"Messere! Aiutateme!" whimpered the wretched woman. whimpered the wretched woman.

"Shut the fuck up, you bitch!" snarled one of the men holding her, hitting her across the eyes with the pommel of his dagger.

"All right!" yelled Ezio, as he saw fresh blood spurt from the woman's face. "That's enough. Let her go. Now!"

And he threw the bag of money over to the "captain." It landed at his feet.

"That's better," said the slave trader. "Now, let's just finish this business."

Before Ezio could react, he placed the blade of his sword against the side of the woman's throat and drew it across, down and deep, half severing her head from her body.

"Any objections, take it up with Messer Messer Cesare," sneered the captain as the body slumped to the deck under a fountain of blood. Almost imperceptibly, he nodded to the two men with pistols. Cesare," sneered the captain as the body slumped to the deck under a fountain of blood. Almost imperceptibly, he nodded to the two men with pistols.

Ezio knew what was coming next, and he was ready. With lightning speed he dodged both the bullets, and in the same instant that he threw himself into the air, he released the hidden-blade. With it he stabbed the first of the men who'd been holding the prisoner, deep in the left eye, penetrating the brain. Before the man had even fallen to the deck, Ezio, dodging a swinging blow from the captain's falchion and coming up from under, plunged the blade into the other man's belly, low down and ripping as he thrust. The blade wasn't designed for slicing, and it bent a little, tearing rather than cutting. But no matter.

Now for the gunmen. As he'd expected, they were frantically trying to reload, but panic had made them clumsy. He rapidly withdrew the blade and unsheathed his heavy dagger. The fighting was too close for him to be able to use his sword, and he needed the dagger's serrated edge and heavy blade. He sliced off the hand holding one man's gun and then jabbed the point hard into the man's side. But he hadn't time to finish the job, for the other gunman, coming from behind, clubbed him with the butt of his pistol. Luckily the blow didn't find its mark, and Ezio, shaking his head to clear it, swung around and was able to drive his dagger into the man's chest as he was attempting another blow, leaving his body vulnerable by raising his arm.

He looked around. Where was the captain?

He caught sight of him stumbling along the riverbank, clutching the bag, from which coins were spilling. Fool, Fool, Ezio thought. Ezio thought. He should have taken the horse. Panic again. He should have taken the horse. Panic again. He bounded after him, easily catching up, for the bag was heavy. He seized the captain by the hair and kicked his legs away, forcing him to kneel with his head back. He bounded after him, easily catching up, for the bag was heavy. He seized the captain by the hair and kicked his legs away, forcing him to kneel with his head back.

"Now for a taste of your own medicine," he said, and he did to the captain exactly what the captain had done to the woman.

Letting the body fall and leaving it to writhe, he picked up the bag and made his way back to the boat, picking up the fallen coins as he went. The wounded slave trader squirmed on the deck. Ezio ignored him and went below, ransacking the meager cabin he found there and quickly locating a small strongbox, which he wrenched open with the bloody blade of his dagger. It was full of diamonds.

"That'll do," said Ezio to himself, tucking it under his arm and running up the companionway again.

He loaded the bag of coins and the box of diamonds into the saddlebags of his horse, and added the pistols to them. Then he went back to the wounded man, nearly slipping on the blood in which the slave trader was slithering. Bending down, Ezio cut one of the man's hamstrings, keeping a hand over his mouth to stop him from howling. That should slow him up. For good.

He pressed his mouth close to the man's ear.

"If you survive," he said, "and get back to that pox-ridden louse you call your master, tell him all this was done with the compliments of Ezio Auditore. If not-requiescat in pace."

TWENTY.

Ezio didn't return to the brothel immediately. It was late. He returned the horse, bought a sack from the ostler for a few coins, and stowed his spoils, and the money, in it. He slung it over his shoulder and made his way to the moneylender, who was surprised and disappointed to see him back to repay so soon, and gave him what he owed. Then he went to his lodgings, taking care to blend in with the evening crowds whenever he sighted Borgia guards.

