"Fifteen oh-five." "Despite all of Cesare Borgia's declarations..." "Today begins the reign of Emperor Cesare Borgia." "When your father finds out what you and Giulia have done, your grand illusions will be smothered." "...despite all of Cesare's political maneuvers..." "The signory has agreed to contract you as condottiere." "The war over Naples is finished." "General de Cordova surprised the French." "We are not going south to partner with the Colonna and Spain." "We will join forces with King Louis and the might of France." "You cannot secure the tiara without Cesare's votes." "Then I will win him over." "...despite his powerful family..." "You promised that you would protect Cesare." "Throw La Rosa into the street." "...Cesare Borgia has fallen." "I arrest you in the name of his Holiness, Pope Julius the Second." "Lucrezia, I have been locked in a suite at Castel Sant' Angelo, rather than the dungeons of Terra Nuova." "I know not how many days or months I have been captive." "The closest I have to human contact is when guards leave fresh bedding and laundered clothes or slip a bowl of food inside my door." "My dear sister, this is now my 11th letter to you." "Perhaps the guards do not forward them." "Perhaps della Rovere reads my pleadings to you at night for his amusement." "I am and always will be your devoted Cesare." "Duke Alfonso d'Este, I remind you that we are tied by both marriage and blood." "I now redeem the favor you owe me." "What does Cesare mean?" "He now redeems that which you owe?" "I do not know." "Rumors swirl that the prince has lost his senses." "In truth, he was always quite mad." "What he has lost is power." "Because of the treaty between Pope Julius, Florence and Venice." "A treaty designed to destroy Cesare." "If Lucrezia and I are to remain duchess and duke of Ferrara, we must denounce Il Valentino and reaffirm our fealty to the pope." " Fealty is the wrong word." " Fealty is the only word." "Good Pietro..." "I have kept Cesare's calamity a secret from Lucrezia." "The stress of worry must not complicate her pregnancy." "She does not know her brother has been captured?" "I have lost too many babies." "And she is melancholic." "Lucrezia invited you to our court to join her band of scholars, scientists and poets." "Use that opportunity to cheer her spirits." "I only want what is best for Lucrezia." "A healthy child, Excellency, is best." "Pietro!" "Lucrezia, so many years have passed since I have seen you." "Yet not one hour has passed without the thought of you." "These last six months trapped in this room..." "Pietro, I do not need poetic words or lute playing." "I need the truth." "My husband tells me that my brother's campaign in the Romagna is stalled, but I fear far worse." "Do you know about Cesare?" "I shy from politics." "As should you." "Until the happy day on which you..." " Why did you punch me?" " Let me up!" " Leave us." " Yes, Eminence." "I was going to cudgel the guards and make my escape." "A poorly devised plan." "After those guards, there are ten more, then another 20." " I would bludgeon them all." " Yes, of course you would." "Why has della Rovere not incarcerated me at Terra Nuova?" "The reason for my visit." "You have not yet stood trial." " A trial?" " Before the pope." " He wishes to publicly deface me." " Cesare Borgia is larger even than you." "To rule Rome in toto, Pope Julius must destroy both your person and your myth." "His fatal mistake." "He should execute me in the cruelest way possible." "He cannot!" "Five papal cities remain loyal to you." "They will not surrender without legal proceeding." "And even then, your life will not be terminated but spent in prison." "I have conquered as many cities through audacious persuasion as I have through military acumen." "The bishop of Rome may preside, but he answers to someone much higher." "The citizens of Rome." "If I can win the common man's love, then della Rovere will be forced to set me free." "You will not be arguing for yourself." " Who will be my defender?" " By order of Pope Julius... me." " So first I must win your love." " No." "I am a man of God, trained in law." " I will argue for you as best I can." " Like we did for Savonarola?" "Understand my predicament." "To help you in earnest is to rebut the pontiff, impairing the future of the Farnese." "You may tie your reins to his saddle, as you did with my father, or you can earn your own glory." "The question is, have you the testes to ride alone?" " As you have done?" " Yes." "And look where that has delivered you." "Dependent upon me." "No!" "I think I am mistaken." "I am not constipated, I am giving birth." "Summon the midwife!" "He is majestic." "A true d'Este." "We should wait to name him, to see if he survives." "Lucrezia, you