Bianca looked like a young deer caught before a hunter. Orianna came quickly to her daughter's side. "I will see my daughter settled in her litter, signore," she said and led Bianca from the sala da pranzo. "You know what is expected of you," Orianna said in a no-nonsense voice she hoped would calm Bianca. "I have carefully instructed you, daughter, and I know he has had his hands all over you these past few months. Whatever you do, show no fear. The deflowering is quickly over and done with, Bianca. Then all you need do is let him have his way with you. His condition is such that I doubt he will do much more tonight than what is required of him. And after the newness of you wears off for him, or you get yourself with child quickly, it is unlikely he will disturb you but for now and again."

Bianca nodded. It all seemed so simple to her mother, but it was not. "He wants no more children," she told her mother.

Orianna looked shocked. Then she said, "It is not up to him. It is up to G.o.d."

The litter was waiting outside the palazzo. Orianna helped her daughter into it, wrapping a wool and fur robe about her. "Agata is waiting for you," she said. "G.o.d bless you, my child. I will come in a few days to see you." Then Orianna signaled the litter bearers to be on their way. By the time her new son-in-law reached his house, Bianca would be waiting for him in their marriage bed.

It was almost an hour before Sebastiano Rovere came forth to mount his horse, and with his son, Alberto, and their armed escort, departed for his own house. Arriving, he found the palazzo quiet. A servant opened the door, greeting his master.

"Where is my bride?" he asked.

"She was brought to her apartments when she arrived, my lord. Her servingwoman is with her."

"Have her brought to my rooms immediately," Sebastiano ordered the man.

"At once, my lord," the servant said, hurrying off. Reaching the newly refurbished apartment of his master's bride, he knocked at the door and almost at once found himself facing a stern-faced servingwoman. "The master wishes his bride to join him in his chambers," he said to the woman.

"My young mistress is awaiting her bridegroom in her own bed."

"Mistress, in this house we never question the master's orders," the servingman said quietly. "Please, I beg of you, do not send me back to him with such a message. He can be particularly harsh when he is defied, or drunk. Tonight he is drunk."

"It is unorthodox, but wait while I see my little lady properly garbed, and then show us the way. My name is Agata."

"I am Antonio, and I will wait," the man said.

Agata went back through her mistress's new apartment to the bedchamber, where Bianca was waiting for her husband in her bed. She was naked. "Your bridegroom has sent a servant for you to attend him in his rooms," she said disapprovingly to the girl.

"Then I must go," Bianca responded, arising from the bed.

"Put this on," Agata told her mistress, handing her a long, plain, silk night garment. "The manservant is waiting. I will go with you, but mark the way well for you will have to return on your own. I will be here awaiting your return."

Bianca put on the nightgown Agata held out to her. Shouldn't he have come to her bedchamber on this their wedding night? But then she knew nothing of wedding nights. Barefooted, she followed Agata through her apartment and out into the corridor, where a manservant awaited them. To her relief, he kept his eyes politely lowered. The silk was very sheer. She watched carefully as they went. Her husband's rooms were not far from hers, much to her relief, and were at the end of a pa.s.sageway.

The door opened. Another manservant stepped out. "If you will come with me, mistress, I will bring you to the master," he said politely. "I am called Guido, mistress."

"Go! Go!" Agata murmured. "G.o.d and his blessed Mother protect you."

Bianca followed Guido into Sebastiano Rovere's private rooms. They crossed a dayroom. The servant knocked upon the door of another chamber across from the first chamber. "Master, she is here." He opened the door, and after a moment's hesitation Bianca stepped inside. The door behind her closed with the finality of a prison door.

The room was dim, the only light coming from a large fireplace. "Signore, I have come at your request," Bianca said. Her eyes growing used to the dim light, she saw him sprawled upon a large canopied bed in his wedding robe, which was now stained with wine and food. "Signore," she murmured again, not certain if he was asleep.

"Take off that garment," he said. "I want to see you naked, cara mia."

She obeyed, already feeling shamed by his disrespect.

He stared at her and licked his lips as if he were antic.i.p.ating a fine meal. "Come closer," he said.

She moved closer, although how she managed to work her legs Bianca was not certain. She was very frightened, and she could see he was indeed drunk with her father's good wine. She had drunk more than she was used to drinking, but she felt no effects from the wine at all.

"Turn around. Do it slowly," he said.

Bianca followed his instruction, rotating herself around a turn.

