Farnese. (Francesco Pazzi x Reader)

Chapter Five

The Palazzo Medici, Florence.

***

Y/N tossed and turned in bed, unable to rest. It must have been in the very early hours of the morning, because the sky was already beginning to turn from black to navy blue outside her window, and she swore she could see candlelight from her window. 

Unable to sleep, she left her own bed and went next door to Leo's. He was asleep, the covers wrapped tightly around him in his large mattress. Y/N gently lifted the covers and began to settle next to him, automatically calmed by the presence of her brother.

She felt the mattress stir slightly, "Leaf? That you?" Her brother's hoarse voice whispered. 

"Yeah."

"Can't sleep?" He was turning over to face her now, slowly beginning to wake up. Y/N hadn't intended him to, but he tended to be protective and often overly concerned with her wellbeing.

Y/N shook her head, "No. Can I tell you a secret?" 

Leo nodded, pulling a hand through his shaggy copper-brown hair as he looked to his little sitter -- who in his eyes would forever be a little girl, rather than the mighty warrior she often presented herself as. "Yes."

"I met a man tonight, a very handsome man," She whispered with a conspiratorial look and a smile. 

"What's his name?" 

"I don't know his name -- he was a handsome stranger who I came across at the Vespucci dinner. He knew my name, though."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"What did he look like?" Leo was sitting up slightly now, intrigued by the conversation and trying to determine whether he should be nervous, excited, or upset about the news. 

"Tall, taller than Guiliano, with black hair, and sharp features. He's a nobleman, obviously."

"Did he have noticeable eye bags?" 

"Come to think of it, yes."

"It was Francesco Pazzi, nephew to Jacopo Pazzi. They own the Pazzi Bank, they're in the curia, etcetera, etcetera..."

"I've heard of Jacopo before... he's the one who voted against women being allowed to ride horses in the streets of the city."

"Exactly. Francesco and his younger brother aren't like that, from what I've heard. In fact, Guiliano and I have long suspected Bianca of having a secret courtship with Guglielmo Pazzi."

"Really?! Bianca -- she's a good girl!" Y/N whisper-yelled. 

"Yes, but Guglielmo is a good man. It's just poor luck that he's a Pazzi, and Lorenzo is... well, he's Lorenzo."

"Lorenzo wouldn't approve a love-match for Bianca?"

"No, unfortunately -- he's far too industrious. He is already planning a list of possible marital candidates for her to wed once Piero passes away."

"You wouldn't do that to me, would you?"

"Absolutely not -- mostly because you would assassinate me for it," Leo joked, poking her, "But Lorenzo doesn't follow view Bianca as his equal, as I do you."

"That's sad," Y/N commented, genuinely hurt on behalf of Bianca. 

"I agree, Bianca is a smart girl. She should be allowed to marry someone she loves, even if it's a Pazzi."

"If I fell in love with an Orsini, would that philosophy still apply?" The Orsini had been a major military enemy of their father for decades, and they had warred several times over. Ranuccio had lost many men to Orsini troops.