must exile such thoughts from your mind, lest, unleashed, they become a reality." "Be happy." "Until my brother's fate is clear, I cannot entertain the thought of happiness." "Alfonso, you must no longer hide the truth from her." " What do you mean?" " Angela." "Pope Julius holds Cesare a prisoner." "Since when?" "Why did you not tell me the instant that you heard?" "We could not risk the birth..." "When were you planning to divulge this secret?" "Why, now, of course." "With you and the baby safe." "There is more." "We must make a public decree condemning Cesare." "Never." "To risk even the appearance of alliance with Cesare is to gamble with our lives." "Our son's life." "Our entire duchy." "I would sooner kill our son." "How can you say that?" "Better him dead than alive in a world where a sister betrays her brother." "We will finish this conversation when you are well-rested and less hysterical." "Do not think your complicity forgiven." "You will help me free my brother." "There are rumors that Giovanni Sforza has returned to Rome." "What Giovanni lacks in dick strength, he also lacks in charisma." "If he is their chief witness, we have no worries." "Ask Lucrezia to testify." "Giovanni will wilt." " No." " She will make the journey." "Relying on your own sister as witness to your character implies that there is no one else to praise you." " Goffredo?" "Where were you held?" " Some Florentine tower." " Did you see Niccolo Machiavelli?" " No, though I was there all these months." " I only arrived in Rome this hour." " To be put on trial with me." "Cesare, have you heard?" "Ferrara has issued a proclamation stating that the d'Este love Julius the Second." "They disavow you." " No." "No, not Lucrezia." " He speaks fact." "Her signature and seal are said to be present." "A forgery." "A slander created by della Rovere." "Any good lawyer knows that a trial begins not when the court is convened, but the moment the accused is accused." "Have you released a letter from King Louis declaring his faith in me?" "Distributed a petition from all the people in Cesena requesting my release?" " No such documents exist!" " Neither does Lucrezia's betrayal." "Has she written you?" "We should not be focusing on the unknown." "Whatever letters Lucrezia writes are most likely confiscated." "Do not pity me with your lies." "Lucrezia is a Borgia." "If she wrote me, she would have ensured by every avenue that the letters reached my eyes." "No, she would not abandon me." "She is..." "Fuck." "Leave me." "Until tomorrow in court." "When a wolf bites your left hand, you should not feed him with your right." "To approach Julius..." "I can think of no other alternative than to travel Rome." "And if the pope refuses your appeal?" "What if he throws you in Castel Sant' Angelo with your siblings?" " And you suggest that I should..." " Calm yourself." "Write his Holiness a private letter, absent of accusations, with logical arguments why Cesare and Goffredo should not be imprisoned." "A letter?" "You imply that my penmanship is more persuasive than my person?" "You have just given birth." "Do you truly think that embarking on a 300-mile trip to see a hostile pope is the healthiest path to choose?" " Spoken like a loyal Venetian." " Is that an accusation?" "Your doge battled Cesare for control of the Papal States." "You sabotage my intentions over some patriotic grudge against my brother." " My zeal extends only to your well-being." " Your affections for me are false." "Keep packing." "Come with me to Rome or go back to Venice." "I care not." "Make a bonfire of my poems, but know that those words are my pledge of unconditional love." "A love which I will keep beyond a lifetime." "Justitia est caecus." "His Holiness, Julius, the second of that name summons the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura for the trial of Cesare Borgia and Goffredo Borgia." "For the prosecution, Niccolo Machiavelli." "Holiness, I will prove that Cesare Borgia and Goffredo Borgia acted treasonously against the Holy See and contrary to the Ten Commandments." "I will prove that even though they were raised by Rodrigo Borgia, a man without equal in his lack of morals..." "So our father is on trial too." "...both Cesare and Goffredo behaved of their own accord, bowing to no man, obeying only their sexual greed and endless lechery for power." "When Florence cannot control you through force or bribery, they prosecute." "Silence!" "Holy Father." "I will prove that Cesare Borgia and Goffredo Borgia birthed by and raised within Holy Mother Church," " know but one master:" "Lord God." " Oh." "Never did they operate outside the bounds of Christian morals, the precepts of Jesus Christ never far from their hearts." "Is that