Catching At the Wind

"I could say the same," D'Angelo answered with a scoff, tightening his grasp on her as he heard one guard shout out - only for it to be silenced mid yell. There was no noise from another which meant one thing only - the two had to be down, with no security in front of him, he was left to defend himself. Not a position that he was used to any longer, he was a man of importance that was regarded well enough that this should have never happened. et, it had.

"It's a shame that you're going to have to die tonight because you thought your friends could save you," he whispered into her ear, letting his lips linger a moment too long as he nipped at the skin. "Hopefully you enjoy your last precious moments on this Earth."

---

Alessandro faced the door, panting as he looked down to his hands. The same hands that had learned to kill with one intention, ridding the world of people that thought they could do no wrong, that thought everyone else was beneath them. That thought they could go and prey upon someone because it should have been easy and perhaps it was at the time but things had a way of coming around full circle. Just as they had now, they would again.

Knocking at the door, Alessandro let out a low whistle. "Sweetheart, please. I mean you no harm. Simply let me in and we can sort our troubles out. It'll be over in no time, I promise it'll be quick. Easy."

---

D'Angelo sneered at the door as if Ales could see him, ever ounce of his training begging to be let free. The moment the door opened, he would slit the girl's throat, buy him just enough time to close in on Alessandro. What he wasn't counting on was the assassin leaping back down to the ground. When the door didn't open after several long breaths, D'Angelo relaxed ever so slightly. "Seems your friend wasn't all that keen on an attempt to save your life. Why do you think that is?"

Ales' voice sounded from behind them, "wrong."

---

The word was uttered as Alessandro stepped up behind D'Angelo, a blade shoved through the bed of his skull at the same time his free hand lashed out to knock the Templar's hand away from Eva's neck. If it had remained in place, D'Angelo's death would not have meant a thing, the movement of falling backward would have pressed the knife into Eva's skin with or without a heartbeat behind it.

Alessandro stepped away, rather unceremoniously letting D'Angelo's body drop to the ground before he was in front of Eva in an instinct, working to undo the rope that tied her to the chair. "We need to move," his voice was harsh, demanding as he turned his back to her. "Wrap your arms around my shoulders, fix your ankles together at my waist." Desperation began to leak into his voice at that point, "please."

Eva grit her teeth, leaning more into him as the blade pressed closer to her throat. "It's a shame you had to ruin your own night," she mumbled back, shutting her mouth again when she heard a Ales' voice and took a moment to gather herself together. She wanted to swear and stomp her foot but that would all quite get her killed and unlike her Vanni friend, she was not ready to die. She had a life to live!

At his mocking, she huffed, but didn't get the chance to make a snarky comment to mask her own fear. Ales wouldn't have just run away, right? Goodness, this was all too much surprises. She jolted in surprise at the sound behind her, and suddenly she was all alone and the warmth of D'Angelo's body behind her was gone. She felt the chill of the night air and shuddered, feeling quite out of it even as Ales appeared in front of her, working to free her from the chair. Once her hands were out from the rope, she instinctively rubbed her wrists to relieve them of the pain and looked up at him with wide eyes. She wanted to thank and scold him, kiss him and slap him and yet instead she just sat there, looking quite in shock. She already could smell the blood.

His prompting brought her back to reality and she slowly stood, keeping her gaze away from the bloody mess. She felt a little dizzy and in all attempts to not pass out she marched over to him, doing as he told, clinging rather tightly and feeling her heart hammer against the inside of her chest, and could bet her life that he felt it too. Look calm, but there was no hiding the tremor inside.

Pressing closer to him, the back of his neck so very much more welcoming than nothing, she could only guess what he would do now. Jump. She felt faint even thinking about it, and instead focused on the cloth on his back. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, feeling very much guilty for the fact that she hadn't managed to lure the guy out on to the alley. Goodness, what a mess, what a letdown! More so, how embarrassing. Sure she didn't squeak a word about them, but that didn't make her any better. Walked right into a trap! Quite silly. Would an assassin woman done the same? No, better. She would have foreseen it, somehow.

