"Fourteen ninety-seven." "The pope has fallen victim to a mysterious attack of mind and body." "May I introduce Yuisa, born on the island of Hispaniola." "His chief counselor, Lucrezia Borgia, remains troubled..." "Oh, Lucrezia, this is Teofilo." "...consumed by matters of the family." "I love you, Lucrezia." "If he comes at me again, I will kill him." "In the Romagna, Il Valentino forges ahead with powerful alliances..." "And you will need me to frighten the signory." "Sign the treaty." "The signory has agreed to contract you as condottiere." "...and strategic victories, including Pesaro." "None however, foresee who will next collide with the Borgia household." "Ask God to bless me with stigmata." "These are not a prize." "With Borgias current shift in spirit, we must channel his anger towards his most devoted ally..." "Gacet." "Achille!" "Achille!" "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" "You lose, Achille, and, in doing so, begrime the name of Tiberti." "Your Grace, I did not bring my bravi to Pesaro to play a child's game." "I came to gain your support, so that my family may once again rule Cesena." "Hide-and-seek is not a game, but a strategy for success." "The square represents the boundaries of the garden." "You were here." "I divided the square into four, methodically increasing the probability of finding you." "Until..." "In this way I will conquer all of Italy, including your Cesena." "The ambassador from the Republic of Venice," "Antonio Giustiniani." "My doge congratulates the prefect of Rome on your victory over yet another Sforza tyrant." "I doubt you have journeyed these many miles simply to bestow laurels." " What does the doge want?" " A favor." "The life of a young and exquisite signora is at stake." "Dorotea Malatesta of Rimini." "Married by proxy to Giambattista Caracciolo, commander of our infantry, who awaits his young bride to join him." "And to reach Venice unharmed, she will need an escort from my border with Rimini to my border with Ferrara." "The Serene Republic would be obliged if Your Grace provides protection." "I look forward to welcoming Madama Dorotea to my humble court." "Whoa." "Madama Dorotea Malatesta Caracciolo." "I do not know your husband, Madama, but I understand that he is a steadfast fellow and a brilliant soldier." "He will be disappointed to not have met the legendary Cesare Borgia." "Your Sublime Highness." "Alfonso, welcome back to Rome." "Um..." "Meet Rodrigo, my youngest." "Rodrigo has your exquisite mouth." "But his eyes shine like yours." "Um..." "Alfonso, I love my husband." "Of course." "I have returned to the Holy See on an official mission." "My father, as you know, is the most devout of Catholics." "His piety is so extensive that he has started a rather unusual collection." "Nuns who are possessed by stigmata." "Duke Ercole never ceases to astound." "I am ordered by him to add the missing piece to his menagerie:" "Sister Lucia Brocadelli di Narni, from Rome's convent of San Sisto." "I know Lucia." "I met her when I was a postulant at a convent." "She is a genuine saint, Alfonso." "A saint who adamantly refuses to leave San Sisto, even though we d'Este have promised to build a fine, new convent in Ferrara for her fellow sisters." "Since the pope can order her transfer, he stands as my only chance to obtain the girl." " Get away from my son." " I once told you that I would kill you." "A sin for which I have done penance." "God forgives me." "Will you?" "Please do so, my sweet." "Have the young maidens of Ferrara ceased to hear the call to serve God in the religious life?" "Our dukedom lacks not for purity, Holiness." "Still, Sister Lucia will be the most celebrated of our virgins." "No, she will not." "We refuse to sign the transfer." " Holiness, my father says..." " No discussion, D'Este." "Nuns are not thoroughbreds nor works of art to be coveted for one man's selfish enjoyment." "Lucia will stay in San Sisto." "And you will be gone." "Bring our pipe." "Lucrezia, where are you going?" "Alfonso." "Perhaps I can persuade Sister Lucia." "And here is Hispaniola where the native girl Yuisa was born." " What did the doctor say?" " The pregnancy goes well." " We have been talking, Silvia and I." " Giulia..." "Silvia lives with the same fear that I once did." "If you die, she will have nothing." "Not a loaf of bread to feed your progeny, not a rag to put on their shoulders." "She will not even have a name to pass on to your boys because they were born as bastards of the Vatican." "Silvia, you know me." "My days are consumed with worry about you," "Paolo, Pier Luigi, Mama." "If I knew what to do, it would be done." "You must doff your red hat and become my husband legally." "No one resigns from the cardinalate." " Except Cesare." " Except Cesare, who is a Borgia." "Xandro, I