Assassin's Creed: Renaissance

Chapter 3

"Oh, it's the Auditore brat. Mangy dog! What the hell does this have to do with you? Get lost as far as you can."

"Good day to you, Vieri. Sorry to interrupt, but I know one thing: you are spoiling the young lady's good mood."

"Oh, really? Please forgive me, my dearest, I have to teach that upstart a lesson first." After speaking, Vieri pushed Cristina away and punched Ezio with his right fist.Ezio parried his fist easily, then stepped aside, leaving Vieri to catch up and fall sprawled into the dirt.

"Enough fighting, friend?" Ezio sneered.But Vieri got up quickly and threw his fists at him angrily.One of his punches landed Ezio on the side of the jaw, but Ezio parried another left hook and returned two punches, one to Vieri's stomach, before he bent over Later, another punch hit him in the jaw.Ezio turned around, trying to make sure that Cristina was not injured.Panting, Vieri took a few steps back, but reached for the dagger he carried with him.Cristina involuntarily screamed as she saw Vieri stab Ezio in the back with the dagger.The cry made Ezio turn on the nick of time, firmly grasping Vieri's wrist, and wring his dagger free.The dagger fell to the ground.The two young men just faced each other, gasping for breath.

"Is that all you can do?" Ezio said through clenched teeth.

"Shut your mouth, otherwise, I swear to God, I will kill you!"

Ezio laughed. "I don't think it's weird at all to see you force acceptance on this girl who obviously thinks you're worthless - just like your dad insisted on promoting his bank rates in Florence!"

"Nonsense! Your father should learn humility!"

"You Pazzi family should stop slandering us. But then again, you're only good with your mouth."

Vieri's lips were bleeding profusely.He wiped it on his sleeve. "You will pay - all of your family will. I will not forget this, Auditore!" He spat on Ezio's feet, bent to pick up his dagger, and turned to run opened.Ezio watched him leave.

He thought of all this as he stood on the church tower looking at Christina's house across the street.He remembered that he turned his head triumphantly, faced Christina, and saw her gentle eyes.

"Are you all right, miss?" he said.

"It's all right now...thank you," she said hesitantly, her voice still trembling with terror, "you asked my name... oh, my name is Christina. Christina Calfozie."

Ezio bowed. "It is an honor to meet you, Miss Cristina. I am Ezio Auditore."

"You know that person?"

"Vieri? We did meet a few times. Our families never got along."

"I never want to see him again."

"I'll do my best."

She smiled shyly, and said: "Ezio, I appreciate you—so I'm going to give you another chance, even though you didn't do well at first!" She laughed a few times and kissed His cheek, and then walked into his house.

Needless to say, a small crowd of onlookers had already gathered around, and at this point they applauded Ezio.He smiled and bowed, but as he turned to leave, he knew that he might have made a new friend, but he had also made a sworn enemy.

"Don't disturb Cristina's sleep," Federico said again, bringing the pensive Ezio back to reality.

"She'll have plenty of time to sleep afterward," he replied. "I'll have to see her."

"Okay, if you have to go - I'll help you cover your father's side. But you have to be careful - Vieri's men are probably still around." After finishing, Federico said: Climb down the tower, onto the roof, and jump into the wagon full of hay parked on the street—down the street is the Auditore mansion.

Ezio watched his brother leave, and then decided to follow his example.The hay wagon seemed so far away, but he remembered what he had been taught, and he controlled his breath, calmed his mind, and focused.

Then he jumped into the air, taking the longest leap of his life.For a moment he thought he was going to miss the mark, but he suppressed a brief moment of panic and dropped safely into the hay.It was a veritable leap of faith!Ezio was a little tired, but managed to lift his spirits, allowing him to hop briskly into the street.

The sun has risen from behind the mountains in the east, but there are still few pedestrians on the street.Ezio was about to walk towards Cristina's house when he heard footsteps.Desperate to hide, he ducked into the shadow of the church porch and held his breath.Rounding the corner were Vieri and two of the Pazzi's guards.