Alessandro hated the way that he lingered by D'Angelo's body just long enough to pay the respects that any dead person deserved. The moment that he could stand and leave, he did. When Eva wrapped herself around him, Ales breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't even realized that he had been holding in. He had expected her fiery temper to flare and for her to demand to go down the stairs because that was more lady like. Ales already had an argument prepared but it proved to be unnecessary.

Stepping up to the window that eh had just come through only a few moments ago, Ales lowered his arms to his sides. "Ready?" He teased her briefly. He didn't wait for any sort of reaction before he jumped, landing between the bodies of the Templars that his brothers had taken care of. Dodging around them, Alessandro rushed over the rooftops as quickly as he could, with one destination in mind. They would be safe there, there would be no reason to worry until they moved again. At least an hour or two... a lot of it depended on how Eva was doing though.

Dropping down in front of the house, Alessandro dropped his hands from her thighs were he had gripped to keep her secure and in place. He didn't need her sliding about or somehow falling from the higher rooftops without knowing how to properly jump. It would only lead to a certain fate that he was sure Eva wasn't ready for. When Eva unwrapped herself from him, Ales reached for her hand and tugged her toward the front door where he knocked in a quick succession, letting the careful knock he knew so well sound throughout the home. He was an ally, a friend - nothing to fear and soon enough, the door was opening in front of them.

Eva didn't need to be asked twice to hold on for dear life, even if it meant digging her fingers into his skin with every leap he took, hiding her face from the scary heights. Finally, he stopped, and she opened her eyes. They were in front of a house. It looked oddly familiar. She pulled away from Ales, and was quite glad he took her hand again for she would have surely passed out there and then.

The door opened, but she didn't get a glimpse of who it was. She only heard a familiar voice greet in surprise Ales and then Eva, before she caught the smell of blood and unceremoniously fell forward. Leo was luckily there to catch her with surprise.

---

Leo managed to stop the lady falling to the ground and carefully picked her up, carrying her inside, ushering Ales in too and to close the door. He set her down on the nearby couch and looked at her before turning to Ales, "What happened? What's going on? What-" he looked from him to Eva, "How do you two know each other?" Then more importantly, pointed at the blood spot on Eva's dress and said, "That needs to go or she'll never wake up." He looked about uncertainly, then pulled a cover off a few boxes over to her and draped on to the unconscious girl (since he wasnt ready to pull the dress off), ordering Ales to wait while he went to get some smelling salts, waving them under Eva's nose once he returned.

The girl flinched, scrunched up her nose and slowly opened her eyes, looking quite disorientated. She squinted, "Leo?" Turned her head to see another, "Ales?" It dawned on her she wasn't on her bed, but rather on a couch in another's home. She took a moment, then covered her face in slight shock and peered at Ales, "Your frie- Companions!" She amended, and blinked at him, "Are they alright?" Shaking her head, she hid her face a little more, "I'm so sorry. I don't know what went wrong. Everything was going fine."

Ales was quick to step inside, pushing the door shut, and reaching over to slam the lock shut. Even with an army on the other side, they were safe. The only reason that Alessandro had decided to bring Eva here. After tonight, there would be no more. No more hidden kisses, no more reading lessons coupled with swimming and cooking whatever Ales could catch that day. No more Alessandro for Eva, as far as the girl was concerned, he would cease to exist. It was only a shame that he couldn't tell her, afraid that she may begin to blame herself more than she already was.

"Templars arrived in the city. She was only meant to be a pawn long enough to bring D'Angelo," the name caused the older man to tense, eyes narrowing as he motioned for Ales to continue. While Alessandro was controlled now, there was an animal just beneath the surface. Watching and waiting for the right moment to pounce, tonight had been the day he had been waiting for, for so long and yet, he felt no source of peace. Only guilt because Eva had very nearly perished in a war that wasn't hers.

"Bring him to an alley so that he could be taken care of. Must have figured it out," Alessandro muttered, running a hand through his hair, knocking his hood away from his face.

Leo let out a sigh and shook his head, "Marcello wouldn't have wanted you running blind after something so petty as revenge."

Ales had no chance to reply because Eva stirred, bringing both of the mens' attention to her. "They're fine. Those that aren't will be, no deaths have occurred," he paused, a little smirk flashing that was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. "At least no Assassins."