know that what I ask is extreme, but our love will show you the way." "Sister Lucia, remember me?" "Lucrezia Borgia." "Lucrezia, I did not forget you." "And I did not forget you." "This time I did not come to ask the Almighty to bless me with stigmata." "You are truly deserving, and I accept myself as a sinner amongst sinners." "If you have made your peace with God, then I rejoice with you." "But I feel you are here to plead the cause of Duke Ercole d'Este." "Our Savior calls us to be in different places at certain times, to sacrifice the familiar for the unknown." "I went to Spoleto terrified, but Jesus was with me and I triumphed." "My palms do not bleed to flatter an old fool." "I shall leave San Sisto only when I am called to Heaven." "I am sorry, Alfonso." "No human words will ever change the mind of Sister Lucia, only the voice of God." "I thank you for trying, but all is well." "I have divined a plan to get her to Ferrara." "I will put the nun to sleep with a sedative." "What?" "Sister Lucia's life will never be at risk." "You have not thought this through to its conclusion." "Smuggling Lucia out of Rome without papal permission, will bring you and your father the hammer of excommunication." "Oh, yes, of course." "Damn!" "As regent I had free use of the papal seal, and I still have a key to the chest where the seal is kept." "To sanction the transfer," "I will issue you a bull in the pope's name sending Lucia to Ferrara." "You would commit such a brazen act?" "Only for you, Alfonso." "Only for you." "I lie." "I do this selfishly." "I am so bored by a life of no achievement, that at least in helping you I can cause a little trouble." "Travel well to Venice, Madama Caracciolo." "Onward, Di Naldo." "Corpus Christi." "Sanguinis Christi." "Corpus Christi." "Sanguinis Christi." "Corpus Christi." "Sanguinis Christi." " Halt!" "What do you want?" " Dorotea Malatesta." "Come with us, Madama." "Borgia!" "No diplomatic niceties, Ambassador?" "No proper salutations?" "I have been instructed not to dignify you with a bow." "What have I done to sink so low, so fast in the doge's esteem?" "You know too well." "You have abducted Dorotea Malatesta Caracciolo." "I have no lack of women, Giustiniani, and therefore no need to steal some other man's bride." "We have, of course, investigated this crime." "Tell him." "Our sources say, the culprit is Diego Ramires, formerly a courtier in the duchy of Rimini." "Seems Madama Dorotea made a silk shirt for Ramires." "He took that to mean that she wanted to see him shirtless." "Now unless there is another subject to discuss, I bid you farewell." "You wear the mask of a moretta, the mute maid servant." "As docile as a slave." "As quiet as a ghost." "And as delectable as a whore." "Come." "We recognize this look." "You have done a deed for which you now feel guilt." "Speak, before our imagination tortures us." "I have helped Alfonso d'Este in securing Sister Lucia." "What?" "I used the papal seal to sanctify the transfer of the nun, while she was sedated." "Querida hija..." "Come, into my arms." "Are you sincere, Papa?" "Do you not resent me for misusing your seal?" "Darling girl, you are very brave, very smart and very clever." "One day you will become our tutor in the art of deceiving fools." "The Venetians demand an audience." "There is a problem with Cesare." " This is outrageous!" " Compose yourself, Antonio." "Cesare would never have committed this detestable act." "The Holy Father has written his son demanding that the guilty party be found and punished." "Punishment will never be given if the guilty party is he who leads the pursuit, which was the case when Ce..." "Has Cesare not been accused of murdering his own brother?" " We are finished." " I am afraid we are not." "If you refuse to rectify this situation, then I have been instructed to share this booklet with the kings of Europe." "A document which lists the..." "wanton sins of the family Borgia." "You threaten us?" "Be gone from our sight." "You have overstayed what little welcome you were offered." "Holiness, you cannot afford to lose Venice as an ally." "Their ships alone could cause us havoc." "If Cesare has Dorotea Malatesta, such rashness jeopardizes his dukedom and your papacy." "We will write Cesare a second letter informing him that the Venetians grow cold." "And to learn if he did indeed steal the girl." "And to ask which city he will attack next." "Yes." "Alessandro, you will carry our missives." "Cesare and I are not on good terms." "Then alter the terms." "Holiness, there is another issue I wish to discuss." "Silvia..." "After you return from Pesaro." "Cesena, sweet little Cesena." "I am coming to take you into my arms." "I will make you capital of my empire, a vibrant court swarming with scholars, sculptors, painters, poets." "Cesena, you