Doge Leonardo Loredan sat alone in the bedroom of his apartment. Furniture lay strewn about the room, fresh victims of his latest rage-fueled outbursts. It would have to be replaced soon, he would be hosting senators and local bankers for a meeting in just a few days, but right now, that was the last thing on his mind.

He put down the parchment he had just been holding, knelt down, and picked up a small box, seemingly untouched by the fury that had so thoroughly destroyed everything else around it. Carefully removing the lid, Loredan removed the small packet of letters bound within it. He untied the knot that had kept them together for the last year and a half, and began to read through them...

16 November 1481

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Mommy says you are across the sea in a boat right now, buying cool things to sell to people back here in Venezia. That sounds really cool! I told her that I want to be a trader just like you when I grow up! I will have my own boat and sail really far away and find the coolest things to sell here in Venezia. It may not be as cool as the things you are buying, but I got you this toy sailboat! Pretend it is me coming with you on your trips!

I know that I have the coolest dad of all my friends. I love you!

Baldomero

16 November 1486

Happy Birthday Dad!

I hope you are having a good time at your new job in Venice. Mom says that you are really important now, does that mean you have met the Doge? Boarding school is fun, but I miss being at home and seeing you guys. I hope that once this year is over, I can spend some time at home with you guys before I come back here. But do not worry, I am doing great at my studies, and know that I will become a great merchant, just like you and all my older brothers. Good luck out there, and I hope I can see you soon!

Your son,

Baldomero

16 November 1489

Happy Birthday Dad,

I hope things are going well for you in Milan. Representing the Republic in such an important city must be very rewarding, and I understand why you were unable to be here for my graduation. I will be staying with Mom at the house for a little while, but I think I will be off on my first merchant's voyage in March. Hopefully I will be able to see you before then.

I know I have seemed confident, but truth be told I am a little worried about my trip. You and Eufronio and Araldo and Diomede have all been so successful as merchants, it is a lot to live up to. I know I can do it, I just hope that I will be able to prove it to you and Mom.

Well, good luck in Milan. I hope I can make you proud.

Ever your son,

Baldomero Loredan

16 November 1492

Dad,

I know I haven't talked to you or Mom much over the last few years, and I understand if you are upset with me. I... I have been lost. Not at sea, but within my own mind. My first time sailing as a merchant was a complete failure. I could not barter to save my own life, could not tell cardamom from coriander, and worst of all I could barely keep from hurling out at sea! What kind of Venetian cannot sail? And the one time... the one time I was given the opportunity to take command, I ran us straight into a storm, and we lost a man out to sea. His death is on my hands.

But... I am not writing to upset you. Or to upset myself. I just wanted you both to know that I was alive and well. I have gone off to a place where people do not know my name, where you will not find me, and where I will not bring any more shame to our family name. I know you can handle it, but please, take care of Mom. I cannot imagine how hard this has been on her, but tell her that her baby boy is going to be just fine out here on his own.

Happy birthday Dad.

Ever your son,

Baldomero Loredan

23 June 1495

Father,

I hope this letter finds you well, and I hope that Mother is as full of life as ever.

The last three years have been difficult, but I have managed to make a life for myself here. I spend my days overseeing property for a small local nobleman (thank the Lord that my education included French lessons). I find people to tend to the land, ensure that taxes are properly collected, sorted, and delivered, and ensure that those who tend to his affairs more directly are qualified and competent. It is hard work with long hours, but it is honest.

And in other glad news, I have even found myself a lovely woman out here! Her name is Josette, and we found each other not due to convenience or political sensibilities, but due to love. Is that not inspired by the Lord above? She is beautiful and witty and charming... I do wish that you could meet her some day. We are to be married this September, and while I know you will not be able to be there, know that I will be keeping you and Mom in my heart during every second of that wonderful day.

My best to her, all my siblings, and of course to you. I know I could not make you proud, and you may never be truly proud of the choices I have made in my life, but I am happy here, truly happy in a way I have not felt in many years. I hope that can bring you comfort.

Ever your son,

Baldomero Loredan

14 February 1497

Father,

I write to you today on a joyous occasion. Today, on the Day of Saint Valentine, my wife Josette has given birth to a beautiful baby girl. We have named her Valentina for the day. She is your granddaughter. And Dad, she is the most beautiful creature to ever grace the mortal realm of God. Like a cherub plucked straight from the heavens, she is a symbol of everything good and perfect about life and love. I cannot truly know how you and Mom felt when we were born, but if it was anything like this, then, well...

Then I am sorry. I am sorry if I assumed too little of you both. If I ran away at the first sign of failure, at the first thought that I may have disappointed you or brought you shame. Because if you felt with me even a tenth of what I already feel towards my beautiful Valentina, then, well... then I fear that you may have forgiven me, and that the actions that I took in response got in the way of that.

But if there is still a chance at forgiveness, at reconnection, I would be remiss to ignore it. While I cannot hope to travel any time in the near future, when Valentina is older, old enough to help travel at least, I will bring my beautiful family back to the only city that could rival their own beauty. Introduce you to my wife, and your newest granddaughter.

