"Lorenzo de Medici has returned." "From this day forth, Florence stands alone." "You have to support the Crusade." "An alliance with Rome is the only way we win." "We cannot win!" "We can only survive." "I know of one man powerful enough to turn the tide in our favor..." "Vlad." "The Ottomans stole his armor." "You get the armor's secrets and the crusade gets the man who made it." "We can forgive Lorenzo as I have forgiven you." "There's a girl." "She's your sister." "She's in danger." "You need to find her before it's too late." "Your brother will protect you." " My brother?" "Leonardo?" " You must..." "Sophia?" "Sophia!" "I wouldn't." "Girolamo?" "Have you seen Count Riario?" "No, I think he left camp before sunrise." "Girolamo?" "Your Holiness, apologies for disturbing you from your prayers." "Signora Cereta, if only by the grace of God do I believe you." "The guards say Count Riario left camp before sunrise." "Left?" "To go where?" " I was hoping you would know." "When you were alive," "I took you for granted." "Now that you are gone," "I can't stop thinking about you." "You always managed to critique my decisions while at the same time buoying my spirits." "I wish you were here to do that now, for I made choices, my dear, that at best are radical and at worst... lethal." "Lorenzo de Medici." "Count Riario." "Have you come here to kill me?" "Do you really believe that that will rekindle the momentum of your doomed Crusade?" "I am not here to kill, but to confess." "To repent for my sins." "Your wife was not murdered by a Turk assassin." "I did it." "I took her life." "You?" "Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh." "Okay, come here." "Some of them are still alive." " What?" "Stop trying to frighten me, Nico." "I heard it can take three days for an impaled man to die." "Well, let's hope we don't have that to look forward to." "I wish Leo were here." "Leo trusted me to get Vlad on our side." "I'm not gonna let him down." "Here." "Slide this under the gate." " Me?" "What about you?" " I'm gonna stay here and keep watch for any Draconian guards or large bats." ""Dear Vlad, most honorable impaler, please don't kill us." "We..."" ""Please don't kill us"?" "This is your fucking plan?" "Pass Vlad a fucking note?" "Fuck you, Zo!" "Shh!" "We can't just bang on his front door, can we?" "Leo set him on fire, remember?" "We rammed him out of a window at the end of a fucking crucifix." "I should never have come." "Don't be afraid." "I will keep you safe." "Zo!" "Grab him!" "Stay where you are!" "Don't move!" "Drop your sword." "Drop it!" "You trespass at the gates of hell, yet are ill-prepared for confrontation." "Vlad..." " I regret killing your friend so quickly." "But for you," "I will save time for cruelty." "Ah." "The mongrel lives." "Recognize the armor, Vlad?" "The armor of the Dragon." "It is defiled by your musk." "You will suffer for its theft." "No, no, we didn't steal it!" "We brought it back." "Pathetic excuse, boy." "True, it's true!" "We took it off the invaders at Otranto." "Every Turk in the sultan's army wears your armor." "We can't defeat them without your help." "Take them inside." " No." "Have them prepared for dinner." "It's fitting we're on ground so holy to your order." "This ground is not hallowed." "The Sons of Mithras would disagree." " I'm not with the Sons of Mithras." "You would have done well to join the Labyrinth." "To walk with us." "Brothers-in-arms." "Is that..." "that's why you're here?" "To complete my conversion?" "You shall join... or you shall die." "You've made your choice, da Vinci." "Go." "Prepare the Calvariae Locus." "The place of the skull?" "The Bible called it Golgotha." "Jesus of Nazareth had one." "Now you will get yours." "You're thinking of escape?" " Of course." "And once I'm free," "I'll kill you." "Perhaps." "But not before we finish what we started in Florence." "Burn him!" "What is happening here?" " They caught him." "The true Monster of Italy." "Burn him!" "Look at him!" "Let me through!" "Stop this!" "Stop this!" "Stop this at once!" "Count Riario is not