He and his servants setlled their horses at a stable upon their arrival, and it was walking from beyond there. He did not enjoy boats, they made him feel nauseaus; besides, it wasn't very far now. He gave the servants some money so that they could enjoy Venice in all it's glory – in which, he imagined, they probably went out to find the cheapest whores. Fucking was, at least now, the furthest thing from his mind; he was here to visit the Donatos, quite possibly to invite them to the wedding next month.

A soft grip on his shoulder made him turn around and there she was, the blonde vision of beauty, looking enchanting in the cool night. She found him before he did her, but that was not completely unexpected. »Donna Paulina,« he managed to reply before she squeezed him into her firm grip, hugging him as if she had been hoping for his return for ages. He went along although he found it quite inappropriate, and therefor his laugh sounded a bit uncomfortable.

»I am here to see you and your family, my lady,« he said, catching her hand, pressing a kiss on the back of it. »It seems you found me before I could find you.«

paulina | yay!

An awkward silence fell for a glimpse of a second as his eyes wandered, then he looked into hers again and he nodded. »He undoubtedly would,« he replied vaguely as he did never really have a lot of respect for the old man. Much like his soon-to-be wife's father, the old signor Donato that died of poisoning had a strange fixation with bringing home the kids of the whores he had bedded in his life. Paulina was one of them, sadly, he grew to quite like her, although he could never really overlook her origins.

»I am glad,« he nodded, a happy smile forming upon his lips. He could not say the same for her, so he did not even try to find a way to repay her the compliment.

»Well..« He wasn't sure if he wanted to get into it in the middle of a public place, he would have much rather told her somewhere private, but as his head turned to see if anyone was listening, he realized they were alone. »I guess you will be the first one of your family to know,« he smiled, but the thought of his marriage did not make him as happy as it should have. »I am getting married. I came to invite your family to join us on the happy day,« he finaly couldn't keep the play up anymore and as he called it a 'happy day', it was impossible to ignore the sarcasm in his voice.

paulina

»Yes, I had the same impression myself,« he nodded briefly as she spoke of her father's affections for him. He could not say that he was not pleased by the way the old man looked at him as an equal and always knew exactly what to say to make Leonello feel superior. He enjoyed the talks in a way, but at the same time he felt quite annoyed by the very fact that the man who was so good with words even after drinking more than his statue could possibly handle, was also one who had no self-respect what so ever. »Why do you say that?« he quickly raised his eyebrows, as he did not understand what she was reffering to.

»Yes,« he smiled with a bitter aftertaste in his mouth, his eyes astrayed for a bit, overlooking the calm water under the rialto. »Yes, it is exceptionally wonderful news for my father who will now be able to control Naples as well.« It was not about Leonello at all – it was about polytical power and while he did understand that, he still didn't want to be the one married with a common whore's daughter.

»No, I'm not,« he confirmed once again as he really felt the need to tell someone about how incredibly unhappy he was and Paulina was simply.. there. »You see, my betrothed is an illegitimate daughter of king Malatesta.. and she's the daugther of the famous Farnese whore. It's quite beneath me, I believe, to marry such a woman.«

paulina

»I do not know, I.. I guess,« he finally replied with a shrug of his shoulders, then he looked away once more. He actually loved his father dearly. All he ever wanted was his father's approval, his father's love. And although he got some of it, it was never enough. He wanted to be the favourite son, the one everyone loved and adored and instead he all he got was hate from his siblings and a whore's daughter for a wife from his father.

»I wish people would stop saying that,« he said in a sharp manner, he had enough of people telling him to get to know the girl before he makes any decisions about her. He knew enough. »It's not about whether she is a.. nice lady or not, God, it's about the fact that I'm marrying a bastard child of a whore!« How was it even possible that people couldn't understand his troubles. And she, of all people? She should be able to understand.

»Your family was ridiculed ever since I can remember. People talking about the bastard children your father picked off the street..« He smiled just a bit, it almost made him feel better to push the frustration onto somebody else. »And you, you are still a commoner in the eyes of the people. You have no respect from them. I do not wish for that to happen to me or to my sons and daughters.«

paulina | ooops

The expression on the blonde's face shifted, but he only realized that after she spoke, since he was quite caught up in his own thoughts. He did not feel remorse, but what he did feel was that he should let her know he ment no harm. »I am sorry,« he said. He was not sorry. He couldn't care less of whether she had been hurt by his words, he knew he was absolutely right. Then again, he was not only raised in a proud manner, but in a polite one as well and so he needed to apologize out of courtesy, rather than anything else. »I did not mean to.. offend you, I imagined simply that you have already come to terms with the subject.« Yes – he could not get pass the bastardsy without letting her know, again, that his previous words were quite seriously ment and the only thing he was sorry about was that she obviously did not have a thicker skin for such conversations.

»It's not about that,« he quickly cut her off, as she started speaking of his father and their relationship. People knew how he was with his father, the pope. They knew that he loved him so very much and they also knew he had absolutely no way of ever refusing any demand his father had put upon him, simply because his fatherly love meant more to Leonello than.. anything in the world. He wanted to be the favourite son; well, in his mind he was succesfully convinced that he was.

»Besides,« he felt offended now and the srong sensation to strike back simply overcame him, »at least with these children, there will be no doubt of the fact that they are mine.« Unlike her and her family of streetwalkers.

paulina | ooops

He smiled at her keen observation; no, he was not sorry, not really. She did quite obviously see through him and he wasn't about to lie, so he left a mysteriously cocky smile upon his lips and shrugged his shoulders briefly. No, he was not sorry; if she saw it on his face, if she felt it in his words, there was no real reason to deny it anymore.

»Well,« he said, shrugging once more, feeling incredibly at ease even though he had offended her. He was not the most polite man to ever walk the grounds of Italy, she must have known that by now. He spoke his mind, he was truthfull to himself only, and if that was a sin, he might as well already be burning in the fires of hell. All great men had a specific strength to them, a strength he believed to share with them. She was a woman, she could not understand everything, not how the world worked, she couldn't understand that a man such as him needed very thick skin to survive. He had no time to look upon the feelings of others and to apologize for every weak-minded person he might have offended.

»Why yes,« he then nodded, a wide smile appearing on his face as he stretched out hi sarm to have her grab it so that they may proceed on their way as higher class people usually did. »Let's.« And they went on to the palace of the Donato family.

paulina | ok so this is done and i guess we'll continue w/the fun part now! <3