[ open ] freedom hangs like heaven

[cesar]

Date & Time: anytime in September
Location: all the places
Characters: Cesare Borgia and YOU
Summary: Cesare knocks on certain people's doors or otherwise trawls the city, all formats are fine by me!
Warnings: n/a

Fortune favors not the bold, but the early bird, the night owl, the one who sleeps not. She favors those who know precisely where to aim before the enemy even rouses himself from sleep, from pleasure. It takes only one shot to make or break one's fortune, yet there is so little time and so much to learn, too many red herrings to eliminate.

Only five more years until his twenty-sixth year.

Cesare spends so little time in his room when he isn't bathing or sleeping (sadly still a necessity), usually returning home as the night sky grows brighter and leaving just before noon to start his nocturnal wanderings again. But when he is home, he keeps to himself, silent as a ghost and as absent as if he isn't there at all.

He gives training only the requisite number of hours, because strength and force will never be his advantage. This he already knows. Better that he deals in stealth and information, in learning more about this world to figure out which strings to pull if he were to secure his and his mother's freedom. The Initiative's intent to overthrow the tyrant is a fool's errand so he would lend it little assistance unless the mission keeps him in their good books or aids his eventual escape.

Otherwise Cesare can be found in the city, cloaked in black velvet with the hood drawn up to hide his face. But even his attire would easily betray him, since his vanity would not allow him to dress in rags to hide himself better, and the sword on his hips gleam too brightly against the dismal surroundings. His hand grips the hilt warily as he moves from one shop to another, seemingly in search of something. He would be careful not to reveal his intent while there is another customer in the room, pretending to browse the goods on display, unless they catch him in the middle of a discussion with the owner. Then they might overhear words such as maps and pearls and bullets being discussed.

 

Comments

[inafadingcrown]

It is a different manner of war we fight here and it seems strange to me still. I have little love for battle of any sort, but I think I should prefer steel against steel to this queer sort of dance.

[cesar]

[ He prefers this queer sort of dance but only if he remains the aggressor and not the victim, forever on the run and losing little by little instead of winning. ]

Steel against steel do not make a pretty sight.

[inafadingcrown]

[She might have said the same... if Exsilium hadn't been bombed not three days after her arrival. He hasn't seen the strangest of it yet, she thinks. He can't have.]

You hardly need tell me. [She gestures at the sword she often carries, carefully set nearby- out of the way, but within easy reach.] I do not carry this for looks.

[cesar]

[ He spares the sword a glance. ]

Is that the weapon you chose for yourself? I would never have guessed.

[inafadingcrown]

It is. [She's not surprised that he's surprised. Even in Middle Earth, a woman wielding a sword is rare, so she gives him a small smile.] I do not have the look of a swordsman, I know.

[cesar]

No, not that.

[ He rubs his chin in thought. A habit. ]

I would think you are a subtler fighter. Swords are too direct.

[inafadingcrown]

[Ah. That seems to please her from the way she smiles.]

The sword is my weapon of last resort, but, alas, it is somewhat necessary as a means of defense. For all my subtleties, if a blade aimed at me, I would prefer to have a weapon to match.

[cesar]

A good philosophy.

[ He thinks too many women take the hit without fighting back. ]

What other weapons would you choose if you are not cornered thus?

[inafadingcrown]

Words and wit, of course. [She leans back in her chair] There is much that I can do with diplomacy and with careful planning. But I have also other gifts which you might think strange. Some have called it "elf-magic."

[cesar]

[ He takes that chance to take a large sip of the wine. Diplomacy he agrees with but only as cover. ]

I have discovered that there are many kinds of magic. Which is yours?

[inafadingcrown]

[He is wise to make the distinction and wise to ask, she muses.]

I have power after the usual manner of my people- in understanding the world as it is and commanding what parts of it will heed my words. But the magic of Galadriel, if you will, is in seeing what is hidden.

[cesar]

[ He thinks wisdom implies morality which he cares little for. He prefers cunning. ]

The human heart has more dark corners than even the so-called snake pit of Rome.

[inafadingcrown]

And yet with the right light, even the darkest corner will reveal its secrets.

[cesar]

And you consider this your skill?

[inafadingcrown]

Among others, yes.

[cesar]

Might I ask about the others?

[inafadingcrown]

You may. [She smirks and takes a sip of her wine. For a moment it doesn't seem like she's going to answer, but eventually she stops teasing and continues.] Foresight is also counted among my gifts.

[cesar]

[ His mother does that, his father too, though Vanozza is by far the worst. Ladies and their mystery. Cesare takes the time to nearly finish his glass of wine. ]

Can you tell me whether we will win this war?

[inafadingcrown]

[A soft laugh] It is not quite so simple as that.

[cesar]

[ He nearly scoffs. ]

Is anything ever?

[inafadingcrown]

In my experience, no.

[cesar]

There must be some things that are simpler than people expect, is there not?

[inafadingcrown]

A few, perhaps. But I have found that little in this world is simple.

[cesar]

Family should be simple.

[ They come before all else, that's all. ]

[inafadingcrown]

"Should be" and "are" are quite different things, are they not? [Because, while her feelings towards her husband, her child, and her grandchildren are relatively simple, the rest of her family...]