We must get you out of here, before they lock the doors.
Cesare BorgiaAnd, so it begins.
Cesare Borgia
(exasperated) Yes, Father.
Keep our family safe. Until the new Pope is elected, there can be anarchy in Rome- every faction fighting for its' own candidate. And, if, after the first vote, if the smoke is black-
Cesare Borgia
(impatiently) As you said, Father- I know what to do. (he tries to walk away, but Rodrigo grabs his shoulder and forces him against the wall)
(quietly) I have waited a lifetime for this moment; we will go over it again. If we fail on the first vote, I will send word-
Cesare Borgia
On the wings of a dove-
Names, of those Cardinals who need persuading.
Cesare Borgia
With properties, benifaces, and if need be, gold. (pause) They call that simony, Father.
(waves it aside) God will forgive us, my son. (looks him in the eye) But I will not forgive failure. From you, or your brother. Am I understood?
Cesare Borgia
(pause) We will not fail you, Father. (Rodrigo nods, then kisses him on the cheeks)
Cesare Borgia
Have you heard?
(playing cards with her two youngest children) Even Joffrey has heard, have you not?
JBJoffrey Borgia
The Pope is dead?
Cesare Borgia
You know what that means?
I know there will be an election.
(enters after Cesare) And the city will be bedlam until it is over.
Do you think our father can win, Juan?
Are we allowed to dream, Mother?
Your father found ways to love and care for us in this house, but I'm not sure that, as Pope, he can do the same.
As Pope, he can do what he wants.
(gives him a direct look) Are you sure? Kings and Popes and Emperors belong to their people, not to their families.
Cesare Borgia
So- we allow the election to run its' course, and he won't be Pope?
What other course is there? It's in the hands of God.
Cesare Borgia
(smiles) It's in the hands of the College of Cardinals, Mother. Not quite the same thing. (gestures to Joffrey to play a particular card) This one.
Cesare Borgia
I ask to confess to you... Holy Father, because... I have sinned.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
And how have you sinned, my son?
Cesare Borgia
I have corrupted my soul. I have pledged estates, castles, benifaces to your brother Cardinals... and transferred the documents in the innards of beasts and roasted fowls. All, to secure your election as Pope.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
And God will repay us, tenfold.
Cesare Borgia
But, you must set my soul at ease, Father. Can a family such as ours survive such a prize? (chuckles darkly) We are Spaniards- they hate us. The enemies we have at present will be multiplied tenfold.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
God will protect his vicar on Earth, Cesare- and those dearest to him-
Cesare Borgia
(sarcastically) Will you inform God, as to his duties in this regard?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
... Why this blasphemous tone, my son?
Cesare Borgia
(grimly) Because, I swear- if God does not protect us, I shall.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(sharply) You are a bishop, Cesare- you have no need of such temporal thoughts.
Cesare Borgia
(angry) You placed this collar around my neck, Father. You made God my calling... but the sins I've committed for you must surely convince you that the Church is not my calling! (pause) I beg you, now, to release me of my vows- and let me live as a layman. As a soldier. I can then protect my family from the storm that surely must engulf it-
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
You are my eldest son, Cesare. You were always destined to be a Prince of the Church!
Cesare Borgia
I would be a Prince of State, Father, and I think you know that.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
The Papal Army is small, Cesare. The battles I will fight will be within these sacred walls. This is where I will need your help! (pause) Juan can bear arms for the Borgia family, and lead whatever army the Pope has, and I will not have my authority questioned further on this. Ego te Absolvo.
Cesare Borgia
(observing the bodies) You planned this massacre thoroughly.
If I had planned it, my Lord, believe me, we would not be having this conversation.
Cesare Borgia
You're that meticulous?
Always. (removes a dagger from a body and throws it aside)
Cesare Borgia
And who planned it?
Cesare Borgia
And Della Rovere?
I know nothing of him. In this affair, I had but one master. (leans against the wall to catch his breath)
Cesare Borgia
And now?...
And now, I am like a stray dog- masterless. (glances at Cesare) Unless your kind offer still stands.
Cesare Borgia
You could've... let things take their course, betrayed me. Most of your kind do.