"Put your hands beneath your b.r.e.a.s.t.s and hold them up for me," he said. She was delicious. She was perfect. For months the very sight of her, the mere thought of her, had caused his male member to rage with l.u.s.t. Tonight he felt nothing. Nothing! Sebastiano Rovere was suddenly angry.

She saw the anger staining his face. "Do I not please you, husband?" she asked him. Was he angry at her? What had she done? He reached for something upon the table next to the bed. Bianca saw it was a small dog whip. Her eyes widened with surprise as he arose, and turning her, pushed her facedown upon the bed. She felt the whip upon her b.u.t.tocks and shrieked with both her surprise and her pain. But beating her did not help. He had not hit her hard enough to even break the skin, but she was sobbing piteously, and he found it annoying.

"What have you done to me, you little b.i.t.c.h, that I cannot perform as a man now?"

"I have done nothing, husband," she cried.

"You have!" he snarled. "I have l.u.s.ted after you for weeks, but tonight my fire is dead. It would not be so had you not done something to me. Is it a spell you murmured, or something you slipped into my wine, Bianca? Answer me!"

"I have done nothing," she told him, sitting up to face him.

"You must be punished for this wickedness, cara mia. I can see you are fearful of losing your virginity. All brides are. If I cannot do what is necessary tonight, someone else shall. Then you will not be afraid, and my potency will be restored. Guido!"

The servant's head came round the bedchamber door. "Master?"

"Fetch my son, Alberto, and hurry!" Sebastiano Rovere shouted.

Guido disappeared, to return a few moments later with young Alberto. He had found the boy about to make use of Nudara's charms and wondered if the master knew.

He pushed Alberto into his father's bedchamber, and then, shutting the door, put his ear against it to listen. What was the master going to do?

"She has cast a spell on me in her fear," the senior Rovere told his son. "You will take my place and breach her. Have you ever taken a virgin, my son?"

"No, Father," the boy answered. His young c.o.c.k was hard and raging for pleasure.

"Well, you will marry next year, and for your sake you should know what a real virgin is like to f.u.c.k for the first time," Sebastiano Rovere said.

"Father . . ." The young man hesitated. "This is your wedding night, and this is your bride. Would you not enjoy taking her first-night rights?" He could see his father was very drunk.

"f.u.c.k the little b.i.t.c.h, or you are no son of mine," Sebastiano said. "Only when you have ploughed her well will this curse she put on me dissolve. I am certain of it!"

"If you do this incest, you commit a mortal sin," Bianca warned both men. She scrambled across the bed, seeking an escape, but there was none.

"Get on your hands and knees, you little b.i.t.c.h!" her new husband ordered her. His hand fastened into her long hair, forcing her back and into the required position.

Alberto hesitated as Bianca began to tremble. When she turned a tearstained face to him in a silent plea, he felt all of his desire drain suddenly away. Despite his young age, he was as l.u.s.tful as his sire, but he simply could not do this thing that was being demanded of him. She was his new stepmother, and it was incest. Alberto feared the Church perhaps even more than he did his father. His c.o.c.k withered away.

"I can't do this, signore. I just can't!" He fell back away from Bianca.

Sebastiano Rovere began to beat his younger son with his fists. "Cordado," he snarled. "You would disobey me?" He pounded at the boy mercilessly.

Still shaking, Bianca turned over and managed to gain a half-seated position. "Sebastiano, I beg you to cease beating our son. He has only done what was right."

Her gentle words cut through his fury, which he now turned on her, slapping her face hard several times as Alberto took the opportunity to slide off the bed, and flee the chamber. "b.i.t.c.h! You dare to instruct me?" Several more blows followed his query. "Did your mother not teach you to respect your husband, Bianca? You will now learn your place or, with G.o.d as my witness, I will kill you with my bare hands. You won't be the first disobedient woman with whom I have dealt." He yanked her over his lap and began to spank her tempting bottom until it was bright red and she was sobbing uncontrollably with the stinging pain and burning he was inflicting on her helpless flesh.

"Sebastiano, Sebastiano, you are hurting me," Bianca cried out. "Stop-I beg of you! Please stop!" She wiggled her body in an attempt to escape his punishment.

"b.i.t.c.h!" he hissed at her. "I will tell you when it is time to stop," he said fiercely, but as he did he realized that his c.o.c.k was suddenly as hard as iron. Quickly rolling her off his thigh and onto her back, he mounted his bride.