Once there, he had them bring him water to bathe, undressed, and washed himself wearily, wishing that Caterina would once again appear at the door and surprise him. But this time there was no one to interrupt him so pleasantly. He changed into fresh clothes and shoved the ones he'd been wearing, ruined by the day's work, into the sack. Time to get rid of them later. He cleaned the pistols and put them in a satchel. He'd thought of keeping them, but they were heavy and unwieldy, so he decided to hand them over to Bartolomeo. Most of the diamonds would go to Bartolomeo, too, but after examining them, Ezio selected five of the best and largest and put them in his own wallet. They'd ensure that he wouldn't have to waste time scraping around after money for a while, at least.

Everything else he'd get La Volpe to send to the barracks. If you can't trust a friendly thief, whom can you trust?

He was ready to go out again. The satchel was slung over his shoulder and his hand was on the latch. But then-then he felt tired. Tired of the killing. Tired of the greed, and the grasping for power, and the misery all of that led to.

Almost tired of the fight.

He let his hand fall from the door and unslung the satchel, placing it on his bed. He locked the door and undressed once more. Then he snuffed out the candle and all but fell onto the bed. He just had time to remember to place a protecting arm around the bag before he fell asleep.

He knew the respite wouldn't be long.

At the Sleeping Fox, Ezio handed over the satchel with precise instructions. He didn't like to delegate this job, but he was needed here in Rome. The reports La Volpe's "spies" had brought in were few, but the results coincided with those Machiavelli had sent by carrier pigeon to Pantasilea, which assuaged most of Ezio's remaining misgivings about his friend; though La Volpe remained, Ezio could see, reserved. Ezio could understand it. Machiavelli could come across as remote, even cold. Although they were fellow Florentines, and Florence had no love for Rome, and especially not for the Borgia, it seemed that La Volpe, despite all the evidence to the contrary, still harbored doubts.

"Call it a gut feeling," was all he said, gruffly, when Ezio pressed the point.

There was no news of the Apple, except that it was still in the possession of the Borgia, though whether Cesare had it, or Rodrigo, was uncertain. Rodrigo well knew its potential, though to Ezio it seemed unlikely that he would confide much of what he knew to his son, given the tension between them; as for Cesare, he was the last person seen in control of it, but there was no sign that he was using it. Ezio prayed that whomever he had given it to for study-if he had had done so-was either stumped by its mysteries or concealing them from his master. done so-was either stumped by its mysteries or concealing them from his master.

Machiavelli was nowhere to be found. Even at the Assassins' secret headquarters on Tiber Island he had left no news. The best information Ezio could get was that he was "away," but he wasn't reported to be in Florence. The two young friends who were temporarily in Rome at the time and running the hideout-Baldassare Castiglione and Pietro Bembo-were completely reliable and already associate members of the Brotherhood, not least because one had connections with Cesare and the other with Lucrezia. It was a pity, Ezio thought, that the first had soon to return to Mantua and the other to Venice. He consoled himself with the thought they would nonetheless be useful to him in their hometowns.

Satisfied that he had done what he could on those fronts, Ezio turned his thoughts back to the Rosa in Fiore.

This time when he paid a visit to the brothel, the door was open. The place seemed airier somehow, and lighter. He'd remembered the names of the girls he'd met on his previous visit, and after having given them to the older and more sophisticated woman in the entrance hall, who, he noticed, had two well-dressed, young, polite, but tough-looking men standing guard, he was ushered through to the inner courtyard. He was told he'd find the girls there.

He found himself in a rose garden, surrounded by high, redbrick walls. A pergola, almost hidden under luxuriant pink climbing roses, ran along one of these, and in the center was a small fountain with white marble benches around it. The girls he sought were with a group of others talking to two older women whose backs were to him. But they turned at his approach.

He was about to introduce himself-he'd decided to try another tack this time-but then his jaw dropped.

"Mother! Claudia! What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you. Ser Ser Machiavelli told us we might find you here. Before he left." Machiavelli told us we might find you here. Before he left."