My kind? (pause) I do not have a "kind". (glances at his bloody hands, then back to Cesare) And, I suspect, neither do you.
Cesare Borgia
(sheathes his dagger, approaches) Your name, sweet assassin?
(straightens up)... Micheletto.
Cesare Borgia
You must prove yourself worthy of my trust, then.
(gestures to the pile of corpses) This is not proof enough?
Cesare Borgia
Perhaps... perhaps not. Can you dispose of these corpses?
You would keep them secret?
Cesare Borgia
More than that- I would keep you secret. (pause) Dump them in the Tiber- meet me at the Vatican gates in two hours' time. We shall discuss your future service.
Cesare Borgia
You loved my father?
... Fool that I am, my son, perhaps I love him still.
Cesare Borgia
Can it be... cured?
No. It can be endured, embraced- and suffered. (pause) You are suffering, my son?
Cesare Borgia
... I have met a woman, Mother(sits across from Vanozza, who smiles slightly)... who is married.
And she makes you suffer? (Cesare sighs) Well, perhaps she suffers, too.
Cesare Borgia
She does. (pause) But, if I can rid her of her impediment-
Cesare Borgia
(shakes his head) To endure life, like you did, Mother?
You could leave the Church (Cesare scoffs, she smiles humorously) And displease your father... if you dare.
Cesare Borgia
(pause, leans forward) I fear nothing, Mother.
Cesare Borgia
(having received a report from Micheletto) Della Rovere has left Florence.
RBRodrigo Borgia/ Alexander VI
With, or without satisfaction?
(dismissively) We have the Papal Armies, the Sforza armies, our allies in the Romagna, all under my command. (sits across from Cesare, slams his sword on the table) To hell with Florence!
Cesare Borgia
(fiddling with a dagger) My fear is, the Cardinal might invite Apocalypse.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
He would open the Seven Seals.
Cesare Borgia
No, Father, let us not talk in metaphors. My fear is, he would go to France, conspire with the French to invade us, and arrange free passage of their armies through the Republic of Florence and the Duchy of Milan.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
And, the French King would-
Cesare Borgia
Depose you and march south, to Naples. (pause) His armies are hardened by a hundred years of battle with England- there is nothing here to match them.
Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan- he is cousin to our sister's husband, Giovanni Sforza.
Cesare Borgia
(scoffs) Lucrezia did not marry Ludovico Sforza, Brother- and they don't call him Il Moro for nothing.
(stands up, crosses the room) I hear he keeps his own cousin, caged beneath his castle floors.
Cesare Borgia
(stands up, approaches the Pope) He would betray us in a moment, if he thought his Dukedom was in peril. What he fears... is that his nephew would wear his crown.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Well... perhaps we should threaten them, with just that possibility. (Juan smiles) And you should go to Florence- tease out their intentions. Those Medici bankers have a preacher, Savanarola, who accuses them of usury. (smiles) Perhaps we should offer them an excommunication- a public burning- if they support our just cause.
UBUrsula Bonadeo
I asked to meet you here, because... my husband has been found. (Cesare looks at her, then away) Washed up, on the shores of the Tiber- three weeks dead, with stab wounds to his neck. (pause, her voice shaking) For those three weeks, I -gave my body to you. I broke my marriage vows.
Cesare Borgia
I thought... perhaps I hoped- you did so willingly-
UBUrsula Bonadeo
You bought those three weeks with murder! (tearfully) I told you he was riding on the road to Ostia that night. (pulls the veil off her face and stares at him) Admit it, Cardinal!
Cesare Borgia
I admit nothing.
UBUrsula Bonadeo
Yet the crime is written on your face!
Cesare Borgia
(finally meets her eyes) There was no murder. He fought, he lost! (Ursula claps her hand to her mouth in horror)
UBUrsula Bonadeo
(tearfully) I begged you not to meet him!
Cesare Borgia
You begged me not to place myself in harm's way.
UBUrsula Bonadeo
I had no idea you had such capabilities!
Cesare Borgia
(turns away) And to think, I thought you knew me.
UBUrsula Bonadeo
I thought I knew a man! A man conflicted, perhaps, between the world and God, but not a murderer!
