#[ those two older brothers were tricked by velardo to let them into the estate ]

[spitedriven]

the dellamorte house is one of the few crow houses that is a literal family. before house velardo attempted a coup, house dellamorte had caterina (first talon), her husband (grandmaster), her five children and their spouses (four master assassins, five assassins) and eight grandchildren (six fledglings). doesn't sound like a big house, i know, but that's why dellamorte has usually relied upon their cuchillos for support--many of which are also literal families, though not all.

only illario and lucanis were not crows, not technically, but began their training shortly after.

and if you're doing math and noticed i only have nine for caterina's kids and their spouses, that's because lucanis' mother did not marry another crow--she spoke with caterina at length about securing house dellamorte's future and convinced her it was in their best interests to bring a rich merchant into the fold. it helped that she also loved him, but his money and influence stabilized the house from the continuous infighting amongst the crows, in addition to getting them closer ties to the merchant princes. as he himself had aspirations of becoming one of the few dozen merchant princes, with his marriage to caterina's favorite daughter and heir, the couple would effectively rule antiva.

the coup, then, was an especially painful blow. house dellamorte was not supposed to survive, but due to some heroics and quick thinking, lucanis and illario were secreted away and caterina managed to survive, the three of them now faced with a grim future.