"Fourteen ninety-eight." "With the support of King Louis, Cesare Borgia continues his conquests." "But his generals have their own desires." "Vitelli dares to move on a city without my orders." "He hopes to provoke you into a war with Florence." "All he will have accomplished is to pit Louis against me." "Lucrezia Borgia is caught between those she loves..." " Will you ever talk to me?" " ...and those who love her." "What are you doing?" " Rodrigo has your exquisite mouth." " But his eyes shine like yours." "Get away from my son!" "Rodrigo Borgia continues to combat both his health..." " Get the physician!" " ...and his enemies." "You defile love, you betray me." "Della Rovere ordered me to give it to Colonna, but..." "I want you to teach me all of your black arts." "I want the power to place the evil eye on whomever I choose." "Be he peasant or pope." "Hiya!" "Hiya!" "Whoa." "Ah, Jean." "I bring you boundless love from my sister, Charlotte." " She is well?" "And my daughter?" " Both are healthy." "They miss you." "And King Louis, does he miss me?" "Will I be embraced or arrested?" "Hard to say." "When Louis arrived here in Milan, he was singing your praises:" ""Cesare, quel grand homme." "Cesare quel grand seigneur." "Cesare quel grand guerrier, subjugating the Papal States."" " Uniting." " Uniting." "Then word came that you had seized Arrezo and marched too close to Florence." "Now the mere mention of Cesare Borgia turns the sovereign sour." "Then I must find out what the sight of Cesare Borgia does." " Most Christian King." " Do not feign reverence for me." " Louis..." " I gave you an army to restore the Papal States, not to conquer Tuscany." " I know." " You know." "And yet your army occupies Arezzo." "If they are not conquerors, then what are they?" "Hmm?" "Tourists?" "Your silence is articulate, Cesare." "Your silence tells me that you are a lethal combination of Ares and Kratos." "I thank you for making this immutable fact clear." "No single man will stand between you and your ambition, but perhaps, the solidarity of many can." "France supports Pesaro, San Marino, Elba, Pianosa," "Urbino, Bologna, and Florence." "And do not look to him!" "Look to me!" "I will send Swiss soldiers to protect Florence should you be unable to restrain yourself from penetrating its walls." "Six thousand men." " You may go." " Your Highness, this shark swims through Italy devouring duchy after duchy." "Who knows where next?" "Yet you set him free." "Stand aside, Bentivoglio." "Lordly King, my sword will debone this bastard son of a corrupt priest." "Ah, Guidobaldo, how nice to see you fully dressed." "I am told that as my troops approached Urbino, you fled your castle wearing nothing but your fear." "My falcon is back." "Mama, please listen." "I am more devoted to you than to Immacolata herself." "And I have reached out to you numerous times by messenger and mediator only to be rebuked." "Your Teofilo... is not faithful." "He tried to kiss me." " Why are you trying to hurt me?" " Lucrezia." " Oh you." "You bastard." " What did I do?" "Bastard!" "Out!" "Out!" "Out!" "There." "Are you happy?" "Once again alone." "Go, and leave your wretched mother to her loneliness." "Two cardinals are dead." "You accuse the Holy Father of poisoning two brother cardinals?" "The papal treasury has never been so low, and suddenly two healthy and wealthy cardinals die." "We all know the Borgia are masters at murder by cantarella." "A deadly fever stampedes Rome." "Their sudden sickness was caused by that." "I will not stand here any longer and listen to nonsense." "Be careful the pope does not poison you." "Your spy in the Borgia household has told you this?" "As I have said, I have no spy." "But your death is the next logical move orchestrated by Gacet." "Find a way back into Gacet's heart." "The Colonna brothers have ordered me to seduce you... again." "And in telling me, I am supposed to believe that you are on my side." "Yet, I know you come here hoping to learn my most damaging secrets." "The irony is..." "I want to know these secrets." "Not for the benefit of the Colonna or even Della Rovere, but for my own sake." "I want to know who you truly are, Fransesc." "Because you care, obviously." "I did care." "I swear on my dark heart, which you