xxix λ retirement

[assemblatore]

[Needless to say, Ezio Auditore did not expect to be in this place. No one ever does; if you could, it wouldn't be Paradisa, would it?

And Ezio does not go quietly. Instead, he's the one with an iron fire poker, stalking through the halls with as much haste as he can. His old body make it difficult, but adrenaline has a way of providing one with the strength.

He's on edge. He doesn't know what to make of this strange new place, or how he got here. Is he dead? Did Shao Jun's pursuers get the best of him? And –– most important of all –– is his family alright?

And there's his voice, still heavily accented but much older, much more gravelly:]


Come out, you dogs, and greet me! Or are you too cowardly to face an old man?

Comments

[molotov]

I do not think you did.

[assemblatore]

That is too bad.

[molotov]

Da. It was a stupid fight to begin with.

[assemblatore]

I would think most of the fights I had as a young man were that way.

[molotov]

The fight was probably for the best, too.

[assemblatore]

Why was that?

[molotov]

Because you were leading her on, even if you did not mean to.

[assemblatore]

Who?

[molotov]

Lucrezia.

[assemblatore]

[Stunned pause]

Lucrezia? Lucrezia Borgia?

[molotov]

She is the only one I know.

[assemblatore]

Why would I have led her on?

[molotov]

I do not think you meant to. But she was a young woman, easily enamored, and you were a handsome, charming man who did not know when to stop flirting.

[assemblatore]

No, why would I flirt with Lucrezia to begin with?

[He's not stupid, he knows why he did it, but it still sounds inexcusable.]

Even barring the politics of our families, that is unacceptable.

[molotov]

It is not exactly an issue to take up with me, Ezio. I tried for months to make you stay away from her.

[assemblatore]

And I thank you for that, but clearly it was not enough to break my stubborn will.

I should have known better.

[molotov]

There is very little that is enough to break your will. Even now, I would suspect.

[assemblatore]

True, but still.

[Sigh.]

What does she know?

[molotov]

As far as I am aware? Nothing. She thinks you are a banker.

[assemblatore]

[Deadpan]

A... banker?

[molotov]

Well, that is what you told her.

[assemblatore]

I have never been a banker, and I know little of finances... Claudia does all of that for me. Why would I choose such a stupid lie?

[molotov]

I do not know. Aren't you from a banking family?

[assemblatore]

Yes, but the Auditore bank died with my father.

[molotov]

Well, you were lying to her. Are lying to her, still. So she does not know that.