In Bloom, You Wither

Tulips. Always were one of his favorites.

The gate up to his family estate lay open, flanked on both sides by flowers in bloom. Daffodils, buttercups and of course a wide array of tulips. None like the one I possessed however. The dreary mood about me had been alleviated somewhat, gazing at his cultivated beauty, but it still hurt to know what came next. Walking up to the house, guards were stationed at every entrance per my instruction, having already scouted ahead in-case of some trickery. Yet, Domenico was not a man to deceive even the most ruthless soul over a small detail, if he were to ever do such a thing I’d imagine only the forgiveness of Pope Benedict would quell his guilt. With flowerpot in hand, I motioned my men to step aside and let me in.

A tulip petal began to droop.

There, laying across his humble bedding, was Domineco. Sickness of the common man had gotten to him, perhaps even from one of my own men as he so often contested both wit and steel. His skin had lost all color, his eyes sunken back as if to mimic the dead, though I imagined soon it would be an honest imitation.

“Angelo. It is good to see you my friend.” he said, the raspy voice a shadow of his once boisterous tone.

“We are not friends Domineco. Rivals at best.”

“Ah, call it what you see fit, but please take rest wherever you can. Your men have arranged seating near my bedside.” he said this while gesturing towards the simple seating, his fingers shaking as he did so.

“Thank you. Oh, and a gift.” I said, placing the tulip down next to him.

“Why, I’ve never seen such a beautiful tulip in all my years.” His eyes seem glued on it for a moment, a smile briefly forming.

“It’s a Semper Augustus, left over from a dutch contact of mine. He takes care of all the rare breeds that people no longer see fit to murder or sell their livelihoods for. Think nothing of it.”

“You know me too well Angelo.”

“And you’re thinking too much of it.” I took the seat opposite him, gazing as he took great care to even graze the tulip. A gentle man, you’d never think he once had the strength to best my personal guard.

“Well, it’s lovely to have a visit from you - gift or no - in these trying times.” he said, laying back into the pillows. Almost sinking into them.

“A visit from me should be enough of a gift for anyone in Naples - nay, in Campania! Those northerners shall know one day of my influence, how my words can shake the very core of a man! Then-”

“You’re monologuing again Angelo.”

“Am I? Well. I simply believed a gift was needed when my most feared rival is in such dire straits.”

“Then it shall look lovely by my final place of rest.”

My heart skipped a beat. My ears could not have faltered me, so was what I heard correct?

“Oh, I take it you were also here to learn the results of my latest visit to the physician. I’ll be direct, as I always have, and say that it’s not good. They have given me one month, perhaps three if I’m lucky.” he said with such bizarre calm that it nearly quelled the anger rising within me. Nearly.

“A month?!? Three if you’re lucky? What do these bottom-feeders think they’re doing, calling themselves physicians? Bah! I shall summon my personal physician and have them care for you with the best treatments this side of the volturno! And as for the so-called medical professionals that had given you such a farce, they will know what pain can truly be, the depths of which are still waiting to be chartered before their untimely demise!” I yelled out, jumping up from my chair as I paced about the room. That couldn’t be right. Domineco was stronger than that, no mere peasantry disease could take him out when a hundred crossbow bolts and a hundred more musket shots couldn’t.

Yet, there was a piece of me that seemed to know. That had known before coming here.

“Oh, that was a good one.” A raspy laugh escaped Domineco. “Reminds me of the stint back in the docks of Greece where you swore to wipe the smirk off my face with a rag dipped in hellfire, so I threw a wet wrapped fish at your own!” My temper began to ease off, remembering the escapade.

“Ah yes. Took my servants weeks to get the smell out from my favorite flowing robe. The incident with your little getaway outside my vineyard surely had them cursing your name.”

“How could I forget? Not even I could escape the-” a brief coughing fit escaped him, causing me to tense up. “-the flow of wine afterwards. Truly, I was stumbling home that night after stopping your plan to poison the french nobility.”

“Bah. My sources tell me they’re spelling out their own demise as we speak.”

“Ah, as do mine. Good always overcomes evil you know.”

“As you would tell me everytime before you leapt away.”

“Well, hopefully those words ring true even after my passing. A few of my allies already plan to disrupt the festival you think is being kept secret, but we’ll not have you ruin the delicate balance of power in the south anymore than you have!” he said, the spark of life in his eyes returning for but a moment, my own soul alight for half that. Yet, he laid back into the pillows, hacking out his breath.

“Goodness, a pain even as you lay bedridden. Your gifts are one of a kind in messing up my ideas.” I laughed, sitting back down. Though as I did, a wave of emotion came over me, but I did my best to hide it.