Clearing his throat, Ales looked out the window, giving a shrug of his shoulders. "Now you know why D'Angelo needed to be taken care of. He was a Seneschal. Third in command of our surrounding area. Very rarely do we get a chance at someone of his calibre. That was only secured because of our combined efforts, you did nothing wrong."

Alessandro drew in a ragged breath before turning to both Leo and Eva. "You two know each other?" A question meant to draw the conversation in a different direction because there was only so much that he could really tell Eva.

At the mention of the others being fine, Eva visibly relaxed and dropped her tense shoulders, and only a little later did she pull her hands away from her face. D'Angelo was a what? Some name for officers perhaps, judging by the rest of Ales' speech. She stayed quiet to let him finish, and although he assured her she did nothing wrong, she couldn't help but feel all this mess was because she hadn't played her part as well as she could have - somehow. Though again, she saw nothing in which she failed.

Leo laughed lightly and placed a palm on his hand. "Ah, yeah, she comes in now and then to look at my paintings. Pays me with delicious pastries. Speaking of which, would you two like a drink? Ah-" he rushed out to get some food and water, and Eva watched him go with a wistful sort of look. A potential husband snatched away by art, and she let it go, and now they were like good friends, nothing less nothing more. "You two know each other too, hey? Small world." She smiled lightly, but decided not to mention her relationship and feelings of Leo. No need.

She played with a loose string, tilting her head away from the shoulder on which she could still smell the blood. Taking a small breath, she sat up and reached back, tugging at the laces to free the dress, pushing it down, careful to not touch the small - in her eyes it was rather large - bloodstain. She wriggled free, and then pulled the covers over herself again, hiding the little white dress and corset left on her away from view, pushing the dress out with her legs.

Eva then looked at Ales, offered him a small uncertain smile. "What now?"

"Leo is a long time family friend. Knew my father quite well," Alessandro admitted but that was all he would give, not wanting to start down the rocky path that was his past. There was no need, not when he knew he would never interact with her again. He would watch from afar, when time would permit, but he would never teach her another word, never feel her lips against his. Dropping his gaze away when Eva began to undress, he only looked up when Leo reemerged with two mugs in hand - one of water for Ales and one of whatever Eva preferred whenever she had visited prior.

"What now? Well, either I leave you here to rest up or," Ales paused when Leo gave a nod of confirmation. Whichever Eva would be fine, he had welcomed her into his home before and he would again without hesitation. "I can escort you back to your home, whichever you would prefer."

Alessandro dipped his head down to take a sip of his water, swirling the cup around to watch the movements of the liquid. "We can rest here for awhile yet if you want but it's probably best that you return home so that people don't start questioning you." Ales raised his gaze to meet hers and he offered a sad sort of smile, "whatever you want, tesoro. Your wish is my command here."

Eva had no idea that this woulld be the last time she saw Ales, had no idea that he had chosen for whatever reason to rush away and hide, cut off ties, and had no idea how much time afterwards she would spend questioning every word she chose to say and every action she chose to do that consequently drove him away - in her eyes.

She took the mug from Leo and took a few small sips, enjoying the warmth of the drink. "No," she said, sending a thankful nod in Leo's direction, "I ought to return home. Please accompany me." She looked to Ales, a hopeful look in her eyes. She wanted to know he was alright himself, certainly something happened, something she was too silly and simple to catch up on, but there seemed to be an unspoken conversatoin between him and Leo. Eva knew it was best not to pry into it, least she touch a painful past, but it was not something she wished to so simply overlook without a care for in the world for his state.

The llittle silence in which they say became a bit heavy, and Eva offered a bright smile to try lighten the mood, "Well. I suppose it all turned out alright. I must wash this little spot though," she picked at her dress, and excused herself, standing and pulling the cover along with her to drape around like a cloak, walking out to find a place to wash the spot. She returned a few minutes later, in teh dress and lightly patting the damp spot with a her hands. She thanked Leo again, set the folded cover down onto the couch and turned to Ales, "Shall we go?"