She moaned as he drove into her and started moving rhythmically inside her. She shrieked as he forced himself through her maidenhead, the numbing pain engulfing her briefly, and then thankfully receding. Bianca's face was wet with her tears. Her eyes were closed tightly. She was tighter than any woman he had ever known. The walls of her sheath almost strangled him. It felt wonderful, and he found himself now unable to cease f.u.c.king her. "Open your eyes," he commanded her. "I want you to see me as I use you. You are delicious, cara mia!"

Bianca lay silent now beneath him, her eyes still shut.

"Disobey me," he said in a pleasant tone, "and I have ways to punish you that you will not like, cara mia. Now open your eyes for me, Bianca, and afterwards I shall give you your wedding gift as a reward."

She didn't want him to beat her again. Bianca opened her eyes and looked up at him. She struggled to keep her gaze neutral so he would not see the dislike she felt for him now. She would never like this man. Indeed she already hated him. He had forced her into a mortal sin. How could she confess such a thing to a priest? She would never forgive him or herself for yielding to his depraved nature. Better she had died.

"You have the most beautiful eyes in the world," he told her. "Never have I seen such a color before, cara mia." He continued to f.u.c.k her as he spoke. "There was obviously a Northman in your family, Bianca. Do you think your ancestress was violated by one, or was she wed to him? Do you know, cara mia? Is there some tale about it in your family's history?" The thought of it excited him, but then suddenly his crisis overcame him. His juices flooded her, and he fell away from her, groaning. "Sleep now," he told her. "We will make love again when I have recovered my strength."

Make love? Was that what he called what had just transpired? Moving away from him, she curled herself into a fetal position and slept to block out her shame and her disappointment. But twice again in the night, Bianca was awakened by her husband so he might satisfy his l.u.s.t for her. After the third time, he told her to go back to her own rooms. Grateful, the girl covered herself with her silk night robe, and creeping from the bedchamber, made her way back to her own quarters, where Agata was awaiting her.

Seeing her young mistress's face, Agata said nothing. Instead, she led Bianca to the bathing room, bathed her, and then bringing her back to her own rooms, fed her a goblet of wine with a sleeping potion. Sleep would restore the girl's spirits, which Agata could see had been badly broken, but it was only temporary. Bianca was a Pietro d'Angelo, and she would not crumble.

Bianca slept well into the next afternoon. She awakened to have to dress in a sapphire blue velvet gown embroidered in gold and crystals, for their guests were shortly due. Her husband came into her apartment unannounced, bringing with him a dark red leather case. He smiled at her and nodded his approval of her garments.

"I have brought you your wedding gift," he said. "You will wear them tonight when we entertain." Opening the case, he displayed for her its contents. Nestled on the ivory satin lining of the case was a magnificent necklace of blue aquamarines set in gold. The stones were large, almost vulgar in their size, but the color was pure.

"The first time I saw your eyes I determined you must have a necklace like this," he told her as he affixed the jewelry about her throat. "Later when we are alone, you will wear them for me naked with your hair loose." He kissed the side of her neck.

"If it pleases you, Sebastiano," Bianca said quietly, restraining a shudder, and using his name for the first time. Could he hear the venom in her tone?

"I like the sound of my name on your lips," he told her. He set the matching ear bobs in her ears. "And yes, it would please me very much." Now he kissed her lips.

Madre di Dios! Was this how it was going to be? Bianca wondered. He had no idea of her distaste. The necklace seemed to burn her skin. Or was it his kiss?

"Our guests will be arriving. Let us go and greet them together," he said, taking her arm and leading her from the apartment.

It was her first real party, and oddly it was the company that caused Bianca to enjoy it. They were honored by the presence of Lorenzo di Medici, current head of the great House of Medici, who had inherited the position from his late father, known as Piero the Gouty, the son of Cosimo. Though he was considered ugly by the standards of his day, with his dark, bushy eyebrows, long, flat nose, and large jaw that jutted forward, his dark eyes were intelligent, and his long, thick, straight black hair, which he wore at shoulder length and parted in the middle, was admired. He was known for his kindness, his athletic prowess, and his intellect. The House of Medici had never had such a head. The Medicis' wealth, banking skills, and wise counsel made them the most influential family in Florence.

He was kind and mannerly. Knowing it was Bianca's first real adult party, he had insisted on being seated at her right hand rather than at her husband's. "Why would I want to sit next to you, Sebastiano, when there is such a beautiful young woman at the other end of the table?" While disappointed, Sebastiano Rovere was pleased the Medici had taken notice of his new bride. She was already bringing stature to his house.

"My lord, you are very gracious," Bianca said to him.

