Just a few weeks after they had arrived, Cesare’s loyal men were in his chamber, in his father’s castle.

They all were quiet, looking at each other, not believing what Cesare had just said.

Then Andrea dared to break the awkward silence, “Cesare, are you sure?”
Cesare’s face showed nothing, it was cold, “Of course, I am only telling you so none of you would be surprised, but it is about time to fulfil my destiny, my fatum. If you do not want to, it would be as if this thing of ours  has never been.”
Andrea immediately shot up, “Of course I am with you!” and everybody could hear that he was hurt. Cesare then looked at the others, “What about you?”

            All agreed.

Cesare smiled and said, “I guess that only death can do us part.”

It was meant to be a joke, but they only smiled nervously.

*

            It was a quite dinner, and the Duke tried to break the silence, “So how did you spend your day, my son?”

Cesare did not look at his father, he continued to stare and fidget with his food.

“Why are you not eating? Do you not like the food?” the worried Duke asked, as he sipped his wine, “Let me order the servants to bring you something else.” But as he called out to his servants, none of them answered. In the great hall, there were only the two De Benignes.

Suddenly the Duke was on his alert, he wiped his mouth from the wine, “What happened to everybody?” he tried to sound calm, but Cesare noticed the panic in his voice. Again, he started sipping on his wine

“They are all at the festa,” started Cesare, “I thought that they all should enjoy the feast of Saint Ambrose.”

“How come I was not informed about this?!” there was no more panic in the Duke’s voice, now there was only rage, “This is my castle!”

“Papa, please calm down,” Cesare remained calm and started smiling as his father sipped more wine as time passed, “It seems that you really like that wine.” The innocent smile that Cesare wore would have tricked the devil himself.

The Duke looked at his son in wonder, he then realised that he drank all the wine taht was on the table, when his son only drank water. The goblet of wine fell from the Duke’s hand, “What have you-” The Duke did not manage to finish the sentence, because at that moment his hand went up to his throat, it was swelling rapidly.

            Cesare moved next to his father, as the Duke’s face started to change into all sort of colour, “This is now my castle, and your dream, shall become my fatum.” Although the swollen face resembled nothing human, Cesare could see the bewildered look on his father’s face.

            As Cesare stood over the dead, inflated body of his father, out of the shadows came Dacio, “Everything is in order I presume my Don.”

*

            When the following day Cesare himself announced the death of his father from the balcony of his castle, everybody took it as a shock. But what was even more of a bolt from the blue was when Cesare said that the Duke was poisoned, and everyone figured out that the culprit could only be the Duke’s personal servant, Tonnino.