" Run!" " The French are here!" "I know that I forged a fearsome German force, loyal to our father." "They were blackguards." "I know the moment I left town, you, in your incompetence, lost them." "A loveless marriage is a step above an abusive one." "Abusive?" "Shahzadeh Djem is now my captive." "If you will not accompany me, someone you trust must." "Cesare." "You demand too much, Charles." "Then this is our last meeting." "Holiness," "I will go with the King." "On the way to Orvieto, the Lady Giulia was captured by the French." "I had the pleasure of entertaining the Lady when she was held captive a few weeks ago." "My father has decided to support France." "The thought of you in danger's way." "Your child, a baby, a girl." "I wish to name her Laura." "We must, once again, come together to save Italy." "The King of Spain will join us." "The Lance of Longinus bestows victory upon its keeper." "All hail Pope Alexander." "You're in peril, Cesare." "We Turks are masters of chess." "You mean masters of the sneak attack." "How much longer till we move on, till we reach Naples?" "With this weather, quite a while." "Istanbul is never so damp." "The chill." "King Charles." "Majesty, to what do we owe the honor?" "I come bearing a dispatch, which I feel compelled to deliver in person." "Shahzadeh, your son is dead." "My condolences." "My son..." "Murdered by my brother." "Bajazet cut off my boy's head." "Oguzhan was only two years old." "God, Allah, he will see that your son is nurtured and treasured." "Holy Father, Prince Ferdinand von Habsburg, nephew to the Emperor Maximilian and soon to be godfather to your beloved daughter, Laura." "Prince Ferdinand, we welcome you." "Prince, do as you were instructed." "Stop!" "Holy Holiness, my uncle..." "You will have to speak louder, young Prince." "We cannot hear your murmuring." "My uncle, Maximilian," "Emperor of the Romans, says..." "He said that troops are in the Alps and soon will arrive here." "Rome, I mean." "My uncle said." "I'd like to go home now." "After the ceremony." "Ferdinand, come." "I will show you to your quarters." "Do you enjoy the taste of marzipan?" "Gacet, the truth." "Maximilian?" "It was as the child said." "The imperial army remains in the Alps and they've captured the towns of Feltre and Belluno from the Venetians." "Feltre and Belluno?" "The French were never near those places." "How does this help us win the war against Charles?" "Maximilian's conquests are solely for his own benefit." "The Emperor shows little indication of pushing his forces further into Italy to engage with the French." "The Holy Roman Emperor may not come to our aid, but we can use his aggressions to sway the Venetians." "Ah, Francesco, go to Venice." "Tell the Doge we have secret intelligence." "If he does not join with us, his precious canals will be overrun by Germans." "Instead of gondolas, they will be using Ruderboote." "Hmm." "Maria." "You are in high spirits." "I have received my first communique from Alfonso D'Este since my divorce." "He says that he will be the first man to die in battle, not from an enemy's blow, but from his heart bursting with love." "I am too heavy to dance." "And I am too joyous not to." "Do not touch me." "Why do you shrink from my touch?" "Here is" "your brother's handiwork." "My husband." "No." "This is what men do." "And now I am trapped in this vile city with this cruel monster." "Cover yourself, please." "Pantisilea, help." "I am sorry." "I..." "My baby, Lucrezia." "I am scared, with these beatings, that Juan will kill the baby inside me before I can even meet my child." "No, that will not happen." "Going to war with my brother." "All for what?" "A title?" "A crown?" "I was so desperate to show my father, even after he died, that I was the one who should rule and not his favorite, Bajazet." "I ask you, Cesare, was my ambition worth the consequences?" "What in the name of Muhammad, praise be his name, is this?" "It's a soup to ease your cough." "Sip a bit more." "You will need your strength for when the two of us escape." "Honestly, woman, is your sole goal in life to make me late?" " I am sorry." " I cannot move faster." "You can and you will." "Now, forward." "The christening begins shortly." "Yes, you must encourage your lady to follow through with her plans regarding Maria Enriques." "Lucrezia should interfere with