have softened." "And if you would reveal yourself to me, I would be certain that you care as well." "Remain uncertain." "My tongue is silent." "Well my tongue will speak without words." "I have spared you the ordeal of dining with Bentivoglio, da Montefeltro and the other sycophants." "Our only companions will be as many bottles of wine as we can empty." "The duke and I wish to be alone." "I will serve our dinner." "You are the king." "I will serve you." "I am the king and you will be silent!" " Did I say go?" " Yes, Majesty." " You will make me fat." " I intend to." "Only then might I be able to keep pace with you." "Bon appétit." "You showed me mercy today." "How can I repay the debt I owe?" "I have waited patiently for two things." "First, the pope's blessing of my claim for the throne of Naples." "Second, his guarantee of safe passage by my troops through the Papal States." "Give me the 6,000 troops and permission to seize Florence, and I will place the crown of Naples, as I did Milan, on your head." "Three thousand men, not six." "And Bologna." "Not Florence." "Bologna is more useful." "She is by far the richest city in the Papal States." "Sacred Majesty, I render to you infinite gratitude." "Enough politics." "Enough war." "Let us speak of the heart's sweet madness." " How is your queen?" " We live in eternal bliss." "Ah, bon." "I too wish to share in such bliss." "If you would permit my good wife and daughter to join me..." "No." "Surrender Arezzo." "Bring me my plate." " Hiya." "Hiya." " Giddyup!" "Who needs theater, literature or music when one can be amused by watching children at play." "That is because they still possess the innocence of a child." "Hold on to the arm with this hand..." "and your lance with the other." "Little Rodrigo will soon join Cesare on the battlefield, but only God and your brother knows where that will be." "Cesare is a miser when it comes to including us in his strategies." "Alfonso, you do not know if little Rodrigo is yours." "I know beyond knowing." "When I saw him that first time, I felt our bond." "My husband has expressly forbidden me to let you anywhere near the child." "Defy him, that Neapolitan wart." "I am no longer governor of Spoleto nor regent of the Church." "I am once more merely a woman." "To do as one wishes, one must be born a man." "If that were true, you and I would be together." "Instead, I am a man who has lost one child to death, and for these three years, has been denied the other." "How can you prevent little Rodrigo from embracing his true father when you waited a lifetime to learn the truth about yours?" "Have you forgotten the agony of those endless days and irretrievable nights?" " A mace?" " A gift from Louis." "We must make known throughout Italy the king's other gifts." "When Bentivoglio hears that France will allow my army to seize Bologna, the good duke will rush to gain my friendship." "A messenger has brought news." "Famine spreads through your city of Cesena." "Those noble folk." "I will alleviate their suffering." "But first I must deal with Vitelli's occupation of Arezzo." "Bring the French and Gascon troops there to rejoin the rest of my army." "Florence is safe, for now." "I have Louis' blessing to take Bologna." " The French know nothing of politics." " Does Florence?" "Why did Arezzo fall so quickly?" "Because you stripped the townspeople of their honors and steal their possessions, then require obedience as further humiliation." "A foolish way to rule." " And you would?" " Do as the Romans did." "Either slaughter the best of their men or treat even the weakest with breathtaking kindness." "I go to Arezzo." "You will attend me." "You swore... that you would obey me in this one regard." "I ask nothing of you even though I have the right." "He is my son." "No." "Alfonso." "Oh, my God, no!" "Stop it!" "Rodrigo!" "Do not come near." "Leave now." "Go." "Gacet is the bastard son of a Mudejar whore, abandoned by her fellow Muslims after the Reconquista." "His father was the steward of the Borgia estate in Valencia, where Francesc met Rodrigo, who never mocked him nor despised him for his heathen origins." "I knew your lies could unleash Gacet's truths." "In Spain I will obtain documentation regarding Francesc's true origin." "You love Gacet, but