"Fire!" "Lucrezia!" "Oh, no!" " Help her." " Is she all right?" "Pardon me, Your Grace." "My poor horse is tired." "The journey has been long." "Impressive." "You have just handled yourself exactly as a d'Este would." "We have loved you from a distance because of your singular virtues." "I trust you enjoyed the reports I sent regarding our new sister-in-law." "Look at her." "She considers herself a woman of fashion, yet that style of clothes is so Spanish." "Do you at least like the way Lucrezia wears the d'Este headdress and necklace?" "Both looked better on mother." "On behalf of the d'Este family and the people of Ferrara, I welcome you." "I, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, the great El Cid, challenge you, Bertrand du Guesclin, the Eagle of Brittany, to a sword fight." "I accept." "No, the Eagle of Brittany has pierced my armor with a deathly blow." "I am dying." "Girolamo, you should be very proud." "Your father doesn't lose to anyone." "A conqueror deserves marzipan." "Go get some." "Fiametta did not want him to come." "I had to pry the boy from her hands." "The joy I feel having Girolamo here in Faenza makes the absence of my daughters sting even more." "Luisa is held hostage in France by King Louis as a way of exerting control over me." "And little Lucrezia is" "So you would like to see all of your children slaughtered?" "What troubles you, brother?" "The armies of Vitelli, Baglioni, Bentivoglio and Petrucci, have these past months encircled Faenza." "They could crush us at any moment, yet we wait and wait and wait for more French troops." "Dear brother, how long can we hold off taking action?" "Do not confuse inaction with inertia, Goffredo." "We are surrounded, yet I went to Rome for Lucrezia's wedding." "I brought you and Girolamo back here safely." "Sneaking in and out of town is not a military victory." "For too long the Italian duchies have been fighting one another." "Instead of sharing our common interests, we wage wars that weaken the whole of us, allowing France and Spain to dominate." "As the loyalty of my generals fluctuate," "I find myself fighting enemies who should be my allies." "I say, enough." "Invite Duke Giampaolo Baglioni to dine with us." "And tell Niccolo Machiavelli that I wish to see him." "Trust in me, Goffredo." "On this 11th anniversary of the ascension of Pope Alexander, the sixth of that name, we ask you, Almighty God, who willed your apostle Peter to hold first place in the inner fellowship of the apostles," "to look propitiously on Alexander, your servant." "Enough." "Enough." "You are tired, Grandpapa?" "With Lucrezia in Ferrara," "Cesare and Goffredo in Faenza, we are lonely." "Well, I am here." "And my mother." "Yes, yes." "But you are not Giulia." "You have agreed, her presence in the Vatican is counter to" "We look for social, not sexual intercourse." "Find an educated woman with a soothing voice, not too alluring, who can read to us and fill the hours with mild jests and pleasant conversation." "The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary and she conceived of the Holy Spirit." "Behold the handmaid of the Lord." "Be it done unto me according to Thy Word." "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." "What is that, Grandpapa?" "The Angelus, which our uncle, Pope Calixtus, instituted decades ago." "But the practice has fallen fallow." "We order its return." "All faithful Christians, upon hearing the bells, must stop whatever they are doing, kneel and say the prayer." "If Muslims face to Mecca, surely we can pay homage to the one, true God." "Holy Father?" "This is an No, this is the most unexpected honor." "Who do we have the honor of meeting?" " A nobody." " Even a nobody has a name." "Fra Celio." "Well, Fra Celio, we have been in Rome for 50 years and yet, our shoes have never touched this place." "Those same years I have had fewer visitors than there are apostles." "When we heard the pure and bright sounds of the Angelus bells we felt as if God had summoned us here." "Perhaps our Lord is suggesting that we should exchange jobs?" "I would make a terrible pope." "And I a terrible bell-ringer." "We will both end our days where God has placed us." "We are not ready to end our days." "No, I am not ready." "Because the moment we die, we are me again." "Death is part of God's design." "Then God's design is flawed." "Your republic is like a nun in heat:" "always promising, never committing." "Go back to Florence and prepare for your doom." "Giampaolo Baglioni, duke of Ravenna." " Bienvenido, old friend." " Are you my friend, Highness?" "Friends may disagree, but that does not sever their bond." "Sit, eat." "I present to you a proposal." "In order to maintain stability in the Romagna," "I am restructuring my government." "Central to the plan is the appointment of a praeses, a role I choose you to fill." "Me?" "Your praeses?" "You would be expected to keep my subjects in contentment." "To do that, you will need to keep my generals in line." "You would have powers unmatched by anyone, save me." "As compensation, an annual payment of 20,000 ducats." "Your most generous offer shatters my soul." "This