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Lucrezia Borgia

COURT Seelie
TITLE Treun Diplomat
OCCUPATION Diplomat
ABLE TO FAST-TRAVEL No
RESIDENCE IN 2,701 Treun
RESIDENCE IN 2,702 Treun

MAJOR EVENTS

HIGHLIGHT
Description [ ✖ ]

PLANS
Keeping power in Treun, mostly helping other shardbearers.

SUMMARY OF KNOWN DETAILS
Currently helping shardbearers end anti-shardbearer sentiment in Treun.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

SPRING IN 2,701 (Mar, Apr, May)

MARCH - Cesare come to Treun -planning a day for shardbearers give back to the people of Treun
APRIL 15 - Description
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SUMMER IN 2,701 (Jun, Jul, Aug)

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FALL IN 2,701 (Sept, Oct, Nov)

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WINTER IN 2,701/2,702 (Dec, Jan, Feb)

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SPRING IN 2,702 (Mar, Apr)

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( codes by whambam )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The entire day she cannot contain herself, practically vibrating whenever anyone approached her, thinking to herself, 'is he here, yet?' It was almost a let down when the servants passed her by. Finally she had to tell them that she was expecting someone, her brother. It causes a strange reaction. She is a Fortuna now, but she explains it is her birth brother; he has come to the Drabwurld.

Before dinner she sits in the drawing room, smoothing her dress over about a hundred times. She is far too nervous to do much any work, despite what she should be planning. Instead she fixates on the thought of seeing her older brother again. She feels more at home at the very idea.

She can hear a stir outside, rushing quickly to the window to watch him dismount. Her two personal guards see to him while she peeks through the white satin curtains, smiling at him the entire time. No one needs to announce him for in a moment she is already rushing out of the room and toward the main doors.]

Cesare!

[When Cesare catches sight of his sister, his smile is broad and unreserved. He moves towards her and holds his arms out wide, immediately pulling her into an embrace. Any time spent apart from his sister is difficult enough, but it has been long, too long since he laid his eyes on her, touched her, felt her in his arms. He breathes in the familiar floral scent of her perfume and it feels like home.]

It has been a while, Sis.

[He clasps her face in his hands and places a firm kiss to her cheek before looking at her, not letting go, keeping her close. Had it not been for the guards, he would not have been quite so restained.]

Hos is Treun treating you?

[It is hard not to clutch, to touch at him, when he so offers himself for a hug. She cannot pull herself away. It is him, real and truly. It is no trick, and it the man she knows. Her eyes briefly close when he wraps his arms around him.]

It is no Rome, but then perhaps that makes it safer for a Borgia. [She only separates to step back and view him in the same light. She doesn't pay mind to the guards. They are Spaniards after all, and it has been far too long since she has seen him.]

And you? How was the war? [She checks for any visible wounds though he seemed cavalier enough about bandaging his arm. It does not make her worry any less.]

[He laughs low and deep and slips his arms around her waist, giving her a squeeze.]

It was spectacular. [Truly, she has no idea quite how much he enjoyed it, how great a thrill it was to spill blood so ruthlessly. She is probably lucky that she has not seen him as such, with his eyes wide, his heart pounding and his teeth gritted, slicing through men he deemed equal in dignity but lesser in skill.

He dips his head down, playfully attempting to move into her line of sight as she looks him over.]

Are you looking for damage, Sis?

[She leads him into the grand estate, arm in arm with him. The smile cannot be tamed as she keeps her eyes upon him as they walk. He seems to have done well, and despite the fact they are on opposing sides, she is still proud of him as much as he is proud of her raise in rank.]

Cannot a sister ask after her dearest brother? [She raises her brows, though he clearly knows her well enough.]

I believe you if you say you are well, but I shall always worry. As sure as you have for me even if I was far from the line itself.

[Cesare pulls a wry smile and nods.]

Always.

[He doubts Lucrezia will ever understand quite how much he worries about her or how often he is concerned for her well being. Perhaps it is better that she doesn't know.

But it has been a long time since he has seen her and the distance has provided him with a necessity to close the gap, an urge to recommence what they had begun back in Rome. He has had...other outlets for such energy in the Drabwurld, yes. But Lucrezia is different. He would be lying if he said he did not long for her.

Once she leads him inside and they are rid of guards or onlookers, he moves and pulls the two of them together, his hand on her hip, pushing her against the wall as he smiles at her, his breathing slightly short. If only he knew that she has no idea of their past (or rather future) liaisons. ]

If you had any idea how much I missed you...

[Perhaps it is not much of a surprise, the way he rushes her to a secretive corner as she eagerly chirps on about the house itself. Hushed away behind great columns, she nearly misses his hand on her hip. It is intimate, but not alarming. They are close after all and such actions are not out of the realm of possibility.

