AMAYA DE PAZZI

“If you want to explain why it is you need my help to them.” He laughed as well, knowing full well she wasn’t about to do that anytime soon otherwise he wouldn’t even bring it up. Amaya hadn’t really questioned his helping her too much, he assumed she had just decided he was nice and left it at that, but wasn’t entirely certain of who would push the question if they found out so a level of secrecy was good for the both of them.

“At the very least it wasn’t the worst sitting I’ve ever done, I’ve done some where they were just being rude the entire time, but wow, I wasn’t quite ready for how long that was going to feel.”

“ I would not,” she laughed lightly. Thinking of the lecture her mother would give if she even thought that she was spending time with a man unchaperoned. Though that would more preferable to her dressing as a man and sitting in a room full of men and listening to them discus, politics, art and women. When Lotario happened upon her that day she was in mens clothes she had hoped she had done a good job in her disguise but he had been quick to point out some potential flaws that would give her away. Amaya couldn’t say why she trusted him so much, but he made it easy to do so.

Chuckling again, she patted him on the arm, “ So which is better, a rude and obnoxious muse or one that is dreadfully boring but listens to your instruction and doesn’t move?”

“Vin Santo? I don’t think I’ve ever had the pleasure.” She was excited, though. And if Amaya said it was good, then it had to be. Looping her arm with the older girl’s, she allowed her to lead the way, giggling at her suggestion. There was no way her father would ever approve of it if he found out, which only served to make the offer all the more tempting. 

“Let’s,” she agreed. “There must be a break in the fence somewhere that we can sneak through.” With her free hand, she raised her skirt an inch or so from the ground so that she could examine her shoes. “Or we could just climb the fence?” she offered instead.

“ Oh you will love it, it’s sweet but not overly so. You will have to come with me the next time I’m sent off to visit my Aunt. She will spoil us both with pastries and wine and handsome suitors.” she laughed holding on to Mads arms as the walked towards their destination. 

“ Maddie you’ll ruin your skirt. I would rather not have you mother angry with me for it. Or your sister for that matter.” she chuckled. In truth, had Amaya had her pants she would have been the first to suggest climbing over the fence. However she was in a very skirt, a new one; courtesy of her mother. So climbing was out of the question. She brought a finger to her lips and thought quietly to herself before snapping her fingers. “ There is a break in the fence off the main rode. It’s near the brush but we should be able to slip in without to much hassle.” It had been a while since she had been to the Medici vineyard , a couple of years at best but if she remember correctly their entrance should still be there. “ Come, I’ll lead this time.”

Curiosity faded quickly. Guilias pride, however, lasted a lifetime. Wounded pride was enough to turn Guilia’s wrath against this woman, the name Pazzi, however, made her blood boil. She had been raised on the hatred between the Pazzi’s and the Medici’s. She knew more about them because of the head of Medici’s prejudice than from actual interaction. It did not paint a pretty picture. 

Guilia Aragon was not a woman who liked to be judged. 

She set off lazily after the other woman, draping the clothes over her elbow, they would make a nice donation to one of Florence’s less privileged. Or as evidence when she told the Medici’s exactly what she had discovered. “I have never been asked to deliver Men’s clothes to anyone, but rushing is not something I would expect from someone who was. How much do the Pazzi’s know about where you were? And how would they feel if you failed to make it back by whatever deadline you were rushing to meet?” Her voice was calm and cold as her hand reached out to catch the woman’s elbow. 

Amaya tilted her head to the side in annoyance, as her eyes drifted down to the small hand that had taking hold of her elbow. Taking a calming breath, she reached for the other woman’s hand and quickly removed it from her person. Amaya wasn’t sure where this woman got off asking her questions as if she owed her and explanations. She did not, and she also didn’t like to be threaten. 

Amaya de Pazzi was a great many things, none of which was someone who was easily manipulated. “ I’m sure my mother would give me another firm scolding, nothing of which I am not use to at this point in my life. I would be stuck with yet another body guard and I eventually would have to elude them once more. It’s a continuous cycle in my house you see.”

Reaching out now, she snatched the her clothes from the other woman. Her eyes were cold as she stared the other woman down, “ I do not take kindly to being blackmailed, Signorina. You would do well not to test me further.”

“I should have been doing the same,” she returned with an apologetic smile.  “I’m alright.  I…”  Confusion flashed across her face then sudden recollection.  Flowers. Graziella looked down at the bouquet, which had fallen from her hand and into a puddle on the street.  Though they had been purchased as a kindness and a cover for her actual activities she couldn’t help but feel sorry she had been so careless of them.

Graziella bent down and retrieved the wildflowers.  “A little wet but no worse for wear.  Thank you."  Graziella held the flowers a little to the side as she noticed the trail of water that was dripping onto her skirt.   "I hope I did not jostle anything of yours too badly.”