will arrive in Rome in greatness." "What do you read of my stars, revered astrologer?" "About my next campaign?" "Mercury is transiting retrograde in your tenth house, which rules your achievements." "Do not attack anywhere until Mercury moves forward again." "When will mercury get off his ass?" "I do not know." "We must wait for a new cycle of stars." "And what if I do not wait?" "Fortuna will work against you." "Take 200 cavalrymen to Pisa to aid its citizens in their war of independence from Florence." " Brilliant." " A wiser choice would be to first receive the 300,000 ducats promised by Machiavelli." "The chancellor promised, but is slow to deliver." "And so my support of Pisa's uprising will panic the signory, forcing them to pay." "I must act now." "King Louis will soon march into Italy on his way to claim the throne of Naples, and I will lose my advantage over Florence." "Does Fortuna approve of this decision?" "For the time being, only a direct attack is discouraged." " To Pisa, Dionigi." " Cardinal Alessandro Farnese." "With, I will guess, an urgent message from the pope." "My father is hardly subtle, sending a former friend with bad news." "Not bad news, parental concern." "He wants to know your plans." "So that he may offer counsel, criticism?" "I no longer take advice from my father." "He also warns you that Venice seethes." "And to know if..." "There is only one thing His Holiness he needs to know." "Once Fortuna gives me her signal, I will conquer Cesena." "Cesena's a pretty awful place." "Located at the Via Emilia, Cesena is at the hub of several major roads, making its location ideal to launch military strikes in any direction." "I doubt the pope will provide the funds for this venture." "Have you not heard me?" "I command my father." "Have a pleasant trek home." "My love to your sister." "You seem more tense than usual." "And you, as usual, will relax me." "I worry, Francesc." "You keep too much corked inside." "The Venetian ambassador caused you distress." "Does he endanger the pope?" "Restrain your curiosity." "Unleash your passion." "Income from our alum quarries is down due to our primary client England still being ravaged by civil war." "Oliviero Cardinal Carafa, dean of the Sacred College." "I hold here a pamphlet, anonymously written, which depicts in explicit detail an orgy perpetrated by Cesare in the Borgia apartments." ""Fifty women, at first appearing to be honest and highborn, revealed themselves as courtesans." "Chestnuts thrown by Cesare were picked up by these courtesans with their vaginas while his Holiness, the Princess Lucrezia and the Borgia cardinal nephews applauded."" "Enough." "These are lies." "Let Cardinal Carafa speak." "A good tale is judged by its ending." ""The Borgia are more perverse than the Scythians, more perfidious than the Carthaginians, more insane than Caligula."" "To tarnish our family is to tarnish the Universal Church." " From whom did you obtain this pamphlet?" " They are from..." "Cardinal Colonna." "I found the document on my doorstep this morning." "This pamphlet must be suppressed and the writer's identity discovered." "We have suffered the assault of slanderers since we came from Spain." "A naive youth thrown into the cruel circus that is Rome." "Our slanderers now languish in oblivion while the name of Borgia lives in eternal glory." "We will not dignify these vile words with a papal response." "Verbum incarnatum." "Hey!" "You defile love, you betray me." "I could with the slightest gesture have you eviscerated." "I do not know what you are talking about." "How else could Colonna have got that text but from you?" "The pamphlet went missing from my room." "May your lies choke your throat." "All right." "I confess." "Della Rovere ordered me to give it to Colonna, but that has nothing to do with the love..." ""The Borgia are more perverse than the Scythians, more perfidious than the Carthaginians, more insane than Caligula."" " What is that rhetorical device called?" " That is a tricolon." "My favorite literary... vice." "Let us toast, Eminence, to your remarkable talent as a wordsmith." "So, what now?" "The Spanish Bull nears death, whether tomorrow or in a year, this pamphlet ensures that no Borgia cousin will steer the bark of Saint Peter next." " Clearing the way for you." " And for you." "To become prefect of Rome, once Cesare Borgia is no more." "And so your son swears absolute love and loyalty." "Now that I have returned from Pesaro, may we address my request?" "Of course, gentle Alessandro." "We are in a Christian mood." "As you know, my sons were both born out of wedlock." " Now Silvia has been..." " Pregnant again, yes." "I wish to marry my beloved and raise our family in a public way." "Now, I will ask the College of Cardinals to defrock