His words and affections make her smile wider, touched at just how much he truly seems to mean those words.]

You have me here, brother. In the flesh. [She does not completely pick up on his connotation, but she does look into both eyes almost expecting some sort of explanation. There must be more to his words and actions, surely.]

[Her reaction strikes him as a little odd (in truth, he had half expected her to pull him in, lean up and kiss him there), but, although it's peculiar, he hasn't quite understood why she has acted as she has, nor has he understood the significance of it. Perhaps they aren't truly alone, he thinks. The two of them need some privacy before they can shed their clothes and share their secrets.

His eyes look over her face, taking her in, before he leans over to speak quietly in her ear.]

Can we be alone somewhere, Sis? And not interrupted?

[What he asks of her is not the strangest, but for a moment her brows crinkle as she looks back up at him. But something must be serious if he als for more privacy. She looks about them, peering around a column. None of the staff is around, and if he insists on it, she can take him to the den or her personal rooms.]

My rooms are just upstairs if you have need of them.

[But what would need more privacy than a small alcove? She looks more concerned for him. Is the war worse than she thinks?]

[Lucrezia looks too confused and it makes him concerned. His brow furrows and he grows serious, leaning in to speak with her quietly. His hand reaches up to cup her face, thumb tracing along her cheekbone.]

Is all well, Sis? You seem queer.

[Is she safe in this place? Or is she a hostage here, as she was back home? Something seems very off indeed.]

As good as it can be with you here now, [She answers truthfully. Lucrezia keeps herself close, one hand holding on to the open neck of his shirt.]

Tell me, is the war well? Are you safe? [Perhaps he has had to flee, and now he has someone out for him. If that is the case, she shall call for more guards, maybe leave the manor altogether.]

She sat high a top the stands in a section reserved for the Fortunas, chatting eagerly with some of her ladies. It was a sight to behold, and she cheered on those her family favored, though she knew very little of the contestants themselves. Still she wanted to follow suit of her adopted family. Knowing what it meant to politically favor someone could make or break a person. Coming far herself, the blonde girl still knew she had much to go.

As well as she liked her new family, that wasn't to say she spent the whole time with them either. Many times she would have her brother join her. Peering out at the pit before them, she wished to discuss what he knew.

"And that one there?" Lucrezia pointed to a young man. "With the black armor? What say you of him? One of my cousins has a large sum on him, but I think it is more her heart that guides her than her head."

But she cannot blame the girl, looking on to the very fit men. It was hard not to see the sea of potential before her. Who here could better her position?

Lucrezia could pretend to be a Fortuna all she wished. It did not bother him. He knew that a wolf did not stop being a wolf simply because it spent time with tamed dogs. Lucrezia was just as cunning and intelligent as she had always been. In fact, she seemed more cunning than he had thought back in Rome, when she was younger. Cesare couldn't quite tell if her time away from him had hardened her or if he had misremembered her youth. Either way, however, she was exceedingly sharp now and in some sense, her joining of the Fortunas was proof of that. In truth, it was helpful: the land of Drabwurld had different rules and different games from back in Rome. The teams and the enemies had changed. Cesare was not foolish enough to think that he and his sister did not need allies. However, that did not mean that he had to be exceptionally nice about them.

He spent time with them, being as courteous and polite as one would expect, but never any more than that. He never forgot that they were strangers and not of his blood. As such, he became the wry addition to the group, tacked on to the end of it more out of obligation as Lucrezia's brother than of any fondness for his company. Cesare was perfectly fine with that.

He watched the man before them, or rather the boy: he looked young. His hair was long, his jaw was pointed and his limbs were lithe, his muscles not having quite grown into his body just yet. He was very handsome, if you were interested in an androgynous, elfin type of beauty. Cesare was not.

"She is very beautiful," he says with a smirk.

She shifted to lean in closer to him, as they once did often to gossip to one another. It seemed only natural, even here when so much was different. Her shoulder pressed into his arm as she smiled up at him, her nose crinkling at his words. "You are unkind, Cesare," Lucrezia said as her eyes turned back to the boy.

"He'll become a man someday, one would hope." But she did not think he would fair all that well in the tourney. "Then who would you wager?"

Cesare did not pull back when his sister leaned in. He did so half because he didn't want to and half because he did not dare to. He feared the moment when one day Lucrezia would ask him why he was treating her differently and what had changed. As such he stood his ground, smiling, before looking out and on to the field, carefully surveying all the participants.

There was an older man, shorter than the younger boy from before, but stockier. He seemed quiet, keeping to himself as he readied himself for his fight. There was no flamboyance or show to his activities. It reminded Cesare of Micheletto. The man was clearly efficient.