The hushed conversation that began the moment that Eva left the room was exactly as he thought it would be. Leo was immediately protective, demanding to know more about the relationship that had started budding between the two. Ales was reluctant as was expected and so he gave the smallest bits of information that he could - their trips outside of the city were excluded, of course. Ales made his plans known to Leo. Begrudgingly, the man agreed just before Eva reappeared with a cleaned dress.

Ales offered an uneasy smile at her words and nodded. "Yeah, everything could have gone a whole lot worse." Which was true but they could have gone a whole lot better, too. Letting out a sigh, Ales moved to his feet, leaving his mug behind to step toward Eva. He offered his arm and began to lead her away, bidding Leo farewell before they stepped outside.

Ales' hand rested atop Eva's as they walked. He was moving slower than normal, wanting to savour the last few moments that he had with her. "I want you to understand how truly apologetic I am, tesoro. I was wrong to involve you in the first place, that was wrong of me. It should have never happened in the first place."

[Boys gossiping ]

Eva sent Leo a thankful and yet apologetic smile for intruding so late in the night, rising him from his sleep though something told her by the paint mark on his chin that he hadn't been sleeping. She walked out, taking a breath of the night air and glancing at Ales when he spoke.

A small frown formed over her features. "I was the one that offerred," She interrupted him, voice all firm and mature, "I knew what i was getting into, the dangers and all. I probably did not consider the outcomes of all those dangers very well but look, I'm fine. No ifs and buts." She gave his hand a small squeeze, "Youu are not at fault."

She looked to the front as they walked again, "So no, I dont accept your apology because you are apologising for nothing." She permitted herself a small smile and peeked back at Ales. He was sure walking a lttle slower than normal, and that should have concerned her but she was done worrying for today.

(Typical boys )

"You may have offered but I was more aware of the potential danger. If things had gone awry, if I hadn't been able to keep up, D'Angelo wouldn't have hesitated to kill you. He's certainly not a saint," Alessandro's voic and as quiet as they moved through the streets, knowing full well that there were prying eyes and ears everywhere. Just as some were friends, other were foe and if the wrong person heard too much, it would just create a bigger problem over all.

It was entirely too soon that they were nearing Eva's street and Ales pulled her to a stop a block before it. He offered a light smile, a flash of happiness that he certainly wasn't feeling at the moment.

Reaching up to brushing her hair out of her face, Ales' thumb brushed across her cheek. "Rest tonight, tomorrow, too, if you can," he paused, leaning in to press a kiss to her forehead. "Take care of yourself, Tesoro," he whispered, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze before he turned to leave the area. Ales didn't look back, didn't bat an eye as he launched up a nearby ladder that would lead to a rooftop.

Eva was left standing alone in the street as she watched his agile self disappear up the ladder and onto the rooftops. And that was the last she saw of him. No matter with how much eagerness she awaited the evenings, rushed into her room to find no note, rushed to the chicken coop to find no being, put up flowers and visited the river, never did she see him again for the next few weeks. And though it hadn’t been long, she became worried. Did she say something? Do something? Was it the assassination? Was he disappointed?

She pushed those thoughts away to do the daily chores, visit the daily markets, and visit the executions. Not a whistle, not a flicker. It was like he never existed. Over time she slowly came to terms with it, and soon enough was back to her regular self, but looking over her shoulder ever so often.

It wasn’t about the last working day that she stood by the execution stage, peering at the spots where the poor prisoners would be lead up to, when the cart with the three unfortunate men was brought up. They were ushered off. They all looked away from her, at something else, and Eva was ready to leave, but one caught her sight, her interest. She narrowed her eyes, pushed closer to the stage. The first man was not Vanni, but the second…

Giovanni Ricci. Accused of treason.
Eva frowned, her eyes widened. What? She struggled in her spot, starting to push through. She was certainly seeing things, that couldn’t be the brown tuft of hair she knew so well, the blue cloth, the- the-. She called out, “Vanni!” and the man looked up, and Eva stopped in her tracks, trying to focus on his blurry face. Vanni.

Accused of what? Treason? Was it not murder?

She pushed forward with new strength, and yet he looked so calm as he walked to the guillotine, so calm as he was forced to lie down, so calm as he looked away from her after a small smile, so calm as the knife came down. Eva wasn’t herself. She couldn’t even scream, instead choking out a sob, collapsing into some guards that had tried to stop her running to the stage. There she stayed for a good minute, ignoring the looks of those around her as they stared at her. She was pushed back into the crowd, and she never came to the market again.