is not a meeting for which I prepared." "Make Vitelli, Bentivoglio and Petrucci see and understand that my success is theirs." "Those three challenge me because they do not know how to defeat Florence." "I held the city underneath my thumb once before and will again." " By Christ's Holy Name, I swear" " No, no, no, do not swear." "In days past a man could swear upon the name of God and be believed." "Now we use God's name for curses and contempt." "So let us replace spirituality with legality." "Draw up a contract of reconciliation." "Wrongs committed on both sides are to be forgiven, with a promise of mutual and perpetual defense." "We will rise together under my rule or we will obliterate each other." "There is no middle ground." "Now will you sit?" "Jean de Foix, military liaison for King Louis d'Orléans." "Highness, I bring you fond wishes from our cousin Louis, your devoted Charlotte and the people of France." "My heart misses all three." "His Majesty is preparing to march on Naples and regain his rightful throne." "The French soldiers in your service must be sent to Lombardy at once." " All of the soldiers?" " He will leave two cooks." " Then we are not completely lost." " Cesare, you cannot allow this." "The loss of Gallic arms depletes our strength to barely one thousand men." "The king appreciates your unquestioned co-operation." "I sympathize with your setback." "I know how crucial the French units are to your overall campaign." "And yet the loss is a blessing." "Now there is no threat to our friends Bentivoglio, Vitelli and Petrucci." "In fact, to show good faith, I will expand my predicament." "Goffredo, order our remaining troops to disband into small groups" " and set up camp in the countryside." " That leaves us too vulnerable." "Without trust we have nothing." "My resolve is strong, but I need your support at this critical moment." "I will relay your message and praise its virtues." "This Borgia woman is beneath us." "Her brother could very well seize Ferrara in order to prevent the Venetians from advancing into his territory." "France is our ally and therefore so is Il Valentino." "The duke of Urbino believed himself Cesare's ally until the prince sent poor de Montefeltro fleeing in his undergarments to my court in Mantua." "And no pope has bestowed fewer favors on our family than that fat Catalan." "One by one the papal son conquers our hapless neighbors." "We agreed to this marriage because in the end the practical overcomes the honorable." "As long as Lucrezia lives among us, we are secure." "Apologies, father." "We were delayed making our wedding vows official." "You should, and should again." "Bring forth many children." "Preserve our family name." "We will deliver seven little d'Este to kiss their grandfather's cheek." "Lucrezia, the Castello Estense has, at its center, an enormous void." "First the loss of our most revered Duchess Eleonora, and then when our precious Isabella wed the marquis of Mantua." "I also have felt the unbearable loss of family, both to death and separation." "I ask you to serve as la duchessa." "Stand by my side at public gatherings and hear petitions when I am unable." "I will be the most obedient of daughters in all that I do." ""Among all the saving acts of God, our Salvation, which Our God, the God who saves us, has proposed to men to be observed for his Salvation, these three, as the Apostle says, remain:" "Faith, Hope and Charity." "And they are to be observed in a special way by all."" "I welcome you to Sinigallia." "Vitellozzo, I am disheartened to hear of your illness." "I know too well the horror which the French disease can bring." "Some days I am unable to walk and must be moved about in a cot." "Your suffering is heroic." "Giovanni, may I embrace you as well?" " And where is Petrucci?" " Gone back to Siena." " His duchy is tortured by malarial fever." " A pity." "He will miss the commencement of an historic peace." "If peace is your intention, why do you wear the full body armor?" "To provide a bit of color, and protection from those who can't accept the fact that they're conquered." "Cesare, my men have subdued the town." "There is no threat to you." "I am at ease." "However, I do have one request." "Send your troops to camp on the shores of the Adriatic." " Cesare" " As a sign of good faith." "As I have done." "To quote Marcus Aurelius:" ""Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be." "Be one."" "Once our business here is done, we will combine our four forces with that of Siena and march on Florence." "Machiavelli will wilt like the lily he is." "My illness has enhanced my heart." "I wish solely to once again have the love of Cesare Borgia." "I will obey." "We must stop fucking and pray." "The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary and she conceived" " Holiness, I tried to restrain her." " La Bella, we are praying." "Get your fucking books and go, you filthy whore, before I shove them where his cock has been." "Giulia, that was the first time." "You deny me, saying our love is a sin and then you bring that woman into our bed?" "Now you have sinned against me." "God forgives." "I do