all that does not concern her." "And when Juan Borgia knows of his sister's meddling, he will be filled with the furies." "Oh, you are not hanging her, only showing her how to tie the knot." "Laura, you are no longer a foreigner." "You are a citizen of the kingdom of God." "You are a member of the household of the Almighty, built upon the foundation of the Apostles with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone." "Be thou opened in the odor of sweetness." "And thou, devil, flee, for the judgment of God..." "I hate Rome!" "Lady Rosalina della Mirandola, do you, as godmother of this child, reject Satan, father of sin and prince of darkness on Laura's behalf?" "I do reject him." "Prince Ferdinand von Habsburg, do you, as godfather of this child, reject Satan, father of sin and prince of darkness, on Laura's behalf?" "If this tantrum continues, Prince, I will have you made a eunuch." "Without your tiny testicles, Satan will be the least of your troubles." "Yes, I do reject him." "I reject Satan." "I anoint you, Laura, priest, prophet and king." "Send Ferdinand back to his uncle." "I thought you intended to use the boy as a bargaining tool." "We would rather lose our tiara than listen to his crying another day." "Let me call for a doctor, Djem." "No, never." "French doctors are no better than shamans." "Only Jews and Arabs know the medicinal arts." "I cannot go to Spain dressed like a peasant." " You must." " No one will take notice of a lowly servant leaving the Apostolic Palace." "Oh." "And herbs, for while you're at sea, to delay the birth until you reach Spain." "Reveal your true identity to no one, save Bishop Desprats, the Papal Legate in Barcelona." "I've done right, have I not?" "Come, now, Djem." "You must get better." "The weather clears." "Naples awaits." "What of our escape?" "Those plans have changed." "We go to Naples, and from there, to your homeland." "Charles plots a Crusade against your brother." "With Bajazet vanquished, you will be restored to your rightful throne." "Ar-rah..." "Allah calls." "You shall walk along the Hippodrome." "You shall revenge your son." "Oguzhan." "I can see him." "Djem." "Djem." "I am sorry, my dear friend." "I know not the proper Muslim prayer to send your soul to Allah." "May your God offer you a seat beside your son." "Guard, he is dead." "Dead?" "Yes, Holiness." "Unfortunate." "The fever?" "The French believe Djem was poisoned." "They accuse your son." "Never." "Cesare would not harm a friend." "We thank God that Cesare escaped." "I suspect he gave those Cappadocian horses to Charles expecting to use one to escape." "Your son is most likely on his way here, to you." "No, he will not come to the Vatican knowing that the French will search here first." "And they will bang on our doors with fire in their eyes." "Why?" "What did Cesare do?" "He blew up the munitions tent and set the French encampment ablaze." "Ending their march on Naples?" "Unfortunately, no." "The storm in Campania has abated." "King Charles continues his advance south." "Hmm." "May the Spanish be there to greet him with sword and lance." "A miracle that Cesare slipped away." "The angels above hold a special love for that boy." "Oh, Cesare." "Mmm." "Were you mistreated?" "No." "No?" "Not physically, not by the French." "God, on the other hand, was as abusive as ever." "And you come here, not the Vatican?" "I am heading to Orvieto." "Alessandro and his fortress will shelter me, at least for the moment." "Come, you will have good food and clean clothes." "Come, come with me." "Cesare, come." "Oh." "King Charles entered Naples to great huzzahs yesterday." "As expected." "Good news from the north." "Cardinal Piccolomini has successfully persuaded Venice to join our Holy League." "Where is he?" "King Charles demands an answer." "Where is he?" "Who is this "he"?" "Cardinal Cesare Borgia." "His Majesty, the King of France and Naples, demands your son's return." "King of Naples?" "So, della Rovere took it upon himself to crown Charles." "And Cardinal Borgia was not there to witness the coronation." "You know very well he has escaped." "If Cardinal Borgia left unexpectedly, he did so in fear of his life." "My liege gave his word that your son would be safe." "Charles has kept his end of the agreement." "You, however, have not." "Have we not?" "You called upon Spain to fight