you would still destroy him?" "All the better." " Our son has agreed to France's terms?" " Vitelli must withdraw from Arezzo." "Maldito." " Alfonso d'Este." "I want him dead." " Why is this news?" "I need you to arrange it." "In no way can his demise be traced back to me." "If to become pope I am forced to kill, then God's will be done." "But d'Este's death is puerile." "For three years I have been your informant, yet have never asked for a reward." "Perform this or I will peek through no more keyholes." "I care little." "Lately you have unearthed few secrets of substance." "But some advice: never trade on another man's life unless you are willing to back the transaction with your own." "Dispose of d'Este or crawl back into your wormhole." "I will apply snail mud and ear wax." "In one hour, wash the affected area gently with warm water." "He will be fully restored." "One of you is most welcome to Arezzo, the other never will be." "Bring me inside." "I am thirsty." "Have the chancellor of Florence shown to the grandest bedchamber." "I will take the second best, and Vitelli the third best." "Florence lifts her skirts and clutches her throat in terror." "As a result, France rattles its sabers at me." "I have you to thank." "Cesena suffers famine and needs my guidance, yet here I stand." "You must surrender Arezzo." "The people of Arezzo were in revolt against the heavy taxes forced upon them by Florence." "I merely aided them in their fight for freedom." " Yes, your heart is pure." " Cesare, I did this for you." "Strategically, you now control Pisa, Cesena, Forli, San Marino," "Urbino, Arezzo, Siena and Piombino, cities which surround Florence." "Invasion is possible, victory is certain." "You can be master of Tuscany." "I will decide where I will be master and when." "Not you." "Not Louis." "Not the pope." "Timing is more important than force." "I would have taken Arezzo, but not at this moment." "Dear friend, I beg you." "I cannot rest until I flay the signory." " Let me avenge my brother's death." " Dead brothers must be forgotten." "Arezzo is mine." "Who protects your Città di Castello while you recklessly pursue revenge?" "You would not dare to raid my city." "I am Cesare Borgia." "Very well." "I will withdraw my men from Arezzo this day." "And I resign from your military council." "I will depart with my cannons." "Shove the biggest one up your ass." "Angela!" "I am the worst mother alive." "My mother will know what to do." "I will go to her at once." "Mama." "Mama, I know you do not want to see me, but I have nowhere else to turn." "Little Rodrigo has hit his head and now his brain is numb." " Has he been seen by a doctor?" " To no avail." "If medical means have not cured him, we must explore the spiritual." "The spiritual?" "When I was dying at the Abbey Subiaco, you took me away before the exorcism." "Lucrezia, I have lived my life seeking pleasure." "Running a brothel, debauching a priest." "But now, as sunset comes, my memories do not turn to money or lovers, but to you, Cesare and Goffredo and Juan." " When Juan died, he descended..." " Mama..." "No, if ever I could feel God, he was at Juan's funeral." "Cold and hard." "I have banished God from my life for so long, but now His fear is in me." "I have already prayed for my child." "The waters in the grotto at the church of Santa Maria Via Lata possess the power to heal." "Beloved people of Cesena, hear me." "My army and I will live off half rations and share our food with you." "I have sent word to Pope Alexander, who weeps over your suffering and will send wheat, sugar, salt and wine from the papal reserves." "Be at peace." "I am with you." "Bless you." " Thank you." " Thank you." "Duke Giovanni Bentivoglio." "To what do I owe the gift of your presence?" "Even the birds in Bologna know that King Louis has granted you permission to conquer my city." "Dear Cesare, I would prefer an alliance between us instead." "You, my comrade?" "The man who smiled when Louis disfavored me and who then stalked off when I was endowed with royal blessings." "I am guilty." "My mind poisons my heart at times, as does yours." "To prove your love for me, I demand the Castel Bolognese," " three hundred men at arms, 300 horses." " They are yours." " The money to maintain