The freak heat wave had passed but it was still a scorching day out in Istanbul. Halimah was perched atop a building, trying to find the quickest route to the doctor's office. After scanning the scene with expert eyes, she mentally traced her path before climbing down to street level. She walked past a hay cart, thinking about the day she will finally become a full assassin and be able to perform leaps of faith. Even though it was dangerous, she would do anything to prove she was a true assassin and, even in the face of death, she held the creed close to her heart. She walked among the crowd, blending in flawlessly just like she was taught in training. To her relief, not many guards were around which allowed her to move more freely and therefore arrive at her destination faster. As she walked past a fruit merchant, the smell of ripe plums invaded her nostrils. It was the season and all over Istanbul merchant unloaded them by the cartful. Halimah smiled as she savoured the sweet perfume of the purple fruit. Involuntarily, she thought back at the breakfast she had that morning in company of the 'Templar' girl.


Two plates rested on the wooden table. One contained plums and the other was filled with honey-sweetened goat yogurt, an Istanbul specialty. It was a rudimentary but typical breakfast in the hideout. The girl sat at the end of the table, hands neatly folded on her lap. She kept her gaze on the ground, like she did most of the time. Halimah took a seat next to her and silently started serving her a generous portion of the sweetened yogurt.

"Try it. It tastes good." Said Halimah as she handed the girl a wooden spoon.

The girl reached for the utensil with one of her marked hand. Halimah felt a shiver run down her spine as the marred fingers closed around the spoon. The girl dipped the tip of the tool in the white and creamy paste. She tried to bring the spoon to her lips, hand trembling as she tried. Halimah watched in silence, unsure of what to do. Every time the girl got the spoon past her shoulder level, her fingers would buckle and she would be forced to put it down. She tried a couple of times but always with the same result.

"Here, let me help you." Said Halimah as she took the spoon from the girl's unsteady hand.

When her fingers came in contact with the girl's, Halimah felt another shiver pass through her body. The skin was so… Halimah shook her head, shooing the thought away. She approached the filled spoon to the girl's mouth, gently delivering its content on her tongue. The girl seemed to find the texture awkward as she wasn't sure if she was supposed to chew it or simply swallow it.

"Do you like it?"

She simply nodded, her eyes lost in the distance. Halimah continued to feed her in silence, giving the girl small amount each time she placed the spoon in her mouth. After a few bites, the girl let her head drop forward, her chin resting on her chest. Her body shook lightly as she made small hiccupping noise. Halimah immediately put the spoon down.

"What's wrong?" she said in a concerned voice

The girl didn't answer as her sobs grew louder. Tears fell from her eyes and in the light, they almost looked like diamonds. The girl raised her damaged hands over her face, trying to hide her emotions.

"There is nothing to be ashamed of…" Halimah said in a soft whisper

Without knowing why or how, Halimah simply knew how the girl was feeling. She didn't want to admit it, even to herself after all these years, but she could put herself in the girl's place. After all, it hadn't been too long long ago she had herself been in that same spot. She gently placed an arm on the girl's shoulder, rubbing it in a comforting way. At first the girl jerked away from her hand but Halimah tried again and this time the girl didn't seem to mind Halimah's stroke.

"This isn't your fault… you can't blame yourself." She hushed.

The girl continued to cry softly into her hands, not warming up to Halimah's touch or words. She sat on the chair, shaking with every sob. Crying looked physically straining for the girl and eventually she dried her tears with the back of her sleeve, hands in tight fists of injured skin. She turned her gaze to the floor and, after a long and laborious sigh, she spoke in her broken and soft voice.

"Why can't I control my own body?"

Halimah stared at her in silence, knowing it wasn't her place to answer. The girl stood motionless on her chair, portraying no sign of her initial sadness or self-blame. Halimah reached for a plum and, using a silver knife, started cutting it. The juice dripped down her tanned hand and soon the sweet honey smell of plums invaded the room. She offered the girl a piece which she accepted. She chewed it for a while, eyes locked on the table. After she swallowed it, a weak smile reached her thin lips. Halimah looked at the girl and noticed tears had reappeared in her eyes. They didn't look like tears of sadness or joy. They were just tears. The girl nodded to some insubstantial object and her smile mysteriously vanished, leaving only behind the remnants of what Halimah perceived as contentment on her features.