me and I will resign as archbishop of Orvieto." " Impossible." " Why?" "Do not have the impudence to ask us why." "Cesare was allowed to resign." "But then again I forget, he is a Borgia, a family to whom no rules apply." " Why you ungrateful..." " Papa!" "Papa." "Do not touch me." " How goes the birthing?" " So far all is well." " I will see for myself." " Giulia." "I swear upon my soul, though I am trapped in those red robes," "I will do all I can to provide my family the security of great wealth." "Since you must remain in the Vatican, you must one day rule the Vatican." "I will make you pope." "Together we will make me pope." "France's war with Ludovico Sforza stalemates." "Our French and Gascon troops will not soon return." "How can we possibly take Cesena with so few soldiers?" "I do have for you the day to attack, Your Grace." "The 21st of October." "Two days." "Fortuna challenges me to win Cesena by wit." "A challenge I gladly accept." "See this game of strategy from the Orient:" "Go." "The goal is to add as few men as possible, outthinking your enemy rather than outfighting them." "The winner is he who does not eradicate his opponent, but entices them to surrender." "Let us begin with what we know." "Cesena is torn apart by a feud between its two leading families, the Martinelli and our favored Tiberti." "The heirs to Martinelli are at present dominant." "Then the road to victory is clear." "Bring Damiano Martinelli to me." "Duke Damiano Martinelli of Cesena." "I spar to music sometimes to better hone the rhythm of battle." "I see you have received my letter." "You say we must pay the tithe owed to Rome or the papal army will seize Cesena and you will hand the keys of power to that family of curs, the Tiberti." " Yes, I will, Damiano." "Unless..." " Unless?" "You agree to share the keys." "I can negotiate no deal that involves Tiberti scum." "Then give to God what is God's." "Pay the tithe." "We..." " We do not have the funds." " Ah." "Well, in that case, give to Cesar what is Cesar's." "Surrender Cesena, without bloodshed, and I will ensure that the Martinelli never bow to the Tiberti." "But you will bow to me." "What say you, swordsman?" "Cesena will prosper under Cesare Borgia, prince of peace." "Shh!" "Mama." "Mama, how are you?" "Will you ever talk to me?" "I am back from Ferrara." "Thanks to you, Lucrezia, my father praises me and now knows why you are a goddess." "Why so pensive?" "So melancholy?" "Sister Lucia will forgive you." "The pope has ordered her to do so." " Or do you fret about Cesare?" " My mother." "The more I look at my two sons, the more I regret her harsh silence towards me." "That dinner party was a year ago." "She holds her anger tight as if in a vise." "She refuses to even see me, while her infatuation with her lover Teofilo grows." "Then talk to him, if he holds the lease on the woman's heart." " Talk to Teofilo?" " What is your other choice?" " Your Highness." " Highness." "Walk with me." "Keep working." "I apologize if my actions towards you seem disapproving." "An apology is unnecessary, Highness." "Especially to a man of my low station." "Please, I am Lucrezia not Highness." "As a follower of Christ, I wish only to welcome people into my heart, not deny my love to them." "I see you have a... big heart." "Both a blessing and a curse." "Deep down, perhaps, I was astonished that someone so young would be genuinely interested in my mother." "The heart desires what the heart desires." "One minute a Sangiovese." "The next minute an Aglianico." "What are you doing?" " We had an agreement." "I submitted." " Not to me." "Cesare will kill you if you kill me." "And Cesena will still not be yours." "Cesare believes I am loyal." "Soon, he and I will play a deadly game of hide-and-seek." "We have entered Cesena not as foreign conquerors but in the name of the city's legitimate king, Pope Alexander." "We do not loot, we do not rape." "As in Imola, Forli and Pesaro, we will add new value to the lives of the citizens here." "Understand this:" "Though brutality can conquer a city, such force will never guarantee the durability of that conquest." "Tyranny leads the hopeless to despair." "Despair leads to rebellion." "Rebellion makes way for a new tyrant to emerge." "To establish his power, a prince of the Renascienta must incorporate the duchy's defeated army and honest officials into his new regime." "A prince of the Renascienta must also create courts of law and treat the poorest soul with fairness." "I will build a hall of justice, a new palace, a hospital, a university." "I will repair bridges, roads." " What about completing the cathedral?" " Let the stone return to dust." "Cathedrals are things of the past." "I will bring Cesena into the future." "I now demarcate who governs where." "You, everything north