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[caditquaestio]

[ It's all misery footage, Caer Glaem in paltry glory: rammed gates, scratched walls, torn stone, upturned soil, roughened up trees. The locket's coverage pauses on each 'tourist attraction' from a high vantage point, briefly stumbling on hands that are exceedingly worn, blistered and bitten. ]

What has... what's... wrought this? How many dead does the court mourn, how many supplies were lost to - to enemy unknown?

[ A pause, then less startled, slightly cold. ]

...how do they wish us to make war upon each other, if they give siege first? Not the finest general, not the most accomplished tactician can devise strategy against Anaximander's unknown. Not Caesar - Caesar, who had little gain from the Gauls without paying the blood price, but at least he knew what enemy lay in wait.

And we? Look here. Remember this next you think the time is nigh to fight well and fight fairly: we are not armed with weapon or knowledge. We are played for puppets, and when our masters go without their laughs, our strings are cut.

[ Muttered. ]

'Lawkamercyme'. Hah. We do not even know what the word means, or who gave it to us for the telling.



[ ooc: ...and lo, a much belated, for RL KO'd, APOLOGIES! wild intruder appears in the Seelie court! He's given up his war declaration in favour of sheer horror at Ariadne's mad interior decorating skillz. Those who'd like to run into a Borgia need but look for the 'worker' who's... probably... holding... the tools by the wrong end. ]

Comments

[pontificus]

No, but it is the only thing I would ask of you. [She knows the parameters of the agreement, but she has nothing else to ask of him. This is all she needs, someone to take her there when Gendry leaves.]

[caditquaestio]

[ A curious thing - and now the book, repicked, can't hold his eye. Damn it, but why Troichean Beinn? ]

Is it?

[ He turns the page, pretends at interest. ]

And why there?

[pontificus]

[She presses her lips together.] Because you have given yourself to me, and this is the only thing I ask.

[caditquaestio]

[ And then there're the sighs, litany and endless. ]

Yes, yes, of course...

[ Merchant's daughter. Brothel keeper. Purse coin counter. Haggler. ]

But why there? I only mean to understand. It makes a difference, you see? In the travel.

[pontificus]

I told someone I would go, and they worried for my safety. Which is why I am asking you. [Meaning she is still going to go with or without him.]

[caditquaestio]

[ In review, and he will articulate slowly - ]

A stranger told you to go to a place unknown, offering no escort. Did this gracious benefactor at least guarantee a fair welcome? Gave note of introduction?

[pontificus]

I did not say they were a stranger. I will have lodgings, and you if you decide to join me. [She raises her brow. He will not dissuade her from this. She is simply not giving him all the details.]

[caditquaestio]

[ Too much disgust can sour a smile. ]

I do not take unknown kindness and patronage.

[ And back to his book again, turning the pages attentively, as if that might endear the words to him. ]

But, as you have said. You have had my word of it. I will bring you there.

[pontificus]

Then I will see to your stay. [The most pleased grin ever for she has gotten her way.]

[caditquaestio]

[ The most displeased downward turn of his lips, because he hasn't. ]

You're not afraid to have me here? [ Peering past his pages a little. ] A man grown, and you a woman alone? Just how many others have you received in this way?

[pontificus]

[She looks put out at that.] I can assure you, should you wish to do anything untoward against me, I have enough men who would offer me your head.

[caditquaestio]

[ He does laugh. ]

And I assure you, should a man wish to give you hurt, there would not be enough of you left to summon guards or avengers.

[ A shrug, all too careless, because apparently behaving as a man and not a beast is a matter of generosity, not sanity. ]

You're in luck that I have no reason, nor nature for it. But it doesn't do to open your doors so lightly.

[ ...or to close them in such a way that can be teased open. Details. ]

[pontificus]

And you forget the nature of these lands. We are not home. Killing me would not put an end to me. [Though she very much dislikes the tone he takes about it, too separated, too cruel.]

Could you be so vile to kill a woman in her rooms? Has not your master taught you duty, tact, respect, what is right and godly for is not "thou shalt not kill" holy scripture?