innocent, but he is not guilty either." "He confessed." "lllness took away his right mind." "I beg for your mercy, my lord." "He is not worthy of mercy." "Your da Vinci cured him." "Leonardo swore that he would never again return to madness." "My da Vinci?" "Leonardo now serves Rome." "He's turned his back on Florence and hid a bloody assassin in our midst." "If Leonardo returns to Florence, he will be executed for treason." "She uses Leo's name to sell her lie without him here to disagree." "You'd say anything to save Riario." "I can see it in your eyes." "Innocence or guilt be damned, you are in love with him." "Only a tyrant would condemn a man without a trial." "Is Florence no longer a freethinking republic?" "!" "There is no need for a trial!" "There is no doubt of his guilt!" "Count Riario has confessed." "Now, get back to your craven master Sixtus before we put you on trial for abetting the killer of the Mother of Florence." "There may be value in a trial." "Why delay the inevitable?" "I would make a speech and the people would condemn him to a formal execution." "No." "He deserves to die in the streets like the rabid dog he is!" " Then have the trial." "Let all of Italy know what he did and prove to them that you are not a tyrant but an enlightened Medici." "I appreciate your counsel, Vanessa." "Come." "Join me for a repast." "Please." "That's quite the spread." " Mm." "You look well, Vlad." "Are you surprised?" "Well, last time we saw you, you were on fire." "My flesh does not burn." "You fell." " My bones do not break." "The loss of blood." " I have all the blood..." "I require." "Mm." "Mm." "It's just delicious." "Would you...?" "Hmm." "You know what they say, uh, eat rotten meat, you'll pay for it later in your bedpan." "No, no, no." "He is not rotten." "Are you?" "No." "For the love of God." " God has no seat at my table." "Hey, Nico, avoid the wine." "Now, please try some of my tasty broth." "Looks good." " Well, naturally." "Hmm." "Vlad, we come on official business." "Italy prepares a Crusade to wipe out your old favorites, the Ottoman Turks." "We need your help." "And we want you to join up." "Count Vlad Draculea Tepes III," "Lucifer's disciple, on a Holy Roman Crusade?" "Ha!" "We're marching to Otranto to throw those fuckers into the sea." "Isn't that right, Nico?" "Zo, the broth." "Drugged us?" "You dr..." " Can you blame me?" "When last you visited Wallachia, you rewarded my hospitality with poison." "And theft." "Now you eat at my table." "Hmm." "I don't know if you're a hero or a fool." "Vlad." "Please." "I'm sorry." "I have no interest in apologies." "Only in a game of penance." "Help!" "What did I do?" "Help, please!" "Please!" "Girolamo?" "You should not have come." "Your return has put the Crusade in jeopardy, not to mention your own life." "A life for a life." "You were not yourself when you did those things." "What if I was?" "What if that murderer is the real me?" "Impossible." " How can you be so sure?" "Because I cannot love a murderer." "You gave me strength." "And now I must use it to keep you as far away from the monster within as I can." "Free me!" "Free me!" " Oh!" "Free me." " My brother." "Free me." "Oh, my God." "Oh, my God." "I know a salve to heal such wounds." "Valerian root, chrysanthus, a saltwater compress, none of which I have." "Sophia." "Sophia." " Yes." "I see our... our mother in your eyes." "We have much to talk... talk about." "Now is not the time." "Oh!" "Wait, wait, wait." "Wait." "Leonardo." "Leonardo." " What?" "What?" "Our mother... she's dead." "How did it happen?" "She was warning me about our fates." "Someone took a knife to her throat." "I couldn't see who." "Sophia." "Our mother, she wanted us to find one another." "To survive." "I will not let anything happen to you." "Bring him." "Riario saved you in Rome." "Now it's a girl to the rescue." "Zo!" "Wake up!" "Zo, please!" "Zo!" "Zo, help!" "Nico!" "Get him out of there now!" "Zo." "Zo." " Get him out!" "Get him..." " I will... if you play the game... and win." "Naturally, if you lose, these blades will lacerate your