Chapter Text
Seeing through tears is difficult, but this close to the Palazzo, Claudia doesn't really need to. She can sense the safety of home in front of her, right where she expected it and knows that everything will be alright. Her big brothers will make it alright. They are far too overprotective, but they are hers.
She lets the knowledge calm her racing thoughts, forces herself to stop outside the palazzo and dry her eyes. It wouldn't do for Father to see her crying. He had never approved of her friends and this event would just encourage his desire to keep her under his watch. So she tries to hide the evidence before entering the courtyard.
"Ezio?" she calls. "Federico?" There's no answer, so they must be out in the city. No matter, that gives her time to think. Time to plan.
Eventually Ezio comes home, climbing down the windows as is his way. Ezio and Federico both seem to take the rooftops as often as not. Claudia scoffs at them for the habit, but secretly she wonders why. Is it cleaner up there? Instead of walking through the cesspit that is the city streets. Or do they just like behaving like monkeys? Her brother crosses the stones to their father's office, barely even glancing at her, and the moment is gone. Claudia's pretty dresses aren't made for climbing the buildings, anyway. If she tried, she'd just ruin them. Mother would not be pleased with her for it.
Finally, Ezio comes back out of the office, heading straight for Claudia and her bench. Gamely, she rubs at her cheeks and sets her face. So it shall begin.
"Hey Claudia," Ezio greets her, sitting down. "How are you?"
"Bene," Claudia says, turning her face away to give away the lie.
"You shouldn't keep things from me," Ezio scolds. Thinks he's so wise, does Ezio. But Claudia knows how to lie to him, just as she knows how to be caught lying to him.
"It's Duccio," she says, heaving a sigh.
"What of him?" Ezio asks, dismissively. Like he is not as smitten with his Caterina as Claudia and Duccio are with each other. Were. Weren't, apparently.
"I think he's been-" only half the tears welling up in her eyes were from blinking hard "-unfaithful."
"Who told you this?" Ezio demanded, clapping a hand on her shoulder.
"The other girls. I thought they were my friends," Claudia lamented. Which, they weren't, really. But she had deluded herself into thinking they genuinely liked her.
"Harpies! You're better off without them," Ezio declares.
"I loved him!" Claudia cries, getting them back on track. Ezio's experiences with women not related to him all include a bed, so Claudia's not going to take his advice on the matter. Better to aim him where his aggressions are actually appropriate and deal with the girls on her own.
"No Claudia," Ezio denies, "You only thought you did."
"He should suffer for what he's done," Claudia hisses, because that's a truth Ezio has no business telling her. She will deal with it on her own.
"Wait here, I'll go have a word with him," Ezio declares, standing up.
Claudia doubts he will keep it to words, if he finds something he doesn't like. That's fine, though. That's why she put on the whole production. Ideally, she would like to punch Duccio herself. But their family's reputation is already one of violence, so it just wouldn't do. The girls like to make noises about all the fighting Federico and Ezio get into already. If Claudia turned to violence, their whole family would be regarded as barbarians and made into social pariahs. No, far better to set Ezio on Duccio and deal with the girls on her own. And for the amount of effort Mother has put into the engagement, pulling out over rumours would likely affect her future prospects.
She does feel guilty that she has to treat Ezio this way. Alas, the deep pit inside her that hungers for violence just isn't right for a young woman of her station. She doesn't want to know what her family will think if they ever find out about her desires. So she buries them deep and tries to hide them from even herself.
Across the courtyard, Father's door opens again, this time to a larger man dressed in the splendour of a government official. He has an aura about him, one of a cat waiting to strike. It reminds her of the more catty girls, if several of them were all compressed into a single man. She wonders what her father could be doing, associating with such a man, and hopes it does not come back to haunt them.
A sense of trepidation not her own has Claudia looking up, to see Petruccio watching the man leave from his window. Her fratellino is white faced and swaying. It seems to her the good sisterly thing to do here would be to go to him and make sure he is alright. And also to interrogate him about what he knows. Petruccio, after all, is the only brother that Claudia can't manipulate without thought. He, unlike the other two, is far too observant for that. Therefore, it only stands to reason that he noticed the same malignance that she did.
...
...
By the time the sun disappears behind the buildings, Ezio has been in and out of the Palazzo many times. As he is busy running errands for father, Claudia tries not to let it bother her that he never comes to see her. He will have to come home eventually and she will corner him for his report then. In the meantime, she does her best to keep Petruccio in bed. He claims it to be a good day and he needs to talk to father, but he still looks pasty from when she caught him leaning out of the window. Whatever he has to tell their father can surely wait until he will not fall flat on his face.