[Not that there is not call for it. There is war, there is murder, there is vengeance, but Lucrezia is not nearly immersed in political strategies, in the ruthless underbelly of the dealings of men in power. There will come a day when it will shape her, change her world view, but for now she has been raised in the law of men and the law of God.]

[caditquaestio]

[ Oh, enough. Enough of it. His hand comes up again - objection, defence, he himself can't say. 'Whatever it will take to earn quiet'. Yes. That. ]

I spoke of possibility, Lucrezia, not current eventuality.

[ And it occurs to him (he frowns) belatedly that he might have spoken to the point of rousing her upset. ]

Think little of it. I have heard too many stories of deeds and horrors done. It's put the fear in me, and the mistrust also.

[pontificus]

You once told me that I should not trust even you. [She eyes him surreptitiously.]

And now you present me with scenarios ghastly enough that I wonder now what you are capable of. Towards me.

[caditquaestio]

Always better to ask what a man will not do. Less for the speaking.

[ But he does smile, rather satisfied with something - Lucrezia, or the book he closes. ]

I'll be taking this with me. And - [ A nod to the right. ] - that one. But not - [ And now, frowning, one to the left. ] - that. That one's no good. You may keep it.

[ Because a courier demands. ]

I like it better here. For all your... recent troubles. Your court's rooms are better lit. To read in Caer Scima is to damn your eyes.

[pontificus]

[She shrugs. They are not books she cares much about. Her tome is hidden away.]

You are welcome to stay with me as long as you wish then. My rooms are ample enough. [She's told they are rooms for royalty, though it is no surprise.]

[caditquaestio]

[ But they are books he hasn't read, and therefore well worth his time.

Depositing them aside, like any triumphant magpie, he finally does what he should have from the beginning - covers their distance, stopping a short few paces away for the obligatory bow. She is still, after all, a lady of Rome.

A lady grown.

His hand goes out. ]

May I see you? It has been years.

[pontificus]

[She preens at his actions now, much less grumpy now that he treats her as she should be treated. Her head turns just slightly and she stands to nod and dip just slightly. She knows she does not need to for he holds no real titles, but she appreciates his gesture.]

You know me? [Of course there is a familiarity to him, but she tries to remember if she can even remember any of Medici's men-- Cesare must know him. For he must be close in age.]

[caditquaestio]

[ Good reflexes, fast form. She's done her dancing masters credit.

A few steps each way, and he's seen her from the better angles, caught a notion of just which of their parents she takes from (their mother; her). ]

I knew you, as a child. A child and no more. I... had something for you.

[ His hand lowers, catches on the inside of his coat, fishes out - and stops. ]

Which of your brothers do you love best?

[pontificus]

[Her nose crinkles at the idea. Affection. If only she was not paying so much attention to Cesare perhaps she could remember him. He looks much like her brother though, dark curled hair and same features. But she knows when she saw Cesare as a child, nothing else mattered. It is what makes her answer so quickly.]

Cesare. [Her hands told in front of her.] He is the one I miss the most from home. I love the others, but Cesare and I are inseparable. But then we are spaniards. It is natural.

[caditquaestio]

[ Cesare. It's... unsettling to hear the name born of her mouth. Pleasing.

The smile takes his mouth. ]

Yes. It is natural.

[ Though nothing about their nature is kind.

His hand delays on the inside of his jacket, returns finally with a long, ornate gold chain - a bishop's rosary. It's held out. ]

It was meant for delivery to don Cesare after he was named bishop in Pamplona. Best you have it for protection.

[ And because he really needs to be rid of his jewellery. ]

[pontificus]

[She takes the rosary in her hands, brows furrowing. It is good to have something of his, and truly she is touched. But--]

Cesare is a Cardinal now. How did you come by this?

[caditquaestio]

Delivery.

[ Repeated slowly, as if it might explain it all: delivery, couriership. Yes. The story holds.

But her truth troubles him somehow more than his fiction. ]

He was not cardinal when I last knew him. Barely bishop.

[pontificus]

I told you, our father has become the Father to all men. [Her smile is almost dutiful though she still holds the rosary like it is the finest china she has seen. It is a gift given that he doesn't even know the value of, and it pulls at heart.]

He is in the Vatican now, our Holy Father's right hand.