The Art of Power and Love ( A Medici Masters of Florence the Magnificent fanfic)

Chapter 21

"How did it go?".
"Better than I deserved" Ginevra grabbed his arm " But Giacomo, you have to help me. About Pazzi's menace. I can't stay here. I must go to their palace and check if Jacopo has truly kidnapped.. my father".
"Are you completely out of your mind? Pazzi wanted to blackmail you. It's clearly a trap!".
"No. He knew too much. Giacomo, someone must have betrayed me. How could Pazzi know so much about me? You don't even know the things he knows. And the only explaination is that he truly kidnapped him. But I also need to know who betrayed me. There must be a spy here. Someone is spying us".
He frowned "Who? I don't know the things he knows, then who does?".
"Leonardo".
That name shocked her as soon as she pronounced it. But thinking about him made it look absurd. Leonardo and his attemps to make weird devices work.
He had no reason to betray her, not even for money.
"But I trust him" she added "I know he can't do that. He has nothing to do with the Pazzi".
"I won't trust him if I were you" he mumbled perplexed.
"I know he's extravagant. And that he doesn't like the Medici that much. But he owes everything to them. He can't betray them. Nor me".
"Then who?".
The woman bit her bottom lip nervously, then froze at the realization "I have only one person in mind".
Some noises made them wince.
Giuliano appeared from a back door, his face showing how ignorant he was of all the tragedies that happened and were happening.
"Hey guys" he said with a smile, not surprised to catch them whispering in the dark.
"How are you?" Ginevra asked, noticing he still had a limp.
"I've never been better. Goodnight beautiful" Giuliano caressed her face then left for his room.
"At least someone will surely have a good night tonight" Giacomo commented bitterly when he and the woman were alone again.
"You can go to sleep. I'm sorry for bothering you. You are not involved in this" she said tiredly moving towards the back doors.
"I'm not sleepy, not when I know you're so troubled. What do you have in mind?".
She took out an old cloak from a cabinet to cover her shoulders and some carbon from a dead fireplace and used it to disguise her face.
"I need answers".