all?" "This is the beginning." "You speak in generalities, but my life has been one defined by specifics." "The case for the prosecution may now commence." "Deeds done at just the right time for just the right effect." " Holiness." " Have you forgotten everything" "Professor Decio taught us in Pisa?" "State the thesis, then provide the facts." " Are you two finished?" " Yes, Holy Father." "Oh." "The prosecution calls Ottaviano Riario." "This is the most significant Sforza you could muster against me?" " You swear to speak only God's truth?" " Yes, I do so swear." "Duke Ottaviano, you were a captive of Cesare Borgia during his campaign against your duchy, Forli-Imola." "He locked me in a chest, freeing me but twice." "The first time, to inform my mother, Caterina Sforza-Riario, that he was going to kill us both, then rape her dead body." "The second time, on the pretext of beheading me." "Are you aware of the fate of your cousin, Galeazzo Sforza?" "Cesare Borgia roused a mob to revolt against Galeazzo's brother, the true duke." "Galeazzo was torn to pieces." "There are rumors that Il Valentino, rather than provide a Christian burial, donated my cousin's body to the artist Leonardo da Vinci for unknown purposes." "Holiness, I object." "Rumors are not facts." "Still, they suffice." "Go on." "I ask, amongst the dukes of Italy, are such acts by the Borgia considered cruel or are they commonplace?" "I object to this question." "He asks the witness for opinion." "We value Ottaviano's... wisdom." "Cesare Borgia ran rampant, overthrowing duke after duke, sending the entirety of Italy into upheaval." "When he had no more dukes to kill, he turned on his own generals." "His craving for blood is unquenchable." "If I am so horrible, why do these duchies to which you lay claim, Imola and Forli, as well as Cesena, Pisa and Fano, why do they remain loyal to me?" "Resisting demands by your family and bombardment by the papal army?" " Do I answer him?" " No." "The defendant must remain silent." "No more questions." "The counsel for the defense will question the witness." "Why was Cesare at war with you, your mother Caterina Riario Sforza and your duchies?" "We refused to pay the unjust papal tax." "Instead of paying the unjust Denarii Sancti Petri, which you were under sacred oath to pay, did your mother not attempt to poison the bishop of Rome?" "Kill Alexander the Sixth?" "I know nothing of this..." "Had the Apostolic Signatura not lawfully and unanimously deposed you and the other dukes who were in arrears?" "Was Cesare Borgia not acting under the orders of the College of Cardinals to reclaim the Papal States for the Church?" " Yes, I mean..." " No further questions." "Absurd!" "You promised us that your cousin Ottaviano was a sympathetic creature, who would fill the room with sobs of pity." "All we heard were guffaws." " Who is your next witness?" " Giovanni Sforza." "He will be weaker than Ottaviano." "Allow me to testify." "I can quote chapter and verse of Cesare's crimes." "Pride, lust..." "The only misdeed we need to prove is that Cesare disobeyed a papal command." "Rely on me." "Fine." "And..." "Tell Farnese to be a little less of a lawyer." "In order for us to discern the true evil of Cesare Borgia, we must establish the desire of God." "How would you propose that we, lowly humans, determine with clarity the Supreme Being's will?" "Through the teachings of the Bible and the word of His vicar, the pope." "Cesare Borgia's actions were consistently in conflict with both, committing each of the seven deadly sins." " Can you provide examples?" " Fourteen ninety-three." "Then a cardinal, Cesare murdered Pedro Caldes, a Spanish soldier who held the hem of the papal cassock." "Fourteen ninety-four." "Cesare resigned his cardinalate, against Pope Alexander's wishes." "I could not resign without the explicit approval of his Holiness." "Be quiet!" "The pope acquiesced to the decision of the consistory, one of the many times Rodrigo Borgia failed to lead." "You attack me for the very thing of which you voted in favor." "The defendant will remain quiet or he will be gagged." " Eminence, do you have more?" " Hmm..." "Fourteen ninety-seven." "Cesare abducted Dorotea Malatesta, wife of Giovanni Battista Caracciolo to use as his private carnal slave." "Yes." "We appreciate your impressive recall, but we are allotted only so much time." "Perhaps you can relate an event more recent?" "Hmm." "Fifteen oh-four." "Pope Julius, desiring peace throughout Italy, requested Cesare Borgia to cease from his hostilities." "The so-called prince refused and sent his brother, Goffredo, to wage war against the Venetians." "Thank you." "November 1, 1503." "Upon ascending to the papacy, did Julius reconfirm Cesare as prefect