not." "And to think that I felt guilt for fucking Cesare." "You are lying." "You lie." "Cesare and I?" "Oh, more than once." "And I will fuck him again in that bed." "You call Caterina a whore?" "You are the whore." "Our own son." "If you were not Laura's mother, I would kill you." "No, Rodrigo." "I will kill you." "We have prepared a great feast in your honor." "But first let us dispense with the formalities and sign the contract." "Yes, yes, let us sign." "In blood." "And so the trap snaps shut." "My troops have regrouped and environ this city's walls." "They will drive your army into the sea." "Impossible." "You only have a thousand men, whereas I have 10,000." "No, I have 20,000." "The king of France did not take back his troops." "That was a pantomime to deceive Baglioni." "You will feast tonight on the rats in the dungeon or they will feast on you." "So this was all a ruse." "You knew Vitelli was weak from a severe case of French disease." "As a result Baglioni had begun to regret his role in the conspiracy." "Plus my spies learned that my "friends" intended to kill me once I arrived here." "You never planned to make Baglioni your praeses." "No." "Machiavelli and de Foix were partners in the deception as well." "How sweet to deceive cunning men who consider themselves masters of deceit." "Cesare's instructions to me were to secretly lead the troops here, surrounding the outer walls of the city, driving Vitelli's army into the sea." "I still do not understand why I was not informed of this strategy." "You were still too honest, sweet brother." "I needed honest reactions to my outrageous comments." "Your fingers make angels sing." "Allow me to introduce myself." "Giulio d'Este, son of Duke Ercole." "Alfonso's and Sigismondo's half-brother." "Hello." "How was the Tudor court?" "England and Scotland signed the Treaty of Everlasting Peace, which I predict will last a year." "I have heard you're the cleverest d'Este brother." "Many call me the most handsome too." "Oh." "Who exactly calls you that?" "Mainly me." "But I'm hoping, repeated often enough, such words will become the accepted wisdom." "The men of Ferrara never cease to amaze." "Because our women never cease to inspire." " I am a Roman." " Then you need to spend some time familiarizing yourself with our customs, our wines, our" "Convents." "Built by Duke Ercole." "I have asked Alfonso to give me a tour, but he shows no interest." "Would you be courteous and escort me?" "Wherever you desire to go, I will take you." "Giulio." "Come, Lucrezia, I want to show you our stunning and newest cannon." "To further quote Marcus Aurelius:" ""The best revenge is to be unlike he who performed the injury."" "Cardinal Farnese will hear your confessions and pass papal judgment." " In nomine Patris" " Eminence, I decline the Sacrament." "I have not sinned." "I am the victim." "Perhaps." "But in Bologna you are the criminal, having murdered half of your court." "I beg you, good Cardinal, ask the Holy Father to show mercy." "The time for mercy has passed." "Actions bring consequences." " And what say you, Vitelli?" " I will not beg for a reprieve." "The wrath of God has laid waste to my body." "I am dead already." "You are men of vicious hearts and staggering cowardice." "I find you guilty of treason." "The cities you ruled will be returned to their rightful sovereign, Pope Alexander." "God have mercy on you." "You conspired together, so now you will die together." "Goffredo." "After you are dead, your bodies will be flayed and I will make a pair of pants from your skin." "I will slice off your son's balls." "To your wives and daughters, we will administer the trentuno." "They will feel the pleasure of being raped by 31 brutal men." " There is still Pandolfo Petrucci." " Alone Siena is impotent." "Death is certain." "Life is not." "Like these nuns, I once desired to connect my soul with God." "But only silence came." "Good." "Your beauty cloistered would be squandered." " Do you not believe?" " Yes, of course." "Jesus on the cross." "Specters haunting hallways, fairies in the forest." "I believe in everything and in nothing." "Still you must admire these nuns' unwavering faith?" "If faith brought them here." "Some are sent by their fathers to avoid paying a dowry." "Or they are the illicit spawn of some priest or prince." "The girls win too." "They avoid being stuck in loveless marriages." "Is that what you have with Alfonso?" "No." "Our love bloomed before our betrothal." "But I cannot deny that our wedding pillow is filled with the down of politics." "My brother is showered with good fortune, yet he never appreciates the gifts nor their significance." " Do not be angry at Alfonso." " I am angry at she who corrupted his mind against me." " The duchess" " Revered by some, reviled by others." "The dead often speak the loudest." "Is something the matter?" "What could be the matter between a father and his devoted son?" "His most Christian King, Louis d'Orléans, Georges Cardinal d'Amboise, and Count Béraud d'Aubigny, Supreme Commander of the Army of France." "Bienvenu, dear Louis." "We trust your noble forces found safe passage through the Papal