22nd of June 1535 - Florence, Italy

Staring down at his most recent letter from home, the Duke of Bedford could not help but wish he was there with his wife and children instead of trapped in this muddy field in the middle of the Italian countryside. 

The march to Florence had been a slow one, much slower than the army would have liked to move but they had arrived and work had begun to take over the city as quickly as they could. 

The siege had not been expected but they had known that Florence would not fall easily especially with the Emperor's bastard daughter recently wed to Alessandro de' Medici; imperial forces appeared to be backing the city and preventing it from falling. 

Not that it would do much good, there was no sign of outside help coming to boaster the forces that held the city and with each passing day they were running out of time. 

It was only a matter of time afterall until they ran out of food, there was no way in or out of the city that the army was not guarding and George doubted it would be long before they were desperate for aid. 

Thomas Wyatt had arrived that morning with the Doge of Venice, the man coming to make terms with the Kings and there had been whispers that Andrea Gritti had already refused to aid Alessandro in favour of the alliance. 

It appeared that Alessandro de' Medici had very few allies, even the ones that he did have would not come to his aid at this time not with an army sitting at his gates waiting for the moment they could take Florence from him. 

George sighed and closed the letter from Clarice, he longed to be back home with her and meet their son for the first time; he had been relieved to hear that the labour had gone well and that she was healthy as was their child. 

The fact that they had a son warmed his heart, he had never truly cared about the genders of their children as long as they were healthy but George would not deny that William's birth had eased a lot of tensions. 

The last thing that George wanted was to return from Italy to find his family at each other's throats, he wanted to come home victories and focus on continuing the work that he and Anne had been doing before he had left.

England needed stability, it needed a strong figure head and George knew that his nephew would one day step into the shoes. 

Alexander was the future and he had to be prepared for that, he was the one that would follow Henry and become the King of England; a fine match had already been made for him and now the rest had to fall in place. 

It would not be long before Alexander would be sent away to Ludlow to be prepared for his future, a future that could be easily taken from him if the Boleyns did not watch their steps. 

There were still Plantagenet claimants to the throne that could cause issues when Henry died, they could find themselves facing the next Richard III and there would be nothing that they could do about it. 

George could not help but ponder their next steps, he could not shake the pit in his stomach and he knew there was at least one issue that he could deal with while in Italy. 

Despite Thomas Wyatt's success with the Doge of Venice and bringing him into the fold, it had been brought to George's attention that the man had not heeded his last warning about his poetry. 

His continued obsession with Anne would have to be dealt with, there was no way that such writings could be allowed to return to England; least it damage Anne's reputation further. 

Sitting back in his chair, George wished that there was another option; he did not relish the idea of what he had to do and he would give Thomas one last chance to stop this. 

George did not want the man's blood on his hands but he had his orders and he knew that protecting Anne and her children were what was important. 

History had proved that even the slightest rumours could be used to unseat heirs to the throne, George was not about to allow the same to happen to his own family. 

Clasping his hands behind his back, George pondered his options; he would do anything for his family even if it meant getting his hands dirty and dealing with Thomas Wyatt himself.

***

Crossing his arms and staring down at the map ahead of him, Alessandro de' Medici frowned as he weighed up his options and tried to ignore the looks that those around him gave. 

It was not hard to notice that the Salviati and Ridolfi families were not here with him, Alessandro could only guess that they had sided with Ippolito and rallied to his side. 

Beside him sat his wife, her eyes wide as she listened to the talks around her and Alessandro paid her little mind especially in the face of everything that he could lose. 

Margaret had very little to offer him right now, she was too young to give him a child that would take his place if he died and her father could do little to help Florence when he was all the way in Spain hiding like the coward that he was. 

No, it would fall to him to defend the city from the invaders and it would be down to him to beat them back while everyone else bowed down to them. 

"Has there been any news from His Holiness?" Alessandro stated looking up from the map, in the days since the army had arrived all he heard from his generals was bad news. 

If the Emperor would not aid them now, then perhaps the Pope would do so; they were good fearing men afterall and the threat of excommunication would surely deter them from their plans. 

Alessandro had always looked up to Pope Clement, the man had been far more present in his life than his own father had been; he had been the father figure that he and Catherine had needed as children. 

Clement had even secured a throne for his sister, now all Catherine needed to do was give her husband a son; they would deal with the Dauphin when the time came and Florence would linked to the French throne. 

There had been such grand plans especially after Clarice had fallen from grace with the Pope, Alessandro was not surprised that the daughter of the usurper had failed. 

He had little care nor love for the children of Giuliano de' Medici especially when their father had taken his father's birth right; it was his family's destiny to hold Florence not theirs. 

"There is no news from His Holiness... Archbishop Buondelmont says that the Pope has taken to his bed since the invasion of Italy started," stated Cosimo de' Medici with a frown upon his face, this was not the news that they needed right now.

With each passing day, he feared what his cousin might do and with each passing day he knew that the situation grew more desperate than the last. 

Food would not last forever and the poor had already started to gather outside the Medici Palace's doors wanting to speak with them and pleaded for aid when there was already so little for them. 

Cosimo wondered if it was time to start weighing in his own options, he did not wish to go down with the sinking leadership of the Duke of Florence especially when he would not listen to reason. 

"Then we shall remain under siege, keep the city locked down. Nothing goes out of the city gates and nothing comes in," Alessandro decreed looking around the table at those who supported him. 

He refused to admit defeat and he would not hand over the city, he had been entrusted with it over the usurper's son and he would not give it back to him. 

"But Your Grace, the people will starve..." Lorenzino de' Medici replied shaking his head, he did not wish to believe that his close friend would be so cruel when the people already struggled. 

The two were partners in riotous escapades, he had hoped that Alessandro would back him when his grandfather died so that he might gain an inheritance that would stop his financial troubles. 

His gambling debts were growing steadily and he knew that his debts would be called in sooner than he was able to pay them. 

"Then let them... I will burn Florence to the ground rather than hand it over to our cousin," Alessandro spat with a shake of his head, he would torch everything that he held dear rather than have Ippolito have it. 

He knew that Cosimo and Lorenzino would have his back, he counted on them especially in the face of his other relatives turning on him. 

Lucrezia Maria Romola de' Medici was a thorn in his side that he wished that he had dealt with sooner especially when he had learned of her trip to England; it was a great mistake for her to betray him so. 

Sharing a look as Alessandro dismissed them, Cosimo and Lorenzino knew that this was just the start and whatever Alessandro did to keep his power would come at a great cost to the people of Florence.