of Rome, gonfalonier of the Church?" " Yes." " November 3, 1503." "Did Julius convey briefs to the Romagna ordering obedience to Cesare?" " I cannot remember." " Suddenly his impressive recall fails." "February 15, 1504." "Did Julius approve five ships to transport Cesare, Goffredo and their troops to Genoa, in order to lead a campaign defending the Papal States against the aggressions of Venice?" " No." " You lying hypocrite." "There will be no more interruptions!" "Rafaele, do you perjure yourself now as expiation for the numerous times" " in which you betrayed della Rovere?" " Eminence, control your defendant!" " You do yourself no good by..." " Yet your tongue is never more than a fraction of a meter from your cousin's ass!" "Holiness, may I suggest that we try the defendant in absentia." "No." "I have the right of a freeborn Roman male to be present." "That my counselor would suggest otherwise casts a pall upon his competence." " I ask to defend myself." " The request is denied." "You may continue to attend this tribunal, but make not a single sound." "Continue." "November 3..." "Did Cardinal della Rovere promise Cesare Borgia dominance over the Papal States in exchange for being elected pope?" "Is the vicar of Christ not guilty of simony and lascivious pride and sexual perversity?" "Muzzle him!" "Justice!" "We demand silence!" "Silence!" "The witness may stand down." "Would the prosecution like to call another witness?" "One more." "Cardinal Alessandro Farnese." "Holiness, as counsel for the defense, I cannot testify against my client." "I withdraw the request and, uh, instead call Giulia Farnese Migliorati." "Cesare was born a perversion of nature." "My brother has time and again attempted to save his friend, even here, now." "Always for naught." "Cesare is a disease." " How so?" " Oh, in a very literal sense." "He has the French disease." "How many whores did you sleep with, Cesare?" "Only you." "While he has a wife and a child in France." " How do you know of his illness?" " No, no." "Leave that question for last." " First ask about his son." " Excuse me?" " You told her?" " Cesare had a son, out of wedlock whom he left on a mountainside as an offering to God, or the Devil, in exchange for Rodrigo Borgia becoming pope." "Thankfully, Alessandro would not allow such cruelty." "He rescued and returned the innocent infant to the mother, unbeknownst to Cesare." " Chain him to the chair." " You will still keep him here?" "Silence!" "He deserves to hear his fate the moment we decide." "Until then, Cesare ought to hear his past as well." "Continue." "Now ask me if there is anything else I learned from my brother." "Did Cardinal Farnese reveal any other misconduct by Cesare Borgia?" "Many nights Alessandro cursed the name Cesare, who could not be controlled, even by Pope Alexander." "Instead, Cesare controlled his father, deciding against whom and when to wield the papal army." "I see." "So..." "But the worst of Cesare's misdeeds, I saw with my own two eyes." "Now ask me how I know he has the French disease?" "How do you know Cesare Borgia contracted the French disease?" "I have seen the marks on his flesh." "Cesare came to my bedchamber one night, raving and ranting." "He said he would conquer the Papal States by force in spite of the laws of God." "He then held me down tore my clothes and raped me." "I am deeply sorry to hear that." "No more questions." "Would the counsel for the defense like to question the witness?" "Yes." "Yes, I would like to question the witness." "Despite that hardship, I still believe God exists." "But we do not meet the Lord until we enter the grave." "All we have in this life is our family." "Those who succeed, know this." "No questions." "The prosecution rests." "We need to piss." "There will be a short recess." "Alessandro." "Come back here." "I want to talk to you." "Alessandro." "How am I supposed to do what is right when I cannot tell what is wrong?" "Alessandro." " Do we know each other?" " Why do you stand by Cesare's side?" "He has threatened and bullied you, fucked your own sister, then made certain that you were not elected pope." "So, will you always be the victim?" " Why do you prosecute Cesare?" " I was ordered to by the signory." "For a friend to condemn a friend indicts the guilty all the more." "You were never his friend." "You broke every alliance you ever made with Cesare." "Florentine troops ambushed Goffredo, sealing Cesare's fate." "You were and continue to be his downfall." "If we had never visited Florence, if he and I had never visited Florence, never met you, never rescued your scrawny, weak, ineffectual citizens from themselves, I wonder, would Cesare Borgia be on trial for his freedom?" "Oh, so I am to blame for Cesare's many