Marco Mortem Essay

Funerals were such a bore, even for someone used to the overly complex and time-honored traditions of nobility that seemed to drag on for hours longer than they needed. Sofia Fortem could hardly maintain the pleasant smile that was expected of her in such a public event, the layers of clothing and multitudes of boring aristocrats wearing on her patience. The pink dress, which cut off at the shoulders and revealed an almost scandalous amount of cleavage for the time clung to her figure quite perfectly, even if it obscured most of her gorgeous assets.

Nonetheless, today would be worth the boredom and formal dress. While she would much rather lounge around at her mansion in something far more leisurely, appearances were important, and she was on the precipice of solidifying her family as the top dog in Florence. With the death of Marco Mortem, the city was wide open for a new controlling factor. Marco had been a ruthless head of his family, using a brutal combination of subterfuge and violence to keep the controlling factors of the city aligned with him. The last few years, as his health had failed, the vultures had begun to circle, his lack of an established heir leaving his stranglehold over the city quite open. While the Mortems would remain one of the richer houses in the city, their lack of leadership …show more content…
Sofia Fortem was one of the distinct exceptions, however. She had spent the last year preparing for this exact moment, slowly building her resources up and building friendships with the key circles within the city. She had no need to spend the day scurrying about for support. No, today was simply a formality in her mind, she had little expectation of anything of not happening today. No, her day of excitement would come when she had the city under her