time soon?’
‘Shouldn’t think so.’
‘Then why don’t we take a look in the guard room and see what’s keeping them?’
‘All right. It’ll only take us a couple of minutes.’
Ezio watched as they disappeared round the curve of the wall, and then he was at the grille.
‘Ezio,’ breathed Caterina. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’
‘Visiting my tailor – what do you think?’
‘For Christ’s sake, Ezio, do you think we have time for jokes?’
‘I’m going to get you out. Tonight.’
‘If you do, Cesare will hunt you down like a dog.’
‘He’s already trying to do that, but, judging by these two, his men don’t seem all that fanatical. Do you know if the guards have another key?’
‘I don’t think so. The guards handed theirs to Lucrezia. She paid me a visit.’
‘I know. I saw.’
‘Then why didn’t you do anything to stop her?’
‘I was outside the window.’
‘Out there? Are you mad?’
‘Just athletic. Now, if Lucrezia has the only key, I’d better go and get it. Do you know where she is?’
Caterina considered. ‘I heard her mention that her quarters are at the very top of the Castel.’
‘Excellent. That key is as good as mine. Now stay here until I get back.’
Caterina gave him a look, glanced at her chains and then at the cell door. ‘Why, where do you think I might go?’ she said with a dry smile.
25
He was getting used to the contours of the outer walls of the Castel Sant’Angelo by now, and he found that, the higher he climbed, the easier it was to find hand and footholds. Clinging like a limpet, his cape billowing slightly in the breeze, he soon found himself on a level with the highest parapet, and silently hauled himself up onto it.
The drop on the other side was slight – four feet to a narrow brick walkway, from which stairs led down, at occasional intervals, to a rooftop garden, in the centre of which was a one-storey stone building with a flat roof. The building had broad windows, so it wasn’t an additional fortification, and the light of many candles blazed within, revealing opulent and tastefully decorated rooms.
The walkway was deserted, but the garden was not. On a bench under the spreading bows of a buttonwood tree, Lucrezia sat demurely, holding hands with a handsome young man whom Ezio recognized as one of Rome’s leading romantic actors, Pietro Benintendi. Cesare wouldn’t be too pleased if he knew about this! Ezio, a mere silhouette, crept along the walkway to a point as close to the couple as he dared, grateful for the moon, which had risen by now, providing not only light but also confusing, camouflaging pools of shade. He listened.
‘I love you so, I want to sing it to the heavens,’ Pietro said ardently.
Lucrezia shushed him. ‘Please, you must whisper it only to yourself. If Cesare found out, who knows what he would do.’
‘But you are free, are you not? Of course I heard about your late husband and I am very sorry, but—’
‘Quiet, you fool!’ Lucrezia’s hazel eyes glittered. ‘Do you not know that Cesare had the Duke of Bisceglie murdered – my husband was strangled.’
‘What?’
‘It’s true.’
‘What happened?’
‘I loved my husband, and Cesare grew jealous. Alfonso was a handsome ma
n, and Cesare was conscious of the changes the New Disease had made to his own face, though God knows they are slight. He had his men waylay Alfonso, and beat him up. He thought that would act as a warning. But Alfonso was no puppet. He hit back and, while he was still recovering from Cesare’s attack, had his own men retaliate. Cesare was lucky to escape the fate of St Sebastiano! But then, cruel man, he had Micheletto da Corella go to his bedchamber where he lay nursing his wounds, and strangle him there.’
‘It isn’t possible.’ Pietro looked nervous.
‘I loved my husband. Now, I make-believe to Cesare, to allay his suspicions, but he is a snake – always alert, always venomous.’ She looked into Pietro’s eyes. ‘Thank God I have you to console me. Cesare has always been jealous of where I place my attentions, but that should not deter us. Besides, he has gone to Urbino to continue his campaigning. There is nothing to hinder us.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I will keep our secret – if you will,’ said Lucrezia intensely. She disengaged one hand from his and moved it to his thigh.
‘Oh, Lucrezia,’ sighed Pietro. ‘How your lips call to me.’
They kissed, delicately at first, then more and more passionately. Ezio shifted his position slightly and inadvertently kicked a brick loose, which fell into the garden. He froze.
Lucrezia and Pietro sprang apart.
‘What was that?’ she said. ‘No one is allowed access to my garden and my apartments without my knowledge – no one!’
Pietro was already on his feet, looking around fearfully. ‘I’d better go,’ he said hastily. ‘I have to prepare for my rehearsal – scan my lines for the morning. I must go.’ He stooped to give Lucrezia a last kiss. ‘Farewell, my love.’
‘Stay, Pietro, I’m sure it was nothing.’
‘No, it’s late. I must go.’
Putting on a melancholy expression, he slipped away across the garden and vanished through a door set into the wall on the far side.
Lucrezia waited a moment, then stood and snapped her fingers. Out of the shelter of some tall shrubs growing nearby, one of her personal guard emerged and bowed.
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