The Family - Mario Puzo [119]
Caterina lay naked; she could conceal no weapons. And his two guards, large and muscular, stood in the room. So what danger could there be? Cesare himself removed her chains, and then gently untied her bands. She nodded in thanks, and for the first time her eyes softened. Then he mounted her. And she wrapped first her legs and then her arms around him, pulling him deeper inside her. She pulled his head back by his hair and ran her tongue around his lips, then she kissed him, and her tongue penetrated him so deeply that his entire body trembled. Moments later Caterina began to make small sounds of pleasure that drove him nearly mad with ecstasy. In minutes they brought each other to a shuddering climax.
The following day, Caterina refused to eat unless she was permitted a fragrant bath. She was taken to the tubs in chains and washed by one of the ladies-in-waiting who had survived the explosion, but that was the only time Caterina left the bed.
Each night for the next two weeks, Cesare came at midnight and mounted Caterina. Halfway through he would untie her, and she would embrace him again. The guards remained, for Cesare could never be certain that in a moment of passion or rage she wouldn’t try to gouge his eyes out, but both Cesare and Caterina ignored them. Then one night, the two violent lovers began to speak.
“You must admit that even rape can be pleasurable,” Cesare said.
Caterina laughed and said slyly, “You believe you raped me? You are wrong, you Roman bastard, son of a Pope. Standing on the rampart of the castle, that first moment I saw you, I was determined either to kill you or to rape you. If I had captured you, I would have tied you up, just as you did me. And then I would have mounted you. But no matter; the result is the same.”
Caterina had a true gift for strategy. By claiming his will as her own, she had shifted the balance of power. And so, without a weapon, Caterina had effectively disarmed him. For now Cesare felt as much the vanquished as the victor.
The day they were to leave for Rome, Caterina asked Cesare a question. “Will you lead me in heavy chains through the streets of the city like a captured queen, so your citizens can jeer and abuse me as they did in ancient Rome?”
Cesare laughed. Caterina looked quite beautiful on that day, especially for someone who had been kept in a dungeon. “It hadn’t occurred to me,” he said, “but . . . ”
“I know, you will burn me at a stake instead, for my attempt on the Pope’s life,” Caterina said. “Such fools I chose for messengers.”
“The Pope’s life is often threatened,” Cesare said. “He seldom takes umbrage at that, especially if the plot is foiled. But if that is his intention, to hang you or burn you for heresy, I will assure him that you have been punished by me each day since your capture.”
“And he would believe you?” she asked.
“He would consider it rape, and would find that more severe a punishment than death, for he believes that rape causes injury to the soul, and he loves women as I have never,” Cesare admitted.
Caterina smiled wryly. “But one would have to believe in a soul to believe in its injury.”
“Ah, and that the Pope does,” Cesare said, smiling. “In the meantime, as you are a Sforza, after all, I’ve made arrangements for you to be held in Belvedere. Without chains. That castle belongs to me. It has lovely gardens and a wonderful view of the city. You will be treated as an honored guest—well guarded, of course.”
21
CESARE ENTERED ROME a conquering hero. The grand procession celebrating his victory was the most dramatic the citizens of Rome had ever seen. All Cesare’s men-at-arms, his light cavalrymen, and his Swiss pikemen were dressed in stark black; even the wagons of his baggage train were draped with black cloth. And Cesare, wearing jet-black armor, rode at the head of his army accompanied by four cardinals, whose red and purple vestments formed a perfect contrast. To applaud