misfortunes?" "No, Niccolo." "No, you will never be to blame." "You will never be to blame." "If I am always the victim, you will forever be a pawn in the games of greater men." "The counsel for the defense may call his first witness." "Agapito Geraldini." "Hold." "You cannot call Agapito Geraldini." "What man knows Cesare Borgia better than his master secretary?" "Agapito was present and complicit for each of Cesare's crimes." "He should be in chains with his prince." "His freedom is allowed solely because of our leniency." " I would like to testify." " That is not an option." "You may either stand trial with the Borgia or flee." "The counsel for the defense may call his second... first witness." "I have no other witnesses." "Concluding remarks by both counsels." "The prosecution will go first." "Anyone who desires in the infancy of his sovereignty to defend himself against enemies, to acquire friends, to conquer, whether by force or fraud, to make himself loved or feared by the populace to win the devotion of his soldiers, to crush those who can or may oppose him," "to put new life into old forms, to be severe or gracious, magnanimous and liberal, to be a true and worthy prince, such a man can find no better model than Cesare Borgia." "He is censurable for nothing but his steps during the last conclave." "He may not have had the power to choose a pope to his liking, but he could have prevented the choice of a pope he disliked." "He should never have consented to the election of any cardinal whom he had offended or who, on becoming pope, might fear him." "A man who imagines that current gifts abolish past grudges deceives himself." "Cesare, therefore, erred in supporting Giuliano della Rovere." "And this error was the single cause of his ruin." "Borgia!" "Yes!" "Yes!" " Yes!" " Borgia!" " Yes!" " Borgia!" "Borgia!" "Um..." "Does the counsel for the defense have closing remarks?" "The gentleman from Florence has said all that I could possibly hope to say." "The defense rests." " A recess before judgment is rendered." " No." "No." "We can rule now." "Goffredo Borgia, you are found guilty, but since you are insignificant, we suspend your prison sentence." "You are exiled to Squillace, where you may live in royal fashion, tortured by your shrew of a wife." "Cesare Borgia, you have repeatedly declared that you do not believe in God." "So it is impossible for you to have acted in His holy name." "Therefore, we find you guilty." "You will receive as much compassion as you showed the dukes of the Romagna." "None." "Your life will end in the dungeons of Terra Nuovo." "The trial is adjourned." "Justita est caecus." "I am sorry, Cesare." "You are detritus!" "May your grave be a bottomless pit!" "Is my mother home?" " Does your mother work in the kitchen?" " You are new?" "She's the mistress of the house." "I am Lucrezia." "One moment." "That is her, I say." "Lucrezia Borgia." "Who are you, telling my staff that I have a mistress?" "Excuse me?" "I am Lucrezia Borgia." "Yes, yes, and I am Nimbus the Great." "I wish to speak to the owner of this villa." "You're speaking to him." "And he says, "Go away."" "Please, I am confused." "Where is the previous owner?" "Pope Julius?" "I imagine at the Vatican, counting my gold." "Madonna, welcome." "How many nights do you plan on staying?" "Is this not..." "Was this not a bordello owned by Vannozza Catanei?" "We never mention the building's previous tenants." "This is now a respectable inn." "We do not sell sex, we do not allow gambling and we do not water the drinks." " But my mother..." "Where is she?" " When were you in Rome last?" " Three years ago." " Since the rise of the Genoan pope, associations with your family are not favored." "Every inch of Borgia property was seized, including the Catanei vineyards." "I do not know what became of your mother." " Lord Jesus." " Yes." "Distressing news." "Duchess..." "I have a lovely suite with a view." "Lucrezia d'Este, duchess of Ferrara." "What an honor to be graced by your presence." "Congratulations on the birth of your son." "A d'Este heir." "I am Galeotto Franciotti dell..." "della Rovere, vice chancellor of the Universal Church." " Might I ask why you brought a throne?" " Holiness, I believe that is the chair on which sat the gracious Lady Lucrezia as chief papal counselor." "Perhaps you too, Holiness, would benefit from a chief papal counselor?" "If so, here I sit." "Bravissimo." "How would you advise us at this moment?" " Your biggest enemy in Italy is..." " You?" "What has Ferrara done to you to consider her less than peaceful?" " Did we say Ferrara?" " Not Ferrara." "You." "Very well." " Then I will tell you how to appease me." " Should you not be trying to please us?" "The pope is the servant of