"We are known as the Sons of Mithras." "Ignis fatuus, that's what this Sons of Mithras business is." "But if I marry Camilla Pazzi..." "You and I can still snatch a little freedom here and there." "Do we kill Lorenzo coming up the path?" "We strike only when the brothers are together." "Lucrezia Donati?" "Saddle the horses for Siena." "We'll question her directly." " And here's our final savior." " Gentlemen." "What possesses you to betray Lorenzo, to betray us all?" "You are" "Lucrezia Donati's father." "Indeed." "Ah!" "Artista, I see you escaped." "And I see a key." "Cosimo de Medici was a Son of Mithras." "A ship, provisions for a journey." "The Vault of Heaven is out there." "Allahu Akbar." "Allahu Akbar." "What does the future hold for the Sons of Mithras, Al-Rahim?" "Augury is a tricky business." "I see grim tidings, darkness, despair." "The usual cant and caper, then." "You would make light of our circumstances," "Cosimo de Medici?" "Light is the only thing that sustains me, my friend." "Are there no bright spots on the horizon, then?" "There is one-- a boy from Vinci." "He has promise." "Even now, events conspire to bring him to Florence." "Am I to keep an eye on him?" "Only from a distance." "He must ascend or fall by his own devices." "And speaking of devices... we give you this for safekeeping." "Someone will come for this when it is time to make the journey." "Perhaps the boy Al-Rahim speaks of." "Assuming he survives his trial." "I have faith he will." "If I'm to keep the candles burning," "I'll need more reassurances than faith and a vague prophecy." "I'm afraid I cannot give you any reassurances." "If the future indicated by these signs comes to pass, only one of us will live to see it." "So which lucky one gets to survive?" "You misunderstand." "The dead will be the lucky ones." "The one who lives to see this future... he will truly suffer." "I'm gonna miss this place." "And you." "I'll miss you as well, my friends." "Come on, we've followed you into more scrapes than I care to count." "Why not add another to the tally?" "I can't ask you to follow me across an ocean." "Yes, well, we want to, Maestro." "The Vault of Heaven, the Book of Leaves, we want to be there when you find them." "The boy's a half-wit mooncalf who'd smother his balls in ox dung if you told him to." "And as for me?" "I've accrued some gambling debts that make my near-term residence in Florence problematic." "So, where to next?" "We'll need a ship, won't we?" "The Portuguese are establishing trade routes along Western Africa, so we'll book passage to the Canary Islands." "After that, we'll have to improvise." "First, there are certain accounts I have to settle with the House of Medici." "Why bother with the Medicis?" "Why not skirt Florence entirely?" "'Cause there are things I have to say to Lorenzo." "Words for his ears alone." "Shall we meet at the Barking Dog this evening?" "Why not?" "A pint, one last foray into a Florentine slit for luck." "We can see if Nico's balls have dropped." "That's odd." "That's a lanner falcon." "They're rare this side of the Adriatic." "Turkey or Africa, yeah." "But here?" "It's lost its way." "It happens." "No, not often." "The last time I saw a lanner... was the day my mother disappeared." " You say they hail from Turkey?" " Mm." "I'll wager that bird's an omen meant for you alone." "You know, I should follow it." "Leo, I said it's an omen." "If anything, we should ride in the opposite direction." "I'll meet you at the Dog." "Leo!" "Yah!" "I take it you now believe in visions... and demons." "Where could Giuliano be?" "How badly did you handle your talk with him about this marriage?" "He knew he had to wed the girl." "He agreed there was no other way to halt our feud with the Pazzi family, and yet I've not seen a trace of him for days." "Did you actually hear him utter the words, "I agree,"" "or did you only hear what you wanted to hear?" "He agreed." "Giuliano may not arrive at all." "I say we strike, kill Lorenzo and Clarice while we have them here." "Are you so blind to the success of your rivals?" "The brothers are popular." "Murdering only one will allow the survivor to rally the city against us." "Only with the shock of losing both men at once will Florence bow to new leaders." "You can send your men after Giuliano, wherever he is." "I can handle Lorenzo myself." "Do so and you defy the will of Rome, Francesco." "I warn you now." "Remarkable." "According to lore, these will open the Vault of Heaven." "Solomon