Wearing the red dress you had worn before your meeting with La Volpe, you sat on your bed. You stared at the clothes on your bed, wishing you could wear those rather than the dress. However, with your arm injured you couldn't do much, so you thought you might as well wear the dress.
Using some cloth you found around the brothel, you had made something to hold your arm in place so that you would not move it accidently. You looked down at your hands and sighed. Was I too mean to Teodora? Was what I said about my mother too mean? You physically shook the thoughts away. You would not take back what you had said. After all, nothing you had said was false. She never told you why you didn't see your father, she never told you what she did, she wasn't always there for you, and she never told you why Petruccio and his family were executed...
You stopped thinking of what she didn't do, as you remembered when Petruccio was executed.
*
"What are you doing here? You should not see this." She said softly but you didn't move.
"They were executed for treason." You said quietly, "He was my friend." You whimpered as a small tear made its way down your cheek. Your mother pulled you into a warm, almost comforting hug.
"I know, darling, I know." She said quietly as she smoothed your hair down.
*
She had comforted you then, and promised you that they would be avenged. Perhaps she didn't tell me as she thought I was too young. No, that could not be it. It was involved in her work, perhaps she didn't tell me to further distance me from her work?
You shook your head. This wasn't time to be thinking too much, you had somewhere to be. You picked up your cloak and attempted to wrap it around your shoulder, but to no avail. Without the use of your right arm, you couldn't tie it.
I will have to ask for help. You sighed at that thought. You didn't particularly like asking for help, as you felt as though you were bothering the person you asked. I will have to ask, I have no choice.
*
Having asked one of the girls – Emilia, you believed her name was – to tie your cloak, you headed for the door of the brothel. As you approached the door, you felt eyes on you. Turning, you locked eyes with Teodora. Hers showed no emotion. I should have never said those cruel things to her.
With a sigh, you opened the door of the brothel, and stepped out onto the street. There were multiple people walking along the street, including multiple children. As a group of them ran past you, shouting and laughing at each other, you smiled to yourself. Looking around at the people, your eyes skimmed over a man who seemed to be stood watching you, but when you looked back in an attempt to see for sure, he was gone.
Is somebody watching me? You wondered, though knew that wondering would gain you nothing. Were this another day, you would have searched for the man, but with your injury you knew that any efforts to do so would be futile. Perhaps if you mentioned it to Ezio he would see if he could find the man? I shouldn't bother Ezio with my troubles. Having not spoken to him in two years, you believed it may be seen as rude to just request he run errands for you.
Shaking your head, you made your way to the market.
*
You arrived at the market and looked around yourself for Ezio. Unable to see him, you made your way over to Gavino's stall.
"Ciao, Gavino!" You called over, pulling his attention from the letter he was reading.
"[Name]! What are you doing out of bed?" He asked, hurriedly putting the letter away and turning his attention to you. "You should be in bed resting!"
"I am fine, Gavino! The last thing I would want right now is to be shut away in my room. I came to meet with Ezio, have you seen him?" You asked, but at the mention of Ezio's name, his eyes darkened and his face fell into a scowl.
"I do not trust that man. You should not be with him." His bluntness shocked you. You knew that Gavino trusted few people, though to voice his distrust in such a way was unlike him.
"Gavino, I am sure that Ezio is not a danger to me." You said awkwardly, unsure of how to approach this situation.
"You are naïve, [Name]. It has already cost you a cut to the throat and an arrow to the shoulder, this time it may cost you more." You stared at him, eyes wide. Was he suggesting that Ezio would get you killed? He let out an audible sigh and shook his head. "He was here a while ago with some woman. I do not know why or what they were doing."
You were about to question further when a hand touched you good shoulder. Looking over you saw that the hand belonged to Ezio.
"Ah, Ezio!" You said, giving him a smile. He returned the smile from under his hood. You were simply grateful for the distraction for this difficult conversation with Gavino.
"I did not mean to interrupt." He said politely, glancing between you and Gavino, whose gaze had somehow darkened even further.