the servants of God." "As well as the arbiter of all mankind." "Have you no worry for your soul?" "I long ago ceased believing that any being other than God Omnipotent can judge my soul." " You are here about Cesare." " I am here to speak of Spain." " King Ferdinand controls Naples." " His general de Cordova defeated France." "Pope Alexander the Sixth was a friend to Spain." "King Ferdinand is ill pleased with your treatment of the late pontiff's family." "Odd that Spain would express such displeasure to you rather than us through their ambassadors." "From His Most Catholic Majesty." "To me." "Asking for my reaction to Cesare and Goffredo's incarceration and for guidance on whether to wage war on the bishop of Rome, you." "The seals and signatures are correct." "Still a probable forgery." "Are you willing to bargain?" "Or will you, instead, tell me where my mother is?" "Where is my sister, Isabella?" "What have you done with my family?" "Last I heard, Vannozza Catanei is living with Agapito Geraldini in Umbria." "Isabella Matuzzi has settled in Monterosso al Mare." " There." "Are you satisfied?" " No." "Free my brothers." "Goffredo is already on his way back to Squillace." "And Cesare?" "This is not the first time you have done business with us, Lucrezia." "In the past your modus operandi was sweeter." "You did not rely on threats, real or imagined." "We thought then you were the smartest of the Borgia." "But you allowed yourself to be locked away in Ferrara, used as livestock to birth d'Este heirs." "That took you too long." "Presented to us by General Giovanni Battista Caracciolo." "We cannot give you Cesare, but we can give to you the pieces of his dream." "You are the representative of Jesus Christ on Earth." "Why do you allow your hatred and envy for my father to lead you to sin?" "Not sin." "Syncope." "One must strike out all traces of one's predecessor." "Otherwise we will be tied to his precedents and successes will be based on his legacy." "We do this not for ourselves, but for the spiritual rebirth of the Church." "You shoot at conflicting targets, Holiness." "The purpose of spirituality is to expand one's life." "The purpose of religion is to limit it." "Alessandro must help Cesare." "They were once friends." "Once." "The past pales in the bright sun of the present." "Though Alessandro was a rising star, he now does little but fill a seat in the consistory." " I will break into the dungeon." " Let me hear this." "How?" "Through bribery of the guards." "A guard who sets Cesare Borgia loose will incur papal revenge." " Money is useless to a corpse." " I will hire mercenaries to rescue him." "This is not a siege on a city." "I would not need many." "Lucrezia, not everyone can be rescued." "There are people who doom themselves, and there is nothing you can do but remember them." "If this were Alessandro, you would never quit." " I hope you're right." " Lucrezia." " Please, do something for Cesare." " There is nothing to be done." "The two of you, maggots feeding off my family for years and then crawling away when there is no flesh left" "I was with your father at the end." "Where were you?" "Listen to me." "Cesare has escaped." "He escaped Terra Nuova." "Search parties engulf the city." " Did Ferrara not denounce Cesare?" " This should be a lesson to us." "Everything is a lesson to you, yet somehow you are always the teacher." "At the trial, I lied in order to guarantee that you would once again have a seat in the Vatican hierarchy." "And I remained silent to preserve your lie." "Tell me, in your expert opinion, which one of us is worse." "Get away from my son." " Alessandro, you must hide me." " Do not harm him." "Why do you think I came here after escaping Terra Nuova?" " Revenge." " Hardly." "I apologize for the ruse, but knowing that I'd be found guilty no matter how well you argued," "I wanted to go to Terra Nuova." " You did?" " Because I knew I could escape." "I had Leonardo da Vinci redesign every fortress and prison under my rule." " Their secrets are mine." " All of Rome searches for you." "The pope has offered a sizable reward for your recapture." "Whether or not you desire revenge, you place my whole family in danger." "By cursing you in public, I placed you above suspicion." "Would you please release my son?" "Go to your grandmother." "I would not hurt the boy." "How could you think that of me after everything we've been through?" "Yes, exactly." "You take every opportunity to abuse me." "These past 15 years, I have tried to be your friend." "I have tried to be an acquaintance, to be nothing more than a business associate." "I have tried to actively avoid you and each time you fuck me." "I have been a valued friend." "Back in school you confessed to me, that