hungry dogs are never loyal × fp

ø4 : confrontation

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giuliano crested the hill on his stallion as florence came into his sight. much to his confusion, a figure on their own horse awaited him at the bottom of the hill.

at first, he thought it might be sandro coming to receive him early, but as he drew nearer, he realized that was not so. the distinct features of francesco pazzi left him feeling miffed.

he halted his stallion within speaking distance of francesco and narrowed his eyes at him.

"as one can imagine, i am incredibly delighted that you are the first thing i set my eyes on when i return to florence."

the biting sarcasm in giuliano's voice would have been humorous if not for the seriousness of the situation. francesco gave him a slight nod in a mutual greeting.

"believe it or not, i didn't come all this way for your smart mouth."

giuliano feigned a look of surprise.

"is that so? then what do i owe the pleasure? for what have you bothered yourself to come receive me, if not for my insults?"

he set his stallion to resume walking, but francesco moved his mare to block him. giuliano's minor irritation escalated into masked fury as he stared at francesco intensely.

"jacopo sent me."

giuliano's lip curled in disdain at his words as he hissed his reply.

"you can tell that bitter old man to shove his own words back down his throat because i, frankly, don't care for them."

"it is not words he has for you."

francesco's indirectness was hitting a nerve in giuliano, and his impatience finally got the best of him.

"then for the love of all that is holy, tell me what you have come for!"

giuliano's angered shout was met with uneasy silence. it was then that he noticed the severe look in francesco's eyes, and the realization that this may not be another petty warning crossed his mind.

"he sent me here on an order to kill you."

the tension between the two was palpable. their families had been rivals for generations; they had been at each others' throats for ages. it was in their blood to hate each other, and yet here was francesco pazzi, not killing him.

yet.

"is that your plan?"

giuliano was ready to set his horse at a full gallop any second. he watched francesco steadily, who simply sighed and looked to the ground.

"no."

that didn't put giuliano at rest for even one second. he knew better than to take the pazzi word at face value. his hand drifted cautiously to the hilt of his sword.

"then what, pray tell, are you here for?"

francesco still didn't look at giuliano. he opted to stare at the wildflowers instead in a lame attempt to distract himself from the dire situation.

"if i had let you come untroubled, there would be consequences against me."

giuliano's eyes zeroed in on the shallow scar along his cheekbone and was both unimpressed and offended.

"and i suppose those consequences are worse than my death?"

francesco's eyes drew up from the flowers to meet his bright blue ones.

"you haven't the slightest idea."

the weight of his voice made giuliano think twice. perhaps there were more layers to this situation than francesco had let on, but he wasn't one for prying.

"what are we to do?"

"that's what i was hoping i could solve with you. i have a plan, and it might be good enough to get us both out alive."

giuliano's hand slowly fell away from his sword as he watched francesco pensively.

"go on."

"as far as my uncle is aware, i've gone out to fight you to the death. he expects a bloodbath, so that's what we'll present to him."

giuliano gave him a strange look, unsure if he was following. francesco pursed his lips and elaborated.

"we have to make it look like we at least tried, so get off your stallion and let's fight, de'medici."

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