It is during yet another entreaty to 'please stay in bed' that Federico barges in, freed from his mysterious duties for the day. He will not tell them what it is he does for their father after getting fired from the bank, but it frequently has him busy at the oddest hours.
"Claudia," Federico says jubilantly upon catching sight of her. That is a tone that Claudia knows very well not to trust. That is a tone that precedes brotherly teasing and interrogations on what she has been up to. "Word is Ezio Auditore, our dearest brother, got into a fight with Duccio de Luca by the Duomo this evening. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"
"Not a thing," Claudia denies sweetly, furrowing her brow in feigned confusion. "I have been home since noon. I do hope my dear Duccio doesn't take this too poorly. If this impacts our betrothal, I might have to do something unspeakable to Ezio." A hug would be an unspeakable thing to do to one's brother, wouldn't it?
"Yes," Federico agrees blithely. "It would be a shame to lose your betrothal to Duccio." He doesn't mean it. And from the scowl she gives him, he must know that Claudia knows he doesn't mean it. But he gives no indication that he knows that Claudia doesn't mean it, which means that this is her victory.
Petruccio makes a face at her, because he doesn't approve of the games she plays with them - games only she knows they're playing - but he won't call her out on them where anyone else can hear. Quickly, he schools his face back to normal, moments before there is a knock on the door. How he always seems to do that, Claudia has no idea, but it is a trick she desperately wants to learn. It is like Petruccio has the ability to see through walls or something.
The door swings open to show their father's face, placid as always but showing signs of stress nevertheless. "Petruccio? Are you well enough for dinner?" He turns his face to find all three of them perched on the bed. "Ah, Federico. Claudia. Annetta is just setting food on the table now, if you can be bothered to join us."
"Yes, father," Federico answers, rising from the bed with a smooth grace that Claudia envies.
"Of course, father," Claudia agrees, climbing off the bed with much less poise. Cursed skirt, that always gets in the way and does its utmost to trip her up. She casts Petruccio a quelling look when he attempts to follow.
"Ser Giovanni," Annetta says, hovering in the hall outside the door where they appear to be gathering. "There are some guardsmen here looking for you, fully armed. They refuse to come back later."
"I suppose we will have to see what they are after," Father muses, turning on his heel. Filled with curiosity, because it was rare for their father to entertain multiple guests in a week, let alone a day, Claudia follows after him. Federico also follows, but from the tightness in his shoulders, it isn't for curiosity. "Claudia, Petruccio. Please keep back. I do not wish you to get caught up if this turns out to be unsavoury."
Startled, Claudia swings around to find that Petruccio has indeed followed them. She tries to gesture him back to bed, but he sets his jaw and refuses. Claudia and Petruccio have a pact between them as the two siblings most often confined to the palazzo, one where they respect when the other asserts themself and their decisions about their capabilities; even if no one else would, especially if no one else would. It is because of this pact that Claudia relents, allowing Petruccio to stand next to her as they spy on the proceedings below.
"Gentlemen," Father is saying below, "it is an unusual time for a business call, is it not? I was just about to sit down with my family for the evening meal."
"Giovanni Auditore," the soldier in the lead says, "you and your associates, Federico Auditore, Ezio Auditore, and Petruccio Auditore, are hereby under arrest on suspicion of treason. Please come along peacefully."
"I beg your pardon?" Father exclaims.
"Father would never!" Federico cries, running out of his hiding place like a fool. Claudia would never be so reckless!
"Who is issuing this warrant?" Father asks, not even sparing Federico a glance.
"We've been instructed not to answer any questions," the lead guard says, moving in. As Claudia watches, they strongarm her father and oldest brother, two guards grabbing onto an arm each while a third fixes them in manacles. "Where are the other two?"
"Ezio isn't here," Claudia says gamely, stepping out of her hiding place. She really hopes Petruccio is doing the smart thing and hiding. "He was out running errands for Mother and Father today and hasn't returned yet."
"We'll be the judge of that," one of the bigger guards says, approaching her. "And the other one? Petruccio?"
"He's thirteen," Federico cries out, "and sickly besides. "You cannot possibly believe he is involved in whatever this is."
"Quiet, you!" the lead guard snaps, hitting Federico over the head with his sword's pommel. He collapses to the stones, unmoving.