our army in Naples despite avowing friendship to King Charles." "Your word, Holiness, is worth no more than a bull's shit." "Now, surrender your son or suffer." "French troops will return to Rome, and this time, we shall fire our cannons at your precious Borgia apartments." "All of Catholic Europe knows that Cardinal Borgia was in excellent health when anointed Legate to France." "If he is missing, our advice is if you find him, to keep him very much alive." "I shall find him, and when I do," "I'll treat your son as I did your beloved Giulia." "Having penetrated one of your family already," "I look forward to violating another." "You fucked your way to freedom!" "My love, please." "You must believe me." "Spare me your touch!" "You have but two options." "Depart, at once, forever or make your sin right." "I need you." "I need Laura." "Just tell me what to do, Rodrigo." "Anything." "Be gone from my sight." "Lord Jaches is very handsome." "And intelligent." "Oh, Lucrezia..." "Jaches dotes on me." "We walk and we do not have to make conversation." "Just walk, hand in hand, quiet." "And everyone around us, everything is slow and beautiful." "I cannot wait for our wedding day." "When Alfonso and I are together, there is never silence." "He asks me deeply probing questions." "He truly wants to know me, Rosalina." "But you have not spoken to him in many months, yes?" "Because he fights against your father." "The politics are complicated." "What?" "Have you seen my wife?" "No, not at all." "Your brother has always scared me." "I once thought him great." "We have been friends since I tutored you in Latin years ago, yet..." "Juan knows not my name." "That is for the best." "Holiness, an intriguing turn of events." "Our spies report that General d'Allegre has suffered a terrible misfortune." "Oh." "Last night, a person, or persons unknown, gained entrance to his suite at the palazzo Santa Maria and..." "Cut off his testicles." "A remarkable woman." ""All is made right." ""Giulia."" "The Fortezza Dell'Albornoz has never beheld a beauty such as you." "Why, Eminence, for a cardinal, you are quite carnal." "Well, God sees the loveliness in you." "He knows a man of the cloth." "I came seeking refuge, but I fear I am the third partner in a dance for two." "Oh." "Your Holiness, news from King Ferdinand." "Spanish troops stand ready to advance north from Sicily if you grant Queen Isabella one proviso." "What now?" "She demands a purge of the Jews from the Eternal City." "Fine." "We shall purge the Jews after the Spanish defeat our enemies." "Sister, how good to see you." "What are you doing in my chamber uninvited?" "Reading this frivolous confection from your sweet Alfonso D'Este." "You realize he battles against us?" "He loves me." "Put that down." "Samplitipea, would you please leave?" "Then make him leave as well." "We have serious family business to discuss." "Please, sit." "I ask politely." "Sit." "Cesare and I used to play this game." "Go like this." "What is the matter?" "This is nothing but a child's game." "Did D'Este convince you to turn against your own family?" "Release me." "Oh, stop!" "That hurts!" "You sent my wife to Spain." "I did not." "De Corella says you did, so you did." "You would believe that soulless creatura over me?" "Stop." "Stop." "Without a wife, someone new must lick my dick." "So, lick my dick, little sister." "I am going to scream." "De Corella is outside." "No one will enter." "Father will kill you." "From jealousy?" "You lick the Pope's dick, do you not?" "What?" "Or does he simply shove himself between your legs?" "You are deranged." "Your perversions are the talk of the taverns." "My name in taverns?" "Who speaks these lies?" "Your former husband, Giovanni Sforza." "He trumpets the facts to any drunk who will listen." "You and father fuck." "Tell me, do you face each other, or are you on all fours?" "People believe Giovanni?" "You believe Giovanni?" "Giovanni is a bitter buffoon trying to disgrace me in order to harm our family." "And as cover for his lack of manhood, something the two of you share, for only a coward will beat an innocent woman pregnant with his own child." "Yes." "I know about your perversions, dear brother." "And when Maria Enriques lands in Spain," "Ferdinand and Isabella will know the truth as well." "What will be the Holy Father's reaction, do you