Amaya frowned as she watched the woman retrieve the flowers. Now ruined that to Amaya’s rushing and thoughtlessness. “ Your flowers,” her voice apologetic as she looked them over. “No... you did not I came out unscathed in our run in.  Please you have to let me get you new ones. It’s the least I can do since I was the one that ran into you. ” 

Amaya looked about for a merchant that might be selling flowers like the ones she ruined but couldn’t find a stale that was currently selling any. “Here, lets go together. You can show me where you bought them and I will purchase a new bouquet for you.” she smiled brightly 

“No problem at all, helping you has basically become my job at this point.” He joked, though he really didn’t mind helping at all. He wasn’t really sure that there was anyone else in the city who would be able to help her the way he was, though for his own sake he prayed there were, so helping her out felt like the very least he could do a good amount of the time.

“Of course” He nodded, starting toward the Pazzi house again and motioning for her to follow, “Yes, a cousin of your’s a believe, visiting from Rome and wanting her portrait done.”

Amaya scoffed slapping him playfully on his arm as she laughing. “ well if that is the case I should convince my parents to increase your commission then... I’m a handful.”  She knew it wasn’t easy dealing with her on a regular basis and that helping her get into the lectures and meeting that were reserved for men only. Had Lotario not helped her out, there was no telling what might have happened if they discovered that she was a woman and not just any woman. A Pazzi, it was a secret that she kept because she wanted to protect her family and it was one that she was able to keep with the help of her friend next to her. 

“ Ah, yes, Mamma had mentioned something about it during dinner the other night,” honestly most of the time she nearly listens durning dinner. It tended to be rather boring to her anyway. “ You were bored out of you mind painting her weren’t you. I love her but, she isn’t the most riveting of conversationalist.”

People just didn’t walk into Cesare.

For one, it wasn’t like he was particularly difficult to see with his broad shoulders and looming stature. And he didn’t usually have a particularly friendly countenance – most tended to feel him glowering before they even lifted their eyes. Add to that the fact that most of the time, he was carefully and elegantly dressed. Quality was a thing the plebes noticed and shied away from lest their grubby hands stain exhortatively expensive clothes.

This time around his back was turned, so maybe he could drop one of the above reasons as inapplicable, but the rest two still stood – quite firmly. Turning around, fully determined to apply a kick to the head of whoever had crashed into him, Cesare’s intentions – nothing short of adaptable, as he was – instantly changed as he caught sight of who had wronged him. “Signorina Pazzi!” his eyes widened, and while he hadn’t exactly bellowed her name, he went to great pains to make himself heard by those around him, as he feigned surprise. He smirked, only for a split second, only as her eyes locked with his, and then knelt, all solicitude and gallantry to help her gather her things. 

While he was being oh so chivalrous, he also made sure to steal a glance at one of the papers he’d got hold of, just in case there was anything interesting on it. “Do forgive me for failing to grow eyes at the back of my head so I could see you coming,” unfortunately she didn’t seem to be walking around hoarding her family’s dirty laundry - at least, not in the metaphorical sense. Cesare’s gaze alighted on a pair of hose and he lifted them, raising an inquiring eyebrow. “Have your maids deserted the family, signorina?” he affected a vague air of concern, his voice only loud enough for her to hear him.

Amaya ground long and low when she heard the mans voice. Her dark eyes glared at him as he knelt down to help her. She should have run into the brute harder maybe her would have tripped into a whole and stayed there. “ Signore Medici, what rock did you crawl out of and when are you going back.” she hissed. Snatching the paper from his hand as she stuffed it into her bag. “ Could you kindly keep you voice down. Being seen with you at all is bad enough.” she muttered smiling sweeting to the only lookers that watched them.

The eldest son had a reputation of being a pain in the back side of most people. Amaya could be sure but she wouldn’t be surprised if his sibling and or other extended family member did mind to much that he had been gone from the city for some time. She was mildly curious as to why he hd reemerged darkening the door of their fare city. However, that would mean that she cared what he did... which was certainly not the case. 

“ It’s a shame the extra pair might have improved your looks.” she shrugged closing her sack and securing the top. Amaya eyes widen as she saw Cesare lift up her hosier that she had decided not to but back on when she change. Her hand shot out towards her undergarments in an attempt to grab them. “Give those to me.” she barked lowly, “ Our maid our doing just fine thank.” 

She had been prepared to scold the woman who crashed into her. Running in the way this woman had been was more than simply undignified, it was dangerous. Guilia could not return to the Medici home covered in mud and bruises. She did not have the power of rich blood relations to protect her, she had to protect herself, in any way possible. 

When she saw what had come spiralling out of her hands, however, Guilia’s curiosity overcame her. “Perhaps, but I am far too careful to keep a secret for someone I do not know. You seem to be in a hurry, share your story with me and I can try to whisk you to your destination even quicker?” She knelt, helping to gather some of the clothes and papers that had been dropped. She did not, however, hand them back, instead, she stood with them in her own arms, waiting for a response. 

