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

Chapter 28 - Finale

It seemed an endless winter, just as their stay in Naples.
Ginevra looked out from a window while the rain was turning dark the landscape outside.
She only saw grey and black as colours of the world outside. All the colours were gathered in the parties that shook the regal palace.
Ginevra looked down at her stranger dress, a new one for that night, missing the old, simple dress that she was used to wore as servant for years.
Lorenzo already joined the king to give the start to the celebrations.
She decided to linger as much as possible, wishing to use her time in better ways.
"What happened? It's been days that you're so silent and I can't understand why. What did he do to you?" Federico asked catching her by surprise at her back.
"He did nothing" she frowned "I'm just... tired of this place".
"We all are, but we were used to be more positive. What changed now?" He insisted stopping in front of her.
"Nothing changed. Maybe you should change some of your habits. Going out there and enjoying life. I think you've just told me that my company turned boring" she snapped.
He narrowed his eyes shaking his head "I can't believe you're saying that. I know you're smarter than you want to appear. All I want is for you to be a bit more honest".
She gaped offended "What is it that you mean? Who do you think you are to ask me to be open to you, to be a more enjoyable company?".
"You're not yourself. Just tell me what's going on and we can fix it together".
"Fix it together?" She exclaimed "First fix yourself. And be honest".
He scoffed repeating "Be honest".
She rolled her eyes and moved to walk away, but he grabbed her arm to stop her.
"It's useless keeping turning around it so let's be honest this time. I didn't kiss you then just because I was scared. I meant it. Really".
At those words she held her breath, eyeing him with worry.
He swallowed saying suddenly shyly "I didn't want it to be... that rough. But I remember you kissed me back and that gave me the strength to be successful in my mission. But I wanted that kiss to never end".
He realized he was still holding her, so he opened his hand and let her go.
Ginevra sighed and walked away, her head spinning in confusion.
She stopped behind a corner to catch her breath and try to control the heat that she felt in her body. The memory that Federico resurrected started haunting her, together with the guilt for their crime, conspiring for the death of an impostor.

She couldn't afford to look back at her past. She persuaded herself to hurry and join the celebrations.
The sound of the pouring rain outside was covered by the loud noises and music from the new party.
Spring seemed far from coming.
Ginevra felt herself related to that weather. She felt cold rain into her heart and soul.