"Federico!" Mother calls, stepping out of another doorway. Claudia is ashamed to realise she hadn't even considered their mother in all of this. One of the guards closer to her knocks her back, so that her head collides with the wall. She shakes it off easily, however.
"Got the kid," says the bigger guard, dragging Petruccio out from behind Claudia. He has his hand clamped tightly around Petruccio's upper arm. As they watch, he attempts to put Petruccio in adult sized manacles, only for Petruccio's child sized hands to slide out. Surely it is obvious that Petruccio is too young to be guilty of such heinous crimes. Alas, the guards do not seem to care.
"And the last?" the lead guard asks.
"With that boy's reputation, it is likely as not that he is not here," one of the other guards answers dismissively.
"So be it," declares the leader. "We will have to pick him up when he shows his face. This will have to suffice for now."
As Claudia watches, frozen in place with her shoes affixed to the floor, they take her father and brothers out of the palazzo. Father walks regally, with his head held high as if he does not have his hands bound behind him and an armed guard on either side. Federico and Petruccio, in comparison, are being dragged. Federico with a guard each holding him by one arm and his shoes scraping along the cobblestones and filth. Petruccio by one guard who still has his arm in a tight grip: there are tears running down his tiny, pudgy face. Claudia can't remember the time she last saw Petruccio looking so young, her brother always seemed as wise as all the books he read.
As soon as Annetta closes the gate behind them, Claudia collapses to her knees, feeling like one of the marionettes used by the travelling shows, unable to stand without support from the puppeteer. The ones with loose joints that do not hold a position. She is shaking, unable to force her hands to still, no matter how hard she clenches them.
"Claudia!" Mother calls, striding across the courtyard towards her. "Oh piccolina," she coos, wiping at the dampness on Claudia's cheeks. "It will be alright, you'll see. Your father will get this all straightened out and they'll return to us before you know it. Ezio should be back soon, too. You don't need to be scared."
Scared? Something in Claudia rebels at the thought. Scared is a little girl who has escaped her family to look at the travelling entertainers' puppet show. Scared is being snatched up by a broken toothed man three times as tall as you are and an ugly look on his face. Scared is being lectured by a guard in full armour for wandering off and not knowing if he would lock you up for it.
Scared is not knowing if your brothers are coming to your rescue. Seven years later and Claudia knows her brothers are always coming to her rescue. Always.
No, Claudia is never scared. Claudia is livid.
It is one thing to arrest her older brothers, who spend their free time getting up to all sorts of no good. It is another to arrest her father, who is a grown man and plays the games of politics. But all three of them? And Petruccio? No, that is an insult that cannot be stood for.
"I'm not scared, Mother," Claudia says, voice steady. The shaking has stopped. "I'm angry. I'm so angry that they think this is something they can get away with doing to our family."
"It's no use being angry, Claudia, there is nothing we can do. We will have to wait for your brother to come home." Mother's words do not make sense. How can she choose not to fight? To just leave everything up to Ezio and Father? Ezio who could be with Cristina all night with no idea what has happened? Or Father, who is undoubtedly locked in a cell with such vicious accusations over his head.
"How can you say that?" Claudia asks, staring at her mother in horror. Perhaps the blow to her head was more serious than it had looked.
"We are women, Claudia, it is not our place."
Claudia remembered. She remembered, with the knowledge granted Claudia with her older years and hindsight, a man who,, no doubt, had unsavoury plans for her. A guard who stood over her and berated her for getting into such a situation to begin with. Her brothers who rescued her that day and every other, who never let anything even think about happening to her.
Her mother was right, and it burned. One day, Claudia would grow into a beautiful woman. She would marry a man chosen by her family, give him children and tend to his estate. She would never be expected to fight or have opinions of her own. In exchange, her husband would be expected to care for her and provide for her and not go around having affairs with other women. There were some that would even disagree with her parents' decision to have her tutors teach her letters and sums.
Breathing deep, Claudia concentrated. The anger inside her, the anger that was inappropriate for a woman of her mother's standing, was even less appropriate in a girl Claudia's age. It would do her no favours in life, and so she had learnt to push it down and use her brothers to get her revenge.
"We leave it to Ezio," Claudia says with the mask of the perfect teenage girl. She pushes herself to her feet and brushes down her dress. "I will wait for him in Father's office. Do what you like, Mother."
"Claudia?" Mother asks, leaking a confusing mix of shock and betrayal and disappointment. Claudia does not care to figure out what it means, Claudia is gone. She is Principessa de Auditore de Firenze, now, the perfect Auditore daughter.