Cesare leaned over, behind her to match her eye level, and took her wrist, pulling her hand up towards the man in dark, plain armour.

"Him."

Her eyes scanned the crowd of knights and squires, all vying for the grand prize. Each seemed to bring something of their own. The younger, slighter ones may have speed while the larger men hold large, heavy lance. Most had come to see the melee, but it was just as entertaining to watch the jousting as well.

When Cesare picked his man, she leaned in again to look at him. "You do love the darker ones who wear the scars of their past so readily on them," she commented. Yes, she saw the resemblance to Micheletto. Not in appearance for the man was dark of hair and had slight more build to him. But he wore the same look, one of determination and of brute strength should someone get in his way.

"A fine choice."

Cesare smirked and nodded.

"Of course I do. How am I to believe that a man has fought when he has no proof of it?" Cesare liked to take a man for his word, but not when it came to something so important as to picking who to join in battle. The men who preferred the shadows, whose scars necessitated it, were the ones that Cesare, from previous experience, knew to be the most menacing.

"Were you interested in someone else, Sis?" he asked, trying to appear nonchalant. If there was the slightest hint of jealousy in his words, what of it? She was his sister. He was allowed to be protective of her.

"Here?" She slid from the one topic to the next as she looked back at him, somewhat surprised. He must know how she felt about marriage, about being with someone. It was not that she didn't care for any here. She had felt something with two others here, but this place had a way of bringing people together only to have them disintegrate away from one another.

"There is none here," she told him, sitting back and placing her hands in her lap. "And you? I am sure you're quite the commodity here."

She remembered how often he would take a pretty girl back to his room. She would doubt it not the same here.

He shouldn't have asked such a question. He should have realised that it would be asked back at him, but he couldn't help it. He had been too curious.

He rolled his eyes and pulled a wry smile. Yes, Cesare had enjoyed the company of a fair share of women, though he was not often the type to discuss it or gloat. Instead, as always with his sister, when she ever asked him a question that he wasn't too keen on answering, he evaded it.

"You think I might be a commodity, Sis? You think me worthy of such attention?"

She knew it was an evasion as soon as he opened his mouth. Pressing her lips together, she knew his answer then. He was still Cesare Borgia after all, and she knew it in his lack of an answer. "You are still a Borgia, brother. Even if very little know our name, I have met royalty well past our ages that knew of us. I am sure you still have a way with women," she told him, her nose crinkling as if she knew him better than he knew himself.

"I'm sure they were all lovely." And then she looked back at him. "I should meet them. I could host a ball, and you can bring them all round so you could hear them sing the praises of Cesare Borgia for yourself."

She teased, but gently so. For her there was no jealousy. She hadn't had him that way, and while they were intimate, that was something she had not known of him, and it was too easy to poke at.

Cesare couldn't help but laugh low and deep. He tilted his head back and reached over, giving Lucrezia's hand a squeeze. She was sweeter in the Drabwurld than she was back in Rome, not yet hardened with age and time, but even now she still had the tongue of a viper.

"I fear I may have to work very hard indeed over the next few months should you wish to fill a whole hall with my conquests. And why would I need them to sing my praises when my own sister already does so with such eloquence, even when it is ill deserved?"

At his words the petite blonde popped herself up out of the seat enough to press herself against him, planting a loving kiss at his cheeks. How she missed this, the banter, his sweet words, to be adored and loved so easily.

"And I mean every word of it, brother. And it is never ill deserved. You are here and could not make me any happier, truly," she told him as she clutched his hand. For all that she's done and all that she's become in the Drabwurld, she has only ever wanted to make her family proud, to stand on her feet as a Borgia. What would they say back in Rome of it?

Her words are truly kind, but they leave him oddly pensive. He wonders if his sister is happier here and if that will continue. The war between Seelie and Unseelie is bubbling, soon enough much blood will be spilled, he is certain. He wonders if that will hurt her, or if what he did to her back in Rome was worse. He tries to stop himself from dwelling on the thought and smiles.

"You mean that you no longer want gifts? That they now are not needed? That is a great relief, Sis." He speaks to her as if she is younger than her years dictate, still trying to separate the sister before him from the lover in Rome.

It was hard not to smile at that, for who would not want a gift? But it was a far cry from the squealing his comment could have received if she were younger. Instead she squeezed his hand gently. "All I can ask for is you by my side. Anything else is unwarranted, but would not be rejected either," she told him, her nose scrunching. She would gladly accept anything from him.

"Though I must ask, is the city treating you well? Do you like it here?" It certainly was not home, and she was well aware of the war. Lucrezia had merely holed herself in Treun, happy to be away from it. There was a buffer in its neutrality.