She spent the next two days in her room, and the madam yelling at her while she stared at a wall, trying to comprehend the last few days. And on the third she vanished completely.

---

A month and a bit. Almost 50 days. It was as good as being dead. Not a word of, not a sound of.
The small crowd of assassins in the courtyard of the den gathered around a smaller figure, peering at with interest. There were whispers among those who were not there, but walked the hallways.
“He’s so small.”
“He’s no man. Just a boy.”
“What do you reckon his age is?”
“Fifteen?”
"Are you sure it's not a girl?"

One of the men stepped into the circle that had formed and reached for the new youngling. “What’s your name?”
The new one jerked back, smacking his hand away before he had the chance to touch the hood. It had only one destination in mind – its room. She was tired, and although her hair was pulled back, and her jaw clenched tight, giving the false appearance of a young boy, she did not understand how these idiots did not see she was a girl. Perhaps it was the robes that covered her form, the binding of her chest. It didn’t matter. She did not care. She wanted only one thing and that was to get to her assigned room.

With that in mind, she continued on forward, and the circle of people seemed to move with her, not letting her get out. How annoying. She walked up to one end and stared at their feet. “Excuse me.”

“Aw! His voice has barely cracked.” One said.

Eva scoffed and tried to force her way through, but was only lightly pushed back. They were playing, no harm, but it was starting to annoy her.

“What’s your specialty? You’re barely strong enough, how did you get in? A thief?” Another asked, looking to his friends in thought.

Eva tried to ignore and push past again, but one stopped her, “Show us your skill and we’ll let you go, we’re just curious.” Eva stepped back, eyed him, then the others around her. She took out two throwing knives and pointedly aimed at a nearby person leaning against a wooden pole. The crowd gave a surprised ‘oo’ and turned to watch. Eva drew back her arm and with a flick of her wrist, sent the knives sailing, though she did not send them at the man, but she sent them up and everyone looked up, alarmed, for there were knives in the sky and had to watch out least they get hit, and when the knives fell the ground, they all turned to scowl at the young one but Eva was gone and her spot was empty.

Having used their distraction at the knives, she slipped away into a nearby empty hall, took a breath, and quickly turned on her heal to walk to her room, least someone catches sight of her.

It had been hard to resist in the beginning. To resist going down to the market, or over to the chicken coop that he could probably get to with his eyes closed at this point, or out to the spot under the weeping willow tree that had become like a second home to him over the past few weeks. It was the moments when he was with Eva that he didn't have to worry about the blades he'd learned how to use so effortlessly, he could relax for the most part and could focus solely on what was around him without a burning suspicion that the wrong step could lead to the utmost tragedy. What could possibly happen in the privacy of their little tree? Nothing. Ales had learned long ago how to blend into the crowd around him so being around the public had meant little to him but there was still that knowledge that if the wrong person knew who he was, everything could hit the fan in a matter of moments. Eva had been seen with him time and time again, that meant she would be a target just as easily. So with a great big struggle, Alessandro committed himself to leaving Eva to her own devices.

From time to time, he would return to the rooftops and watch her from afar, hidden behind structures on the rooftops else she may catch sight of him and the potential false hope that she would feel was certainly not worth it. But the end of every work week brought Ales out of the woodwork because there was still a curiosity about Eva's friend that couldn't be sated. What would happen to him? He hadn't bothered to look more into the friend because the friend didn't want to commit and the details of the case were not something that he wanted to know because watching someone that didn't deserve it die? That was one of the hardest things to him, even if his blade wasn't the cause of it.

Atop one of the roofs nearby, Alessandro watched through narrowed eyes the cart rolled through the streets. Something felt different about today, the air was a bit thicker, the sky overcast - hinting at a brewing storm. The crowd was already loud enough, distracting, so he didn't heard the shout of Vanni's name, only saw that familiar red head rush toward the stage, trying to get to her friend. Ales tensed in his spot, fearing the worst, but after the deed was done, Alessandro raced over the rooftops, his mind moving faster than his feet could carry him.

