Chapter 2 – Loss and Strength

Why wasn't I feeling better? Could no one answer that?

I stared at the wall if my home, inside the walls of Masyaf, with dawn's light pouring down on my skin. It had been a week since Thomas Chaunceller's death and no happiness had come of it. My sister, Primrose, was too smart for the age of twelve. She caught onto my saddened state faster than my predominantly absent mother. Not to mention, my mother hadn't even figured it out yet. Prim had been pestering me about it, but I can't find the strength to tell her.

She does know about me sneaking off to follow other Assassins though, and she knew about my following Altair. She just didn't know the target, thankfully.

I pursed my lips. How much longer could this annoying feeling last? Damn it! I didn't kill him so why?

"Amelia!" a familiar voice called. I stood at the sound of my name. Rashid was running up to me like he was being chased by Templars. He waved at me with a huge smile. He has been my closest friend since I was a toddler. He was also one of the two boys who helped me train, even though he was no Assassin.

"Rashid, what's going on?" I asked when he finally bounced to my feet.

"I'm getting married!" he cried happily.

My eyes widened and I smiled. "Congratulations!" This lightened my mood. Everyone thought, we'd end up getting married, but we were friends. I thought of him as my brother. Ever since I chased off the mountain lion when we were kids, we had been inseparable. "And at 24 too!"

He tipped his head back to laugh loudly to the sky. "Yeah! But, you're only 21, Am. You should get married too. It'd do you some good."

I shook my head. "Oh please. I like my solitude."

He frowned at me. "What is your mother doing to keep this roof over your head, huh? Last I checked, all she did was mourn at your father's grave all day, every day. That leaves you to do all the work and finish raising Prim."

I looked down, my mood plummeting. "Prim is able to take care of herself a little. And we share the chores; she doing the household work while I do errands for people. We can handle it. I can handle it."

"I still think you should have someone who can take care of you for a change."

"Like who?"

"Malik or Kadar Al-Syaf." He crossed his arms.

I scoffed and stepped back. "What!" My voice was incredulous. "You can't be serious." I continued when he just stared at me in an authoritive way. "Rashid, no. Kadar is still young; only 18. He's barely a man. And Malik, no! It's bad enough the man has taken a big brother role to me ever since my father died! I don't want him around me all the time, making sure I'm not doing anything stupid."

"And following Assassins on their missions isn't stupid?" he demanded.

"Don't go there! Now you're sounding like Malik!" I snapped. I hated that. I knew he wanted to help, but I didn't want any. I definitely didn't want Rashid to act like Malik Al-Syaf. Malik was trained by my father specifically and, when he died…I don't know. He just started watching over me. Malik would always caution me against certain things or reprimand me when I did something he deemed stupid. And, following Assassins happened to be thrown into the category of 'stupid'.

"Malik is only trying to help you and so am I! You could get killed someday because of your fantasy!"

"It's not a fantasy! I will become an Assassin one day and fight for justice, like my father!"

We glared at each other for some time until he sighed and looked away. "You're like a sister to me, Am. I don't want you to die. I want you to live on." He paused to look at me again, eyes full of sadness. "I also don't want to fight on my last day here."

I gasped. "What? You're…no…"

"I'm getting married, like I said. And, tomorrow, I'm leaving for Acre." That city left a bad taste in my mouth. "And, I won't be coming back. I came by to say goodbye. I don't want to fight."

I felt wetness form in my eyes and I looked down to blink them away. "Oh. Then, no, I don't want to fight either." When I thought the tears were gone, I looked at him and forced a smile. "It's good. I'm glad you can make a life for yourself somewhere away from here. From the Assassins. Just watch out for Templars."

He gave a short, mirthless laugh. "Yeah. I wish that there was no war going on. Here, we know about it and in other places, like Acre, the people don't know anything about it. They might get suspicious at most, but they have ignorance to protect them."

"Don't worry, Rashid. You'll have a better life there. You'll have a family."

He nodded. "You're right. Come here," he said softly and opened his arms. I gladly went into them, wrapping my arms around him. "I'll never forget you, Am. You're my best friend and I love you."

Those words made the tears fall. "I love you too, brother-boy." I knew he smiled at the nickname I gave him. "I'll miss you so much."

"And I, you." He let go and backed away. "I'd better head back. My fiancé is waiting for me. If you ever sneak off to Acre, come see me."

I nodded, wiping away my tears. I watched him go. Another part of my life left me. I knew Rashid was alive, but it would have the same effect on me. The loss of my best friend. It hurt a lot and I turned to one of my make-shift dummies. I glared at it, feeling a rage burn inside me. Rashid was alive, Amelia, I told myself, but that didn't help. I curled my fists and just went at the dummy with full force, never letting up.

Sometime later, I lost track of time and Prim came out to find me. "Amelia, sis!"

"What!" I grunted coldly, my punches now slowing.

She came up beside me, frowning. "Rashid told you, didn't he?"

I abruptly stopped. I hadn't realized how labored my breathing was. I looked at her, puzzled. Her round face was staring up at me with remorse. Red rings circled her eyes like she had been crying for hours. I almost forgot. She would take Rashid's leaving badly because she had liked him. She fancied him. And now he was off to be married in Acre.

"Prim? When did he tell you?" I asked, kneeling down to her level.

"I don't know. A few hours ago, maybe. I wanted to see you, but I didn't want to leave. Mother was inside for a little while," she told me, sniffling.

Prim was still scared of sending mother off the deep end. She and I got his eyes, she told us. His deep brown eyes that glowed in sunlight. We got that trait and that made her very sad. That was probably another reason she avoided us so much and went to father's grave. Prim didn't want to see her cry anymore. She told me once that she wanted mommy back. I had told her that mommy's spirit had gone with father's to heaven. Unlike my baby sister, I had no such fears. I had come to resent mother for deserting us like she had.

"You should've come down anyway. I taught you how to get out from your window," I told her, watching her every twitch just in case.

She shook her head. "Mother would've saw."

I sighed. She looked like she wanted to cry again, so I embraced her. She did cry and she cried hard. I released my anger to let her get it out. Rashid was right though. I could die if I tried to continue to become an Assassin. What if I did? Where would this child go? But, I couldn't give up. I would survive. I would protect her and all of them. I would protect Masyaf. If I had to steal my father's provisions back to do it, I would.

After a while, she pushed herself out. Prim wanted to be strong like me, but she was more sensitive to things. While I could kill a rabbit to feed us on certain, desperate occasions, she would get mad at me for harming something cute.

Prim tried to look fierce. "I'll go clean the house, while you run around like you do, okay?"

I smiled fondly at her spirit. "Okay, Prim." She ran inside and I rose, brushing myself off. I looked up for the sun. It was just past noon, it told me. It was time for me to run errands. I hurried towards my room window and climbed the hard stone with ease. Once inside, I glanced around the familiar place. In the center was my bed and on one side was a small table. I noticed a cup of water sitting there, making me realize that my mouth was dry. I went to get a good, long drink and I savored the taste. On the other side of the small room was my clothing chest. In there was my makeshift Assassin's robes. I switched from my regular attire to that, keeping the blue hood off. The rest of it was a lighter blue, with some white here and there. Beneath my belt was a crimson sash, like what the Assassins wore. My boots were crafted by my father when he realized that I'd keep climbing buildings. He made them exactly like his. I was proud to wear them. I fixed my gauntlets before stepping out my window. I jumped off the ledge, ready for the impact, and headed off to work.

Author's Note:

Another chapter done, like I promised. This one is more of a filler chapter to give some insight into the life of Amelia Valandrus. Next chapter will continue on with Amelia. I hoped you all liked it. Until next time…