think, now that you have spoiled for all time his desire for a Borgia on the throne of Spain?" "Perhaps, even because of you," "Ferdinand will withdraw his troops from the war against France." "Ah, Cardinal Sforza." "The last we heard, you had once more gone home to Milan." "Your horse must know the way blindfolded." "I should wait in the throne room." "No, we find it fitting to talk with you again here, where we first gained your vote for the papacy." "My brother, Duke Ludovico, wishes to join you," "Spain, Venice, Mantua, Siena and the Holy Roman Empire." "Such coincidence." "Just as 30,000 Venetian soldiers move in concert with King Ferdinand's army to attack the French by land and sea, you suddenly arrive to announce Milan's change of allegiance." "The French must be finished, for Lord knows the Sforza only join the side which holds victory in its grasp." "How are we any different to you, Holiness?" "Inform the Duke Milan is welcome in our Holy League." "Cesare, do you know that in the taverns and bordellos of Rome," "Alessandro has been rechristened." "Yes, instead of Cardinal Farnese," "I am called Cardinal Fregnese." "A play on words." ""Fregne" being gutter slang." "Because I gained my red hat through my sister," "I'm a Cardinal from the cunt." "'Tis funny, the absurdity of envy." "Alessandro, that is not humor nor envy, but a direct insult upon you and your sister." "Well, here is where you and I are different." "Whereas I can laugh at myself, you take every word spoken about you as the thrust of a sword." "You are right, as always." "Holiness, the Lady Giulia." "Choose which belongings you wish to take with you." "With me?" "Where am I going?" "Where are we going, my love?" "Orvieto." "Once Charles hears of Milan's defection and the burgeoning strength of the Holy League, he will race back to Rome." "Since he rides from the south, we feel the faithful in our northern dioceses should see their Pontiff in all our glory." "I am forgiven?" "Truly?" "We asked you to make it right, and you have done so." "Just remind us never to do you wrong." "Mmm." "I should come with you, Father." "We need you here." "You must charm the King as long as possible, giving us time to move northward, and for Spain to lay siege to Naples." "But Father, the last time Charles came to Rome, you remained." "Last time, Charles believed us weak." "We believed ourselves weak." "There was no threat to him." "Now the outcome is unknowable." "So, when you are weak, you stay, but when you are strong, you flee?" "As long as even one Borgia dwells in Rome, our travels cannot be seen as flight because your presence is a sign of our intention to return." "But why must both of us stay?" "Charles will do you no harm." "How can you be certain?" "You said no one would harm my mother." "Because Juan will agree, on our behalf, to all the King's demands." "Drown him in yeses." "Any concordat can be reversed." "Holiness, I will reflect you as my armor does the sun." "Sister." "Your words to me were wise." "I am shamed at how I have treated you." "And my wife." "I shall strive to earn your love again." "Every day." "Holiness, I am deeply sorry for the trouble my cowardice has caused you." "In heaven, our Borgia ancestors dance with pride, my son." "Your hospitality, as usual, has been sublime, Alessandro." "But we shall also need a number of fresh horses for when we depart tomorrow." "Rodrigo, must we leave so soon?" "You and Laura are to remain under your brother's protection." "My..." "If I stay, Charles will lay siege." "If I am gone, he will not make the effort to attack Orvieto." "We refuse to put you or Laura in the path of harm." "My safety is little comfort for the pain of being separated from you." "Excuse us." "Holiness, shall I send some of my fine Orvieto soldiers with you tomorrow?" "No, the smaller the group, the faster we travel." "Your Highness, we greet you with full heart and acclaim your ascension to the throne of Naples." "Borgia, shouldn't you kneel before His Majesty?" "Should I kneel as well?" "You are too lovely." "Where is your father?" "On a tour of the Papal States." "A religious tour..." "Stay down." "Where is your father?" "He is not here, but we have rooms prepared for you." "Where is "not here"?" "Where is he?" "I do not know." "I am going to ask you once more, and if you answer me with, "I do not know,"" "I