Lorenzo di Medici's dark eyes twinkled. "While I am with you, signora, no other man in this room will flirt with you, thereby angering your husband. This should be a happy time for you. You are outrageously beautiful, you know. How on earth did Rovere gain such a treasure as you, cara? I had heard your proud mother wished to wed you into Venice and that your princely grandfather was already considering certain families."

"My father owed my husband a great debt, my lord," Bianca admitted. "I should not tell that to anyone, but for some reason I trust you. You have a kind face."

"Your secrets are safe with me, cara," he replied with a chuckle. "So you think my face kind, eh? Neither my brother nor I is considered handsome. Now, my children are thought to be quite handsome, especially by their mother. They have not my face."

"I would not know that, my lord," Bianca admitted. "I have lived a most sheltered life until yesterday. My husband says I will be well cloistered for my own safety, for the city can be a rough place."

"I cannot blame Rovere for keeping you close, cara. He is right. Florence is a beautiful but dangerous city, but I suspect the world will come to you." Reaching out, he fingered her necklace. "I collect rare and beautiful things, cara. Your necklace is quite spectacular. A gift?"

"A wedding gift from my husband," Bianca admitted.

"The stones match your eyes perfectly. It is amazing that he was able to find such perfect gems," the Medici said. "I might have had them cut a bit more delicately, but it is a striking piece, and you wear it well."

"It is vulgar," Bianca heard herself say.

Lorenzo di Medici laughed. "It is, indeed, but you must never tell him that. I am certain he went to great difficulty to find the stones, cara."

After their guests had left, her husband came to her apartment to tell Bianca how pleased he had been with the excellent impression she had made on his guests, particularly the Medici. "They are envied, but they will always hold the power in this city as long as they wish to, wife. Remember it. Having the friendship of the Medici is no small thing."

"I am glad to have pleased you, Sebastiano," Bianca told him.

"You will come to my bedchamber in an hour," he said, and then left her.

"Madre di Dios! I had hoped to be spared tonight," Bianca said when he had left.

"You were with him almost all of your wedding night," Agata noted. "Did you not enjoy his pa.s.sion?"

"He is a monster," Bianca replied. "Do you think my mother will come tomorrow? I very much need to speak with her."

"Perhaps," Agata said, and she gave her mistress a small goblet of wine to calm her nerves. Taking a man for the first time was always difficult and especially for a girl who had been as sheltered as the Pietro d'Angelo daughters. In time, Bianca would get used to her husband's attentions. She might even come to enjoy them. Many women did.

When the hour struck, she escorted her mistress to her husband's apartment, where Guido awaited to take his new mistress to the bedchamber.

Entering, Bianca was shocked to see a naked woman in her husband's bed. Was this his mistress? She turned to leave, but his sharp voice stopped her.

"Remove your robe, and come here to me," he said. He was standing naked by the blazing fireplace.

Bianca shrugged the garment off and walked over to him. "Who is that woman, Sebastiano?" she asked him.

"Her name is Nudara, and she is my slave," he said.

"I did not know you kept slaves in this house, Sebastiano. My family does not keep slaves. It is a cruel practice," Bianca responded.

"Slaves are a necessary part of my household," he answered her. "It is not your duty to criticize how I manage it. Nudara pleases me well."

"I had been told that you keep a mistress, Sabina Cadenza. Have you disposed of her for this slave girl?" Bianca inquired, unable to keep the scorn from her voice.

He heard it, and slapped her lightly on her cheek. "Be careful, cara mia," he warned her. "I would hardly dispose of a woman who brings me public prestige among my peers. I have married you to burnish my reputation even further, but my appet.i.tes are large and varied. They must be serviced in private. Those appet.i.tes are in Nudara's keeping. She is most diligent in her duties," he said with a chuckle. "Now get into bed with her, Bianca. I will bring us all some wine and join you."

"She wants to disobey you, my lord," Nudara said in her smoky voice. "Do you not want to come and lie with me, pretty mistress? I will make you as happy as I do my master. We only need to learn what pleases you." Her tone was sweet, but Bianca heard the poison beneath the dulcet murmur.

Before Bianca might even think what to answer this creature, she felt the sting of her husband's dog whip on her b.u.t.tocks, and cried out in protest.

"Get into the bed," he snarled, pushing her over to it.

She fell helplessly back upon it.

Nudara giggled and pulled at Bianca so that her whole body was now upon the bed. "Let me suck her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, master," the slave girl begged her master.

"You are so greedy," Rovere laughed. "Yes, yes! Go ahead and pleasure yourself. You will soon have to pleasure me."