them." " Certainly." "And your son." " Ermete is meant for the Church." " My father is the Church." " And therefore, my son is your hostage." " No." "An officer in my army." "I will make him a man, so that he can decide for himself whether to kneel before God or stand tall for Italy." " Do as you will." " But if you betray me, Duke, your son will die in battle from a wound in the front or one from behind." "Lucrezia?" "I received your letter." "Please know that I have been despondent over little Rodrigo, our son." "Think before you fire, di Calabria." "You, you were the one who fired first." "Disgracing me, a prince, married to the pope's daughter." " You will die." " Poor, poor Alfonso." "Can you not see that every time you strike a blow against me, you push Lucrezia further away." "Killing me will end your hopes forever." "You will spend the rest of your days pierced by the hateful gaze of Lucrezia Borgia." "Papa." "Our physician will assess the child's condition." " Now, where is di Calabria?" " I do not know." " Find him." "We will have words." " Only words, Papa." "Not war." "You have forgiven that lout for what he has done?" " At first, I was angry." "But, yes." " Why do you forgive him?" "Because hating Alfonso will not save our boy." "And I am as much at fault as he." " Still, di Calabria must suffer." " And d'Este." "Holiness, are you certain that you wish to hear my confession" " and in Lucrezia's old chamber?" " Absolutely, dear Alfonso." "You need a clean soul to guide you on your way back to Ferrara." "In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti." "Bless me Father for I have sinned." "Confess the sins you have committed with my daughter." " Have you known her in the flesh?" " I have, Holiness." "Was she always fully willing?" "More than willing." " How can you be so certain?" " She, uh..." "Lucrezia showed enormous pleasure in the act." "For Christ's sake, be specific." "Lucrezia would often come to visit me unexpectedly." "Her eyes glowing with lust." "Her vagina already moist." "And she would speak no words, but fall down to her knees." "She would avidly harden my penis between her lips, biting slightly." "Then thrust my member like a dilleto very deep inside her." "Orgasm would come to Lucrezia with irresistible speed." "And I would feel her insides clench again and again around my organ" " and her body tremble with joy." " Stop..." "Stop!" "God forgive me." "Bologna is neutralized." "You rule supreme in ten papal dukedoms." "The Gascon and French troops have rejoined the rest of your army." "Where do we march next?" "Where do you think?" "Niccolo?" "Northwest to Modena, Reggio Emilia and Parma." "I second this." "Ermete?" "Every man at the table must share his opinion." "Faenza." "The citizens of Faenza are very fond of their young duke, Astorre Manfredi." "Your response?" "The story of Imola's downfall rings glorious with your personal bravery." "At Forli you proved yourself fearless." "Faenza will shudder when they see you as if the earth has quaked." "Well spoken." "Cesare, if Faenza fails to shudder and confronts you, I am not certain that your army is large enough to defeat those who are so dedicated to resistance." "Modena, Reggio Emilia, and Parma on the other side..." "What says Fortuna?" "She is agreeable." "Faenza will fall." "And if the city is stubborn, I will cinder every house, every church and perforate their precious duke." "Send word to Rome." "Alessandro Farnese will be my papal legate, and you will accompany him to negotiate Faenza's surrender." "Jean, devise a preliminary plan of attack." "So tell the truth, Ermete." "You followed your father to our meeting in hopes that I would take you hostage." "Yes." "I knew that you would need further leverage over him." "You were my only chance to escape the priesthood." "You are a looking glass." "Vannozza, do you really think holy water is the answer?" "I too am skeptical." "The waters of Santa Maria Via Lata can only heal those who have the faculties to pray." "Who is a better advocate for Rodrigo than the pope?" "We turn to you, Mary Immaculate, living tabernacle of God." "We call upon you, the unfailing refuge of sinners whose mercy has never forsaken anyone." "In support of our petition, accept the offering of ourselves