Ogbai, the Abyssinian, told you its location?" "He told me it rested on an old peak in a town made of stone... beneath something called "the hitching post of the sun."" "With these keys and the map to the Vault itself, it would appear that the Book of Leaves lies firmly within our grasp." "When was the last time the Book was actually seen?" "A thousand years ago when the Library of Alexandria burned." "Yet we still have faith it exists." "Faith." "It always comes down to that, doesn't it?" "It's never anything that can be proven." "It's just-- it's just" "It's smoke." "It's tales by the campfire." "You're angry." "Pope Sixtus claims you're an agent of the Ottomans." "The Sons of Mithras are not constrained by geographic borders." "Our stewardship encompasses all mankind." "Well, this particular man is tired of being manipulated." "If you are lost in a forest and you see a landmark, is that landmark manipulating you along a certain path?" "I am merely your guide." "But if I ignore your chosen path, then..." "I'll never find my mother, will I?" "She's a poor little thing." "Mending Camilla Pazzi's heart will be the least of our concerns if my brother sabotages this feast." "The snub could propel us all into still more years of blood feud." "Look at Francesco." "Look at them all." " The Pazzis glower like that." " Exactly." " Today was supposed to be different." " Mm." "How long should we wait?" "Always so impatient, Francesco." "Talk with them." "Complain of the scandal of Giuliano's absence." "Your anger at the cur's impudence will disguise your desire to kill." "Or it may just spur me to strike even faster." "Captain, tracking Florentines' comings and goings is your specialty." "Where is my brother?" "I cannot say." "A week ago, my officer Bertino asked permission to accompany Giuliano to Siena." "I've seen neither of them since." "Why Siena?" "Giuliano... apparently longed for one last fling before his nuptials." " Christ." " The pious Bertino promised to keep him from too much trouble." "What if Bertino failed?" "What if Giuliano was waylaid on the road?" "Surely that's the only reason he'd insult us with his absence today." "Captain, take a few men and search the roads between Florence and Siena." "All of us yearn to know what's become of Giuliano, Captain." "Settle the matter for us." "Please." "There is a ship bound for Cape Verde, the Basilisk, under command of Antonio de Noli." "As we speak, de Noli is in Florence loading a barge with provisions for a journey." "At dawn, he takes the barge to Pisa where the Basilisk is anchored." "You, Leonardo, must book passage on that ship." "With your navigational skills, the Basilisk will survive the storms and reach another land entirely where the Book of Leaves awaits." "Some years ago, a magician promised me he would hide something for you." "Magician?" "Cosimo de Medici?" "Cached within Cosimo's tomb is a mariner's astrolabe." "With it you will navigate the Basilisk safely to the lands indicated on the map." "Cosimo hid it in a way that only you would be able to solve his riddle." "Yeah." "Well, as ever, you know the right games to tantalize me." "You must carry the astrolabe onto that barge." "The Book of Leaves, of your mother's fate... will remain a mystery." "Isn't this the moment where you spin a coin, put me into a trance?" "No coins." "No trances." "You either book passage west... or you don't." "You succeed or you fail." "The choice and the consequences are yours." " Be still, child." " I'm going to be sick." "You're already sick." "No one calls for me if they're well." "Here, hold this." "You've not stepped over a grave, have you?" "Or drunk milk that's gone to spoil?" "No, Ottavia." "Nothing like that." "Here, piss into this." "I saw a butcher's daughter last week blubbering on about a malady akin to this." "Had to split her open." "Worms." "Oh." "Cloudy as a winter's dawn." "Is that bad?" "A pinch or two of this every two days, and be sure to stay out of the light of the moon." "Not for your sake, but for his." "For who?" "Your son." "You're not with worms, girl." "You're with child." "Bring me to him." "I've sent Clarice away to spare her whatever tragedy you may have brought here." "Delay no more." "Show me." "My officer Bertino, found on the road to Siena." "Hacked to death." "Bandits?" "Most likely." "Yet we found no trace of Giuliano." "Take more men." "Find him, alive or dead." "I must know my brother's fate." "Where am I?" "In the Val d'Elsa, Signor." "We found you