Amaya raised a brow at the...woman, in front of her. The last things she wanted or need was to be blackmailed not to mention. Sticking her tongue into her cheek eye brow raised. She took a step closer to the woman, Amaya’s dark iris’ harden as she stared her down. Her eye’s slowly lowered to the her bag in the strangers hands, it was simple enough to snatch the bag away... but that would cause a scene and there were enough people mulling about that would recognize who she was and who her mother was. So she would try a different approach,

A bored expression took over her features as she shrugged her shoulders. “ If you want to carry around my father’s dirty clothes that needed to be mended be my guest.” she said as she walked pass the woman not bothering to look back to see if she followed. “ When your done with them, make sure to drop it off at the Pazzi compound.” Amaya paused peeking back at the woman. He r eyes slowly and deliberately looked the woman up in down. In that way most ladies did in the city when they were passing silent judgment on another. A small smirk on the corner of her mouth. “ Make sure to use the servants entrance.”

“Why not both?” she suggested, a devious smile spreading across her face. She liked Amaya. The older girl was both fun and approved by her parents. It was a rare thing indeed to find someone who fitted both specifications. The Salviati/Pazzi alliance could only be a good thing in Madalene’s eyes, although she was the first to admit that her view of such things was a little warped.

“Two custard tarts and two strawberry tarts, please,” she told the stall’s owner. “We’re going to have a feast!” Dessert was the best part of any meal in Madalene’s mind; one that consisted purely of pastries was just bliss. “Anything else?” she asked, looking over at Amaya.

“ You spoil me Mads,” Amaya chuckle playfully bumping the the other woman with her hip. Her eyes scanned over the rest of the merchant’s wears before her eyes widen a bit. “ and the bottle of that Vin Santo please,” clapping her hand together happily taking out her own coin purse she handed over the proper amount of coin. Asking the merchant for the matching glass to go with. “ I was visiting my Aunt in Malvasia last summer and this was all she would drink. She hates red wine and prefers the sweeter stuff.”

Taking the merchant so took the small bag from him before turning to her friend once more. “ I find it goes better with cheese, fruits and pastries. If we are going to feast there must be a bit of nectar from the gods.” he giggled entwining her arm in Madalene’s arm. Amaya found she liked both of the Salviati girls. However, why she went to Joanna for sage advise or council. She spent more of her free time with the youngest, mostly because Mad’s reminded her of herself. Amaya, though she loved her books and to learn. When she was younger she was getting into some form of trouble or the next, it was definitely happier times. “ She we sneak into the Medici vineyard to enjoy our picnic?”

Just then Lotario had been on his way in the same direction, though in far less of a hurry as currently he was most likely going to end up being early so long as nothing suddenly held him up. Of course though just as he was thinking that somebody suddenly slammed into him from behind, also knocking his own bag from his shoulder, it seemed lately this was happening every time he set foot outside, a consequence of just how packed the city was.

Fortunately his own bag had remained closed so he was able to easily retrieve it and turn to the person who collided into him, seeing her and then the clothes he quickly swooped in to attempt to block other’s view of them and help her stuff them back in her bag.

“It’s quite alright, Miss de Pazzi, and I won’t tell a soul, no worries” He smiled in a manner he hoped comforting to her, “Though I am going the same way so I can accompany you if you like.”

Amaya smiled of at the young artist as he helped her collect her things. God must have been smiling down on her that day because they had granted her the great fortune in running into a friends in stead of an enemy or worse... one of the guards that he mother must have sent out to look for her already. “ You are truly my soul-mate Lotario, thank you.” 

With Lotario’s help she quickly got everything back into her bag and placed it carefully over her shoulder. Dusting off the skirts of her dress once she was standing on her two free again. At the mention of him going the same way she perked up a bit, spying the bag of his own he was carrying. “ Could you, mother might actually be a little forgiving if I arrive home with you on my arm. “ she chuckled knowing full well that he mother would still give her an ear full. “ Have you been commissioned for work then?”

So, she pushed and gave her apologizes as she hurried on her way. A small gust of air escaped her lungs and she slammed into a hard body, her bag and  mens clothes she had worn spilled out onto the floor. “Damn,” she whispered as she knelt down and started to gather the clothes and paper. Looking at the the person her eyes widening , “ -  my apologies... I... is there anyway you could just pretend you never saw me?” she asked her eyes pleading. The last thing she need was to be lectured by her mother once again.

Have you heard AMAYA DE' PAZZI has arrived in Florence? The TWENTY-FIVE year old DAUGHTER to the Head of House PAZZI is known for being both LOYAL and ILL-TEMPERED, but would not want anyone to know THAT SECRETLY LONG TO BE A CONDOTTIERE ( Beau+ 26+ she/her+EST)

⌈Don’t let the pretty silks or expensive lace fool you, 

                                                   my tongue slices like a sword