"Where are we going?" she asked. Uncle Mario remained silent and led her towards the city gates. "I thought you were going to help me with the guards."

"I am." Uncle Mario replied. His eyes were fixated on the group of guards standing by the Bank.

"How is this helping me…us?" She threw a hasty glance at her Mother who didn't seem as wary of this as she was. It was almost as if her Mother had been used to this kind of activity-of fleeing the city- numerous times before.

"You are in no position to take down guards. Your little…er…" the cloaked man scratched his chin thoughtfully. "You murdering a man in front of everyone has caused a red alert in the city. It doesn't help that you've announced who you are to the whole citta."

Claudia felt her face getting warmer. "He was tarnishing our name." She said stubbornly and then a thought occurred to her. "How could you possibly have known what I said?"

The cloaked man chuckled. His voice was dry and raspy. "I have spies everywhere." He said with flair. "We had some important work here, but your little stunt has compromised us. They cannot learn that we were here."

"They?"

Piccina…" Uncle Mario started.

"I'm not a little girl anymore!"

Her Uncle sighed tiredly. "No, you are not. 'They' refers to the Templars."

Claudia held onto her Mother's arm as they walked. There it was again- the whole issue with the Templars that would never be resolved because both sides were equally egoistic and none of them would ever back down.

"I know what you're thinking." Her Uncle said. "You still think that this fight with Templars is pointless. But one day, I hope you will see why we Assassin's do what we do."

The cloaked man gave another chuckle. "She says she wants nothing to do with Templars yet she just killed off one."

"What?" Claudia asked.

"Si, picci…Claudia." Uncle Mario said. He pointed towards the puddle and they walked around it, careful to avoid getting their clothes wet. "Uberto had made a deal with the Spaniard. He would help execute Giovanni if they paid him well. The Spaniard was so impressed with his work that he offered him a position in the Templar Order."

"Oh!" Claudia felt her heart beating fast. She had killed off a Templar! A Templar! All this while she had been making empty promises to herself to never get involved. Perhaps there was Assassin blood running through her veins.

Her Mother squeezed her hand and smiled. Claudia looked at the pride on her face and didn't know if she was actually seeing this. Was her Mother actually glad she had killed someone? Was she? Claudia asked herself of how she felt. Her nerves were still tingling and the hand with which she had ended that traitor's life felt warm. She instinctively reached for the dagger in her belt, hidden by a clean cloak. Her Uncle had insisted that she change her clothes immediately and had then burnt them. She had been about to discard the dagger as well, when Uncle Mario had stopped her and suggested that she hang onto it for a little while longer.

They were outside the city gates now and were walking towards a carriage waiting by the side of the road.

Her Uncle opened the door to the carriage and Claudia hesitated. She was leaving Firenze-her home- once again. She turned back to take one last glimpse of the city and its people when she saw someone running towards them.

It was a young man in a green shirt and as he sprinted closer, Claudia immediately recognized him as the thief who had advised her to make a run for it when she had stabbed Uberto.

"What is he…?"

The thief went over to the cloaked man. "Maestro, you're leaving?"

The cloaked man waved his hands nonchalantly. "There isn't much of a choice anymore."

"He's with you?" Claudia asked.

"Si." The cloaked man said.

"So…" Claudia gasped and turned to look at her Uncle in a furious glare. "You knew what I was about to do?"

Uncle Mario sighed and removed his hands from the carriage door. "Claudia, when you left Monteriggioni, you did not really think that I would not keep an eye on you? You are my niece; I had to know you were safe."

Claudia removed the dagger from her pocket. "You did this too?"

The cloaked man chuckled. "We couldn't let someone from a family of Assassins use a meager blade. So we paid the Blacksmith a little…extra."

"You knew I was planning to kill Uberto Alberti?" Claudia clutched her forehead. "You made me kill him."