Alessandro slipped onto the ground and slowly made his way over to the familiar chicken coop. Ales had no clue what he was going to say, no, but he needed to offer his condolences. It had been abundantly clear how much Eva cared for her friend and Ales could only imagine how she was feeling. But she didn't follow her routine and as the night wore on, Alessandro left the coop in fear of someone else doing the job that she was so familiar with.

---

Alessandro had thrown himself into his work just like before, he woke up, worked on the mission he had, returned home, ate, washed, slept, rinsed, and repeated in the same order. With the Master ordering a day of relief, Alessandro sat in the library, reading over the creed's history for sometimes it offered wisdom more than those living could and Ales could use all the wisdom that he could get his hands on.

At the sound of footsteps nearing the doorway, Ales glanced up, only to still when he noticed someone that he didn't recognize. While Alessandro didn't know every soul in the den intimately, he knew them well enough to know when there was an outsider within their ranks. Unnerving to say the least. Rising to his feet, Alessandro made his way toward the doorway and slipped out, following the small figure as he did so. His hood was down, there was no need to hide within the safety of the den.

Catching up to the novice was easy and his hand shot out to grip her bicep, firm but not too harsh. "You are new here. Has the Master assigned you a room? Should have probably turned down the last hall you passed or you're going to be going right back to the courtyard once you reach the end of this hall, novice."

She had been doing quite fine except now she was headed the wrong way. She felt it, but she had no idea where else to go, so she tried at least to return to some location she knew that was not the courtyard. The halls were nice and quite elegant, for her own surprise, but even that stopped being attractive once she realised she was somewhat lost. It wasn't until someone grabbed her arm and stopped her (her footsteps were so loud compared to his silent ones) and spoke to her of her mistake.

That voice! Eva turned around to look at the arm, trailing it up to the owner's face and stifled a small gasp of both shock and surprise. What else did she expect? Maybe him being in another den? Did they even have multiple dens? She lowered her head and intently stared at the ground. Did he see her face? Hopefully not. He wanted to avoid her, and she'd get out of his face. She - as politely as possible - shrugged off his arm (or at the very least attempted to), and gave a small bow of her head, "Thank you." Respect regardless of who it was, she was the lowest rank. Master had certainly made that clear.

Through the emotions running in her, she felt her voice did not sound like her own, and perhaps it would be so to him. Hopefully. She pulled away and turned to the corridor, beginning to head that way, especially when she heard people nearby actively talking about a certain someone and their certain stunt in the courtyard. They were distant, but voices were excited, and she caught the tell-tale 'knife', 'air', 'disappeared' words.

Although Alessandro didn't get a full look at Eva's features to know definitively who she wants, he caught enough so that he froze in his steps. No. Impossible. There was no way... Eva. Swallowing, Alessandro shook his head and began to jog after the quickly disappearing form where he, once again, caught her arm.

"You say thank you yet you continue to ignore my question and want to disrespect me in such a way? Did the Master not go over simple etiquette with you?" His voice was hard, condescending as he turned the form around. "Look at me when I speak to you. Just as you should afford every other assassin the same level of respect, regardless of your or their rank."

Instinct kicked in right then and for that, Ales was thankful as Eva slowly raised her gaze to meet his. His suspicions were concerned with just a moment. He let out a small growl and rushed forward, shoving Eva into the wall, his arm pressing against her throat enough to keep her where she was but not enough to do any harm. "What are you doing here? This is no place for someone like you," Ales hissed through gritted teeth, eyes smouldering as he glared down at her.

Everything was going better and she was sure she would lose sight of him but he caught up and suddenly her arm was caught again and she was forced to turn around. She bit her tongue from making a remark and instead said, "I apologise, I meant no disrespect."

Apparently that was not enough and as he snapped she instinctively looked up, the servant that she was. She locked eyes with him and swallowed, how unfortunate. She didn't go unnoticed. She would have to polish those skills.

And then he did something quite unexpected. Fr the first time in his presence she felt fear, and not of death but of him. This was an Ales she didn't know. This was an Ales that was ruthless and could kill without bating his eye. She has to be careful. She struggled lightly, put both hands on his arm and tried to gently push it away. She scowled and looked at him, "Business." She frowned even further, more offended than anything, "Someone like me?" She echoed, knowing she should hold her tongue, but she blurted out before she could stop herself, "Do educate where someone like me belongs."