shall execute your brother." "Where is Pope Alexander VI?" "I do not know." "You would allow the King of France to kill me?" "I knew that he would not." "Did you?" "I can reason as well as a man, certainly as well as you." "And if you had reasoned incorrectly?" "At your funeral, I would have wept." "Out of sadness or joy, I do not know." "The whole of Italy has been ravaged by the French." "Cardinal Savelli, what is the meaning of this?" "Bands of French soldiers and Swiss mercenaries still maraud these hills." "Have you not the decency to bury the dead?" "My dead outnumber my graves, Cardinal Borgia." "Your Holiness, we have come to escort you to the safety of Perugia." "Good to see you, Giovanni." "We head north, Borgia, to find our friend, the Pope." "Safe travels, Majesty." "May a strong wind be at your back, Eminence." "Tout alors..." "I have fulfilled my promise to the Pope." "Rome lives." "I deserve a reward." "What you should do is get on your knees and thank God." "Ask forgiveness." "Yes." "Yes, of course, Sister." "Forgiveness." "I go at once." "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee." "Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death." "Amen." "Hail Mary, full of grace." "Hail Mary, full of grace." "The Lord is with thee." "Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death." "Amen." "Rosalina." "The baby is dead?" "Yes." "Be ready, Holiness, to witness the hand of God." "She has done this six times." "Brought the dead back to life?" "Yes." "And she prophecies the future." "Juan..." "Did you mean everything you said?" "I apologize." "I should not have said what I said to you in the chapel." "A sacred space." "I am married, and I have no right to be falling in love with another woman." "You are in love with me?" "My tongue keeps betraying my heart." "Pray God helps me change." "No." "I imagine he delights in what a unique creation you are." "You are wet, my precious lady." "You are a worker of miracles." "No, I am nothing more than an intermediary between God and those whom he chooses to grace." "Your humility is becoming, but a miracle worker, you are." "We must ask, Sister Columba, do you have any prophecy of our future as Pope?" "Holy Father, please, no." "What does God intend for us?" "Will he free Italy from French occupation?" "Will he restore Constantinople to the Catholic faith?" "Must the Jews be purged from his Eternal City?" "What do you see?" "Something in her face." "She saw the future." "My future frightened her." "Lucrezia, Lord Jaches has returned my dowry." "He has told my father our engagement is void." "Why?" "I am no longer a virgin." "Your brother, Juan, he took me." "He raped you?" "No." "You went willingly?" "How could you have let that happen?" "Did I not tell you what he did to his wife?" "Scarce is now the time to lecture me." "My life is in tatters." "My father has disowned me." "I am dead, Lucrezia." "I am dead." "No, you stupid fool." "You're not dead until you are dead." "Well, what should I do?" "Tell Lord Jaches that this is rumor, tavern gossip." "That you are still a virgin." "You Borgia are all the same, a cabal of liars!" "Then suffer with your truth!" "Rosalina?" "You are not dead until you are dead." "Oh." "Under the command of Francesco Gonzaga, marquis of Mantua, who had three horses shot out from under him," "30,000 Venetian troops battled with the French at Fornovo, near the River Taro." "King Charles has reportedly lost a significant number of soldiers as well as all the treasure stolen since his arrival in Italy, including a piece of the Holy Cross and the arm of Saint Denis." "Also captured were the royal helmet and sword, as well as a book depicting naked women in lascivious positions." "At this time, the remaining 3,000 French cavalrymen linger huddled together at their camp." "Bravo, Holiness." "Gilbert de Bourbon, Montpensier, viceroy of Naples, has surrendered to the Spanish." "General de Cordova intends to execute all the French mercenaries remaining in the city, unless his Holiness deems otherwise." "Ah!" "That foolish French poseur." "Charles drank his own hubris believing he could divide and conquer." "But no." "He spread himself too thin." "He won our war for us." "Tell de Cordova to execute every third man and ship the rest back to Lyon." "Go to the most Christian King with a papal