in the river more dead than alive." " Ah!" " I nursed your wounds." "I thank you for that." "Soon as I seen your clothes, I knew you was a nobleman." "And yet you didn't rob me." "Wouldn't be Christian." "What day is it?" "How long have I been out?" "Holy Saturday, Signor." "When they laid Christ's body in the tomb." "Ah!" "I have to get back to Florence." "I need to warn Lorenzo." "You need to rest, son." "No, I can't." "No time." "Hmm." "The dead still walk." "I assumed you had to be dead." "Some said you traveled to Wallachia, others to Rome." " Which was it?" " Both." "Oh, both." "So, why are we meeting here, hmm?" "What intrigue are you involving me in this time?" " This tomb..." " Mm-hmm." " You designed it for Cosimo?" " To an extent." "Is it possible that, like Cosimo's portrait, this tomb contains secret mysteries?" "This mosaic-- see how the circles weave through the design." "Now step back." "Focus only on that." "It's King Solomon's Knot." "The ancient symbol representing the wisdom of eternity." "Yes." "Other men live in the trappings of this world, but Cosimo's face was always turned beyond worldly distractions to the universe above." "He had the most agile mind I've ever known... until I met you." "You honor me." "You're the closest thing that I've ever known to a father." "I'm about to leave you again." "This time, on a quest from which I may never return." "Every question you answer leads to another question." "And such quests lead many to nothing but misery." "The true misery is if all the questions are solved." "'Cause then there's nothing left to ask." "Where do you voyage now?" "Well, it depends on what I discover in this room." "I designed no secret compartment, Leo." "Ah!" "But-- but the Magician could install one without anyone knowing." "Like a flaw." "Cosimo would never have permitted it." "And yet..." "Ah, look, look!" "Do you see?" "It's exactly the same as the semicircles in King Solomon's Knot." "And Cosimo's gaze is reflected... on Libra." "It's the scales of balance." "Perhaps there's a matching discrepancy." "So..." "Here." "Do you see there?" "Look." "Do they form an axis?" "Well, if so, then... there must be another axis that crosses it." "Exactly." "Starting here." "So then its mate would be... here." "Look." "The center of the knot would be... directly above the heart." "The question answered." "Which leads to another question." "Yes." "Oh, magnificently so." "Signor!" "Signor Medici, where have you been?" "What's befallen you?" "Treachery." "A moment alone, Captain." "Bertino and I determined Lucrezia Donati to be a spy." "You cannot mean it." "We sought her out in Siena, came across her being attacked by bandits." "We dispatched them, but at the cost of Bertino's life." "Lucrezia stabbed me, left me for dead." "She is an agent of Riario and Pope Sixtus." "Capaldi, ride with Black Martin." "Tell Lorenzo Giuliano lives." "I will escort him home at a pace his wounds allow." "Go." "Go!" "Thank you, Captain, for your consideration." "It is nothing." "Someone needs to tend to you." "We had a contract." "You break it and I will be justified in depriving you of your freedom." "And what happened to the last man who tried to pen me up in Florence?" "You'll find me more of a match to you than that hapless magistrate, I think." "I would." "What about a small duchy of your own?" "That would give you the freedom to amass all the knowledge you like." "Hmm." "And you have duchies sitting around to hand out like party favors?" "The Duke of Urbino and I have made an alliance to move on the Papacy." "That will give us the ability to give you the legitimacy that you have never had." "I suspect your alliance is dead." "At the Vatican, I saw the Duke of Urbino himself." "One can't miss the man." "He looked quite at home." "So as you desert me, you bring me word that my only other source of military defense... is a sham." "You approached him because you knew he had a price, yes?" "Someone outbid you." "Fuck you." "Artists approach me all the time." "They are full of vague and glorious ideas on which they rarely deliver." "Case in point." "You were warned." "You were warned in this very room." ""I accept many commissions, I finish few."" "I gave you the chance to be the foremost artist of your day." "I gave you the most desirable woman in Florence as a subject and" "She was never my subject." "You and I love this city... do we not?" "Yeah, we do." "Then help me save it." "What else could I give you?" "What about her?" "Her