Alessandro let out a dry laugh, dropping her so that he could take a single, small step away. Try as she might, there was no sidestepping away from him because he could easily step to the side and pin her right back against the wall. Oh, how he would have loved to under different circumstances where he didn't think she was a foolish girl trying to get revenge in a world she couldn't hope to understand.

"Someone like you doesn't belong in a world like this, Evangeline. You belong where you are best - you couldn't harm a fly if you wanted to. You don't have the ability to kill without batting an eye," Alessandro hissed, glaring down at her. His shoulders were raised, making him appear larger than he really was.

"This may be some misguided attempt at bringing justice to those who wronged your friend but you need to get out before you're in too deep and you get yourself into a situation that you can't get out of. Which you will because you're impulsive, you don't understand how anything in this world works," Ales ranted away, never once moving his eyes away from hers.

"Please, enlighten me, tesoro. How did you manage to catch the Master's attention enough for him to agree to even giving you our location?"

Eva glared right back at him, huffing. At the mention of her full name she even jolted anlittle, so unused to having anyone say that unless she was in trouble. Her inner child ready to be smacked wanted to cry and tremble and beg forgiveness but she took an effort and pushed that all away, making no hint of such emotion on her face. Stay clam and stoic. He was right though, he was so very right. She wondered briefly if she should just pack up and leave, but no, she had already committed. She but the inside of her cheek and soften her look, turning her head away to look anywhere but here.

"Really," she said softly, "What do you know. Maybe you should dictate me my entire life." She pushed off the wall and glanced at him once, "This is not about my friend." Not really. There was something else. She waited for him to finish his rant and took a breath, returning his firm gaze. "Then teach me. If you cannot, I will find someone else. It's not a problem."

At his question, she laughed, nervously. "Maybe you should ask the Master, sir, for I was quite instructed not to discuss this. My business and reason and how I got in are my own."

She sighed, straightened. How can one be polite to someone so rude? Eva cleared her thrpat. "Please excuse me, I have places to go."

"Not about your friend? I hope that you're not honestly thinking I'm going to believe that shit. You want to try that again? Tell a more convincing lie. If you ever want to make your way in such a dangerous world, being able to tell a convincing lie is a must," Alessandro spoke, rolling his eyes after a moment. He took yet another step back, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ales let out another laugh, fixing her with a firm look. "One cannot learn how to kill without guilt - you either can, you understand you're doing a just thing in the world, or you believe only a monster kills. There is no in between, not when it comes to the Templars. They are cancer to our race. The moment they learn who you are, if they do, the game begins. It's kill or be killed, tesoro."

Letting out a sigh, Alessandro stamped down the swell of emotions that stirred. Everything about this was wrong but if there was one thing he knew about Eva, it was exactly how stubborn she was. "What room have you been assigned to? You'll be better off being shown where it is than trying to find where it is on your own. Don't be so damned stubborn."

Eva simply looked at him, "This is no lie. It is your choice not to believe. I have nothing to add nor say." She thought this conversation tiring, thought it useless. He was angry, why? What made him so cold and cruel? To talk down at her like this? Sure, she expected no praise but was this common for seniors to degrade novices? If so, she was ready to take them all and give them a piece of her mind. The month she had spent away was not in vain. She didn't fiddle her thumbs. She went to hunt for information and that meant stealing, running, learning some basic fighting skills. Sure, she was delicate by nature and no matter how many exercises she would do she would not gain as much muscle and strength as other women, but that didn't make her less suitable. She was quick, she knew her strengths and she worked to polish them.

she regarded him with an indifferent look. She didn't agree with him, not quite entirely. There was no 'just' killing, not in her view. But she didn't say anything. Eva wasn't here to change his or anyone's mind. It was useless to even argue.

Looking down one hallway, Eva pulled out the key and double checked the number, which she could not say out loud for it was a number she did not know how to pronounce only in its smaller division numbers. "The one three doors from the left turn onto the balcony patio above the back yard." How to get there though? She had no clue. She would need to map out the place in her mind.