The Bell Tolls for Me

Isabella watched Cesare with a modicum of respect. She didn't admire him, but she could most certainly respect his ability. If she didn't respect him, she would lose. He had faced numerous roadblocks on his path, yet he had navigated them with grace and eventually rose up to this position. He was sitting here for a reason. Even if others were granted the same opportunities that he was, very few would rise up to meet the challenge. The fact that he had risen to the similar heights in her last life told of his consistent skill rather than mere luck.

"I'm sure you'll be accommodating if my men listen on this conversation," Cesare said, gesturing behind him. "As the head of this interregnum, surely you can appreciate the need for input from your councilors. These men helped me command. They wish to be included."

Isabella noted he wasn't even bothering to use terms of respect. That showcased how confident he was in his position. It was mostly a show. She knew that Cesare had to maintain cohesion in his ranks if he wanted to get through this. So long as Isabella could convince even one of his men to betray him, his grasp over the situation would collapse. She had considered that as a possible vector of attack, even. It seemed as though he had anticipated that.

"We have no trouble with your men." Isabella met his gaze unshakingly. "When last a new king rose to the throne, you attacked us in the streets. Do you remember?"

Cesare raised an eyebrow, and then looked over at Valerio sitting there poised. Rather than engage with what she had said, Cesare began, "I have another discussion planned for today with Duke Albert. I'm told that the two of you are rather intimately acquainted."

Ordinarily the mention of Duke Albert would turn her stomach, but this was well within expectations. She would be more surprised if Cesare sought the patronage of another. She'd heard enough to confirm her original hypothesis. She was right. She had been operating under the assumption that this was Cesare's plan. As such, she had her plan prepared long in advance.

"Albert and I both have rather robust experience as auctioneers by this point." Isabella's gaze was resolute. "We know what it is when we've found ourselves in a bidding war."

Cesare smiled and looked back to his men. "I'm glad that I don't need to explain things to you."

"I've never admitted this to anyone, but I don't think especially highly of the people that bid in my auctions," Isabella said. "These past months, I've had a master class demonstrating how a handsome, silver-tongued rogue can make people loosen their wallets and indulge in frivolities."

Cesare leaned in, looking at Valerio as he asked, "Do you hear that, Duke? She thinks I'm handsome."

"Not handsome enough," Isabella responded simply. "Perhaps the most indulgent thing I've ever purchased was a custom-made necklace for my friend—and this was recently, for I've only now come upon great wealth to squander. I don't consider myself a person of excess."

"Are we sharing personal details with each other now?" Cesare raised a brow. "This truly is a date."

"My point is… I've never engaged in a bidding war. I find it rather tasteless. I don't intend to break that rule now."

Cesare looked to Valerio, who still sat there silently despite Cesare's open provocations. Perhaps he feared that Isabella would order him captured. It would certainly make the rest of the mercenaries spurred to action, but perhaps he assumed Isabella wouldn't care.

"Then what do you intend to do?" Cesare asked, clearly off-balance.

"I'm going to make you an offer. It won't change," Isabella said. "Collaborate with me to help label Duke Albert as a traitor. When he is, the crown will confiscate all of his territory… and give it to you, naming you duke over his lands."

She could see the greed in Cesare's eyes for one moment before he started laughing, as if the offer was ridiculous. "In one fell swoop, you'd give me the most valuable lands in the entire kingdom? Having prospered under the auspices of Duke Albert, I can tell you that the incomes from his land are in no way inferior to that of the auction house. He has the second largest territory in the realm, yet each inch of soil is four times as agriculturally productive as the Archduke Felix's cold, northern regions."

"You seem to have made very good use of the duke's incomes. I don't think I'd be off base in suggesting that you'd like to have them all," Isabella said. "Indeed, I think it would be territory sufficient to divide among your men without a hint of discontent. Instead of serving under you as your mercenaries, they would swear fealty to you as their lord."

Cesare sat there silently, and that was enough to let her know that her offer was quite tempting. "So, you expect me to work alongside the duke… and presumably force him to commit an act of excess sufficient to name him a traitor?"

"I'm glad I don't need to explain things to you," Isabella repeated his earlier condescending remark.

Cesare laughed as if he knew he'd been got. His face slowly settled into something grim. "I'd have to be a fool not to see how much this serves you. You're selling me something that you don't have, and making me work to claim it. Duke Albert has been your enemy for a long time now. He wants you—wants you more than anyone I've seen, perhaps even this man," he gestured toward Valerio. "And I think you hate him more than anyone I've seen."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Both true," Isabella admitted easily. "But I think you know just as well as I do that someone is going to have to lose for your people to profit. The crown doesn't possess lands sufficient to reward all of your men without revoking it from others. Someone must suffer for another to prosper—such is the nature of predators like yourself."