The night Florence was deserted. They were just like two shadows moving fast in the streets.
"Do you think it was the impostor?" Giacomo asked "He's man of the church.. The church is allied with the Pazzi...".
"No, I don't think he knows that much. It's been a lot he doesn't come here, you said that".
"Yeah, he only comes for big festivities like Christmas, few times he visited in the summer villas of the Medici. And you made sure you were far away from him...".
"Exactly" she interrupted him "I don't think it was him. Well, not directly".
"Where are we going anyway?" Giacomo tried to stop her, but she hurried.
Ginevra reached the workshop of a blacksmith and forced the door without making loud noises.
"What are you doing?" Giacomo exclaimed shocked.
"Shh! Stay out if you can't stay quiet".
"The man who was ruined by the impostor?" Giacomo realized "A spy? And it's my fault".
"Shut up" Ginevra insisted sneaking silently inside, using only the dim moonlight to orientate inside.
She pondered every step and moved to the backdoor, reaching the private rooms.
It was months that she didn't speak to Federico, due to the many tragedies and problems that happened, but she believed that their deal was still valid. She realized he could have concluded that she was gone or forgot the deal, so he became a spy for the best buyers. The Pazzi.
Ginevra quietly opened a door and found her target, lying on a poor bed on a corner.
Giacomo tapped her shoulder making her sign to be careful. Instead she grabbed his sword from him belt and stepped inside before he could stop her.
He followed her closing the door behind, but he gasped when he realized her intention.
"Hey, stop, no!" Giacomo hissed, but the sword already fell on the man's neck. The noise woke him fully up and he shoved the sword away, at the same took an iron stick from under the bed to defend himself when Ginevra tried to menace him with the sword again.
Iron met iron and the two started duelling, while Giacomo was with no weapon and tried to help Ginevra. She fought passionately using her advantage, but also Federico was skilled and in the end he took the sword away from her hand and stopped her by placing it against her neck.
Ginevra was in an uncomfortable position, pressed against the bed with the strong man blocking every chance of rebelling and a heavy hand pressing on her chest.
"Please, don't" Giacomo begged, but Federico pressed the sword more on her skin to make him retreat.
"Is this the way to wake me up?" Federico complained staring at a panting Ginevra who felt the sword digging into her skin at every deep breath she had to take.
"Why?" He asked her "I thought we had a deal! You needed my help!".
"It's a misunderstanding. Please, let her go" Giacomo begged.
"Who are you? Her brother?" Federico snapped at him.
"No. Let her go. She can't harm you now".
"Well she wanted to cut my throat in my sleep, I think she still wants me dead" he hissed.
"I don't want you dead" she complained "I want you to confess".
"Confess what?".
"That you're a spy".
Federico scoffed at her "I'm sorry?".
"Told you it was a misunderstanding" Giacomo sighed.
"A spy?".
"Of the Pazzi. Are you not?" Ginevra insisted.
"I'm not a spy!" Federico barked.
Noises of steps alarmed them, then someone knocked on the door. Ginevra froze glancing at a terrified Giacomo. They were trapped.
"Federico, are you alright?" Someone asked behind the door.
"Yeah, fine!" Federico shouted "Just some bloody rats. I'm sorry for waking you up".
Ginevra stared at him in disbelief, while he moved a little to reach the door and lock it.
Giacomo sighed with relief "Thank you".
Although they were still trapped there.
"I'm not a spy" Federico hissed to the woman "You wanted to kill me when I'm innocent? You came to meet you, you persuaded me to help you".
"You don't understand. It's an urgent business. She is desperate. I'm sorry I couldn't stop her before she attacked you" Giacomo explained.
"It makes no sense, Giacomo" Ginevra complained "How could they know if they didn't spy me? Who could have spied me?".
Federico lowered a bit the sword from her neck, but didn't let her go.
"I don't know" Giacomo replied "But we will find and help your father. No matter what".
"What if they already harmed him?" She said softly with sorrow and fear, sitting up.
"They want to blackmail you using him. I don't think they hurt him yet" Giacomo replied patiently.
"Guys what you talking about? Why I'm involved into this?" Federico complained.
"Just a mistake. I hope you can forget about it" Giacomo took his sword from his hand and hanged it back on his belt.
"Forget? She almost killed me! A woman assaulted me and wanted to kill me in my sleep!".
"How can you be so skilled?" She asked him with suspect "I didn't want to hurt you, but you fought back... Like a spy or a murderer would do".
"What's wrong with being able to protect myself? If a poor man like me isn't able to use a sword, he won't survive long".
"I agree with you. I believed the same when I was just a stableman" Giacomo said.
"What are you now?".
"I realized that I could earn better by using my skills with swords".
Federico looked furiously at the woman "Then why didn't you ask him to kill the priest?".
"He's not thirty of revenge as we are. He didn't lost everything because of that impostor".
"But now you lost also your father, if I got it right? And it's not because of him. You mentioned Pazzi".
"Forget about it" she said standing up and patting her clothes, then nodded to Giacomo "I was wrong coming here and make this mess. I just can't understand who betrayed me".
"We'll figure it out, don't worry".
Federico unlocked the door.
"I'm sorry. I really am" she said to him feeling humiliated again "I swear I'll add money to your reward, if you still want to help me. You'll be able to get start a better life, get a home, buy a wife... Well whatever you want".
He smirked at her confused words "Well, if that's so, we'll talk again about it".
"Really?" She exclaimed with surprise.
"Really. Now goodnight" Federico said impatiently "Well, it's almost dawn. And it's Easter. So happy Easter".
"Same to you" Giacomo replied, dragging the woman away.
She looked back, crossing Federico's unreadable eyes, but they didn't look like a spy's eyes. And she cursed herself for making so many mistakes in a single night.
"We need some sleep, Ginevra. Or we're not gonna make it tomorrow. And we need to be fully awake in the morning" Giacomo said leading her back into the Medici palace.
"Tomorrow you'll meet your twin brother" she said, realizing that she had focused too much on herself to remember to tell him that big news.
Giacomo swallowed hard "Oh well... I guess it'll be interesting" he kissed her forehead "Take some rest, okay? You are exhausted. Stop thinking and leave the problems for tomorrow".
She nodded "Thank you, for everything".
He smiled at her "We are a team, like a family. There's no need to thank me".

~~~
Author's note

This is the night between Saturday 25th April and Sunday 26th April 1478.
Well if you know Lorenzo the Magnificent's story, then you can imagine what's about to happen 😉