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[mansuetus]

Character: Lucrezia Borgia (» 010 » 080).
Canon: The Borgias.
For: Ataraxion

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voice message » private

[skjalf]

My dearest, I would tell you something. I.. ( she can do this. she can. ) that is to say, your lord brother has informed me of his state as a married man.

Thus, I have had no choice but to leave him. Please, look in on him for me from time to time? I would know that he is as well as he might be.

( and after a prolonged silence, as the sadness grows heavier in her tone: )

You should know that part of me shall care for him until the day I die. And I hope that you and I might continue to be friends.

voice message » private

[mansuetus]

[ it will take a little while for her to answer as her stunned silence would take a few moments to get over but once she will, her voice will sound as per usual with a hidden, clear edge. ]

My sweet, he must be jesting. Cesare is not wedded, I would know of it, of course. He would not hide such from me and I would never think to hide such from you.

voice message » private

[skjalf]

( elizabeth inhales a shaky breath of air, and shakes her head in silence, though the gesture can't be seen. all at once she can see his face before her eyes, the anguish and anger bright in his eyes and evident in the tension of his jaw and the grit of his teeth. and she finds it difficult not to weep all over again. )

On my word, he did not appear to be jesting. He was angry. At the situation, I believe. But..

( god, this is hard. )

It appears that we have both been kept in the dark. There is a woman in France who already calls him her own. As I had wished to.

Fortune laughs at me. It is only now that I begin to realize how dear he is to me.

voice message » private

[mansuetus]

In France?

[ her voice betrays her surprise; the last time she had been in her land, she was held hostage by the french king. that cesare has taken a french bride is impossible but elizabeth would not lie which means lucrezia was lied to.

that he kept secrets from elizabeth is one thing; from her, another. ]

Whose very king held his own sister hostage.

voice message » private

[skjalf]

Yes. I remain as surprised as you sound.

( given her dismal opinion of the french monarchy, one can bet safely that elizabeth would not lie of such a thing.

neither she nor lucrezia have cause to feel otherwise. a fact she echoes now. )

And humiliated me. I know. He told me that the reason for it was because His Holiness, your father required a political alliance.

When he said to me that she means nothing to him, I believe he told the truth. But he did not think it might perhaps be important to remark upon before I fell in love with him.

voice message » private

[mansuetus]

My Holy Father had always required him to marry and my brother was always strong and fierce enough to deny him. There is something odd here, my sweet and you may be certain I shall find out the whole tale.

voice message » private

[skjalf]

You have my thanks. I was not well at the time and did not think to ask the particulars. He did not trust me, as I have worked so hard to trust him.

( and it hurts. a lot. )

You and I are yet friends, are we not? I did not wish to cause a breach between us. Or between you and your brother.

voice message » private

[mansuetus]

He did not trust his own sister, my love. Remember, you and I are equal in such.

[ only cesare has always said family before anyone else and to think she needs to hear that from elizabeth is insulting and humiliating and upsetting.

cesare is doomed, basically. ]

You and I are friends and shall be friends until my very last day on this ship.

[ she will not speak of cesare ]

voice message » private

[skjalf]

I had not known that he had kept it from you. This is all so very strange. But I do not..

( see herself as 'more important' than his sister. never. but equal? she would like to think so. because this young woman is also as a sister to her. though, the matter does strike her as somewhat odd. neither edward nor richard would have placed her before their own families.

elizabeth lets it slide for the moment, because in this matter, it seems the girls complement one-another. lucrezia's ire is sharp and hard, while her sorrow is soft and bottomless. )

Good. As you will be mine until my last day upon this vessel. You have become part of my family, in a manner of speaking.

And I would not wish to jeopardize that.

( though part of her is very sorry to have instead caused this breach betwixt brother and sister. )