"Why don't I deprive Duke Valerio of his ships?" Cesare asked. "My father often told me of how much income they generated."

Valerio smirked. "In your hands, they might as well be planks of wood. You don't know a damn thing about how to run a trade empire."

Cesare may have been cocksure, but he wasn't foolish. He gave a nod of concession. "True enough. Considering the incompetent fools I've seen as lords, it must be a simpler role than yours. You fought tooth and nail, and fight even still." He waved between them. "We're alike, you and I."

That seemed to irritate Valerio the most of all he'd said thus far, and he gave his dagger an especially violent flourish.

"Considering how well you command your mercenary company, you would have no trouble presiding over a land in the name of the crown," Isabella said easily.

Cesare stared at her, the gears turning in his head. "I see Claude finally made a good decision as king." He pointed. "Abdicating, and naming you to lead his interregnum."

Isabella couldn't tell whether that was a genuine compliment or just flattery, like much of what he said.

"You're rather adroit at sowing division between people," Cesare noted, a smile on his face as he stared at her. "It just so happened that the faith started to rupture as soon as the archbishop chose to attack you. You managed to split apart that lummox Gaspar from my father. And from what I hear of the past couple days, you managed to convince the king's soulmate to turn against him, all but forcing him to abdicate."

Cesare rose to his feet, fixing his coat. "You'd have me waste my men trying to claim a distant, faraway dream. You'd have me bring my force of 1500 against an army of 10,000. Even if I did go through with your plan, I have no guarantee that you would be true to your word. I have no guarantee that you'd be able to even fulfill this promise." He shot his cuffs. "Still… if this is the first bid in the auction, I rather look forward to what the others will say."

"I keep my word," Isabella said stoically. "Anyone that can offer you better than what I am is simply lying. There is a route for your success. If you're wise, you'll take it."

Cesare looked at her with a complex expression. "If pathfinding were that straightforward, someone rising to my position wouldn't be so exceptional."

At that, Cesare turned and left. His men followed just after him, leaving her alone with Valerio. He suddenly stabbed the table, making her jump.

"What did the table do to you?" Isabella asked, calming her heart.

"I'd prefer to kill that man right now," Valerio said.

"Given the fact that he knew about the queen, and the fact that he's going to be talking with Duke Albert, he definitely has people inside the royal court. We wouldn't be able to do anything without them finding out. Then they would sack the city, as was planned."

Valerio leaned into the table and withdrew his knife from its fresh gouge. "I have just the thing in mind for him. Pouring boiling water down his throat. If he doesn't choke to death on his own blistered tongue, the swelling will shut his airway before the pain even finishes registering. Even if he lives past it, he'll be done talking, done eating, maybe even breathing without a pipe."

Isabella realized that he hadn't even heard her. She hadn't before heard Valerio speak like this. She put a hand on his arm, and he looked at her. He seemed to remember himself when their gazes met.

"Sorry. I…" he paused, then let out a sigh. "I dislike him, as you might've noticed."

"Have you… poured boiling water into someone's mouth before?" Isabella asked, only half-jokingly.

Valerio put his arms on the table, looking around as if distracted before he said quietly, "Do I have to answer?"

Isabella sometimes forgot the life that Valerio had come from. Cesare was right in what he said. In many ways, he and Valerio were quite alike. She would never say that out loud, of course—he would hate the insinuation. And besides, he was different from Cesare in several critical ways that were enough to earn Isabella's trust.

Still… he provided a good sounding board.

"Would you take that deal?" Isabella asked.

Valerio studied her. "If I put myself in his shoes…" his eyes went distant. "He needs a further guarantee. The deal is definitely enough to win him over, but he needs to have his hands around your throat before he'll be sure enough to take it."

Isabella nodded, agreeing with his assessment. "Usually, that would be a marriage pact. Though… I believe it would be unbelievably hypocritical to assign another the life that I spent so much of my time desperately avoiding."

"Is he a sadist? Is he cruel?" Valerio asked.

"He's callous, but not for its own sake," she said contemplatively. "He certainly wouldn't hesitate to cast aside anyone and everyone if it meant furthering his ambitions. You saw what he did to his own father, after all." She shook her head. "I dislike the idea of giving that life to one of my sisters. We aren't close, but…"

Isabella couldn't see another option. There was little that she could do that was indicative of intent more than a marriage pact.

"But what you said… about your desire to be rid of Cesare…" Isabella looked toward Valerio. "I believe I understand your desire. Every time I've seen Duke Albert, I've had similar feelings."

"Is that so?" Valerio said, an eyebrow raised.

"I've let him be for too long," Isabella confirmed with a nod. "He's overplayed his hand, coming here. One way or another… I will unmake him. I will break him." She vowed. "All I need to do is ensure the cudgel that's come does not turn against me."