Upon reaching Father's office, she takes a moment to lean against the door and breathe, allowing Principessa to flow off her, like taking off a traveling cloak and letting it puddle on the ground. It's harder than expected: Father's office is where she most often has cause to put Principessa on and Petruccio is frequently the one to help her take it off. Principessa protests, telling her what she has planned isn't the ladylike thing to do. Telling her she told her mother she wouldn't get involved.
But Claudia is already a manipulator and sometimes liar. One more little white lie won't change that.
Resolute, Claudia gets to work digging around her father's office. All the documents and ledgers he has relate to his work at the Medici bank. There is absolutely nothing to suggest he had been involved with a conspiracy relating to treason. Nothing to prove he wasn't, either. Mother comes in when Claudia is busy with Father's latest personal ledger. His record keeping is meticulous and something to be admired, but there are some irregularities. Income lines for "services rendered" followed by a series of letters and numbers that don't appear to mean anything, paid by Lorenzo Medici. Unusual, but doesn't suggest a conspiracy to commit treason against the Medici. Assuming he truly is doing the work for Ser Lorenzo and there isn't a deeper meaning to it.
It is while she is still considering the puzzle that Ezio finally arrives, calling out for Father and Federico.
"Ezio!" Claudia cries, rushing forward to embrace her brother. "Oh, it's just terrible. Some guards came and arrested Father and our brothers. Even Petruccio!"
"Are you all right, Claudia?" Ezio asks, looking her over.
"I'm fine!" she exclaims, stepping back from him. "But they're after you, too."
"It's not safe here," Ezio says, looking over at Mother. With a jolt, Claudia realises that she hasn't actually said anything since entering the office, just sat there staring at the painting on the wall. "Is there some place you can go?"
"Yes. Yes!" Annetta says. Claudia feels a bit guilty for not paying her any mind before. She'd entered the office with Mother and been picking up the things Claudia abandoned since. In Claudia's defence, she'd been quite heavily distracted. "I can take them to my sister's."
"Good, good," Ezio muses, thinking. "Do that. In the meantime, I'll go see father. Mother?"
Mother blinks and looks up, a little bit of life coming into her face. "Yes, Ezio?"
"Everything will be fine, you'll see," Ezio declares confidently, before turning on his heel and striding out the door. He hadn't even given Claudia a chance to tell him what she found, what little of it there was.
...
...
After a hurried journey through Firenze's lesser used streets, they finally come to a stop in front of the kind of brightly lit building that could be nothing but a courtesan bordello. Confused, Claudia glances around, wondering if there is something she is missing. She ducks her head into the cowl of her traveling cloak, as if that would help prevent anyone from seeing her.
"Annetta, are you sure about this?" Claudia asks. She has hold to tow Mother by the hand for the last half of the trip, to keep her from wandering off like an errant child. "I don't mean to doubt you, but won't the Madame be upset if your sister agrees to hide us here?"
Without answering, Annetta strides confidently up to the front door and knocks twice. The door opens under her hand and she ushers them into the building. Inside it is cosy, with women and a few men milling around between the multitude of gauzy curtains.
"Welcome," a courtesan says, bouncing over to them, heedless of the low cut of her dress. "How can we please you tonight?" She cocks her hip in a way that flashes all of her leg. Claudia blushes, trying to direct her gaze anywhere else.
"I need to talk to Madame Paola," Annetta says, unmoved by the display.
"I'll just go get her," the courtesan says, drooping back down to her heels.
"No need, I am here," a new woman says, halfway down a staircase. "What brings you here, Annetta?" She isn't dressed like the other women milling around. Her dress is a rich red, almost as low cut as the courtesans, but full length and covering her shoulders and arms. She also wears a head covering and walks through the building like she owns the place. Likely, she does. This is a woman who rules over courtesans and the men who engage their services, and she knows it. To Claudia, she represents everything she shouldn't want. Her very own apple of Eve, the fruit that revealed her own nakedness to her.
"Sorella, it's just terrible. Ser Giovanni," Annetta begins, stepping forward. Her voice quivers, and Claudia realises that the put together look she has been wearing for the last several hours is just as much a fabrication as her own Princepessa mask.
"I sense this would be better discussed in my office?" the madame asks, holding up a hand. "Luciana, please fetch us some refreshments. They appear to have had quite the harrowing experience." She turns and walks back up the stairs, obviously expecting her will to be followed.
"Yes, Madame," the girl who greeted them at the door responds, already hurrying away.
