Affair with the Borgia ch 4.1

O days of quietness and deep content,
That steal as gently and serenely by
As your own sunshine that at noon doth lie
In plentitude of golden ravishment
O'er every little spot that late was lent
To morning's shadows fairer livery
Lover ne'er wore in fondest lady's eye
Than that which o'er the earth your sunshine sent.

In each day's beauty but a transient bliss,
A moment felt, then like a sweet note gone?
Rather 'tis like a wave that flooding pours
O'er all te heart a tide of happiness
And ebbing leaves along our being's shores
Strange tokens from immensities unknown.

Angioletta Pantaleone closed her journal and placed it on her lap. The wind blew against her hair bringing the smell of the saltwater sea. The sun was at its highest and sea gulls flew gallantly in the blue skies. Her ladies-in-waiting sat comfortably under the ceratonia trees preparing the blanket and the foods for the picnic.

She glanced up at the sky and wondered about her friends that she left those years ago.
Her ladies called to her and she promptly stood up from the ground and walked to them.
Sardinia had its share of ancient history much like Rome but the only difference was that Sardinia was an island and Rome was a city.

Angela had learned that the Kingdom of Sardinia has remained Spanish for approximately four hundred years thanks to the history books provided by the tutors. Eventually she had to learn all of its cultures including that of French to make her the perfect noblewoman.
Her pet fox Caligula was running down the slopes of Monte Ortobene enjoying the fresh country air and the upcoming winter season.

He brushed his fur along the way and lied down on his back to let the sun shine down on him. Suddenly his ears twitched when he heard a strange noise.
Caligula rolled to his belly and lay flat on the ground to hide himself. He slowly backed away when he saw something huge approaching. It looked like one of those dogs that used to chase him around when he was a little kit. Caligula held back a bark and slowly turned away to return to his mistress but a growl made him stop.

The hunting dog was now right in front of him growling madly. Caligula backed away but gave an alarm bark on instinct. The dog barked back warning him to give in but a fox was cunning and never gives up. He growled at him for the last time then pounced.
Caligula sank his teeth into the dog's snout and the dog yelped in pain trying to shake the creature off him.

"Ferdinand! Hold him still!"
Angela jumped a bit when she heard a strange bark. She and her ladies looked at the hills and saw nothing else.
"What a strange sound that was," Katherine said.
"Do you know what that was Señora Angela?"Dolores asked. Their mistress stood up from the blanket and went over to the slope. They heard another sound this time it was different.
It sounded like an animal dying. Angela knew what that sound was and she suddenly became worried.

Caligula screamed and barked as he ran up the rocky terrain away from the hunter and dog. He squeezed in between rocks hoping to lose them. He sniffed the air and he found the right trail where his mistress was. The little fox used all of his strength and managed to be in his territory.

Angela turned her head to the barking and she saw Caligula running towards her.
"Caligula! Where have you been?" Angela said and the fox jumped into her arms. He was exhausted but he was glad to be back in her arms where he was safe.
The girls saw someone coming up their slope. It was a young man probably seventeen or eighteen carrying a mace of some sort and a heavily panting dog was beside him.
"Señora! Please let go of the fox! It'll bite you!" the young man said. His dog barked as well.

Soon a smile crept up Angela's face and her ladies were giggling.
"Forgive me, but Caligula isn't a wild fox, not anymore. He is my pet." Angela told him. The young man stared at her in confusion. Angela merely smiled and a lady approached to take Caligula from her.

"You must be famished from all the hunting, my girls have prepared some tea and biscuits do you want some?" she asked.
The young man shook his head and then left in a rush. The other girls huffed and commented how rude he was for leaving without saying goodbye.
Caligula rested on the soft cottony blanket and ate some bread with a little bit of meat and vegetables. Angela picked some grapes from the fruit bowl and ate quietly. It's been four years since she left Roma and all its glory.

Before and after her departure she had written over many poems and stories. Most of her tutors call it a great skill while her sister Arianna said it was a talent handed down from their mother to their mother's mother.
She told these stories to the children living in the town and often told biblical stories to them. Now that it was autumn and the trees began to show their colors, Arianna thought it was time for her sister to be a candidate of marriage.

She would be turning eighteen this September twenty third and that would mean she was to find a suitable man to become her husband. Arianna herself had regretted ever marrying at a late age of 34 and now she has only one child, a daughter, to continue her family's name.
After the picnic, Angela went back to her sister's villa that had the beautiful view of the town below.
The whole villa was made of sandstone and marble just like their palazzo. A lot of servants were paid to cook, clean and pamper everything much to Arianna's delight.
Angela viewed her sister as a perfectionist and sometimes a disturbance whenever she wanted peace and quiet. Though there were often times they were discussing very personal things to each other and gossiping about the other noblewomen was a plus.