"Where is he? Did you see him in Florence?"

"No."

"But what are you doing here in Rome?" he repeated dumbly. He was filled with shock and anxiety. "Has Florence been attacked?"

"No-nothing like that," said Maria. "But the rumors were true-our palazzo has been destroyed. There is nothing for us there."

"And even if it were not in ruins, I would never go back to Mario's rocca rocca at Monteriggioni," put in Claudia. Ezio looked at her. He understood what a backwater that place would seem to a woman like her. He nodded. But his heart was troubled. at Monteriggioni," put in Claudia. Ezio looked at her. He understood what a backwater that place would seem to a woman like her. He nodded. But his heart was troubled.

"So we have come here. We have taken a house in Rome," continued Maria. "Our place is with you."

Thoughts raced across Ezio's mind. In his innermost heart, though he scarcely admitted it to his conscious mind, he still felt that he might have prevented the deaths of his father and brothers. He had failed them. Maria and Claudia were all that was left of his family. Might he not fail them in the same way? He did not want them to be dependent on him.

He attracted danger. If they were near him, would he not attract danger to his mother and sister, too? He didn't want their deaths on his head. They'd have been better off in Florence, where they had friends, where their safety, in a city once again stable under the wise management of Piero Soderini, would have been ensured.

"Ezio," said Claudia, interrupting his thoughts, "we want to help."

"I sought to keep you safe by sending you to Firenze." He tried to keep the impatience out of his voice, but he found that he was snapping as he spoke. Maria and Claudia looked shocked, and although Maria let it go quickly, Ezio could see that Claudia was wounded and offended. Had she picked up something of his thoughts?

Luckily, they were interrupted by Agnella and Lucia. "Messere-excuse us, but we are anxious. We have still had no news of Madonna Solari. Do you know what has become of her?"

Ezio's thoughts were still on Claudia and the expression in her eyes. But his attention switched at the question. Cesare must have done one hell of a cover-up job. But then, bodies were found in the Tiber practically every day-and some of them had been there for some time.

"She's dead," he said abruptly.

"What?" cried Lucia.

"Merda," said Agnella, succinctly. said Agnella, succinctly.

The news spread quickly among the girls.

"What do we do now?" asked one.

"Will we have to close?" asked another.

Ezio deduced the undercurrent of their anxiety. Under Madonna Solari, however inefficient Machiavelli had said she'd been, these girls had been collecting information for the Assassins. Without protection, and if, as Solari's death suggested, Cesare had his suspicions about the Rosa in Fiore, what might their fate be? On the other hand, if he had thought that Solari wasn't the only only spy in the place, wouldn't he have made a move by now? spy in the place, wouldn't he have made a move by now?

That was it! There was still hope.

"You cannot close," he told them. "I need your help."

"But Messere Messere, without someone to run things, we are finished."

A voice near him said decisively: "I'll do it."

It was Claudia.

Ezio wheeled on her. "You do not belong here here, sister!"

"I know how to run a business," she retorted. "I ran Uncle Mario's estates out in the sticks for years years."

"This is quite different!"

His mother's calming voice intervened. "What alternative do you have, Ezio? You need someone fast, evidently. You know you can trust your sister."

Ezio saw the logic of this, but it would mean putting Claudia on the front line-the very place he most dreaded her being. He glared at her. She returned the look with defiance.

"You do this, Claudia, and you are on your own. You'll get no special protection from me!"

"I've done perfectly well without that for twenty years," she sneered.

"Fine," he returned icily. "Then you'd better get down to work. First of all, I want this place thoroughly cleaned up, redecorated, improved in every way. Even this garden needs a good job done on it. I want this place to be the best establishment in town. And God knows you've got competition. And I want the girls clean-this New Disease no one seems to know much about-well, it's worst of all in the ports and in the biggest cities-so we all know what that means."

"We'll see to it," replied Claudia coldly.