As Claudia watches her leave, she - Luciana, it would seem - turns and gives Mother a worried frown. Resolving to pay it no mind, Claudia squeezes her mother's hand once, working up the nerve to do what she needs to. Mother gives her hand a returning squeeze, so Claudia has evidence that she is still in there somewhere. Confidence bolstered, she tows Mother after Annetta, following the madame up the stairs and into a modest office.
"So," Madame Paola muses, staring at them from where she is standing in a shadowed corner. It strikes Claudia as a strange place for a woman to stand greeting guests in her own office, but what is she to know? It is not as though she can deny its effectiveness; the madame strikes a very intimidating figure, especially with her voice pitched low and smokey. "You must be Madonna Maria Auditore and Signorina Claudia Auditore."
"Yes, Madame." Claudia answers for the both of them, feeling like a hare caught in the gaze of an eagle. She gets the urge to cover herself from that gaze, and Madame Paola reminds her of the forbidden fruit all over again.
There is a gentle knock on the door, to which Madame Paola looks over. Freed from her gaze, Claudia lets out the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. Ignoring whatever interaction is happening at the door, she attempts to calm her racing heart. She honestly thinks she would rather take her chances with the city guard than ever get on this woman's bad side.
"It's not much, but Luciana has brought us some warm soup," the madame says, shaking Claudia out of her breathing exercises. She has a tray with four steaming bowls stacked on it and is waving to a lounge chair on the side of the room. "Why don't you take a seat and tell me what has happened?"
Gratefully, Claudia leads her mother over to the seat and sits her down. She then presses herself into her mother's side, trying to find what comfort she can get. The bowl of soup and spoon that Annetta passes her seems warmer than her mother at this point, and she finds herself staring into it listlessly. "They arrested them," she tells the soup. "The guards, that is. They came for Father and my brothers." She doesn't get through the story easily, stopping and starting and crying in the middle. Surely she goes over some parts a dozen times. When she finally falls quiet, she feels wrung out, tired in a way she has never felt before.
Paola never berates her for her sloppy recounting, just listens patiently and urges her to drink her soup when the tears get too much. She looks serious and determined, in a way Claudia thinks she can trust to take care of everything. It will all be all right, that's the sort of feeling Claudia gets, because Madame Paola will make it so.
"I think I understand," the madame says at the end. "I will put you up for the night. Giovanni is, well, let's just say I will help you. It is late and you are exhausted: we can work something out in the morning. However, this is a place of business, so I'll ask you to remain in my office until morning. For your own safety if nothing else."
"Of course," Claudia agrees, honestly too tired to imagine wandering around right now. "Thank you."
"Think nothing of it," Madame Paola murmurs. She collects their dishes on the tray and leaves the room, Annetta following in her wake and taking the only lit candle with them. Claudia doesn't mind, just tucks her cloak around her and tries to get some rest. Hopefully they will wake her up when Ezio arrives to tell them what he learnt.
...
...
After an uncomfortable night that has left her sore and cranky, Claudia is not well pleased to see the sun's first morning rays. Groaning, she tries to roll over and pull her blankets up, wondering why it seems she has slept fully dressed and sitting up. Then the events of the night before come rushing back to her. Momentarily panicked, she lurches to her feet and towards the office door. There's a moment when she despairs for how rumpled her clothes are, but she brushes them off and decides there are more important things to be worried about.
Finding out what time Ezio got in, for one.
Not bothering to care who hears her, she leaves the office and goes stomping down the stairs. There's a time to be quiet and sneaky, but on the warpath to confront idiot brothers is not one.
"Be quiet," a woman nearing her mother's age hisses from under the stairs, glaring at Claudia. "Most the girls have only just gone to bed. They will not appreciate being woken at such an hour. You are Claudia, yes. The madame told us you are seeking shelter here."
"Sorry," Claudia whispers back, chagrined. Turns out first thing in the morning in a bordello was a time for sneaky. "I had expected to be informed when my brother arrived. Do you know where he is?"
"You're brother?" the woman asked, puzzled.
Claudia stared at her. Had Ezio been so irresponsible as to engage the whores in their services while all this was going on? Or had he simply never arrived after going to see their father? Ezio had a reputation, sure, but she couldn't believe he would be so callous as to get up to his usual antics at a time like this. But that would mean something had likely happened to him, which was worse. Was it possible this woman just didn't know the whole situation?