Until then, I hope that you and Mom are doing well, that my brothers are finding success and my sisters making good wives and mothers. And I hope that our reunion will be sooner rather than later.

Ever your son,

Baldomero Loredan

19 August 1500

Father...

Words cannot express my sorrow. Mom always seemed so vibrant, so full of life.. for her to die so young...

I truly regret not being able to make the funeral. We did not receive word here of her passing until a week after the ceremony. I am sure that it was a beautiful and touching tribute to her life... I just wish Valentina had been able to meet her grandmother.

And you, you two were closer than any two people I had ever met. I cannot imagine how you must be feeling in this moment, and I wish that I could be there for you in this time of sorrow. But more than anything, I know that you are one of the strongest men I have ever known, and if anyone can get through this with their head held high, it is you.

As for us... we have talked it over, and in three or four years, when Valentina is old enough to begin her schooling, we will be moving back to Venezia. We can be a family again, and you can meet the beautiful family I have created here. And while she might not be there to meet them in person, I know that Mom will be up in heaven, looking at us, and smiling.

I love you Dad.

Ever your son,

Baldomero Loredan

23 December 1503

Father,

I have asked nothing of you in almost fifteen years, but I write to you today pleading. My daughter, your granddaughter, Valentina, has grown very ill. Physicians here are not sure what it is, but it is costing me every florin I have to keep them coming to see her and keep her healthy. I pray every day that this sickness will leave her, but yet it remains.

And so I beg of you, I need money. Money to keep the doctors coming, to keep my daughter alive. Please, if there is any penance I must pay for my past I will, if there is anything I must do to make up to you the years we have lost name your price. But please, please, help me save my daughter. Because without her... I do not know what I will do...

Ever your son,

Baldomero Loredan

2 February 1504

Dad,

I am scared dad. The sickness taking hold of Valentina has not receded, and whether you did not receive my letter or did not care, money has not arrived. I am almost out, and I know that if the physicians stop coming, my daughter will not live to see her seventh birthday.

So a man in town offered me a job. He said that he saw me out hunting one day, and that I am a pretty good shot with a crossbow. He went on to say that France was hiring a LOT of mercenaries, and that if I agreed to join his mercenary company, he would ensure that Josette would have enough money to keep the physicians coming to see Valentina. I have never been to war, the closest I came to a fight was an argument over access to the Lord's stables, but I have no other choice. I cannot let my daughter die.

It's funny, you know, that for all the things on my mind as I am about to leave and go to war, the one that will not leave is that I never got to see you again. I should be thinking about my daughter - the reason I am doing this - or my wife that I am leaving behind, but my thoughts keep coming back to you and mom. The happy family we were before I left. Before I tore us apart with rash actions, failed adventures, and self-doubt. I have no idea what would have happened if I just came back to you all those years ago instead of running off. I would not have met Josette, of course, or had my beautiful Valentina, but I could have a completely different other life. Just like that. One decision, one dumb, stupid, rash, and terrible decision, and it changed my life completely. Since then I have started a family, Mom has passed away, and you are now the Doge of Venice. And through all of that, my only contact with you has been a series of one-sided letters that I do not even know if you ever received. I never got to ask you in person how you handled me leaving, how Mom handled me leaving, how she died, what has happened with my siblings, how you became Doge, any of those things.

All I have left of you are a collection of memories from my childhood. How I looked up to you and your adventures at sea, how I wanted to be just like you when I grew up, the loneliness I felt being away from you at boarding school, the joy on your faces and mine as I got to return for the holidays, how happy I was to finally graduate...

But most of all what I remember, the image drilled into my head, is your smile they day I left. The proud grin of a father watching his son finally set off into the world to make his fortune. God that smile meant so much to me. I had spent my entire life up to that point trying to live up to your legacy and make you proud, and that smile made the whole thing worth it.

Even now, that is how I like to remember you. As the proud father, smiling at the successes of his son. And even though I failed at everything I set out to do that day, I like to think that you still smile when you think of me, proud of the life I have built and the happiness I have found, of the man risking everything to try and save his beautiful daughter.

That is how I will think of you when I go charging into battle. And it is how I hope you will greet me in person when this is all over. I love you dad. I love you so much.

Ever your son,

Baldomero Loredan

With tears filling his eyes, Loredan returned these letters carefully to the box they were stored in. Then he picked up the first note, the one that his night began with, and read it one final time.

16 NOVEMBER 1504

TO THE FAMILY OF Baldomero Loredan,

WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU OF THE PASSING OF YOUR SON. HE HAS PERISHED DUE TO INJURIES SUSTAINED WHILE FIGHTING IN Milan. ANY PAYMENT PROMISED IN CASE OF DEATH HAS BEEN DELIVERED.

OUR CONDOLENCES

All Loredan wanted to do was scream. To throw more furniture, to punch a wall, to destroy whatever he could find, do anything to take out all the rage he felt towards God and the world right now, but he could not. He could not even pick himself up off the floor. Instead, the Doge of Fire and Fury removed a simple toy sailboat from the box of letters, held it close, and wept.