She spotted Federico on her way to the halls. He was talking to another man, a guard of the king, and didn't notice her.
She had in mind many sentences to scold him and make him forget the kiss he stole from her, but she needed him to be alone to tell them. Nobody else had to know about that kiss.
His confession kept making her deeply uncomfortable. She hoped that the party would wash that feeling away, but she needed to stay away from him.
The guard pulled Federico towards the staircase to the dungeons, ignoring the guest's reluctance.
Ginevra lingered for a moment, then decided to follow them, to make sure he wasn't throwing himself into troubles.
She heard the echoes of their argument, but couldn't understand the reason.
It was a dark and humid side of the dungeons. When the two men reached the bottom of the stairs, the guard pulled out a dagger and attacked Federico.
Ginevra let out a scream while Federico turned in time to stop the dagger with his arm and punched the guard in the face making him fall unconscious.
Other men came out from dark corners and attacked him.
With one arm wounded, Federico grabbed the dagger with which he had been attacked and used it to try to defend himself. The new men had swords and he alone had little chance to fight back, so he moved away to look for a way to escape.
Ginevra cried for help but she doubted someone could come to help. She pulled out the dagger she kept under her dress and ran towards Federico, trying to stab the stranger who was about to hit him with his sword.
The man noticed her and moved the sword against her, but Federico kicked him making him fall to the ground. Then he took the dagger from the woman's hand and stabbed the man on his leg.
Ginevra was shocked but Federico took control of the situation and took her by her hand pulling her towards a dark corridor, rushing before the attackers would recover and chase them.
'Wait!" Ginevra cried trying to stop "Lorenzo?".
"We can't go back. We don't know what happened. He might...".
The idea shocked her even more and he cursed himself, correcting "He will be fine. But we can't warn him if we die here and now! So let's run!".
Ginevra heard some noises behind them, so she obeyed.
Federico found a small backdoor and opened it by violently throwing himself against it.
The heavy rain welcomed them.
The darkness was almost total and they soon were disorientated.
Federico suddenly stopped cursing and pulled the woman towards him, pressing his lips against hers for a desperate kiss.
"God help us please" he murmured pressing his forehead against hers "Where do we go now?".
Ginevra was so shocked she felt unable to think.
"We are not safe out here. Let's try to sneak inside and get Lorenzo".
Federico disagreed, but she pulled towards the main entrance of the palace until he surrendered.
They abruptly stopped running when they noticed anorher group of guards coming right from the palace
"Hey!" A menacing voice barked.
Federico pulled Ginevra back, but other men were coming from all directions.
So he tried to shield her with his body while the guards ran to them.
Federico raised his hands in sigh of surrender
"Don't hurt her, please. She's innocent" he begged placing himself in front of the woman.
Ginevra looked back and recognized the man who wanted to kill him running to them and pulled Federico's clothes, knowing they had no way out.
But when she looked to the new group of guards she recognized the prince leading them.
Prince Federigo spotted the other man coming from hw opposite side and cried "Take him!".
The man tried to run away, but soon the guards caught him.
Frozen, Federico waited as the prince approached them.
"Are you hurt?" The prince asked with a hard face.
"Yes. Please don't hurt her" Federico begged again.
"We don't want to hurt any of you. We have nothing to do with this" the prince Federigo said coldly, then moved to checked the prisoner.
From the palace another group of men rushed, with other many guards.
Amongst them there was the king, accompanied by Lorenzo.
"What the hell happened?" The king shouted uncaring of the pouring rain that was wasting his expensive clothes.
Ginevra was totally confused, but when she spotted the only face she wanted to see, she instinctively moved towards him.
"Lorenzo" she gasped in despair.
"Ginevra!" He cried surprised and rushed to take her into his arms "What does this mean?".
"Rebels. They sneaked into the palace" the prince Federigo explained pointing to the prisoner "They attacked our guests".
"This is blasphemous" the king said disgusted, turning to Lorenzo "My dear friend, I swear I am not involved. I feel backstabbed in my own house. Please, to prove my loyalty, let me punish this criminal in front of you".
"No" Lorenzo said firmly "I don't want to see blood anymore. Just lock him into your prisons. Then do whatever you want with him".
"As you wish" the king simply replied, but his eyes betrayed that he had in mind to expand his collection of mummies.
Lorenzo kept Ginevra into his arms and stepped closer to Federico, patting a hand on his shoulder and saying "Thank you".
Federico just nodded.
"You're wounded" Lorenzo noticed his bleeding arm.
"Let my best doctors take care of him" the king offered waving to his guards.
"No!" Federico complained stepping away from the men who wanted to catch him "I won't leave without them".
"Let him go" Lorenzo cut off "We will go back into the palace only if you swear that we will be protected, Ferrante".
"You have my word, my friend. I can't express how sorry I am for what happened".
Lorenzo didn't reply. His tight jaw and his eyes showed how angry he was.
"The victim should have been only me" he said in the end "Instead my guest was attacked. I can't forgive this. I swore to protect her" he glanced at Ginevra, who was shaking for the cold rain and the fear, then said coldly "We are leaving. Thank you for your hospitality in all these weeks, messer Ferrante, but I need to go back to Florence".
The king widened his eyes with surprise and worry "Leaving? How can I protect you if you leave? God knows how many menaces are out there. Trust me, I feel backstabbed just like you after what happened tonight. But I can let you go knowing how dangerous it is".
"I won't change my mind. Not this time".
The king looked troubled. He couldn't show himself defeated. His men were waiting for him to act as a king, not surrendering to a guest. A guest who had been spending all hid money to buy the people of Naples to his side.
"Alright" Ferrante said loudly in the end "These criminals wanted only one thing. War. So I know the perfect punishment for them. Peace!".
The people shouted enthusiastically, repeating he word peace for everyone to hear it.
The king and Lorenzo shook their hands and together walked back into the palace.
Lorenzo kept a protective arm around Ginevra's shoulders while Federico walked by her other side.
The maids hurried to bring them clean and dry clothes.