Chapter 26

"Your reading lessons are going well then." Altair commented when she had read the first page of the book.

She nodded her head in agreement, "I've read every day for the past week." She stated proudly.

He smirked, "I was wondering why I hadn't seen you in the sparring ring."

"Don't Master Assassins have their own training area?"

"Yes," He nodded, "But that doesn't mean I don't spar with the other Ranks of the Creed. And I haven't seen you there for a week."

"You said 'Reading is knowledge and knowledge is power'." She shook the book at him, "I'm nineteen now, so years have been spent on combat and one week has been spent on reading. I have some catching up to do."

"That may be true," Altair smirked, "But your skills will suffer from the lack of attention. In fact, why don't we train for an hour?" So they did, and Hana found it more difficult than usual to pick up her blade in the heat! She really had been neglecting her training!

Altair pushed her backwards, deflecting her blow and twirling his loyal sword in his skilled hand. Hana turned to the side to make herself a smaller Target, and crouched a little to give herself a spring to her step. They sparred in silence, and the copper haired female found herself having to watch the Master Assassin's footwork more than she did his blade. It wasn't that he had predictive movements when it came to dealing blows, it was the complete opposite. His footwork, he'd feign left, feign right, sometimes double bluff, and sometimes wouldn't bluff at all. He had no pattern to his movements, and she found him both mesmerising and frustrating.

She did pick up on a few things though. She had worked out how to get close enough to the Master Assassin to inspect his defence, but soon found herself being pushed backwards once more. Her best bet against him was her speed, because he was certainly a lot stronger than she. In fact, the one time she had disarmed him – she was so surprised – that he used his hidden blade to disarm her when she was distracted with her shock!

They circled one another, and the female knew from the smirk on the Master Assassin's face that combat between the two of them was certainly in his favour. She wouldn't give up though, and she ran at him with speed he hadn't expected. He blocked a punch with his forearm, and prevented a kick with his knee – it was then she noticed he wasn't attacking her – and again, he took her distraction as an opportunity to flatten her with a simple sweep underneath her legs. Her automatic reaction, however, was to grab hold of his arm to stop herself from falling – and to get the upper hand over him. She straddled the Master Assassin, and delivered several fists to his defending forearms before finding herself underneath him – her mind wandering back to the chambers of Altair's Target, where they had found themselves wedged under the bed. She blushed, and again, the Master Assassin used her distraction to his advantage, and held his hidden blade to her throat.

Then, for some strange reason, she remembered their conversation they had had no longer than an hour ago, and something had confused her, "Hold on."

"You can't hold on in the middle of a battle-"

"-No." Her frown deepened, "How did you know I was having reading lessons? I haven't told anyone except for Rasil." Her eyes widened in realisation, "You asked him?"

He sat back on his heels, his hidden blade retracting back inside his bracer, "You weren't supposed to know."

"Rasil said that he is obsessed with coin. You're not paying him, are you?" She sat up as well when he did not respond, her eyes went wide, "Why would you do that for me? I don't know how I'm ever going to repay you." She stated, "I don't have any money."

"I know you don't." He stated, his tone wasn't biting, it was soft – almost as if he had sympathised her for not being able to afford lessons. "You do not need to repay me."

"But I must somehow." She stated, "This is one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me. Why would you do this?"

He remained silent, obviously not having an answer to give to the female. Instead, he got to his feet and collected his sword. "It doesn't matter why I did-"

"-It does." She also climbed to her feet, collecting her sword too. "I don't think you realise how important this is. I must repay you for your generosity and kindness."

He shook his head, "That isn't necessary, Hana."

She was a little embarrassed in the silence that followed his statement, and she looked away as a blush made its way onto her face. She pulled on her hood, and sheathed the sword she was still holding in her palm. "I could clean your weapons for you?" She suggested, "I do so for Rasil after he has cooled the forged steel."

The beginnings of a smile appeared on his lips, as he looked down at his bracer, "He has some fine looking weapons to offer." He said, "Perhaps your small fingers will be able to clean the blood where mine cannot reach."

She nodded, and accepted the hidden blade from him as she smiled eagerly, "They will."

A/N: Thank you so much for those of you who have reviewed the past couple of chapters, I appreciate the support!

Please review and let me know what you think/ if you have any suggestions that you would like to offer in regards to future chapters :) xx