husband's clearly not an obstacle." "What, you" "What, you think I would just toss her to you just like that?" "Well, you have a wife who has her charms, who needs attention." "How much does Lucrezia mean to you, Lorenzo?" "Are you willing to set aside your toy to keep me in Florence?" "Magnifico, your brother has been found." "Giuliano is alive." "Wounded but alive." "Who wounded him?" "Lucrezia Donati." " And she is also alive?" " It appears so." "What was she doing attacking Giuliano?" "Did she know of your plans?" "Giuliano is unarmed and in the care of Dragonetti." "He won't live to see Florence again." "But if people learn Giuliano's been killed," "Lorenzo will rally the people behind him." "We must strike at Lorenzo first." "Easter Mass." "Dawn tomorrow, we will poison Lorenzo in the very act of taking Holy Communion, and damn Cardinal Orsini's pious hesitations." "It will look as if God Himself has taken down the tyrant." " What's your name?" " Capaldi." "Find Father Bagnone and Father Maffei." "Have them prepare the Host for Lorenzo... and his wife and all his daughters." "Then ride back to Dragonetti and make sure that Giuliano has met his death." "Consider it done, my lord." "Within hours we will own Florence." "But why would Lucrezia agree to act as Rome's cat's-paw?" "Sixtus only rewards his own blood." "Did you know he's already rewarded six of his nephews as cardinals?" " He is loyal." " To the point of incestuousness." "The virtue of a republic like Florence-- offices go to the most worthy, appointments are made only on merit." "I daresay you earned your rank on the basis of achievement, Dragonetti?" "I did." "And you demonstrate that repeatedly." "The details in your curfew ledgers-- without them, Bertino and I could never have uncovered the name of Lorenzo's betrayer." "All one needed was the time to study the records." "And you had the time, of course." "I do take my work seriously." "That's how she was able to avoid detection after curfew, isn't it?" "She had the perfect alibi-- fucking my brother, and because the first man to raise questions about her activities was already in league with Rome himself." "I could try and ride away... but you're unwounded, your mount is fresher." "Finish what your spy began, then." "Perhaps she'll reward you between her legs." " That is not what spurs me." " What does?" "A desire for a Florence that fears God, not its masters." "Let's get to your brother's side." "De Noli's barge, bound for Pisa?" "Aye, Signor." "How much to book passage for three?" "We take only freight and baggage." "I told you, only freight and baggage." "I have to board the Basilisk." "Then again, you look like baggage." "Dawn tomorrow." "Don't be late." "Each of my brigades awaits near one of these gates." "You may consider Florence already under our control." " Your men are loyal to you?" " But of course." "Because if they get battle-hungry and invade prematurely, the Florentines will rise against them." "The Florentines are shopkeepers and clerks." "We're soldiers." "The Florentines live in narrow corridors and alleyways where they can strike unexpectedly." "If they rise to fight for their home, it will not resemble the fields of battle you know." "We have new weapons for street warfare." "You will follow our lead." "You see, the Pazzis' role in all this is to overthrow the tyrants, establish a clear new regime, while your role is only to appear if summoned to cement the powers-that-will-be into place." "If I choose to move on Florence myself... who are you to stop me?" "Tell me, who is it that pays your men?" "You sit in the middle, conveying their wages which issue from the vaults of Rome." "Act against me, and that same city shall brand you a heretic, strip you of your titles, and excommunicate you." "Resist further, and His Holiness will have that metal eyepiece of yours melted down and poured over your testicles in the middle of the Piazza Navona." "I have seen what he is capable of with both my eyes." "Your man returns." "Perhaps with news from my brother." "He comes not from il Magnifico, but from Count Riario to confirm I've killed you." "Then why is he not riding away with news that I'm still alive?" "I think he has another plan." "Hold." "What are you doing?" "What's best for Florence." "Pick up his sword." "You'll need a weapon if you're going to save your brother." "Do it now, Giuliano, before I change my mind again." "It's me." "You think I don't know your footsteps?" "Give me a reason... why