“And forbid the women to marry.” Lorenzo finished giving his orders, then as the messenger left, he turned to a shadowed corner of the room. “Do you have an objection, figliolo?”
Ezio stepped out of the shadows with a frown. He never knew whether his skills were somehow lacking or if Lorenzo had just been used to Giovanni’s company, but somehow the ruler always knew he was there. “Altezza, do you not think your decision harsh? The traitors deserved death, without a doubt, and I have delivered it to you on the point of my blade. But there were many in that family who were innocent, who had no hand in the plot against you.”
“True enough. Yet this will send a message to others who might attempt such treason.”
“That they will see not only their lives but every trace of their existence stamped out?” Ezio asked incredulously. “That they will see their names and the names of their loves ones erased from the history books, wiped from their very gravestones? That the innocent women of their family will never bear children lest the bloodline carry on? That is not a message, Altezza, that is heartless.”
Lorenzo looked at him coolly. So like Giovanni, but in so many ways still barely more than a child. “You may be an assassin, boy, and you may have taken dozens of lives. But you have yet to learn what it means to be merciless.”
Fill: By Association
Ezio stepped out of the shadows with a frown. He never knew whether his skills were somehow lacking or if Lorenzo had just been used to Giovanni’s company, but somehow the ruler always knew he was there. “Altezza, do you not think your decision harsh? The traitors deserved death, without a doubt, and I have delivered it to you on the point of my blade. But there were many in that family who were innocent, who had no hand in the plot against you.”
“True enough. Yet this will send a message to others who might attempt such treason.”
“That they will see not only their lives but every trace of their existence stamped out?” Ezio asked incredulously. “That they will see their names and the names of their loves ones erased from the history books, wiped from their very gravestones? That the innocent women of their family will never bear children lest the bloodline carry on? That is not a message, Altezza, that is heartless.”
Lorenzo looked at him coolly. So like Giovanni, but in so many ways still barely more than a child. “You may be an assassin, boy, and you may have taken dozens of lives. But you have yet to learn what it means to be merciless.”