The Medici Girl

Split Apart

Contessina rode with haste into Florence and straight to Palazzo Auditore. People were struggling to get out of her way as she trotted through the streets on Serafina with Giuliano right behind her. When she saw the gates of the Palazzo she was relieved to see Federico standing outside of them talking to Petruccio about sneaking out of bed again. She sighed as she rode closer and looked to Giuliano behind her.

"All this panic over nothing." He said making his horse stop next to hers and she looked at him with a sad face.

"Giuliano, I have this terrible feeling that something bad will happen." Contessina said quietly as she watched Federico pull his little brother inside. There was something wrong. A dark cloud was hanging over the Palazzo Auditore that only she could see and she did not know how to warn the family she had come to love.

"If anything does happen, the Pazzi would not dare threaten you. You are still protected by the Medici, Contessina. If you were to come under threat again, Lorenzo would declare open war against the Pazzi. Not to mention they would also have to go through me." The blond man said pointing at himself. "Don't worry, I'm sure Antonella was only spouting idle gossip."

"She was very specific, Giuliano." She turned to look at him and then back to her home. "She knew the Pazzi's plans."

"I think you are making mountains out of ant hills again, Cousin. Come on, I'll take Serafina home." He said dismounting his horse so he could help Contessina down from hers. "Like I said, nothing to worry about."

"That is the problem, you do not worry about anything." She said when he placed his hands on her waist to help her dismount with all her skirts tangled.

"And you worry too much." He smiled before rubbing her head which messed up her tangled hair even more. "Go home and relax. I'm sure you and Ezio have a lot to talk about." He said winking at her.

"You are the worst, Giuliano." Contessina said handing him Serafina's reins with a blush across her cheeks.

"Yet, you still come to me when you have a problem that needs to be solved." He grinned and mounted his horse again. "Don't worry Contessina. Everything will be alright." Giuliano gave her a hopeful look, but his eyes said something different. "Tell Cammillia that I miss her sass." He said turning his red stallion away and leading the exhausted grey mare away.

Contessina turned her attention back to her home with the Auditore family. The nagging feeling in the back of her mind did not want to go away while her thoughts were telling her to warn the family she had come to love over the years. She stood there in debate with herself over what Antonella had told her. Was it all true? Was there a connection between Giovanni and the assassination of the Duke of Milan? These thoughts were something she needed to consider. Then there was the way Antonella spoke about the Auditore; she was degrading them.

Sighing, the blond woman walked to the palazzo and sat down on a bench in the courtyard to think. Thankfully, no one was around to see her just yet, but the puzzle she was faced with had many pieces she needed to fit together. The first piece was the easiest one to think about and that involved the conversation with Giovanni the day before. Everything Antonella said about Giovanni was true; that much Contessina knew. She did not confirm or deny anything to Antonella, but her reaction to it was made to look genuine. Contessina was no fool. She knew Antonella was baiting her so that the seeds of doubt would be planted, but Contessina was smarter.

What had made everything clear was the mention of Francesco de Pazzi and his 'innocence' in the plot to assassinate the Duke of Milan. How would the wife of a vineyard owner know about such things if she was not being informed by the Pazzi family? That was where it all came together for Contessina. She knew Giovanni had returned home early that morning when the news of the Duke's murder had broken out through Florence. She was there when Lorenzo became furious over the matter and blamed the Pazzi. She also remembered the look on Giovanni's face when they ate dinner that night. The look that someone would have if they had lost a friend, or failed a mission.