young friend's body." "Often, the key to victory is choosing the right piece" "to sacrifice." "Hey," "I'm sorry." "My great-uncle was a grand master." "You may as well forfeit." "Save yourself the humiliation, Vlad." "You can't bluff a man without a soul." "Today, we play by Wallachian rules." "During the time it takes you to decide your move, my men will adjust the blades." "Stop, stop!" "I get it." "I get it." "Stop." "In the time it takes me to move, the men will not spin the wheel." "Understood?" "If I win, you set him free and you join us in our fight against the Turks." "Only if you make the right sacrifice." "Sit." "The first move is the most important." "Game on, Vlad." "That was quick." "Care to reconsider?" "No." "I really like my move." "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fucking move, Zo!" " Shh." "Language is very informal." " Yeah, it's only when he's nervous." "Ah." "So you do know how to play." " Yeah." "I wasn't bluffing." "Shit." " Is your champion a brilliant swindler orjust a dim-witted pickpocket, hmm?" "After I've exsanguinated the boy," "I will drain you, too." "Your blood will fill my bathtub." "Don't let him distract you, Zo." "Oh, fuck." "You know, you could always abandon your friend." "The castle gate is..." "is really not very far." "Shut up, shut up." " So what is it to be?" "Loyalty to your friend or to your own skin, hmm?" "Would he do the same for you?" "Check, check, check, check!" "You see, he wishes his real master da Vinci were here to hold his hand." "Check and mate!" "Stop!" "Stop the blades!" "Stop the blades!" "Have you made the right sacrifice?" "The coin." "Is this what you want?" "Yeah?" "Your fucking gold sultani?" "Yes." "How does it feel?" "It stings." "I meant having your vengeance." "Against the man that killed that teacher of yours." "Verrocchio was much more than a teacher." "More like a father." "A friend." "The sisters at the convent told us vengeance was a sin." "Yet I've thought of little else on my way here." "Who were they, Leo?" "Who?" "The men that took Lucrezia prisoner." "Tell me of them again." "One was old and grey and she seemed to know him." "Her father." "The other was a commander of the Voynuks, an elite Slavic auxiliary force within the Ottoman infantry." "You know, I think I know that man." "We fought against him in Otranto." "Sophia," "I, um..." "I don't want to fuel your desire for vengeance, but I think he might be the man who executed our father." "We can find them." "Together, we can find them and we can rescue Lucrezia and we can..." " No, Sophia, Sophia." "Look at me, look at me." "Shh." "Hey." "One step at a time." "Now," "Lucrezia said... you had a page from the Book of Leaves." "Yes." "Where is it?" " I hid it here when I first arrived." "That man Lupo hoped I could read it." "Lucky for me, he was right." "The Labyrinth thought I could read it, too." "That's why they wanted me dead." "One of many reasons." "Mm." "It looks exactly the same." "It's... it's the same." "It's the same as when I saw it in the Vatican Secret Archives." "Nothing's changed." " This is not what I saw." "What?" " There... there were words, designs." "That was under moonlight." "Moonlight?" "Why moonlight?" "Lupo insisted." "He said the page must be read by lunar light." "As a child, I played that game with my brother." "Even when we were imprisoned by the Turks, our games continued." "Until he betrayed me." "Joined our enemies." "Abandoned me to my cell with only Lucifer to keep me company." "Is he saying he shared a cell with the devil?" "Just don't antagonize him, please." "Follow me." "Come." "Come on." "Fucking Zo." "He's crazier than da Vinci." "My brother took with him the secret of my father's steel." "And gave it to the Turks." "You see," "I had to be certain... you were loyal men... before I could trust you to join me on my quest for vengeance." "Join you?" "You were always going to Otranto." "Of course." "But..." "I had to be certain you would not betray me... again." "I can't abide the company of traitors." "For after all I'm running out of