of the Via Barbarossa." " Martinelli, everything south." " Where is Martinelli?" " He most likely fled to raise an army..." " No, he is dead." "So are you." "Now, all is mine." "So we borrowed the blacksmith's forge to cook the meat." " Do you miss your native land, Yuisa?" " At first." "But over the past year, Rome begins to feel a second home." "What manner of cooking is this?" "Barabicu." "Spices rubbed into the meat, cooked slowly upon a sacred fire." "Mmm." "This is what heaven must taste like." "To Yuisa, a child of the New World." "Our..." " Get the physician!" " Rodrigo!" "Physician!" "Physician!" " Please, do not let go." " I am here, Santidad." "I will never leave you." " How are you feeling, my Rodrigo?" " Like a prisoner in my own body." "Completely conscious during the fit, yet powerless to gain control." " If not for Yuisa..." " Yuisa?" "A false prayer over someone in need is a sacrilege." "No, the girl is imbued with the Holy Spirit." "Her proximity hurts your authority." "Rome, knowing that you and I no longer sleep together, gossips about you and Yuisa." "These rumors feed the outrage of those who conspire against you." "Have you forgotten the previous plot?" "The casualties remain fresh in my mind." "Yuisa saves us, Giulia, in prayer and in presence." "She is an innocent." "Her purity renews ours." "How is Santidad?" "I pray morning to night for his recovery." "He is his old self." "He says that your touch is what revived him." "Next time he will want you to go even further." " What do you mean?" " You will kiss him." "On the lips with your tongue." "How..." "How is that possible?" "The pope swore an oath of chastity." "Rodrigo has fucked countless women." "He and I have fucked more times than there are days in the year." "And you are no stranger to carnal pleasure, given the most recent reports from Colombo's expedition." "What reports?" "The Taíno women have taken to whoring for their Spanish masters." "Rodrigo is Spanish and has the same appetites." "Giampaolo Baglioni, duke of Ravenna." "Giampaolo, what brings you to my door?" "Rumors fly northward from Rome of an imminent attack by your forces against my city." "I come to warn you." "Venice will absolutely oppose any military advance." "That is irksome." "The Serene Republic has a fearsome navy." "And has promised to place said navy in the harbor of Ravenna to support me" " and deflect your campaign." " A brilliant move." "And yet, Agapito, something seems not quite right." "How can Venetian ships leave from their own harbor and sail to Ravenna when the Muslims have captured Bosnia and Tagliamento and continue to march to Vicenza?" "A fine question, Agapito, which brings up another." "Since General de Córdova remains in Spain who is there to rescue Venice this time?" "Your friend the doge cannot defeat the Turks alone and needs His Holiness to initiate a new crusade." "By me consolidating the Papal States and its riches, the Church will be able to pay the cost." "The doge despises you for abducting Dorotea Malatesta." "That fairy story again." "You came to warn me, so I will return the favor." "Venetian loyalty is like the water in their canals, rising and falling with the phases of the moon." "By the end of the year, not only will Venice encourage me to wage war wherever I choose, the Senate will name me a baron, bestow upon me a fine palazzo, and give me an annual income of 300,000 ducats per year." "A word to the not very wise:" "you will never win an argument with a Borgia and a leopard in the room." "Venice could still be a significant threat." "Yes." "So we will take Ravenna off our list of conquests, for now." "Agapito." "Well done." "Here are the fabric options for your new pair of slippers." "Which one do you like?" "What are you doing?" "Come, help me." "The third one." "How can you see from over there?" "Come sit on the bed next to me." "This one." "Yuisa, you barely looked." "Yuisa, what is wrong?" "Yuisa." "I am not ready." "This place..." "I am not ready for..." "Shh!" "The ways of men are strange." "Especially here in the Civitas Dei." "Right now your heart weighs heavy." "You feel like a perpetual stranger." " I want to fit in but..." " At night your solitude grows worse." "These halls are haunted by sadness." "Such loneliness, such isolation makes you shiver from your neck down your back, for your skin chills." "Your breathing slows, almost stopping." "Then, rushes in gasps as if you are drowning." "I am." "The pope is supposed to be the vicar of Jesus." "But where is Jesus?" "I thought He lived in Rome, that I would meet Him." "But I see only men who claim to be his friend." "Is Jesus even real?" "Oh, I can lead you to Jesus." "In the Basilica at the hour of Matins." "Be there, and you will finally bask in God's shimmering majesty." "Oh, kind