She snapped out of her reminiscence when her eyes fell on the black billboard with "doctor" carved in gold on it. She entered the shop, pulling out Ezio's note as she walked towards the doctor.

"Merhaba, what can I do for you?" Said the purple clad men

Halimah simply handed him the note which he took without any question. He had probably recognised her outfit. She had already seen this doctor a couple of times. He was present to heal Salim's wounded leg after the last Templar den raid. He was a man in his advanced forties with a small, closely-shaven grey beard and a prominent mustache riding his upper lip. He twirled the tip of his mustache between his index and thumb as he read the letter, something she had witnessed him doing every time she had seen him. He folded the letter and burnt it with a lantern that was hanging from the ceiling among some dried herbs. He disappeared in the back of his shop and came back a few minutes later with a black leather pouch hanging from a colored strap on his shoulder.

"Lead and I will follow." He said as he walked towards the exit

After the man locked his shop, they made way for the hideout. The man seemed to be lost in his thoughts as he followed Halimah silently. It was only after they had left the busy streets of the imperial district and had crossed the river that the man initialized a conversation.

"So… who is this girl? In the letter she is described as a victim and not one of your creed." Said the physician as he rearranged his bag

"It's a good question. Even we can't answer it." Halimah responded

"And what of her physical condition? Ezio only mentioned that she needed medical attention."

"It's her eyes, doktor. She can't see well. And there is also her hands and feet… they can't be healed but I hope there will be something you can do about it." Halimah, finishing her sentence in a softer voice

"What is wrong with her hands and feet?" Asked the doctor as his eyes seemed to show wariness.

"You'll see…" she said with a strange sadness in her hazel eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" asked the doctor as he did a few strides of jog in order to catch up with the female assassin

"I'd rather not talk about it, it's better if you see for yourself" she replied in a low voice.

The doctor was about to continue his interrogation but Halimah had already stopped in front of their destination.

"We've arrived." Replied Halimah as she halted in front of the iron cast door.

They walked in silence into the cool underground air. Most of the trainees were out in the city but Halimah could tell there was a few in the armory by the sound they made. The doctor, a rather large and imposing man, followed the woman who was a few inches shorter than him in utter silence. He knew it was an extreme privilege to be let in the hideout but he was more afraid of the consequences if he ran his mouth than the compliment it represented. They walked until they reached a small corridor with a low ceiling. There, the woman stopped in front of a small chestnut door. Halimah looked over at the man one last time before knocking softly on the door and walking into the room.


Ezio knew that the doctor had entered the hideout. From his personal study he had heard the door open and the heavy footsteps of the stout man. He finished the sentence he was writing and blew the candles out, closing the door silently behind him as he left the room. Before he was able to make his way to the girl's room, Ahmet materialized in front of him, concern creasing his usually placid face.

"Mentor, Halimah brought an outsider to the hideout." He said in a hushed voice full of alarm.

"Peace Ahmet, I was the one who requested Halimah to bring him here." Said Ezio with a calm voice.

The apprentice had suspicion shining in his dark brown eyes. In the penumbra of the underground lair his eyes resembled two polished onyx stone. His facial scar stood out on his darkly tanned face as it was much paler than the skin that surrounded it. He wore the mark proudly even though he never told anyone the story of how he got it; only the two present on the fateful night knew the tale. Ezio was one of them.

"He can be trusted." Added the mentor before continuing his walk to the girl's room.

Ahmet looked at Ezio and though he was still uneasy about it, he knew he could trust his mentor's judgement. Ezio walked swiftly towards the room; he wanted to be there when the doctor would examine her. He didn't know why or what urged him to do so but he knew he had to. He didn't bother knocking on the door and simply strode in. He pulled his hood off and stood next to Halimah, quickly stealing a glance at the girl who sat in her bed as usual. She had raised her head to look at the small crowd, her big eyes gleaming in the soft light of the lantern that lighted the entire room.

"I am pleased that you could come dottore Hakim."

The man simply nodded with a strained smile on his face. Ezio could feel the man's nervousness and he set out to reassure him. The more anxious he was, the more mistakes he could commit.

"Dottore, do not be so worried. You have rightfully earned our respect and protection. We will not let any harm befall you because of your visit to our hideout." Ezio said in a reassuring voice.