States?" "We did." "Regrettably there was not enough time to relish the landscape as we must soon march to Naples." "Our prayers will be with you as you claim your rightful throne." "I am deeply grateful, Holiness." "Yet, I seek more than prayers." "This is Béraud d'Aubigny, also known as Bernard Stewart." "He wears a skirt?" "A kilt." "I am a native of Scotland." "You Scots are fierce fighters." "We must discuss techniques." "You will have ample time together." "D'Aubigny will lead our troops, but with your permission," "Prince Cesare and his fine battalions must defeat the city of Capua" " at any and all costs." " When Capua falls, Naples is conquered." "We grant your request." "And tomorrow we will anoint you king of Naples." "We crown you summo regi over the people and territories of Naples, bestowing upon you glory, justice and righteousness" "so you may obtain a crown of virtue in the Kingdom of Heaven." "Majesty, I give you the city of Capua." "King Federigo has made his final stand." "He now rules a dungeon cell." "The path to Naples awaits you." "Every obstacle cleared by me." "You corralled the people of Capua in here." "You lined them up and you massacred them." "The Capuan savages resisted our peace offerings." "Capua will be a difficult city to rule with all of its citizens dead." "I have sent 30 of its most beautiful women to Rome." "Well." "On to Naples then." "And you, Cesare, will go back to Rome." "You will be history's most charming and virile king." "Sweet Drusilla." "What is this on your face?" "Did you hurt yourself?" "The remedy you offered previously has failed to prevent a recurrence." "I do not understand why the disease spreads so quickly." "Perhaps this time you do not want to be cured." "Perhaps you see that the disease is just punishment born from the sin of lust." " Do you want to die?" " No." "Then cure me!" "Until you are healed, you will have to wear a mask or a veil to cover the marks of the disease." "Masks and veils are for common men." "I have a more startling idea." "Ravenna remains as always a part of the Papal States." "Now under my leadership." " That is unacceptable to my doge." " And he will what?" "Send Venetian troops against me?" "You see before you the latest of Maestro da Vinci's war machines." "Too bad Leonardo left your employ before showing you how to build any of them." "You may leave us." "I should not have let da Vinci quit." "He is irreplaceable." "No one is irreplaceable." "Not da Vinci, not me, not even you." "Besides, we cannot afford these toys of yours." "Appoint more cardinals." "We have sold 14 red hats this month alone, raising 280,000 ducats." "You own more cannons than the other armies of Italy combined." "Your extravagance is blinded by your pride." "And on whose knee did I learn those traits?" "You blame us?" "The most frugal of men?" "Frugal?" "Miserly." "Greedy." "We will have you excommunicated and relieve you of your command." "We will watch you rot in hell." "You will not relieve me because you have no one else to trust." "You slept with Giulia!" "Go ahead." "Kill your son." "Then die of remorse, your legacy in tatters." "My son." "My son." "Forgive me." "We share the same goals, the same blood." " We must work together." " Grandpapa?" "We must triumph." "The committee on health awaits you in the papal office, anxious to deliver their report." "Help us up." "The death toll continues to rise from this summer's malarial fever." "The bodies are more numerous than cobblestones." "The fortunate have caskets." "The rest are dinner for the mongrels, vultures and flies." "This is the worst outbreak I have seen." "The bad air is wafting up from the Tiber." "A breath taken without a mask is toxicant." "We encourage you to suspend the consistory, to allow our brother cardinals to seek refuge outside the city." "And we urge you to travel to your country estate." "No, we will stay here." "Holiness, four of your most recent predecessors succumbed to the summer fever." " You put your life in danger." " Leaving Rome puts us in greater danger." "You may remove your families, but you yourselves must stay." "Some have already left." "Riario-Sansoni, for one." "But I am in exile from Naples." "I have nowhere else to go." "Giulia may leave?" "Your sister is not our concern." "Another day spent with my half-brother?" "I begin to wonder if you are my half-wife." "Nonsense, Alfonso." "You're the only man I see." "Although Giulio shares your charm." "He is the bastard son of a scullery wench." "Do not walk with him again." "Ah, Adriano, your villa is, as usual, delightful, just as Rome is stifling." "Monte Mario provides respite from the heat due to this constant breeze." "The city's lights create the illusion of a heaven filled with stars." "Adriano, tell us more about this book you are writing." "Ah, the catalog of Latin phrases from the era of Cicero." "You prefer the poets of long dead Rome, to the poets of present time?" "Neither." "All." "Both." "There are profound poets from every age." "He who holds the quill changes, but the themes assayed do not." " Love, honor" " The war of mankind against evil." "Like the Minotaur, half