I shouldn't puncture your neck this instant." "Not today." "You poisoned Vanessa, and I risked dementia trying to save her." "You shared the secrets of my war machinery with Riario and put the city at peril." "This-- this denunciation that names me a sexual criminal, had me thrown in jail to face the bonfire, this is your work!" "I had Nico send you to the convent to keep your friend alive." "I begged for your mercy during the trial and made enemies who seek my life." "You will never understand the risks that I have taken" "To keep your father alive?" " What?" " I know." "I know." "He wishes me to tell you how much he loves you." "I spoke with him in his cell in Castel Sant'Angelo." "Then you grasp the hold they have maintained over me." "It's a hold so strong that you would even poison an innocent man." "And what of the risks that you have faced in search of your mother?" "Huh?" "If it fell to you to keep her alive, would you truly say," ""No, I'll preserve another's life instead"?" "I would find another way." "Oh, yeah, how easy it is for you to believe that." "I would understand your actions, Lucrezia, if your father hadn't rejected my offer to set him free." " You're lying." " No." "You've committed these sins for nothing." "Your work argues that man is capable of anything." "Well, between us, we prove it." "You show us the heights that we can reach and-- and I show us the depths." "Of late..." "I have met men who dwell in the shadows, speaking of other times and other lives." "Maybe... if they're correct... a life exists in which we" "Yes." "Yes." "Yes." "No, I can't do this." "I can't." " Please." "Please." " I can't." "I can't." "I have to go." "I have to-- a ship waits in Pisa to take me to the Book of Leaves." "If I'm not on board the Basilisk" "Riario and the Pazzis are moving on Florence." "So?" " They want to kill Lorenzo." " I could care less what they do." "Let the politicians kill each other." "It's their forte." "Leonardo, please, you are the only one who can stop this now." "If you're not going to do it for me or for Lorenzo, then do it for Florence." "For Florence?" "For Florence?" "The city that turned its back on me?" "The bastard son?" "The sodomite?" "No." "A younger da Vinci might've bought your arguments, Lucrezia, but I've endured too much these last few months to be swayed by sentiment." "It's Easter." "If Florence demands a sacrifice..." "I suggest you offer yourself." "You still endeavor to taint the air with that foul stench, I see." "It's a vice... one that Girolamo sees fit to allow me." "Not the only." "I've never understood your obsession with this game." "I imagine you've played thousands of times." "And what has it brought you?" "Know thyself... know thine enemy." "It is but a recreation." "True strategic mastery must be forged in the arena of life." " Happy Easter." " Indeed... for today brings not only the resurrection of Christ, but the resurrection of Florence under Rome's rule." "Soon, all the Italian states will fall into line." "I will then turn my attention to the true enemy of God-- the Ottoman Empire." "A final Holy War." "A glorious victory for which I will be made... a saint." "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then there will be no reward from your Father who is in heaven." "I must thank you." "For without you, I could never have achieved today's triumph." "And for this, perhaps you would offer me something in return?" "Hmm?" "I believe it's time you and I... played another game." "Don't you agree... brother?" "Is all in place?" "Fathers Bagnone and Maffei are preparing the poison." "And the cardinal?" "He's too fucking pious to be told of this change of plans." "While he prays, the priests will deliver the tainted Eucharist to Lorenzo." "Quattrone." "Medici loyalist." "If he goes against us, he'll join Lorenzo in the afterlife." "Is there any news of da Vinci?" "The last I heard, he was in Rome." "He's countered us again and again." "Can we act if we don't know the man's whereabouts?" "Calm yourself, Francesco." "We have long prepared." "All is ready." "Signorina, you make an old man believe in the perfectibility of mankind." "Thank you, Maestro." "What troubles you, Vanessa?" "Have you seen Giuliano de Medici?" "I must speak to him." "He needs to hear this." "Quickly, before the cardinal sees." "Ensure that these wafers go to the Medicis and only the Medicis." "And then we can truly celebrate this mass." "Happy Easter, Lorenzo." "And to you, Francesco." "Where is