which we now make, conscious of our unworthiness." "I see by your white faces Faenza refuses to pay the tithe." "Sit." "Eat." "Reveal." "Ermete is a friend." "The duke of Faenza is protected by his subjects with stunning fierceness." "Priests, servants of Holy Mother Church choose Astorre over the pope." "They run to blacksmiths with golden chalices and ciborium to be melted down, then forged into weapons." "Even the women train to fight." "They are truly united as a people." "If my troops were as valiant, I could reinvent the continent of Europe." "Not everyone is so loyal." "Bernardo Grammante, chancellor of Faenza." "I come believing in your campaign to unify Italy." "I offer intelligence, so that you may defeat Faenza." "And your payment is what?" "The thrill of seeing Italy stand as one country?" "Plus a nominal fee." "What does betrayal cost on the open market these days?" "Either you come to give me false information or you are a traitor." "If you are treacherous, I will not reward Faenza's outstanding bravery with deceit." "Let him be swallowed by the Brazen Bull." "God, no." "Mercy." "Your Grace, mercy!" "We attack Faenza straight on, like warriors, like men." "No..." "No!" "Rodrigo, listen." "A light wind blows." "And at first you can feel it on your cheek then on your eyelashes." "Then slowly building, you hear the breeze growing louder and more forceful." "You realize this is no breeze." "This is my voice and you are healed." " I am so worried." " Holiness, I..." "Since you are the source of our grandson's distress, you will be his savior." "You have a single day to cure him, or not even God Almighty will protect you from our wrath." "I will do anything to save my precious son's life." "A father's love." "Michelangelo's Sleeping Cupid." "An outstanding piece of art, which I am selling." "I have grown tired of its beauty." "If I asked, would you have intercourse with someone other than your wife?" "Yes." " With another man?" " Eminence?" "With..." "Gacet?" "Yes." ""Stupid whore." "We are destined to rule, but you are a waste of my time."" " Eminence?" " I quote Ovid." "I do not ask you to seduce Gacet." "Not yet at least." "I will give you the name of a woman well-schooled in the healing arts." "Tonight we live." "So let us eat, drink and rejoice." "Gillebert, next song." "Roland, dawn will come too soon." "Lend your voice." "Merci, Cesare, but no." "I must finish my sewing." "Sewing?" "You are now an old maid?" "I want to wear this shirt in battle tomorrow." "How did I not know you had a wife?" "Or that she was so beautiful?" "No." "No woman has blessed me with her heart." "This beauty is my dear sister, the only woman ever to love my ugly mug." "Roland, I understand." "And know that I love your ugly mug." "These men truly respect you." "Not out of obligation, but as one who is their equal." "In truth, I look up to them more than they do to me." "Now we rest for tomorrow's battle?" "No, this is only the French camp." "We must yet visit the Valentinois, the Gascons, the Italians and the Spaniards." "Each must know that we celebrate their lives." "Roland?" " This midwife can restore the boy." " Raise his head." " Open his mouth." " Hold." " Do you give him vitriolo?" " No, a remedy from the New World." "The fruit of the ecapatli plant, some iztac oco xochital, the precious stones of the tetlahuital mixed together in frigid water." "Apply this three times each day." "Also, feed him onions in honey." " I did not want to let you down." " We will see." "Tonight you sleep in Terra Nuova." "Take him." ""Holy Father, I, duke of Valentinois, comte of Diois, lord of Issoudun, prefect of Rome have lost 3,000 troops." "I have retreated..." No." "No, write, uh, "returned to Cesena."" "Shit." "We start again." ""Supreme Pontiff." "I, duke of Valentinois, comte of Diois, lord of Issoudun, prefect of Rome must again do battle with Astorre Manfredi of Faenza." "The duke has foiled my original..."" "No." "No." "Another." ""Holiness." "I, duke, lord, comte, prefect, must request more money." "I..." "Our initial skirmish ended..." "ended..."" "Perhaps you should travel to Rome and relay the, um, status" " of your campaign to the pope in person." " "The status"?" "I was defeated!" "In war one does not count individual