"Forget it, sir," said the older guard, "they should have run away long ago."

"I know where they're still around," Vieri snapped. "I can smell them." He and his men circled the church square, but seemed to have no intention of leaving.The sun shortens the shadows inch by inch.Ezio carefully ducked back into the hay, where he lay for a long time that seemed to have passed a century.He was full of impatience and just wanted to leave quickly.On one occasion, Vieri passed so close that Ezio could even smell him, but Vieri finally annoyed and led his men away.Ezio patted his clothes clean, then walked quickly towards Cristina's house, praying that he would not alarm her family.

The mansion was still quiet, but Ezio guessed that the servants were probably lighting a fire in the back kitchen.He knew which window was in Christina's room, and threw a handful of pebbles at the shutter.The sound was deafening to his ears, and he could only wait in fear.Then the shutters opened and she appeared on the balcony.He looked up at her, only to see that her pajamas showed off her graceful curves.His body felt hot all of a sudden.

"Who is it?" she called softly.

He stepped back so she could see him. "it's me!"

Christina sighed, but her tone was not unpleasant. "Ezio! I should have known it would be you."

"Can I come up, my little dove?"

She looked back before replying in a low voice, "Okay. But only for a little while."

"A little while is enough."

She grinned. "yes?"

He was a little confused. "No—sorry—that's not what I meant! I'm going to show you…" He glanced around to make sure the street was still empty.Then he grabbed the big iron ring used to tie the horse on the gray stone wall of the house, found a relatively convenient support point on the rough stone wall, and quickly climbed up.But in the blink of an eye, he climbed over the balcony railing and hugged her in his arms.

"Oh, Ezio!" she sighed as they kissed. "Look at your head. What did you do this time?"

"It's nothing. Just a scrape," Ezio hesitated, then smiled. "Since I've come up, I should be able to go in too?" he said softly.

"Where to go?"

He looked innocent. "To your bedroom, of course."

"Oh, maybe—if you really only need it for a little while..."

With their arms around each other, they walked through the double doors and into the warm light of Christina's room.

An hour later they awoke to the sunlight streaming into the room, the noise of carriages and pedestrians in the street, and worst of all, they heard the voice of Christina's father who had just opened the door.

"Cristina," he said, "time to get up, child! Your mentor will be--damn, what's going on at any moment? The son of a bitch!" Ezio gave Cristina a hasty but powerful kiss. "I think I should go," he said, grabbing his clothes and rushing to the window.He climbed down the wall and was dressed when Antonio Calfozi appeared on the balcony.Antonio turned pale with anger.

"Excuse me, sir," Ezio said.

"See how I forgive you!" cried Calfoss. "Guards! Guards! Catch this scoundrel! Cut off his head! And his balls!"

"As I said, I'm hugged..." Ezio began, but at that moment the door of the mansion opened, and the guards of the Calfozies rushed forward, swords in hand.Ezio, more or less clothed, galloped through the streets, dodging carriages and squeezing past passers-by, wealthy businessmen in stately black, merchants in brown and red, and hand-wrought. The civilians weaving tunics also accidentally encountered the church team, and almost knocked down the statue of the Virgin that the monks in black hooded cloaks were carrying.At last, after passing through many alleys and climbing over many walls, he stopped and listened.There was silence.Even the yelling and cursing that followed him all the way were gone.He was pretty sure that he had thrown off those guards long ago.

He only hoped that Mr. Culverzie would not recognize him.Christina will not betray him, he can be sure of this.In addition, she can also discuss with her father, because he dotes on her very much.It immediately occurred to Ezio that, even if Calfozie found out the truth, he would not be too bad a candidate.My father ran one of the biggest banks in town, and someday they might be bigger than the Patsys, or even—who said it couldn't be? —Beyond the Medicis.

He walked through the back streets and alleys and returned home.Federico was the first to greet him. He looked at him with a serious face, shaking his head as if with an ominous omen. "You're in big trouble this time," he said, "don't say I didn't warn you."

(End of this chapter)