Giuliano?" "I'm sure Dragonetti will bring him straight here." "I am sure of nothing today." "God's trousers, Leo." "Where the fuck have you been all night?" "Only haunted by a final farewell." "The barge is loaded and the captain's keen to depart." "Impatient canker blossom threatened to double the fee if he waited any longer." "Well... then let's save some coin and be on our way." "What's this?" "This is us asking the Fates where the fuck you've been all night." "The Chariot." "Reversed?" "Uncontrolled passion, leading to defeat." "Time to leave, I'd say." "Come on." "It's so quiet." "The bells have stopped." "Mass has begun." "Fuck." "There's something I must do before we depart." " Maestro, there's no time." " The barge won't wait." "You have to make a decision-- the Book of Leaves or whatever the fuck tears you away." " 'Cause you can't have both." " I can." "I can, if you just find a way to keep them here until I return." "Okay?" "I'm not gonna be long." "Just stall them, Zo." "Please!" "There's another meaning to that card-- a journey thwarted." "In nominee Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti." " Amen." " Amen." "Do you fear God, Signora?" "The wise both fear and love God." "Then why do you hesitate to enter His house?" "Because it isn't God who waits for me inside those doors." "...tui, cum oblationibus hostiarum:" "ut paschalibus initiata mysteriis, ad aeternitatis nobis medelam, te operante, proficiant." "Per Dominum." "Riders approach." "Two." "Hell is descending upon this city." "Get yourself to safety, now." "What has happened to you, Excellency?" "God will permit no violence here." "You cannot disrupt a sacred mass!" " Sheathe your weapon!" " I'm sorry, but I cannot." "Cease your intrusion." "This is a House of God." "And God loves truth." "Let him speak." "The Pazzi conspire against us." "My family!" "They're in league with Rome and betray all Florence!" "People and liberty!" "Death to the Medicis!" "Yah!" "Go." "Take our daughters to safety." "They'll have men at the doors." "Find another way out." "Go!" " Giuliano!" " Lorenzo!" "Yah!" "Lorenzo!" "Towards the door." "You betray our cause, Captain." "And your cause betrays Florence." "Flee, my lady!" "It's a chaos of swords in there!" "Kill them!" "Brother!" "Brother!" "Help your family!" "Rome is my family." "Forgive me!" " Ah!" " Giuliano!" "Die, Medici scum!" "The wife and children." "Go, go!" "No, Giuliano!" "Oh, no!" "No!" "No!" "Come on!" "Clarice... please!" "Girls, come on." "I'm dying, Vanessa." "Your line will live on... in me." "I'm bearing your child, your son, Giuliano." " Vanessa, it's too late." " No." "Vanessa, leave him." "Leave him!" " Vanessa!" " No!" "No!" " No!" " Yes." "Come on." "Stay with me." "Drop it, dear cousin." "No, no!" "You imagine I can't take on the lot of you?" "Riario." "If your true loyalty is to the Medicis, Captain..." "I suggest you take them away and leave this one to me." " But Signora Donati" " Has betrayed you for Rome." "Leave them to each other, Signora." "Children." "Go." "Come on." "Hurry." "No!" "I've prayed for this day, Lorenzo." " Today, Florence rejoices." " Are you certain of that, Pazzi?" "Ah!" "Before you die, Lorenzo, know that I'll kill every last Medici in Florence." "I'll wipe all evidence of your family's existence from this world." "Iron rusts from disuse." "Let us finish off the Medicis, scribbler, and we might let you live." "A Florence ruled by Pazzis?" "Never!" "No." "I think I'd rather go down fighting." "As you wish." "Come on." "Come on!" "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on!" "Come on, come on." "Go." " That won't hold long." " The doors will hold." "Verrocchio designed the locks." "Giuliano?" "Have I lost a brother?" "Come on." "Come on!" "Come on, come on!" "Da Vinci!" "Upon my arrival, I saw only you." "Get it open!" " I knew you wouldn't abandon us." " Stop." "Save your strength." "Da Vinci!" "It'll be over soon, Lucrezia!" "I'm sorry, Leonardo." "You've saved my life, and I know what it's cost you" "Ssh." "Save your praise for someone who deserves it." "I wonder which of the two men you fuck will be buried alongside you." "Now you chose Florence over your own dreams." "And you will accept my love." "It is the least I can offer you-- you" "This ring." "I know this ring." "It's Lucrezia's." "Are you fucking her... or is it more?" "You better finish the job they have begun or I swear, if we survive this," "I will kill you both." "God's vengeance is upon you!"