At last she had reached the glorious villa. A maid servant took the basket and blanket from Katherine and Dolores. Angela removed her gloves and placed it in a chest provided by one of the servants.
"Is my sister still here?" Angela asked them,
"No Señora, she went out as soon as you left." The maid replied.
"What about letters for me?"
"They're in your room as you ordered"

Angela dismissed all of them and went to her bedroom chambers to rest. Caligula followed her swiftly. The chambers wee painted white with gold trimmings and floral designs.
She had a share of view of the sea and the mountain slope. It was a nature she had truly wished for but, without her friends it was merely a painting for her.
Caligula jumped up and landed on Angela's desk neatly and watched his mistress undress her gown and wore only her chemise and kirtle.

She sat down in front of her desk and saw the gathered letters by the candle. She opened them one by one and read the partial stories of her friends' life.
Patrizio was to help in Giovanni's army and be an assistant to his father at the bank. Giovanni Borgia was getting married Maria Enriquez de Luna, the wife of his deceased older half-brother. Angela frowned a bit because in the last few months of their letter sending, Carlotta had revealed to her that she had hidden her feelings for Giovanni Borgia for a very long time.

Angela had hoped that this news of marriage wouldn't break her fragile heart to pieces. Fiorenza wrote that she was to marry someone from the house of Orsini and that she would soon expect her first child.
The young girl felt a pang in her heart just by reading these letters. Caligula tilted his head when he saw his mistress' shoulders shuddering. He came near her and saw tears trickling down her face. Caligula whimpered and licked the tears away.
"I'm alright Caligula, I just have something in my eye." Angela said and patted her fox's head.
She later leaned into her desk and cried the whole afternoon.

Arianna returned to her villa with little Caterina by her side. The young girl was becoming more energetic everyday. She removed her coat and gloves and asked where her sister was.
"She has just returned from the picnic, shall call her for you?" the servant said
"There's no need"
Arianna walked to Angela's room and knocked once when there was no reply she opened the door herself and entered without permission.
"Angela, Angela dear are you there?"

She walked further into the chambers and she saw Angela sleeping on the bed with some of the letters crumpled up. Arianna neared her and carefully took one and smoothed it out.
The letter said about Cesare Borgia having a sexual relationship with his own sister Lucrezia Borgia and that rumors were spreading that Lucrezia was pregnant with Cesare's child.

Arianna sighed deeply and took all the letters.
"Sometimes Angela, you can never trust people easily these days. I know your love for Cesare ever since you two shared the same nursery every summer. Such a pity that father had learned to hate the Borgias soon after mother passed away."

Arianna neatly folded the letters and placed them in a drawer just beside the bed. She kissed her sister lightly on the forehead and walked out of the room. She told the maids to help Angela out of her kirtle and chemise without waking her up as well as prepare dinner for her.

She sat in front of her vanity table and thought hard of something to make her sister happy both inside and out. For four years all she kept was a fake smile on her face and every night she could hear her weep quietly while her friends were progressing.
She knew she had missed her friends much like her when she was told to marry a man ten years older than her. Arianna sighed and massaged her aching neck. Her daughter Caterina was probably sent to her nursery to play.

Then an idea struck her but it would most likely result in a scolding from their father. But Arianna was thick-headed much like all her siblings. She gathered up her wits and planned for it by tomorrow morning.

Carlotta ran her hand through her brown locks as she walked down the lane towards the markets to buy some herbs for her sick mother. It was only some fevers but she was worried what might happen to her.

She greeted a few familiar faces and waved to the neighbors in her rione. She was now walking up the bridge and saw a group of horsemen passing through the Leonine City. Carlotta saw who was leading them. Giovanni Borgia, now the second Duke of Gandia. He gleamed with pride and happiness as he trudged down the path bearing the name of his kingdom while Carlotta stood there watching him leave the city.

She waited for the parade to leave and once it did, she went to the market to buy her mother's medicinal herbs. Come to think of it, her mother was a doctor yet she couldn't heal herself from a simple illness.
Carlotta bought the items and returned home swiftly. Adone honked by the doorway when she came home, she smiled and patted his head.

Carlotta went up the staircase and into her mother's bedroom where the smell of burnt leaves still lingered. She went to the counter to begin crushing the herbs with a pestle and mortar and mixed some of the concoctions her mother made.
After which she made a drink out of them and poured it into a small cup.
Carlotta sat beside her mother's bed and looked down at her. Maria had gone pale over the weeks and she hasn't recovered from her fever yet.