under pressure from your mother, you needed, above all else, to restore the Farnese to wealth and achievement." "So, I introduced you to my father." "Because of my friendship, you've succeeded." "No." "You fly through life unencumbered by worry or concern for anyone." "My life has been filled with responsibilities, and my back aches from the weight." "Alessandro, we both began our journey together, ascending the same summit, both trying to reach the peak." "But I did not abandon you or fly." "I fell." "Off the path, down the cliff's edge." "Your back may ache, but that is because you still climb towards something greater, while I plummet." "Look at me." "Let us not pretend my fate is one worth envying." "I simply ask that you cushion my crash." "Please." "We must devise a way for me to get to Ferrara." "Cesare, I know that you trust your sister." "Can you trust the d'Este brothers?" "Do not go to Ferrara." "France then." "To finally see my wife and daughter." "Has King Louis not proven himself unreliable?" "Your mother in Umbria." "No." "I will not place her or Agapito in danger." " Goffredo in Squillace." " Squillace?" "Past Naples." "Yes." "That sounds best." "To journey through Naples, you need the permission of Gonzalo de Cordova." "You double-crossed the viceroy before having Piccolomini elected pope." "De Cordova will not extradite me to Rome without negotiation with della Rovere." "That will give me time to empty my bank accounts and raise an army." "But first, suggest a way for me to leave the city." "I will send a wagon to Orvieto." "We will put you in an empty wine barrel." "Outside the city limits, you can take one of the horses for your own." "Brilliant." "Thank you, old friend." "You must never return to Rome." "I will." "To see you crowned pope." "I know where Cesare is." "Such is modern Rome, where even a diplomat cannot pass unmolested." " You Romans are barbarians." " Chancellor?" "If Cesare does find his way to Florence..." "Cesare knows better than to rely on the signory, or for that matter, any Florentine ever again." " Clear." " My signal to leave." "Agapito, are you not in jeopardy remaining in Rome?" " I will stay until I know you are safe." " I wish Cesare had contacted you." "He knows if he did, my life and Vannozza's would dangle precariously." "Now I must ride for Ferrara, should Cesare be headed to my court." "He will not." "For the same reasons he will not come to Umbria." " He loves you too much." " I want to see his face." "Be near Cesare once more." "Halt!" "The wine barrels!" "Cesare Borgia is hiding inside!" "Check the wine barrels!" "Smash the unopened barrel." "Holiness, he is not here." "Either Cesare Borgia has fooled you or you have created a distraction" " for him to make his true escape." " I swear." "This was the plan." "Perhaps you are not as much a Farnese as you think." " Giacomo, stop here." " Whoa!" "You are safe." "We are out of sight." "How many pretty virgins have you secreted in here?" "No." "Mostly ducats, bribes bound for Florence." "I thank you for holding your gas." "How will you get to your troops in the Romagna?" "To go up you must first go down." "Goffredo will supply me with a ship in Squillace." "To get to Squillace, you must pass through Naples where you have enemies." "Besides, you have already told Alessandro, who has, in all probability, told the pope." "Squillace is my only option, so I will travel the back roads and only at night." "De Cordova will not know I have been through Naples until I am gone." " I will never be caught again." " Then you must never trust again." "You, take my horse." "I am sorry, brother." "I train my soldiers to sleep for eight hours a day, but not at once." "Wake for four, rest for two, that way it is less likely they'd be surprised." "Yet you, Cesare, still surprise me." "General de Cordova, I am sorry my sudden appearance disturbed your sleep." " Perhaps you should return to bed." " Pope Julius is looking for you." "I have heard that after you decimated the French, you commanded a moment of prayer on the battlefield for the fallen soldiers." " Is this true?" " Yes." "Here I stand." "Pray for me." "I may be a Christian, but my loyalty lies not with Pope Julius." "This vessel sails for Valencia." "Goodbye, brother." "You are now the property of King Ferdinand of Spain." "Since you're more despised in my country than you are in yours," "I will pray for you." "I go to the land of my ancestors with a gleeful heart." "Perhaps I have a few surprises left." "There you are." " How was Rome?" " You dare to be angry with me?" "After you forged my name to a declaration castigating Cesare." "You would sooner kill our son than denounce Cesare." "Your words, yes?" "You got your wish." "Our baby has died."