"No, you did all that by yourself." The cloaked man said. He walked over to her and took her hand. "Anyone who kills a Templar deserves to be introduced to me. I am La Volpe." He bent his head down and kissed her hand.

Claudia pulled her hand and turned to her Uncle. "You could have killed him, instead!"

"Claudia…."

"No, Uncle Mario! It is true that I hate that betrayer, but did you really think that I would be happy that I killed someone?"

Uncle Mario stood up straight and his jaw hardened. "Are you regretting his death?"

Claudia swallowed. The truth was she had expected to be hit by overwhelming guilt at taking away a life, but so far she had only felt relief and a tiny glimmer of happiness that her Father's and Brother's deaths had been avenged.

"The point is that you could have stopped me."

"Petruccio has been trying for years to try and kill him. But he failed! Do you know why?" Her Uncle asked. His face had turned red with anger and Claudia instinctively stepped back.

"Because the moment he would get even a little bit closer to Uberto, he would be blinded by insecurities and guilt. Petruccio was a gentle boy. He understood responsibility but he thought it was more important to save a life than take them. And that's where he went wrong."

"Si, slaying people is far more entertaining to you Assassins!" Claudia said bitterly.

"Claudia!" Uncle Mario yelled. "You have much to learn."

"I have no intention of doing so!"

"Could we perhaps get into the carriage and have this discussion elsewhere?" La Volpe said. He sounded bored by all this and Claudia threw him an irritated glance. La Volpe ignored it and got into the carriage, offering his hand to her Mother.

Claudia reluctantly followed her Mother in and frowned when Uncle Mario took a seat opposite her. The carriage started to move and Claudia sighed. She didn't want to leave Firenze. This was where her family was buried and now she wouldn't find the chance to visit their graves. She was leaving her home and all her memories behind just because of one mistake.

Claudia looked down at the dagger she was holding. Her mind told her to throw it out the window, but she still couldn't even raise her hand to do so. What was stopping her? Claudia sunk into her seat. She hadn't found the time to process this, but now she could do so.

She had murdered Uberto. He was a traitor and deserved to die. Her Uncle had known that she intended to kill Uberto and instead of stopping her and discreetly helped her by buying her a dagger and placing a thief to help her. It had been so easy. All she had to do was stab Uberto and the thief would have distracted the guards from coming behind her.

"Where are we going? You did not tell me where we are going." She said.

Uncle Mario took a deep breath. "To Venezia. We have some important information to collect."

"Oh." Claudia longed to ask what kind of information but this journey was already off to a bad start. "What about me and my Mother?"

"What about it?" Her Uncle looked confused by her question.

Claudia squirmed in her seat. "Where do we….live? What will happen now that I have killed someone?"

La Volpe gave her a sly smile. "This was just a test for you Claudia. We found out what you were about to do and wanted to see what and how you would do." He explained. "If anything should go wrong, we were there for back up, but it was more important to see how you were going to carry it out."

"Oh? And what do you think now?" she asked sarcastically.

"Good." La Volpe said. "You took advantage of the fact that nobody knows you. You entered the exhibition with the poise of a learned woman so the guards didn't suspect you. But the execution was sloppy and you did not have an escape plan."

"With a little bit of training you will learn how to be a skilled Assassin." Uncle Mario said.

Claudia started to tell them she wasn't interested when she looked towards her Mother. Her Mother looked so pleased with the conversation and happy. In ten years, she had never seen her Mother so happy or even speak for that matter. But here was her Mother now- happy and proud of her.

Claudia took her Mother's hand in hers and squeezed gently.

"I am so proud of you Claudia." Her Mother smiled.

Claudia forced a smile back and then turned away to look out the window. Her Mother wanted her to be an Assassin? She looked back down at the dagger and then raised it.

She had a choice now. She could either throw the dagger away right now and take her Mother away from this life, or she could train to be an Assassin and make her Mother happy.

Claudia glanced at her Mother as she talked to Uncle Mario and then slipped the dagger back under her cloak.