Prologue

The Grand Master of the Assassin Order stood at his desk in the heights of Masyaf. He was contemplating a pressing need of the order which until this point had survived on the presence of certain individuals born into Masyaf, but recently those individuals were becoming scarce and no other besides the one residing in his bed currently was known within these walls. The question was whether to continue in the manner things had always been for ages or seek out new sources from the branches of the order in other parts of the world. Not one for change Altair took a seat and began writing out missives to be sent to all of the branches of the order requesting knowledge of the presence of any assassins within the branches of the particular type he was looking for. And that if there were any, they be sent to Masyaf immediately to go into service for the Grand Master. Yes it would require that the strange customs of the fortress of assassins be revealed to the outside branches, but that was a minor inconvenience compared to the aide the hermaphroditic assassins would give.

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Ezio woke to a loud banging on his bedroom door. His father, the Mentor of the Italian branch of assassins, quickly marched in without even waiting for Ezio to answer. "I have just received a missive from Masyaf that may interest you," he stated with a frown as he handed the letter to Ezio. Still groggy from the previous night's escapades, Ezio held out his hand to receive it. The grogginess dissipated more and more as his eyes moved down the letter. Finally after reading it two or three more times to make sure what he was reading wasn't a mistake he responded with an awed look at his father who only responded with a sorrowful expression.

"Mario has already given his opinion on this matter and wishes you to go especially to lean the Grand Master's favor towards our branch."

"How could you ask such a thing of your own son?"

"It is the best thing you could hope for to further your standing with the order, do you not see the benefits this has for both the Italian branch and yourself? As the concubine of the Grand Master you will be able to make connections with men in Masyaf and when your time is done you will be able to work your way through the ranks in Masyaf. It will get you away from the business of banking which you and your elder brother so hate, and as the middle son what do you expect to gain staying here?"

Seeing that the argument was lost, Ezio nodded his assent, but as a last ditch effort said, "What about the pain and humiliation that will encur?"

"That is just a price you will have to pay; are you weaker than your mother or Claudia in thinking you can avoid this just because of the pain?"

"No Father," Ezio responded in acceptance.

"Good, then you will be ready to leave in two days time for the journey to Masyaf, and you will be taking my response with you." Giovanni turned to look back as he left the room and said in order to comfort his son, "I truly wish that this had not happened just as much as you."

After his father left Ezio curled in on himself. He was on the verge of tears, that would never appear, as he contemplated his cursed luck. He had been born a hermaphrodite and even as much as he suppressed it in his sexual escapades he could not deny it within his family. Ezio had thought the secret could be kept for all his life without the need to reveal it, but once again his family's connection to the Order of Assassins turned his plans around. Since his father and his Uncle Mario were the leaders of the Italian branch of the order he, as an assassin, must obey their orders, no matter what they were as long as they followed the creed.

His train of thought was interrupted as his younger brother came bursting through the doors talking about the feathers he had found outside. Smiling, Ezio decided to spend his last day free with the family it was likely he would never see again.

AN: This story idea has been plaguing me for months and I finally figured out how to write it.