A/N: While we have already established that the show does not follow much of real life, I'm thinking they will still keep to the main facts of what happened to the Borgias. So, this epilogue counts as spoilers for what will also probably happen in the show. Just a fair warning.

October 1512

It had been more than a month since she had shut herself into the San Bernadino monastery. Her husband was sending her distressed letters, which she answered with short notes of reassurance.

She couldn't quite explain to him how much it had hurt to lose, not just a child, but this child. Rodrigo was dead, aged only 12, and she hadn't seen him since he was two. She had left him behind, part of the deal she had to make to marry the second Alfonso. He had lived with Sancia, until she had died three years before. Even then, Alfonso did not agree to have him in his home. It had been one of the strongest arguments they had ever had.

Isabella, duchess of Bari, former duchess of Milan, another of the first Alfonso's many relatives, had been the one to take him in. All Lucrezia could do was send him letters and presents. She occasionally received notes back "to my lady mother, Dowager Queen of Naples". She wasn't sure her son ever knew what he truly meant to her and how she was counting the years till he would be old enough to understand what he was truly worth.

Of course, Naples had been long lost to the Spanish, but a living heir of a former local king would have always stood the chance. Only three months before, in mid-June 1512, Massimilliano Sforza, Ludovico's eldest son, had been restored to the dukedom of Milan. Why not Naples?

There were no other Borgias left to back him. Cesare had died five years before, after having just escaped long years of imprisonment, leaving behind a daughter he had never met. She wasn't sure he was ever able to find the peace he so desperately needed. Gioffre had settled down with his second wife after Sancia's death, but he was only a minor noble and from what she could tell, in no mood to get involved in any wars. But Ferrara was a strong state and she was still hoping Alfonso, now duke, would find having his step-son a King in Naples as a positive thing. She had just been waiting for the right moment.

They had built their own partnership. It was based on a totally different kind of love than with the first Alfonso. Unlike with him, words of love were spoken, but also unlike with him, they felt more for show. She knew the second Alfonso had mistresses – even if he was discrete about it. She hadn't been entirely faithful herself. But somehow it worked and they had finally managed to produce two sons. She loved them very much, and after many miscarriages they were very precious to her. But that didn't stop her from shutting herself from the world (including them) when finding out about Rodrigo's death.

She finally decided to write a longer letter to her husband:

"Finding myself completely overcome with tears and bitterness over the death…" was all she could write before breaking back into tears.

/

June 1519

Alfonso d'Este was sitting heartbroken at his wife's deathbed. She had been ill, as a result of yet another miscarriage. She had fought tooth and nail for her life, but in the end she had given in. She had looked at him with sad, empty eyes. Then she turned her face towards the window and her lips curled up in a peaceful smile:

"Alfonso…" she whispered, before drawing her last breath.

/

A/N: Yes, I know, not quite the American happy ending. But that was truly the way Lucrezia's life went. There are no accounts of her ever having fought her family, even when they used her and when their actions hurt her. I believe she loved them, even after Alfonso's murder, she just realized that she needed to get away from it all which is why (as contemporary sources state) she pushed hard for the Este marriage. The Borgias got too big too fast and they crumbled under it – and that is the true story.

Thank you for following. I hope you enjoyed.