problems on social security system


				
				Whaâ€”
Voice down. Voice very low, admonished Machiavelli, listening still.
At last he relaxed. All right, he continued. Theres no one.
What do you mean
Cesare Borgia has eyes everywhere. Machiavelli relaxed a little. I am glad to see you here.
But you left me clothes at the Contessas 
She had word to watch for your arrival in Rome. Machiavelli grinned. Oh, I knew youd come here. Once youd assured yourself of the safety of your mother and sister. After all, they are the last of the Auditore family.
I dont like your tone, said Ezio, bridling slightly.
Machiavelli allowed himself a thin smile. This is no time for tact, my dear colleague. I know the guilt you feel about your lost family, even though you are not remotely to blame for that great betrayal. He paused. News of the attack on Monteriggioni has spread across this city. Some of us were sure that you had died there. I left the clothes with our trusted friend because I knew you better than that you would go and die on us at such a crucial time  or at any rate, just in case.
You still have faith in me then
Machiavelli shrugged. You blundered. Once. Because fundamentally your instinct is to show mercy and trust. Those are good instincts. But now we must strike, and strike hard. Lets hope the Templars never know that you are still alive.
But they must already know.
Not necessarily. My spies tell me there was a lot of confusion.
Ezio paused for thought. Our enemies will know soon enough that I am alive  and very much so. How many do we fight
Oh, Ezio, the good news is that we have narrowed the field. We have wiped out many Templars across Italy and across many of the lands beyond its boundaries. The bad news is that the Templars and the Borgia family are now one and the same thing, and they will fight like a cornered lion.
Tell me more.
We are too isolated here. We need to lose ourselves in the crowds in the centre of town. We will go to the bullfight.
The bullfight
Cesare excels as a bullfighter. After all, he is a Spaniard. In fact hes not a Spaniard, but a Catalan, and that may one day prove to be to our advantage.
How
The king and queen of Spain want to unify their country. They are from Aragon and Castile. The Catalans are a thorn in their side, though they are still a powerful nation. Come, and be cautious. We must both use the skills of blending in that Paola taught you so long ago in Venice. I hope you have not forgotten them.
Try me.
They walked together through the halfruined, onceimperial city, keeping to the shadows and slipping in and out of the crowds as fish hide in the rushes. At last they reached the bullring, where they took seats on the more expensive, crowded, shady side, and watched for an hour as Cesare and his many backup men despatched three fearsome bulls. Ezio watched Cesares fighting technique: he used the banderilleros and the picadors to break the animal down before delivering the coup de grÃ¢ce after a good deal of shog off. But there was no doubting his courage and prowess during the grim ritual of death, despite the fact that he had four junior matadors to support him. Ezio looked over his shoulder at the box of the Presidente of the fight: there he recognized the harsh but compellingly beautiful face of Cesares sister, Lucrezia. Was it his imagination or had he seen her bite her lip until it bled
At any rate, he had learned something of how Cesare would behave in the field of battle  and how far he could be trusted in any kind of combat.
Everywhere, Borgia guards watched the throng, just as they did in the streets, all of them armed with those lethallooking new guns.
Leonardo  he said involuntarily, thinking of his old friend.
Machiavelli looked at him. Leonardo was forced to work for Cesare on pain of death  and a most painful death it would have been. Its a detail  a terrible detail, but a detail nonetheless. The point is, his heart is not with his new master, who will never have the intelligence or the facility to control the Apple fully. Or at least I hope it isnt. We must be patient. We will get it back, and we will get Leonardo back with it.
I wish I could be so sure.
Machiavelli sighed. Perhaps you are wise to be doubtful, he said at last.
Spain has taken over Italy, said Ezio.
Valencia has taken over the Vatican, Machiavelli replied, but we can change that. We have allies in the College of Cardinals, some of whom are powerful. They arent all lapdogs. And Cesare, for all his vaunting, depends on his father Rodrigo for funds. He gave Ezio a keen look. That is why you should have made sure of this interloping Pope.
I didnt know.
Im as much to blame as you are. I should have told you. But as you said yourself, its the present we have to deal with, not the past.
Amen to that.
Amen.
But how do they afford all this Ezio asked as another bull foundered and fell under Cesares unerring and pitiless sword.
Papa Alexander is a strange mixture, Machiavelli replied. Hes a great administrator and has even done the Church some good, but the evil part of him always defeats the good. He was the Vaticans treasurer for years and found ways of amassing   the experience has stood him in good stead. He sells cardinals hats, creating dozens of cardinals virtually guaranteed to be on his side. He has even pardoned murderers, provided they have enough  to buy their way off the gallows.
How does he justify that
Very simple. He preaches that it is better for a sinner to live and repent than to die and forego such pain.
Ezio couldnt help laughing, though his laugh was mirthless. His mind returned to the recent celebrations to mark the year 1500  the Great Year of the HalfMillennium. True, there had been flagellants roaming the country in expectation of the Last Judgement, and hadnt the mad monk Savonarola  whod briefly had control of the Apple, and whom he himself had defeated in Florence  not been duped by that superstition
1500 had been a great jubilee year. Ezio remembered that thousands of hopeful pilgrims had made their way to the Holy See from all parts of the world. The year had even been celebrated in those small outposts across the far seas to the west, in the New Lands discovered by Colombus and, a few years later, by Amerigo Vespucci, who had confirmed their existence.  had flowed into Rome as the faithful bought indulgences to redeem themselves from their sins in anticipation of Christ returning to earth to judge the quick and the dead. It had also been the time when Cesare had set out to subjugate the city states of the Romagna, and when the king of France had taken Milan, justifying his actions by claiming to be the rightful heir  the greatgrandson of Gian Galeazzo Visconti.
The Pope had then made his son, Cesare, CaptainGeneral of the Papal Forces, and Gonfaloniere of the Holy Roman Church in a great ceremony on the morning of the fourth Sunday of Lent. Cesare was welcomed by boys in silk gowns and four thousand soldiers wearing his personal livery. His triumph had seemed complete: the previous year, in May, hed married Charlotte dAlbret, sister of John, King of Navarre; and King Louis of France, with whom the Borgia were allied, gave him the dukedom of Valence. Having already been Cardinal of Valencia, no der the people gave him the nickname Valentino.
Now this viper was at the peak of his power.
How could Ezio ever defeat him
He shared these thoughts with Machiavelli.
In the end, we will use their own vainglory to bring them down, said NiccolÃ². They have an Achilles heel. Everyone does. I know what yours is.
You must act before January 15th