room." "Perhaps there is a better use for all this armor." "Something about this place does not feel natural." "That's precisely why we're here." "When I was a boy," "I wandered down here." "In there." "Something inexplicable happened." "And when I came out, there was blood on my hands." "I couldn't explain it." "Haunted me for years." "Spirits?" "Shadows of the dead?" "No, no." "No." "It's everything" "I saw then." "It happened today." "It wasn't... it wasn't precisely the same, but... more or less." "What if..." "what if... what if... everything I saw then, was it a glimpse of some possible future?" "All over the world, there are rumors of places where the laws of nature don't apply." "Points of..." "of strange attraction for both time and memory." "Many civilizations have mapped these locations." "You're making a compass?" "Drawing lines between them, tracing what they call... a river of time." "There's no true north." "You... are a curious girl." "It gets me into trouble sometimes." "I know the feeling." "Do you think the strange energies in this place will help us to read?" "Well, we'll know... soon enough." "All is not lost, Your Holiness." "Lorenzo will put Riario on trial and we can defend him." "It will not be Riario who is on trial, it'll be me!" "De Medici takes my crusaders, my general." "He mocks me at every turn." "If any of my troops survive Otranto, they will march on Florence!" "To eradicate Lorenzo's cesspool once and for all!" "A defense from Your Holiness may weaken their case." "Riario will only hang if they find him guilty." "He is guilty." "There." "They're plans." "They're designs." "It's some sort of machine." " Machine?" "Yes." " I see storm clouds." "What?" "You don't... you don't see some kind of mechanized device?" "No!" "It... it looks like gathering gloom but in miniature." "I see a bird, but without a head." "What we're..." "what we're seeing must be... it must be related." "Though what my machine could have to do with your strange bird is beyond me." "Tiny lightning!" " Sparks of heaven." "Ha, ha!" "Right." "Come with me." "What?" " I need to, um..." "I need to build a wooden frame." "I wish Zo were here." " What?" "Um, and, uh... uh," "I could cannibalize the ironworks off the old well." "Um, uh, gears from the music box back in the house and, um, a rope and pulley from the old vineyard." "What about my headless bird?" "I know of such a flying creature." "How?" "Because I built one." "We've all leaned on you so much since your return." "Never truly considering your ordeal." "You need rest." "You need to heal." "You're not alone, Lorenzo." "You're not alone." "Sophia!" "Come on, what are we waiting for?" "Coming!" "It's like nothing I've ever seen before." "It's simple, but it's intricately complex." "It's ancient, but it's also modern." "What happens when the crystals align?" "I assume it acts as a lens and focuses the light." "Ah, the winglet acts as a vertical projection near the tail end." "It's tricky to manage." "Just be careful how you attach it." "But will it fly?" "Yes." "You seem very confident." "Ah, well," "I designed something very similar for an old apprentice of mine." "It bore him aloft without harm, so your headless bird will hug the clouds, Sophia." "But for what purpose?" "Let's find out." "You ready?" "All right." " Yeah." "Right, I'll take that." " Okay." "Both... both hands, both hands." "This way, this way." "That's it." "Good." "It's quite a distance." "Okay, now let's go right." "That's it." "Okay." " Hold it there." "You got it?" "Yeah, okay." " Now keep still." "Okay." " Just hold it still." "Got it?" " Yeah." "All right." "Right." "Ready?" " Yeah." "Now!" "Ha, that's it, that's it." "That's what you saw?" "Yeah." "Well, that's certainly what I saw." "The specifications were clear." "It was, um, a series of pulleys and gears, yes, attached by a metal-permeated cable to your headless bird." "I thought the wind would activate it." "The crystal mechanism, does it rotate?" "Shit." "Can you feel that?" "The hairs on my arms are standing up." "Yes." " What's happening?" "Shit!"