"You'd better. And there's another thing. While you're at it, I want your courtesans to find the whereabouts of Caterina Sforza." He remained stone-faced.

"You can count on us."

"You're in this now, Claudia-any mistakes, they're on your head."

"I can take care of myself, brother."

"I hope you can," growled Ezio, turning on his heel.

TWENTY-ONE.

Ezio was busy for the next few weeks-consolidating the remaining forces of the Brotherhood gathered in Rome and deciding what use to make of the initial information he had gathered from them, from La Volpe, and from the early reports sent by Bartolomeo. He hardly dared hope yet that the tide against the Borgia was turning, but it may have been that he was looking at the beginning of the end. He remembered, however, the old adage about how much easier it is to handle a young lion than to approach an old, experienced one. And against his cautious optimism was the fact that Cesare's grip on the Romagna was tightening and the French held Milan. Nor had the French withdrawn their support from the papal commander. Years earlier, the Cardinal of San Pietro in Vincula, Giuliano della Rovere, the Pope's great enemy, had tried to turn the French against the Borgia and topple Alexander from his seat, but Alexander had outwitted him. How could Ezio succeed where della Rovere had failed? But at least no one had poisoned the cardinal-he was too powerful for that-and the cardinal remained Ezio's ace in the hole.

Ezio had also decided, though this he kept to himself-that his mission should be to encourage the Brotherhood to relocate their headquarters permanently to Rome. Rome was at the center of world affairs, as it was also the center of world corruption. Where else could be better suited-especially now that Monteriggioni was no longer a viable option? He also had plans for a system of distribution of the Brotherhood's funds in response to individual Assassins' successfully completed missions. Those diamonds he'd taken from the slave traders had come in very handy, a welcome addition to the campaign fund.

One day...

But "one day" was still a long way off. The Brotherhood still had no new elected leader, though by common consent and by virtue of their actions, he and Machiavelli had become its temporary chiefs. But they were still only temporary. Nothing had been ratified in formal council.

And Caterina preyed on his mind.

He had left Claudia to oversee the renovation of the Rosa in Fiore without any supervision or interference. Let her sink or swim in her own overweening confidence! It'd be no fault of his if she sank. But the brothel was an important link in his network, and he admitted to himself that if he really had had absolutely no faith in her, he might have leaned on her harder in the first place. Now was the time to put her work-what she had achieved-to the test.

When he returned to the Rosa in Fiore, he was as surprised as he was pleased. Just as successful, he hoped, as his own previous transformations in the city, and at Bartolomeo's barracks, had been (though even for those he was modest and realistic enough not to take all the credit). But he hid his delight as he took in the sumptuous rooms hung with costly tapestries, the wide sofas, the soft silk cushions, and the white wines chilled with ice-an expensive luxury.

The girls looked like ladies, not whores, and judging from their manner someone had evidently taught them to be much more refined. And as for the clientele-the least he could infer was that business was booming, and though he had had his reservations about the nature of their standing before, there could be no doubt now. Looking around the central salon, he could see at least a dozen assorted cardinals and senators, as well as members of the Apostolic Camera and other officers of the Curia.

All enjoying themselves, all relaxed, and all-he hoped-unsuspecting. But the proof of the pudding would lie in the value of the information Claudia's courtesans were able to extract from this venal bunch of slobs.

He caught sight of his sister-modestly dressed, he was glad to see-talking rather (to his mind) too affectionately to Ascanio Sforza, the former vice-chancellor of the Curia and now in Rome again after his brief disgrace, trying to wheedle his way back into papal favor. When Claudia caught sight of Ezio, her expression changed. She excused herself from the cardinal and came toward him, a brittle smile on her face.

"Welcome to the Rosa in Fiore, Brother," she said.

"Indeed." He did not smile.

"As you can see, it is the most popular brothel in Rome."

"Corruption is still corruption, however well dressed it is."

She bit her lip. "We have done well. And don't forget why this place really really exists." exists."

"Yes," he replied. "The Brotherhood's money seems to have been well invested."