‘The decision must be yours alone,’ said Mario. ‘But if you feel unhappy having custody of it now, give it to me for safekeeping. You can take it back later when your mind is calmer.’

Ezio hesitated still, but then they both heard, in the distance, the sound of thundering hooves and the baying of hounds.

‘Those bastards don’t give up easily,’ said Mario through gritted teeth. ‘Come, give it to me.’

Ezio sighed, but replaced the Apple in its leather pouch and threw it over to Mario, who quickly stowed it in his saddlebag.

‘And now,’ said Mario, ‘we must jump these nags into the river and swim them across. That’ll put the damned dogs off our scent, and even if they’re bright enough to ford the Tiber themselves, we’ll be able to lose them in the woods over there. Come on. I want to be in Monteriggioni by this time tomorrow.’

‘How hard do you expect to ride?’

Mario dug his heels into his mount’s flanks and the beast reared, foam at the corners of its mouth.

‘Very hard,’ he said. ‘Because from now on we don’t simply have Rodrigo to contend with, his son and daughter are with him - Cesare and Lucrezia.’

‘And they are … ?’

‘The most dangerous people you are ever likely to meet.’

4

It was the afternoon of the following day when the little walled town of Monteriggioni, dominated by Mario’s rocca, appeared on its hill on the horizon. They had made better time than they’d expected and had now eased their pace to spare the horses.

‘… and then Minerva told me about the sun,’ Ezio was saying. ‘She told of a disaster that happened long ago, and foretold of another which is to come …’

‘But not until some time in the future, vero?’ said Mario. ‘Then we need not fret about it.’