Cesare Borgia
(voice shaking) Is it murder to defend your mother's honor? To procure the freedom of one you could love? (Ursula gives a sarcastic laugh through her tears) Even more than your mother's honor. (stares at her) If it is, I am a murderer born.
UBUrsula Bonadeo
Maybe God can forgive you, because I'm not sure if I can.
Cesare Borgia
You think I care for the forgiveness of God?! (pause) I care for your happiness, your future... and I have now given it to you. Liberame, you asked me-
UBUrsula Bonadeo
You have not given me a future! You have given me a lifelong penance! I am party to your crime! (pause, more quietly) I feel for you, still... but I know not this monster beside me. (she starts to rise, but Cesare grabs her arm and pulls her back, scaring her)
Cesare Borgia
Well, let me tell you. (pause) I was born... with a stain. A mark. Like the mark of Cain. It is the mark of my father, of my family... the mark of Borgia. (pause) I've tried, to be other than I am... and I have failed. (voice breaks) If I have failed you in the process, I am truly sorry. (rests his forehead against hers)
UBUrsula Bonadeo
You... you have the Devil's insight, Cardinal. You read what my heart wanted, and you gave it to me. You gave me... joy. Through a crime, I could not have conceived. (pause) And now, I must live my life in penance, praying for forgiveness.
Cesare Borgia
Where?
UBUrsula Bonadeo
... You will not know where. (stands up and walks away, Cesare stands behind her)
Cesare Borgia
You mean a nunnery?
UBUrsula Bonadeo
I mean confinement.
Cesare Borgia
(voice shaking) I will search you out! Like Abalard and Eloise. You may find a nunnery cell, but you will never be free of me!
UBUrsula Bonadeo
(smiles grimly) You are right. I will never be free of you.
I must return to my husband in the morning.
Cesare Borgia
Why?
Because he is my husband. Because our father needs his allegiance.
Cesare Borgia
I should keep you here in chains- I suspect you would be happier.
(looks sharply at him) Why do you question my happiness?
Cesare Borgia
Because something happened. I know it.
Cesare Borgia
Your eyes. (Lucrezia turns away) You no longer walk on air. (she walks away, he follows her) Where is my young sister hiding?
I am the Lord Sforza's wife, Brother.
Cesare Borgia
If he does ill by you, I shall do ill by him.
He would be wise to be kind, then. (they both stop)
Cesare Borgia
What are... his pleasures?
Hunting. (bitterly) The marital bed.
Cesare Borgia
(exhales angrily) I dislike him already.
(smirks, sits) But he had an accident, Brother- and now, he can indulge in neither.
Cesare Borgia
A happy accident?
Cesare Borgia
But he will recover.
Unfortunately, yes. (Cesare sits down, looks at her)
Cesare Borgia
...You are no longer a child, Sis. I won't forgive him for that.
... There was a reason for my marriage, Brother. (pause, looks at him) Remind me of it. (Cesare looks away, then leaves)
Cesare Borgia
(to a nearby whore) You know this man?
WWhore
No, Father- he had no name last night. (Cesare grabs Juan by the feet and yanks him out of the bed, then drags him upright by the hair, waking him up)
WWhore
(amused) You have a priest for a brother?
A Cardinal. (Cesare frog-marches him across the room)
WWhore
Cardinal? I shoulda charged you double!
(chuckles) I imagine you did- (Cesare dunks him headfirst into a bucket of water, then pulls him back up and shoves him onto a blanket)
Cesare Borgia
(curtly) Your father would review the forces at his command, Gonfaloniere.
I am out of sorts this morning, Brother.
Cesare Borgia
It's afternoon. (picks up a bowl of water)
Ah, no!- (vainly trys to shield himself as Cesare throws the water on him)
Cesare Borgia
(smirks) You know me, Brother- I disapprove of lechery, debauchery, drunkenness.
(grins) Which is why our father made you the Cardinal.