admonition." "Charles is, this day, to head back across the Alps and disturb the peace of Italy no more." "Father, you have done the impossible." "You have created unity from one end of the Italian peninsula to the other." "God has created unity." "Like Sister Columba, we are his humble servant." "Let us pray in gratitude." "Lord, as when David slew Goliath, we are grateful for the miracle of your intercession, proving to the world that we are the chosen." "My Lady, I have been searching everywhere for you." "I am praying." "For my wretched soul." "Alfonso D'Este is in Rome." "He is alive?" "What distresses you?" "He is in a hospital." "Santo Spirito." "My love." "Alfonso?" "How I have longed to see you." "What has happened?" "Are you..." " Decapitated?" " No." "Uh, worry not, I shall recover fully." "But what is this contraption?" "Uh, I am being fumigated in a mercury bath." "Uh..." "You look beautiful." "What is that on your face?" "I have, uh, contracted the Great Pox." "That is why I am in Rome, for the best in medicinal treatments." "You have the French disease?" "Funny, the French call it the Italian disease." "Uh, I'm told the pox actually came from the New World." "And I am told the pox is contracted by sleeping with whores." "Lucrezia." "War makes a man lonely." "I thought only of you." "I was lonely, yet I was alone." "Of course." "You are a woman." "And I thank God for that." "Uh, one moment, please." "Let me hold you." "If I just figure out how to get..." "Sister Clarissa!" "You disgust me!" "No, Lucrezia..." "Sister, help me!" "Lucrezia!" "Each time I see Rome, it's as if for the first time." "My heart races ahead of me." "We must welcome the Spaniards with a triumph equal to the Caesars." "Not a triumph, a celebration." "This is a victory for us all." "Through Spain's courageous assistance, Rome is liberated." "King Ferdinand will always be honored within the Leonine walls as a protector of Holy Mother Church." "Amen." "Holy Father, Queen Isabella has instructed me to remind you her husband has sent his troops, so she expects you to keep your promise." "We shall." "We shall draw up a strategy to purge the Jews not just from the city limits of Rome, but from every hectare of the Papal States." "Father?" "Father?" "I could request that General de Cordova assign a unit of Spanish soldiers to assist us in rounding up the Jews." "Juan, this is a fiesta." "Business can wait." "Besides, we do not want to exile the Jews just yet." "Go, fetch your wife." "Maria Enriques should be here among our fellow Spaniards." " My wife, she is..." " Father." "Father, I must speak with you." "Not now, Lucrezia." "I have prayed and I've smothered those prayers." "I have lived my life as you have chosen for me." "But I come now to request your blessing." "I want to enter a convent." "I wish to devote myself to God." "You need not become a nun to devote yourself to our magnificent savior." "But that is what I want." "I know it is not what you want, but my life is not yours." "Juan is right." "Let us talk of this another time." "No." "I have waited too many hours, and in that time, I have been engaged to many a swine by your command." "Those suitors came from the most esteemed families." "My mother is right." "All men are swine." "You, as well." "You sell me to the family who can help you at that moment." "But once they are no longer of use, I am divorced." "You wanted that divorce." "Our every thought is your happiness." "You are my father." "You are supposed to protect me." "We do." "We do everything we can for you, for them, for Rome." "Lucrezia, we, and I mean all of our family, must sacrifice." "With this victory, God has shown us our path is right." "No, you use me as your whore in the name of Christ, just as you whored out Cesare to the Colonna." "Do not speak that way to us." "You are not so important." "We have another daughter now, Laura." "She is a spoiled child." "Do miracles happen only to those who pray?" "These soldiers are in Rome not because of divine intervention, but because Rodrigo Borgia manipulated minds and hearts." "Yet, their being here, Rome's freedom, is a miracle." "We beg sanctuary." "We are running for our lives." "Please, I beseech you, take us in." "You seek sanctuary?" "From whom?" "From my father." "Your father?" "Pope Alexander VI, Supreme Pontiff of Holy Mother Church."