battles." "History remembers only he who dictates the treaty." "A looking glass." "Have him brought to Bologna with full military honors." "After Ermete is buried, tell Bentivoglio to send another of his sons." "Priests make themselves essential by standing between truth and man." "So do astrologers." "I want neither in my life." " I am dismissed?" " Yes." "A man must believe in a greater power or he becomes a man without the power to live." "There is faith and then there is blind ignorance." "Perhaps our lives, perhaps the entire universe is a sharp aching tooth in the mouth of some monster." "What are you writing?" "A report to your signory celebrating my loss?" "No, these thoughts are private." " Share them with me." " They are not complete." ""He took the advice of a pubescent boy, whose father he had outwitted." "The prince should not have challenged Faenza, knowing the loyalty of her citizens to their duke..."" "The prince?" "I am no prince." "I have performed the last rites over the battlefield dead." "Their last grave." "Remember the studium in Pisa, when Remolino locked Professore Decio outside our classroom?" "A terrible prank." "And you lectured the class about the female anatomy for half an hour." "Closer to ten minutes, I think." "And I have since learned that I was incorrect." "Women do not harbor a third nipple between their legs." "Why can we not return?" "To Pisa?" "To Rome?" "To that moment." "Cesare, if there is one thing that defines our relationship one reason that we have been at each other's throats and in each other's hearts, it is because you live in the present while I live in the past and the future." "You are depressed now because you have reason to be depressed now." "Tomorrow you may still be depressed when you will just as likely experience something much grander." "If I was depressed yesterday, I carry that into tomorrow." "I wish I could operate as you do, living each day on its singular terms." "I am not depressed." "I am not anything I claim to be." "Not Caesar." "Not Fortuna's darling." "Not the Son of God." "I am nothing." " My son is..." " Once again a son." "The waters in the Church of Santa Maria Via Lata truly healed him." "Or that midwife." "Or maybe another force of nature more magical could have been at work." "I do not care who or how, only that my baby's eyes are bright and he laughs again." "May I hold him?" "Papa." "Any word from Cesare?" "He's been inside the coffin for two days." "He has not made a sound." "I have returned, Great Borgia." "Perhaps he's dead." "Quickly." "Come." "Come." "Do your eyes see me differently?" "If Cesare Borgia suffers a loss, I expect nothing less than a total loss." "Mediocrity, I despise." "And yet by being a man, is it possible to be anything other than mediocre?" "See here what man can do." "I have developed a new alloy, which will produce modern, high-caliber cannons better than those of Vitelli or France." "We will order the factory in Brescia to begin work immediately." "And yet, weapons are useless without a wise man to lead." "That man stands before me." "This..." "This is how I see you." "We are all legless soldiers in need of a crutch or a helping hand." "Yet I begin to believe that I am possessed by a spirit greater than Fortuna." "A spirit which rivals God." "Perhaps this spirit is the Devil." "But no." "He, she, it is even more intense than evil." "Is it possible to transcend all earthly knowledge?" "All heavenly power?" "All Hell's darkness?" "Am I the most alive being who has ever existed or am I insane?" "And does a man need to be insane to be all that he is or can be?" "I will return to Rome to rejuvenate." "Faenza will fall when I am even more perfect." "Company halt!" " Who?" " Agapito." "The men need to see you lead." "Make way for His Grace!" "The river is too swollen to cross." "Perhaps there is a bridge if we can follow the river further along." "Perhaps Leonardo can build us one while we grow roots in the riverbank." "Let us proceed." "Move it!" "If we must lose our troops, let it be in battle, not through folly." "We must get to Rome by tomorrow." "Forward!" "Forward!" "I will wait here until the last of you are safe." "There is only the trying!" "The rest is not our business!" "Forward!" "Forward!" "Foward!"