"Mamma, wake up. It's me Carlotta" she whispered quietly.
Maria opened her eyes a bit and shifted her gaze to her daughter. She smiled weakly and slowly sat up to rest against the headboard. Carlotta fluffed the pillows for her and gave her the medicine. At first Maria refused but since her daughter insisted, she drank it.

Maria sighed and looked at Carlotta again. She wanted to tell her, she wanted to tell her daughter so badly but she didn't have the strength to do so. Instead Maria told her to fetch her journal in the private room. Carlotta did so and came back to find her mother sleeping.
"Mamma, here it is" she said but then something was wrong, her mother wasn't moving at all. Carlotta tried again but nothing was happening.
"Mamma…" she whimpered then Maria's eyes suddenly flew open
"Oh what took you so long?" Maria said taking the journal from Carlotta's hands, the girl was surprised and shocked at the same time.
Maria ignored it and flipped through the pages of her notebook, there were so many things written in that small notebook that might bring about chaos if ever it is seen by evil. She sighed again and closed it.

"Carlotta, when I die I want you to burn this notebook, I want to make sure you destroy everything that is in this notebook do you hear?" Maria said sternly. Carlotta nodded without questioning but still doubts her mother's words. The old woman nodded and waved her hand at her daughter, Carlotta stood up and left her mother in the bedroom.

She returned to her room which was painted in a dark orange with gold veins. Her bed rested near the window while a door leading to her closet was just next to her bedroom door.
Adone came inside waddling and flapping his wings, he was followed by the maid's cat Teodoro and scared him away afterward. Carlotta placed the journal on her desk and stared at it for a while. What was inside that made her mother so scared to reveal about? What ever it was Carlotta hoped that someday she'll know.

She sat on her bed and thought of her friends who were doing their jobs on their own in Roma. She was invited to her wedding in December but refused because she had to take care of her mother. Fiorenza was frustrated over the matter.
"Go ahead fine! I just hope you'll regret it! Like you and the rest of your little party!"
Carlotta chuckled at Fiorenza's words and looked up at her ceiling. At sunset the place usually bursts with brightness that it was a pretty thing to see.

Angela had been in her room once when she fell into the Tiber river and needed extra clothing. Carlotta instantly brought her to her house in order to change from her wet clothes. Since then they've been closer than ever.
She bit her lip when a thought came to her, Angela hasn't replied to her letters yet. Maybe it was delayed or something. She turned around and looked at the city of Roma from her window.

Everything looked so peaceful from a distance but once you get into things, you'll be sure you wish you never learned about its secrets.

Evening came upon the city and its inhabitants. Carlotta now sat in front of her vanity table brushing her hair while Adone was sleeping in his basket full of grass and twigs. She was about to blow her candle out when she heard a noise against her other window. She stood up and walked over to it. She opened it and saw someone rather familiar below.

"Giovanni! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on a boat back to Gandia by now!" Carlotta exclaimed at the Borgia below.
Giovanni smiled smugly and then proceeded to climb up the old building. Carlotta hesitated and looked back to see Adone waking up, she ushered the goose out of her room and locked the door. Giovanni came through the window, his boots pounding on the hardwood floor very loudly.

Carlotta sighed at him and crossed her arms.
"What are you doing here Giovanni?" she asked him. Giovanni merely shrugged and took his weapons off. He placed them on the desk almost covering the notebook from sight.
"I'm merely here to visit my figlia, is that a problem?" Giovanni said and unbuckled the belt that held his doublet and vest. Carlotta rolled her eyes and turned around.
    
"Si it is. What if they find out about us Giovanni? I mean you're married and this… this can't be right." Carlotta said however she felt a warm hand land on her shoulder. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Giovanni is all his glory.
She blushed and looked away from him. Giovanni smirked and began to trace feather-like kisses against her neck. Carlotta shuddered and suddenly felt weak.

"If they find out about us then I don't care. Besides my wife doesn't even know I am here." Giovanni said smirking and his hands were now lowering Carlotta's nightgown. This was wrong. This was so wrong. She wasn't this type of girl, she wouldn't allow this. Dio, even her mother wouldn't allow this.
"B-but your troops-!"
"They're out there with their own women and I have mine right here" Carlotta gasped when her gown was now on the floor pooling around her feet. Giovanni stepped back and admired the view.

"Now turn around and kiss me" he said and Carlotta gradually did.