soul, thank you." "Thank you." " I need a thin one with a beard." " Yes, madam." "Still no word from Machiavelli, no money from Florence." " The signory must be kicked like dogs." " I agree." "Time to change our strategy." "These are scale models of the 15 warships which I have had built to form the new papal navy." "We will split our strength in two." "One unit led by you, Vitelli, will head west, marching through the Republic of Florence." "You will conquer the coastal city of Piombino, ruled by the hapless Appiano brothers." " I could also take Arezzo." " No." "No." "Once Piombino has surrendered you will sail across the channel, to seize the islands of Elba and Pianosa." "Therefore surrounding the Florentines." "Who have granted my army safe passage through their territories." "This move will test their word, forcing the signory to pay me or attack me." "And then I will respond in kind." "The greater the resistance, the greater the victory." "Come." "I will dictate a letter to my sometimes-friend Machiavelli." "Without the French and Gascon troops, our army's already depleted." "Now he divides our troops even further." "This is madness." "With Cesare Borgia there is always a fine line between madness and genius." " Jesus?" " I am who you say I am." "Ever since I learned of you, I longed to be in your presence." "I studied my Catholic lessons harder than anyone in Hispaniola, so that I'd be chosen to visit Rome." "I have looked for you everywhere in the Vatican." "Finally you answer my prayers." "Kneel." "Now, open up." "No, you are not Jesus." "I am what my world will do to the purity of yours." " No, no!" "No!" " Yes!" "Yes!" " No!" " Yes!" "No!" "She drowned herself." "Poor Rodrigo." "God has taken sweet Yuisa." "He has stolen your innocence." "I am not crying because she is dead." "I cry because God has once again exposed me." "Yuisa was simply a diversion from my true feelings." "As are you, Giulia." "As are you." "As promised, I come to deliver Florence's first installment." "Fifty thousand ducats." "I hope you did not lose faith in me." "I never doubted that rumors of my plan to seize Piombino would motivate your good will." "And how goes the suppression of the rebels in Pisa?" "I bring gold." "But before you will be allowed passage through our Republic, you must agree to four conditions." "Conditions?" " My ears burn with anticipation." " Firstly," "Borgia troops must promptly leave Pisa." "Next, your army must travel through our lands in isolated units, on separate roads." "Next, the soldiers must not approach any of our fortified cities." "And lastly, Vitelli must not be in command." "Scandalous." "Disgraceful." "Hear my conditions." "Firstly, the signory must immediately send me 300 men at arms." "Next, the signory must also promptly pay me the full amount of the 300,000 ducats, plus an annual allowance of 36,000 ducats of which 9,000 will be payable in advance." "Next, Florence must send no aid to the city of Piombino." "Lastly, Florence will hand over five hostages selected by General Vitelli." "You know well the signory must refuse." "Then I march through your territories without their permission." "I warn you, out of respect for our friendship," "Florence's ally, France, will soon thunder into Italy." "Perhaps." "But even if King Louis does come, he will not stay long." "I will always be here." "The coming year will bring us endless joy, dear one." "I hope so, Alfonso." "I hope so." "Lucrezia." "Lucrezia." "Lucrezia!" "In a few moments, a new year will be spawned." "Will Fortuna bring me triumph or anguish?" " Agapito?" " Yes, Your Grace." " What news?" " Ludovico Sforza has been captured." "Milan submits once more to the marshal of France in King Louis' name." "Excellent." "Where is Sforza?" "On his way over the Alps to be imprisoned in the fortress of Loches, in the duchy of Touraine." "Never to be seen again." "And what of my French and Gascon troops currently in Milan?" "Louis has given orders." "They are under the command of Jean de Foix headed here to rejoin your troops." "Splendid." "Jean is the husband of Charlotte's sister." "La famiglia." "There is more." "Louis and the bulk of his army have crossed into Italy to join the marshal in Milan." "Shit." "Time has run dry." "I have lost the gamble with Florence." "I have other news." "Vitelli has captured Piombino, Pianosa, and Elba." " Good." " Not as good as you might think." "Vitelli has also entered the city of Arezzo, which, like Pisa, rebels against Florence." "You slap and kiss me, Agapito." "Vitelli dares to move on a city without my orders." "He hopes to provoke you into a war with Florence." "Yes." "All he will have accomplished is to pit Louis against me." "Hiya." " Where is he headed?" " I do not know." "When will he return?" "I cannot say."