Working for Francesco Pazzi was the last place she expected to find herself. She expected even less to grow to like the job. Falling for him was the biggest surprise of all.
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Word Count: 1000
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Wedding preparations proved easier than I imagined. Neither of us had friends or family to invite. It would be an intimate affair with just the two of us and Messer Parisi. I forced Francesco to write to his brother and at least inform him, but other than that, we were alone.
Over the course of a few weeks, Parisi trained Francesco in the business, and the two of them became inseparable. I struggled every meal not to lose interest as they discussed the minutiae of the horse business. Naturally, Francesco was gifted in the financial aspect of the trade, and Parisi planned to double his income within a year thanks to his new partner.
Sensing my boredom, Francesco would try to find me throughout the day at sporadic times so that I would never be prepared for his surprise visits. Some days he would find me in the garden to steal a heated kiss. Other days it would be in the library, the study, or the horse stable when I would go to greet the animals. He reminded me daily that I would soon be his wife, and we would have the money to buy our own home in Rome. We could live our lives the way we wanted, but we would be together until our last breaths.
It all seemed too good to be true.
A week before our wedding date, Francesco was out with Parisi on what they told me was a business meeting, but I nothing slipped past me. I had heard them discussing the night before that Parisi had found a potential home for Francesco and I. They were gone to inspect the home and possibly put down a deposit for it.
With the men gone, I was home alone when the messenger arrived. He asked for Francesco de' Pazzi, claiming that he heard the man could be found here, but I told him he was out. The messenger handed me a sealed letter and implored that I give it to Francesco as soon as possible, then he rode off speedily back to wherever he had come from.
I peered down at the letter, only to freeze at the sight of the Florentine seal. And not just any Florentine seal.
The seal of Lorenzo de' Medici.
I tore open the letter. Francesco would understand.
It was an impersonal letter written by someone working for the Medicis, but the message was clear. Lorenzo had learned that Francesco still lived and that he now planned to marry. He had learned it through Guglielmo when he went to visit his sister and make amends with her.
But that was all. It was simply written to inform us he knew, not what he intended to do with this new knowledge.
When Francesco returned, he found me pacing in the inner courtyard with fear-stricken tears streaming down my face and the letter crumpled in my hand.
"Alice? What is it?"
I thrust out the letter for him to read. "Lorenzo knows everything now. I am frightened, Francesco," I said on shaky breaths. "What if he sends men to take you away? What if he is not satisfied with his original justice?"
Francesco said nothing. He read the letter at least three times before lowering it. Still, he could not meet my eyes.
"Please, say something," I cried. "I cannot bear to think I'll lose you."
Messer Parisi who had been listening from the door at a distance finally stepped in. He took my hand and tried to lead me into the nearby study. "Come. Both of you. We should discuss moving up the wedding."
I gasped shakily as a sob threatened to tear through me. Shaking off Messer Parisi, I snapped at my silent fiance, "Write to him. Write to Lorenzo. Beg him for mercy. Or if you won't, I will."
"Lorenzo will not show me mercy now," Francesco finally spoke. "He wanted to the day he ordered my execution, but I told him we could never truly be friends. I told him I was a Pazzi and he was a Medici. Why would he show me grace now?"
At last, my sob broke free. I clutched at my stomach while Messer Parisi attempted to console me.
"For God's sake, man," he growled at Francesco. "Comfort your woman."
Francesco stepped forward, braced his hands on my shoulders, and held me up. Very seriously, he looked me in the eyes and told me the worst news possible. "We've been using stolen time, Alice. I've always felt it. We must prepare now for the justice I was always meant to receive."
"No." I shook my head adamantly.
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead. It felt too much like a goodbye, and I hated him for it.
"No!" I ripped away from him, out of his reach as he tried to hold on. "I won't accept it. I won't live without you."
Both men looked at me sadly, as if they expected the worst. I couldn't stand their looks, so I raced out of the courtyard and into my room. There I fell to the floor to cry my heart out. I lashed out at God, pleading with him to know why He would spare Francesco's life only to take it away a few months later. It didn't make sense. It wasn't fair.
Whether Francesco wanted me to or not, I wrote a letter to Lorenzo. I lay my heart bare on the pages. I told him everything, starting with the day I arrived in Florence. Then I snuck out in the early morning hours to send my letter with the fastest messenger who I paid generously. I told him to ride hard and fast. I told him to not stop riding until the letter was in Messer Medici's hands.