Suddenly, the door swings open and a new courtesan comes running in. Her clothing is twice as rumpled as Claudia's own. "Ciosa, you will never guess! The whole city is abuzz." She isn't wearing her slippers, instead carrying them in one hand while she waves emphatically with the other. "The Auditore men were arrested yesterday evening. They are to be tried and hung for treason at the Piazzo this morning. All four of them!" she says excitedly. "Oh, I do feel sorry for the wife and daughter, obviously. For the men of one's family to be involved in such a thing."
Tried and hung Claudia's mind repeats endlessly, mixing with the cloying scent of pity. Tried and hung, tried and hung. She almost loses herself in it, standing halfway down the stairs and staring at nothing.
"Claudia?" someone asks, taking hold of her elbow. "Let's get you some breakfast."
"Annetta?" Claudia asks, willing the woman's face to focus. "We have to do something. I know I already looked through Father's books, but surely there is something there. All those strange entries. Maybe if we can show the Medici how loyal my family is he will see that these accusations must be false."
"My sister and her allies and Ezio have been working all night to make this right," Annetta says, gently steering Claudia down the steps, like Claudia is fragile. "The best we can do for them now is wait. Madonna Maria still needs us."
She remembers it, an event she told herself didn't matter. An event she tried so hard to forget. A man, who wanted to take her away. A guard in full armour, standing over her and lecturing how the world was too dangerous for the likes of her. Her older brothers, coming to rescue her even though he was bigger than all of them.
But guards in armour had come and taken her brothers and father away. Mother had retreated into herself and likely wouldn't help. Claudia was the only one left; the only one who could come for them; could show Firenze what the Auditore name means.
"No," Claudia says firm, shaking her arm. "I won't sit around waiting."
She doesn't give Annetta time to collect herself. Instead she dashes for the door and throws herself into the streets, nearly tripping on her skirt as she goes. Cursed thing. She grabs a fistful of fabric in one hand and runs as fast as she is able, uncaring of who might see her legs. Modesty is the least of her worries, now. She just has to get to the Piazza as fast as her legs can take her. She must. To rescue her family.
The journey is not an easy one. She bumps into people and buildings and gets yelled at on more than a few occasions. At one point her toe catches on the cobblestones beneath her and she goes sprawling in the mud, likely ruining her dress. But finally she sees the piazza and all that suddenly fails to matter. What does the state of her really mean when it is her family's lives on the line?
"Yes!" Father is saying, his voice traveling over the eagerly awaiting crowd and into the alleys Claudia is stumbling through. "The documents that were delivered to you last night."
"I'm afraid I know nothing of these documents," the gonfalonier presiding over the trial rebukes.
"You're lying!" Ezio yells, his voice cracking in a way it has mostly stopped doing.
"In the absence of any compelling evidence to the contrary, I am bound to pronounce you guilty," the gonfalonier declares, enunciating clearly to be heard over the anticipatory crowd.
Desperately, Claudia tries to push her body faster. As if she can stop it from happening if she just tries hard enough. Even this far away and across the crowd she can feel her family's myriad of emotions. An amplification of the way she always has some idea where they are relative to her.
"You and your collaborators are hereby sentenced to... Death."
She breaks into the sunlight, panting, and stops. They're there! They're right there, all four of them. Lined up on the execution platform with ropes around their necks, but still alive! There's two men up there with them. A cloaked stranger silently watching and a Firenzian courtier. Claudia recognises him as the man who was visiting only yesterday, turning this whole plot into something more suited to one of her books than a real life thing that is happening to her family. He and the cloaked stranger are smug enough that Claudia can sense it across the crowd and even through her sense of her family.
"You are the traitor, Uberto, and one of Them!" her father is saying, still managing to look dignified despite the situation. Federico is doing his best to mimic him, but Petruccio is only twisting weakly in his bonds. Ezio is struggling in his ties way more than the other three and wearing a strange white robe that Claudia is sure she has never seen before. What could have possibly happened after they all left the palazzo? "You may take our lives this day but we will have yours in return, I swear. We will-"
She processes Father's words just in time to see the lever be pulled. Time seems to freeze, her Father and brothers all locking eyes with her across the square as nothing happens. She almost thinks it was fake, that they're not going to drop after all. Then time reasserts itself and they... Fall.
Something vanishes, like stepping in the shelter of a building on a windy day. Something that has always been there is suddenly not. And around that space, not occupying it but shielding it, there is a buzzing; like an entire hive of bees have taken up residence in her head and pushed all her thoughts out. Someone near her is screaming and she wishes they would stop. Whoever it is could not possibly have lost as much as she did today.
The screams break into sobs and Claudia realises it was her. She was the one screaming.