The doctor nodded and it seemed as if a weight was lifted from his round chest. He kneeled next to the girl and carefully started sifting through his leather pouch. He took out a small magnifying glass and some other objects which Ezio had never seen before. The girl was nervous but tried to hide it as Hakim leaned forward. He took her arm and started examining closely the rashes, murmuring in Turkish to himself while he did so. The approach Hakim was taking worried Ezio as he was sure it only made the girl more nervous than necessary. He rotated the arm around, trying to find any kind of resistance or sign of internal injury. He picked up a strange looking tool and lightly tapped it along the arm, eyes closed from concentration. He nodded and started pressing his fingers against the girl's throat. Ezio saw the fear in her eyes, the frozen panic in her gaze. He bent down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder in silence. She looked up at him and mouthed his name. He didn't feel the need to speak, he knew she understood. She relaxed under his protective hand and suddenly the doctor didn't seem as frightening or threatening as he first did. Ezio was her savior, he was the one who took her from her cell, he was the stranger she trusted. Halimah watched, surprised that the girl didn't flinch under Ezio's hand. Every time the woman had tried to touch the girl, she had always initially recoiled.

"Her rashes will go away, it is only a matter of time. They will not leave any scar I think but I could always be wrong. She doesn't seem to be infected with any virus or disease from what I gathered so far." Said the doctor as he shifted his gaze from his patient to the master assassin

He picked up his glass and tried to place it next to the girl's left eye. The movement panicked her and she tried scurrying backwards. She was stopped by Ezio who placed his other hand on her shoulders. She looked back at him with her big, fearful eyes and he nodded. No words were exchanged but the girl comprehended, like she always did, and immediately calmed down. The doctor inspected her eyes closely, muttering to himself in a low hushed voice. Hakim squinted as he got closer to the girl's face, his eyes almost glued to the glass, and stayed in that position in silence for a moment. A spark seemed to appear in his eyes as he muttered a triumphant "Aha!" in his beard.

"What is it?" asked Halimah as she got closer to the girl

Hakim raised a finger triumphantly as he backed away from the girl.

"I know what is wrong with her eyes, I've seen it a few times before. It isn't very common, last I saw this was a couple of years back. " He said as he started rubbing his bearded chin with his thumb

"Is there a cure?" Ezio asked

He saw the doctor frown, twirling his mustache between his thickset fingers as he did so, and immediately Ezio assumed there wasn't. He had hoped she could get her sight back and finish her life normally, without any physical or mental scars from her past even though he knew it was impossible.

"Yes, a cure does exist but I fear I don't have it with me. It is back at my shop." He said in a nonchalant voice, losing his frown as he spoke

He took the girl arms and started examining her hands meticulously. His forehead creased as he gently ran his fingers across the damaged skin.

"Ne garip…" he whispered as he started looking at her other hand

"She has the same thing on her feet too dottore…" Added Ezio

The girl shifted under his hands. She turned her head and looked at Ezio with troubled eyes. He could see the distress in her wide eyes as it transformed her pupil into bottomless pit of fear.

"'thing'?" she said in a whisper only he heard

A chill ran down Ezio's spine. Didn't she know? He looked at Halimah but she looked as troubled as he was. They both stayed in silence as the girl's anxiousness grew. She gazed at Halimah, only seeing a splodge of white with a stain of brown where her face should've been.

"Dottore, when do you think you will be able to procure the medicine for her eyes?" asked Ezio, trying to stem the growing tension

"I could get it for you today. I will also give you something for her…." He said as he silently motioned to her hands, not wanting to accentuate the girl's distress

Ezio nodded before asking Halimah to escort Hakim back to his shop and bring back the medicine needed. She agreed and left silently with the doctor trailing her. Ezio looked down at the girl who was now resting her chin on her knees. He wanted to comfort her but couldn't find the words. He wanted her to see her hands for herself, it wasn't for him to tell her. He was about to leave when she grabbed his forearm with a grip stronger he thought her capable of.

"What is wrong with me?" she uttered, her voice sounding even more damaged than usual.

"It is not my place to tell you… Mi dispiace…" he answered with a voice full of sadness.

She nodded, her eyes devoid of any decipherable emotion. She rolled to her side and all Ezio could see of her was her back and her protruding spine from her white dress. The assassin did the only thing he could do and rolled the cover up to her shoulders, hoping the blanket would comfort her when no one else could.