Cesare Borgia
Why, then, did he make you a Duke? (throws the rest of Juan's clothes at him)
(smugly) Because lechery and debauchery are the very marks of nobility. (Cesare grabs his arm and yanks him upright again)
Cesare Borgia
Most of Italy has galloped off to the French side. They've heard a sound that is new to their Italian ears: the sound of cannon. (sharply) And the Gonfaloniere has other duties besides lechery and debauchery- there is the tedious business of war.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Your brother did not fail, Cesare; your father did. Your father, who placed that responsibility on his shoulders- who was blinded by paternal fondness. Your father, that has been abandoned by all that once supported him. Your father, who... who faces his dark night of the soul...alone. (Cesare kneels next to him and grips his hand)
Cesare Borgia
...I will not leave you, Father. (Alexander kisses his hand and hugs him close, weeping)
There are beauteous women in Naples, I have been told. (Alexander nods) Even for this ugly snout of mine? (the French and the Pope chuckle)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
They will swear it is divine, Your Highness.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Exceedingly well. They hardly know what "truth" is.
HAH! (he and his generals roar with laughter, Charles turns to Cesare) A most excellent Pontiff, your father, is he not?
Cesare Borgia
(smiles uneasily) I have... no other to compare him with.
Well, he has suited our purpose! We could be said to have an understanding. (glances at the Pope, who returns his gaze)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(nods heartily) We could, indeed!
But, in case- just in case- we would make a request of Your Holiness.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Well, we will respectfully hear it.
We would have you nominate a Papal Legate, to accompany our armies to the Kingdom of Naples. To remain with us, for the duration of our visit.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(glances away)... Very well. We will nominate a legate of our choice-
(smiles and touches his arm) Oh, no- not of your choice, Holy Father. (Cesare tenses) Of ours.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
... Who would you choose?
(smiles slightly) Your son, Cardinal Cesare Borgia. (Alexander hastily looks in Cesare's direction)
Cesare Borgia
(sharply) You would have me accompany your army as... a hostage?! (Alexander gestures at him to calm down)
No, God forbid. (shakes his head, smiles) A hostage implies emnity!
Cesare Borgia
(angrily) And what does Legate imply?
Friendship, surely! And a guarantee that such friendship will continue.
Cesare Borgia
(observing the ceremonial crowning of Charles by Alexander) It is an august sight, is it not?
St. Peter's in its' full glory, the Pope of Rome in Cathedra, the Sistine Chapel Choir singing. It would bring tears to one's eyes, Cardinal Borgia.
Cesare Borgia
I want to compliment you, Cardinal, on your... steadfastness, your probity, your...survival, indeed.
(nods) It did prove hard, at times.
Cesare Borgia
In fact, you proved such a worthy opponent, that... I would gladly have you back in Rome. (Della Rovere glances sharply at him)
Cesare Borgia
I have my father's ear, as you must understand. And, he needs someone with the steel that your soul has. (Della Rovere looks away)
Cesare Borgia
I will not be Cardinal forever; surely, you must know that.
Cesare Borgia
Well, my father's problem is he surrounds himself with weakness. (he and Della Rovere meet each other's gaze) And, with your strength, Cardinal-
I serve God...and can only pray the Papacy survives its' current occupant. (looks towards Alexander)
Cesare Borgia
... I could've killed you. Twice.
Perhaps, then, you should kill me now. Because my opposition to the Borgia Papacy will only die with me.
Cesare Borgia
(to the nuns tending to Della Rovere) You may leave us, Sisters.
Cesare Borgia
There is no need for last rights, but your prayers will be welcomed. (they start to leave, Della Rovere tries to speak) Hush, Cardinal- I will attend you.
NNun
Cardinal- (Cesare shuts the door in their faces)
Cesare Borgia
And you, Sisters, let us hear your prayers. (kneels next to Della Rovere as the latter watches him) Don't worry- if you're not dead by now, you will live. Your tongue will be swollen for days- no talking, I'm afraid. All of your prayers must be silent ones. (he bathes Della Rovere's brow) Altar boys and cantarella- neither can be trusted. But, you must know by now, Cardinal, there is no hiding place. Even here, in the depths of the Umbrian olive groves, we will find you. (pause) The French army is ensnared in Naples, the French King is ill with the Neapolitan disease, God is in His Heaven- and the Pope on his seat, in Rome. And, my plea to you, Cardinal, is still the same: work with us, not against us. (leaves)
The Borgias · 70 quotes