"Oh it is no worry. We were done talking anyway. Arrivederci, Gavino." You said, to which Ezio nodded. You moved your left hand in a signal for Ezio to follow, and began to walk past Gavino's stall.
"What was that about?" Ezio asked curiously, however as you were about to answer, you heard Gavino yell.
"Guards! Guards! That man is a thief! Guards!" You heard him yell, and turned to see who he was referring to. However, to your surprise, he was pointing at Ezio.
"Gavino, what are you-..." You started to ask, eyes wide, but he quickly cut you off.
"Guards! Guards! Thief! Thief!" He yelled, and you saw guards come running around the corner. You quickly looked over at Ezio, who seemed less than amused.
"I will run and hide. I will see you in a moment." He grumbled, as he watched the guards run towards him.
"Be careful!" You called after him as he turned away from them and ran. Now angry, you turned on Gavino. It almost felt like he was a completely different person from the man you had known. "Why would you do that? He did not take anything from your stall!" You cried.
"It is for your own good." He said with no remorse in his voice, and you shook your head at him.
"You do not decide what is good for me or not!" You yelled at him, before giving a small scoff. "Addio, Gavino." You said, hoping he understood from that that you did not want to see him for a while.
With a sigh to yourself, you began to walk the way Ezio had run.
Where did he go? You thought to yourself as you wandered down the street. Why would Gavino do such a thing? It was like he was a stranger, no longer the man he had been. He had never done anything quite like this. Or has he? What do I really know about him?
You paused at that thought. What did you know? Not as much as you had thought. This is not the time, I must find Ezio.
As you walked along the street, pondering whether or not you should have left the market, a guard ran past you on your right. In his hurry, he barged Into your right arm, not only causing pain to shoot through your shoulder, but also causing you to lose your balance and fall over onto your right arm.
"Cazzo!" You cried out in pain as you attempted to get up, which you found to be difficult without the use of your right arm which was currently burning with pain.
"Are you alright?" A male voice asked as somebody helped you to your feet – while being very careful not to touch your right arm or shoulder, you noted.
"No, I am not alright!" You snapped as you finally got to your feet and held your right arm in an attempt to dull the pain. You looked at the man who had helped you. He wasn't an old man, but he must have been double your age. He was large, tall with broad shoulders, and he appeared to be muscled. He had long, dark brown hair which was tied at the back with a ribbon of some kind. He had dark brown eyes that stared down at you, while you pondered why he looked somewhat familiar. Sighing, you apologised. "I did not mean to snap, mi dispiace. I am having a... bad day. Grazie."
"It is no trouble, I wanted to make sure that you were alright." His voice sounded familiar, though you could not quite put your finger on it. He had an accent that you believed to be British. It was not unusual to hear British accents as some British people had made Italia their home.
"[Name]!" You heard another voice call you, and you turned to see Ezio approaching. He gave the man a curious look before looking back to you. "Is everything alright here?"
"Sì. I was knocked over and this man helped me up. Grazie again... erm..." You trailed off, not knowing the name of the man.
"William Richards." He said, filling in your silence.
"I am [Full Name]. Grazie, William."
"It is no trouble, [Name]. Take care." He said, giving you a small smiled before leaving, disappearing into the crowds of people. You turned to Ezio, who was frowning in the direction of William.
"What is it, Ezio?" You asked, curious.
"That man, he... looked familiar." He said slowly, though you felt he was not saying something.
"I thought so also."
He shook his head. "Let's go elsewhere, shall we?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WOOOOOOO! Chapter 10 is finally done! :D
Sorry about the wait :( I do hope to have chapter 11 uploaded before september, though!
This chapter probably would've been finished sooner but I started playing Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and it is SO FUN!!!!! :D I got bored with AC3 and couldn't finish it, but Black Flag is fun again! I love it :)
This story has had far more reads than I ever suspected, especially at only 9 chapters! Had a look at some of the stats too! Hello Americans! Hello Canadians! Hello whoever is reading this in Japan! HELLO EVERYBODY READING THIS WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE WORLD! :D
(Seriously, I saw where people were reading this and freaked out! I'M SO HAPPY! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! <3 )
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Vote/Comment/Fan!
You guys ROCK! <3