The sound of clanging metal could be heard throughout the undercroft. Jane, now fourteen, expertly battled her father in a fencing match as she had hundreds of times before. They had been at this for at least an hour and she was beginning to tire. Her father smiled and sheathed his sabre, "How about we call this a draw?"
"No way! I was about to beat you!" Jane protested.
"You haven't beaten me before, so what makes you think you could now?" Her father boasted, "Though, I admit, you have improved greatly over these past few years. I believe its time I let you in on a secret."
Jane looked to her father in anticipation. She had no idea what kind of secret he might tell her. Personal? Political? She waited with baited breath.
"Like our ancestors before me, I was born into a secret Brotherhood." He began to explain.
"Of what sort, father?" Jane asked too quickly.
"The Brotherhood of Assassins," he stated plainly.
Jane was taken aback, the things she had heard about assassins were all bad; to believe her father was capable of such things was a far stretch away that her imagination was unprepared to process, "But father! You're kidding! You have to be!" She felt ready to weep, "you would never do such things, surely you wouldn't" the father she knew seemed to die with this knowledge, and even with all of her screaming her father remained there, simply letting her go through the stages of grief for the loss of the man she once thought she knew. "How could you!" she yelled. He hadn't told her he was joking, and the father she once had would have simply laughed and told her it was simple jest by now. "People died at the hands of assassins!"
Jane began to calm down now, only now noticing that she had tears streaming down her face. She took a deep breath, "maybe you shouldnt have told me; maybe- maybe I should have never gotten into all of these improper things," she threw her sword to the ground.
Her father took a step forward while she stared at the ground, "you clearly need some time to think on my words. There is more to it than that but questions can wait until later," Jane refused to look at him. She slowly made her way back to her quarters unable to pry her mind away from the murderer that her father now became to her. It was only in a few hours, after having missed dinner that Jane felt composed enough to face her father with questions. She approached her father's study as she had many times before, but this time, hesitated when reaching for the handle. After a deep breath, she entered, "Father, you have questions to answer."
"By all means, my dear. Ask and I shall answer," Jane approached, attempting to quell the pain in her voice.
"Why?" She simply asked.
"You'll have to be more specific-" Jane cut him off angrily.
"Why do you kill those people!" She pointed as though there was a corpse right beside her "You have no use for such money! Unless you want to tell me that is what our life is built on!"
"I have never killed an innocent man," she fell quiet "It is the first tenant of the assassin's creed. To have you believe that we are ruthless contract killers, who only seek wealth is the goal of our enemies."
"Your enemies?" Jane could barely speak.
"For hundreds of years, the Assassins have fought a secret war, one with the Templar Order. Jane, these people wish to control all men, where we seek to free all men."
"So, what does this mean?" Jane asked.
"I have only killed templars, my dear, and those men are more vile murderers than I," Her father offered.
"I have one, last question," Jane started uneasily, "Why did you tell me?"
"Jane, you are my only heir, my legacy is you. I want you to join me," Jane at first didn't respond, she simply left the room, but a few days later she had returned and decided to do as her father asked.
Over the following months Jane was told stories of the brotherhood's past, stories of the assassin Altair; she was officially trained by her father to run and climb, to throw knives, to move about crowds unnoticed, to hide from pursuers. She was also officially made an initiate of the brotherhood. In that year, the year 1500, the English brotherhood was in a desolate state. The templars had gained a stronghold, and though the assassins were in the king's favor, the templar advance was at full force. When King Henry VII had taken the throne though less than diplomatic means, the templars sought to replace him with one of their own. He was also beginning to grow old and so the thought of securing an heir was readily on his mind. His eldest, unbeknownst to him was affiliated with the dreaded order and the assassins would have to find a way to quietly deal with him without Henry VII learning of it.
Jane took to the order at first timidly and then, once comfortable with great vigor. Her previous experience with climbing and fencing were great assets, but only the beginning.