human, half bull." "He battles Theseus, man at his best." "La Divina Commedia has the Minotaur guarding the Seventh Circle of Hell," " which houses the violent." " Before Dante, Ovid and Virgil" " wrote about the same grotesque." " Why does the story endure?" "Because man has always struggled with the beast inside." "Some more than others." "This is an omen." "An evil, evil omen." "Holy Father." "You arrive in time to ring the bells for the Angelus." " We have not the strength." " The bells will give you strength." "Take hold of this rope." "After I pull on mine, you will do the same till we have each rung our bells three times." "Pull harder." "Splendid." "Tell Goffredo and El Pequeno to lock the doors of the Apostolic Palace." "Turn all visitors away." "No one is allowed in or out." "We must keep the pope's illness and mine a secret." "Go to my mother's at once, Drusilla." "I want our baby born healthy." " We must enter." " You must not." "He suffers from an extreme form of the fever called malignant tertian." "Is this dire?" "Most who have suffered similarly did not survive." " Cousin, how do you feel?" " I am I'm fine." "A troubling report." "The papal physician believes your father will pass away as the evening star fades." "Goffredo, order my legions in Urbino and Piombino to march south" " with due speed and surround Rome." " I will at once, brother." "El Pequeno, take our bravi to the papal bedchamber." "Collect the gold, silver, jewels and ducat" "Lock the wealth in Castel Sant' Angelo." " Cesare, Papa is still alive." " He'd want me to protect the fortune." "Go." "Now." "Agapito, grab paper." "I must send letters to the people of the Romagna." "They must be convinced that I am strong and in control." "El Pequeno, you are not allowed to" " I am your cousin." " Right now you're an impediment." "I begged the guards, but they would not let me in to see Rodrigo." "My despair is also greater, because I'm cut off from my ailing son." "And I from my daughter Laura." "You must get inside the Apostolic Palace." " Should I fly over the walls?" " You lived there so many years." "Certainly you must have a man whom you can persuade." "Poggio, I do miss passing you in the halls." "The pope is very close to death and when he is gone," "I will be free to enjoy the pleasures of anyone I choose." "Through this Holy Unction may the Lord pardon all the sins and faults you have committed." "Thank you for hearing our confession, Fra Celio." "If only we had met sooner." "God waited till we needed each other." "Out." "How did you get in here?" "Have Burchard fetch the" "Let her stay." "Leave us." "La Bella we cannot bear the pain." "I will use the black arts to heal you as I have done in the past." "Too late." " Too late for many things." " No, no, Rodrigo." "Seeing you now in this condition, whatever anger I have felt towards you just sinks into the sea." "You are my love." "I cannot, I cannot bear the thought of life without you." "If you love me, truly and completely be generous and use your witchcraft to separate my soul from my body." "No, you have loved my beauty and my youth whereas I have loved you, in total, body and soul." "We order you as supreme pontiff of the Universal Church" "to kill us." "You are my day." "Now night is near." "Sleep beautifully, my Rodrigo." "Welcome, Rodrigo." "Do we know you?" "In a way." "I am Francesco Borgia." " Your great-grandson." " We do not have a great-grandson." "Not yet, but you will." " From Cesare's seed?" " Juan." "Why are you here?" "I come to escort you through the Door of Eternity." "No, not yet." "Not yet." "Rodrigo, you have ruled the lives of men, but you cannot determine the length of your life." " You must follow." " You are a priest?" "Yes." "And I rise to the highest ranks of my order, a society of noblemen who fight for Jesus." "I fight the heretics who belittle the Church." "After I die, I am canonized a saint." " A Borgia and a saint?" " The ways of God." "The ways of God." "What of Lucrezia?" "Cesare?" " Time ends here, Rodrigo." " No." "No." "Not yet." "No!" "No." "Not yet." "Another moment." "Rodrigo." "We want to see the sunset." "A Borgia and a saint." "Cesare, your father the Holy Father, he is gone." "When Rome hears the pope is dead the mobs will riot." "That is why no one else must learn of this, yet." "Goffredo, let it be known, that I, as prefect of Rome and gonfalonier of the Church, have decreed martial law." "I rule, alone." "El Pequeno, choose only our most loyal troops to guard the Vatican." "Send my bravi to Villa Catanei to escort my mother, Drusilla, the rest of our family to Castel Sant' Angelo." "Aurelio, send our fastest messenger to Lucrezia." "Agapito, fetch Girolamo." "If Fiametta refuses to surrender the child, kill her." "Laura, Laura, wake up." "We have to leave the palace." "Go, go, go." "Highness, we can delay no longer." "My sworn duty to the Church is to announce the pontiff's passing." "Death to the Catalans." "No, no, no." "The ancient Egyptians had a god named Apis." "He was the god of strength, of fertility." "He also protected the deceased in death." "The head of the god Apis was that of a bull."