“I do wonder though, who would be a good replacement for me? Jacopo is too much of a drunkard, Andrea would be a violation of your ‘no-harm-to-women’ rule and Gian has the charisma of a skinned bovine! Who would be your pick?” he said, gesturing towards me.

“My...my pick?”

“Of course! You’ve met them before, either by the sword or by the cell. Who would you like to see tussle for the soul of Mezzogiorno?”

Distraught came over me, my posture wavered as words began to pile up in my throat.

“Well. You must realize, there are certain conditions to be liable for foiling my plots, not just anyone with a bit of bravado can hope to muster my hand into action-”

“Come now, who best out of them to come close then?”

“To come close? What foul indicator of worth-?”

“You wound a dying man with your deflection! Now, who would-”

The words found their way from my throat at last, my fury returning.

“None of them Domineco! None of your companions come close to ever even gazing at the level of raw skill you possess, of the way you dodge every last pitfall, of how you craft every careful word that comes from your soothing voice, NONE OF THEM ARE WORTHY!” I screamed out, causing him to sink so far back a few pillows fell, burying him. Breathing heavily, the shame of letting my emotions out to Domineco in such a manner now crept over me.

The tulip petal drooped further.

“I- there is nobody else who could match you, not in this world or the next. Do you not see? With you gone, there is little to stand in my way, my plans may all manifest in full, I may influence our home as I see fit, perhaps even unite with our northern brothers instead of insisting on pointless conflict. There will be chaos among the lower classes, people shall starve to allow my vision life, desperate folk will clamber to my side in order to seize the crumbs of power I allow them while the mediterranian bows to my whims as I set out to do not twenty years ago.” I paused, taking a breath and allowing Domineco to process my emotions.

“But without you, is there even a point? The thought has torn me down night after night, that if you were to slip peacefully into the hands of god, then who will stop the devil? Your performance with a blade, the wit you sharpen night after night with a pen in one hand and a glass of wine in the other? It pushes me, Domineco. You inspire me, you cause my machinations to grow outward, further and further, perhaps one day to rival that of Ceasar, of Justinian, of even Alexander. Even if I am near double his age.” I said, Dominecos face no longer contorted in surprise, but now calm once more.

The tulip petal began to lose a touch of color.

“Oh Angelo, your words I cannot deny. Once you sought only a minor role of power within our hometown and now you seek to challenge the might of monarchs around Europe. But I’m afraid that we, like our ancestors, cannot live forever. Though there is something that does.” he said, sitting upright despite the effort it took.

“And that is?”

“Good, Angelo. Heroism, kindness, empathy. All will exist as long as our descendants do. Even if you get your way, if people do end up starving due to my demise, a force of good will rise up once more in another. But what, in this world, do you think happens when there is nothing but evil suffocating the hearts of men?” he looked at me, expectantly.

“I did not know you had become a philosopher. Or a tutor.”

“Knowledge surprises you on where it may originate.” I pondered his question for a moment.

“It consumes all around it.”

“And then?”

“And then, itself.”

“We’ll make a philosopher of you yet Angelo.” he said, the same smug smile returning as a dribble of blood began to run from his mouth. With a sigh, I got up to wipe it off with my own cloth.

“You’re already making an attendant of me, truly your talents are diverse.” I said, finally wiping the smug grin from his face in the most literal sense.

“A multitude of them lay dormant. Yet, do you understand the lesson I try to preach?”

“All too well. But what is the point of telling me that which I know?”

“Because even if evil suffocates the hearts of men, good remains within. Even in you, I know there is some good, else you’d have gotten a blade through the chin rather than just under it.” he said, the calm beginning to sink into sadness.

“Dom-”

“You know it to be truth I speak.”

“All I know is that I know nothing.”

Domineco chuckled, quietly, painfully.

“At least I’ve made a philosopher out of you. If nothing else.” he said, the smile fading as his eyelids fluttered. “I thank you for the gift Angelo, and the security, but I grow tired much quicker these days.” 

“You’re only thirty two.”

“I’m already thirty two.” he began to pull the blankets over himself, though I hurried to pull them first as his arms shook with the effort. Taking one last look at him, I turned on my heel and began walking out.

“Angelo.”

I stopped, turning as my hand grasped the door frame. “Yes Domineco?”

“Feel free to visit again, before the spring passes by.”

The tulip petal began to wither.

“Of course. My friend.” I said, turning to leave back out through the garden. With my men scanning the perimeter, we made our way back out into the beautiful sunlight, the breeze at our backs.

Domineco passed the next day. 

The festival, meant for the first plot free of him, was instead held in his honor. A thousand different tulips adorned our hometown. Spring would never be the same. 

Nor would I.