exsilium | ｖｉｄｅｏ.

[ vanozza is no less beautiful in the darkest gown she owns, a grey so dark it is almost black, with her dark hair plaited over her shoulder. there is no pearly hairnet today, no jewelry present. though her smile is steady and her manner never falters, she seems to have aged years in the space of a few days—and it is immediately apparent why. ]

My son, His Eminence, Cardinal Cesare Borgia, and my daughter, the Lady Lucrezia Borgia have returned to Rome.

[ they had played it too safe too long. let any snakes in the grass reveal themselves now. vanozza could trample one underfoot. ]

I wish to extend my most heartfelt thanks to those who showed my children kindness while they were here. A mother could ask for little more.

As well, if you came to an agreement with my children that would go unfulfilled due to the abrupt nature of their departure, I give my word I will honor it to the best of my ability.

[ she takes her time to breathe and look down at the simple wooden horse in her lap. her fingers run over its finely carved head. she smiles, a mother's smile, loving and warm and tinged with loss. ]

Tomorrow is the Feast of the Epiphany. When a star, brighter than any other, shone in the sky to announce the birth of Jesus Christ, and three wise kings followed the star to Bethlehem, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

When my children were young, they would polish their shoes and leave them out in preparation for the Three Magi to arrive and leave them their presents. My youngest, Gioffre, would insist upon leaving out water for their camels, as well, and his brother Juan would laugh and tell him they needed grass too and so they would collect it together. [ she laughs quietly at the memory. her hand splays over the horse. ]

I would ask a gift of a kindly Magi here: I require an escort into our frozen world. A walk tomorrow would suit me well.

[ no one will say they saw vanozza cattaneo grieve. ]

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It took some time to find. But a lovely one it is. Cozy truly.

I can only imagine what a search it must have been. Unless you still live upon the moon, the kitchens were not so difficult to find there.

[ she laughs. ]

It would be a long trip for a simple walk if I still resided upon our Moon.

That depends on how dedicated to the cause of walking you are signora. Some who have chosen to stay on the moon do still come down for day trip visits.

Perhaps I should then. It is an enviable claim to say once I walked upon the Moon.

Were you not on the moonbase once? I think we can all safely make that claim now.

[The banter was interesting but not really why he contacted her. Having engaged in it for a while it might have been time to get to more serious matters.]

Madonna, I could not help but notice you must be Italian as well. I wonder if you would tell me what year it was before you discovering yourself here?

[ but they were having so much fun dancing around the subject :c men. ]

Of course. 1497.

[Ah, but a married man shouldn't dance too long with a lady who is not his wife.]

Twenty-one years after my time...

I could not help but notice the names of your children when you mentioned them. You are familiar then with a man named Rodrigo Borgia?

[ there it is. ]

His Holiness has a new name, [ which vanozza never uses with him; he was rodrigo when she knew him and rodrigo he remains, ] Alexander the Sixth, the Pope of Rome.

I traded for a book here, one on Renaissance history, that said as much.

[Borgia as Pope... it boggles the mind.]

He and I were acquainted before he achieved such a lofty position. Did he arrive here with you?

Were you? [ she answers mildly. ] How odd then that he has never made mention of you.

Edited 2014-01-09 22:36 (UTC)

Doubtless he has met so many people that meeting one more banker, even one see to his affairs, escaped his mind.

Of course.

Was he brought to Exsilium? I have no matters of business with your departed children, but with him there is something we should discuss.

Surely such matters can wait. This is not Rome. Nor is it Florence.

Not this particular matter, I'm afraid. I made him a promise and I intend to keep it.

[The promise being an assassin's blade in his throat.

They got along so well.]

May I know what that promise entailed?

I am afraid not. That is a matter best kept between he and I.

[ her smile is truly apologetic. ]

Then it will have to wait. After twenty-one years, it cannot be so pressing for time.

With the transporter, time means nothing here.

These matters might well be in his past but they are still in my future.

And they will await in your future still when you return.

[How frustrating! He set his teeth in an effort to control his temper.]

If he is here I will find him signora. Make no mistake about that.

[ oh, are we dropping the pleasantries now? excellent. ]

What would I mistake? Your intentions toward my children's father?

Edited 2014-01-09 23:56 (UTC)

[It's only possible to hide behind false smiles for so long. ]

Your children's father is a cruel man, kind to you and your children maybe, but his desire for power is dangerous. Even you must see that?

[ see it? she lives it every day. in rodrigo's skeletal appearance, in the darkness in her son's eyes, in the hate that twists lucrezia. she was forced to hide within her own home when an assassin was sent to end her, her daughter and her grandson—all for their ties to rodrigo.

vanozza knows the kind of man with whom she fell in love. and love him still she does beyond good sense. else she would have packed one bag with only her necessities, left the silks and gold and silver in the palazzo rodrigo gifted to her, and returned to her husband on the hills of spain.

so many of the great families despise them—despise what they see of themselves in those they delight to call spanish bastards. they cannot tolerate having been beaten at their own game.

when vanozza speaks, it is quietly, every word measured. this, after all, is there for everyone to see. let him show his anger; vanozza shows her dignity. ]

I see a cruel man. But it is not Rodrigo. Speak no further. Leave me to my loss. Or would you push the dagger in further tonight?

[ would he murder a lonely woman too? already she sleeps with a dagger under her pillow. perhaps she needs to invest in a dog. ]

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deadlybanker - 2014-01-10 00:51 (UTC) - Expand