Here is a new chapter! I would like to thank a guest who has left the prompt for this chapter. If you enjoy my writing, please leave a review! Hearing from my readers always makes me very happy!

That night, I didn't manage to close my eyes and rest. There were endless voices and faceless shadows talking to me, suggesting that there was not much time for me to live on this Earth. It was certainly not the first time that nightmares tormented me even if I was awaken, but this time everything was worsened by the fact that my one and truest friend had betrayed both me and the life we had chosen together for his stubborn temper.

I sat up in bed and decided that, had I remained any longer in there, I was going to suffocate. I dressed up quickly, and after a last look at Peter, I left the room. There were always dozens of guards around Hope's manor, so I decided to pay them a visit and eventually help to patrol the grounds. As always, I found a small group in the hall, chattering in an evident state of disorder and laziness. One of them in particular caught my attention: he was slouching on one of the chairs, his robes in dismay and with little or no intention to remedy to the situation.

"Would you believe that? A woman. I, obeying a girl almost half my age. What is happening? The world is upside down, I tell you" it was a guard speaking. It must have been one of the grumpy one who only waited Hope to get asleep to gossip behind her shoulders.

"A woman, yes, but with double the attributes you have" I said clear and loud. The grumpy man startled and immediately stood up.

"I... That is what I think, sir. I collaborate with women, but I think they are not fit to lead"

"Then your brain is as big as a matchbox" I commented, "You're stuck in the Middle ages. I never want to hear this nonsense again, understood?"

Reluctantly, he nodded. Then, I turned my back at him and began to walk towards the door that lead to the garden. Just as I was halfway through, I heard the guard's voice calling me back.

"If you are looking for her, well, my Mistress has visits. I am not sure she would like it to be disturbed"

I stopped in bewilderment and looked at him. There was something in his eyes, a sort of malicious look that almost made me blush. Almost, because I am not a boy any longer.

'Why do you say that?'

'She has asked us to leave her alone for tonight. She never does that unless... well... unless she wants to be completely alone with someone'

As long as I knew, Hope had never been officially engaged to anyone, nor she had any lovers. I also knew well that it was not my concern. However, there was something suspicious in the air that night. Among all nights, that one was one of the less appropriate to introduce in the house a lover- or any kind of visitor- that you want to keep secret from a skilled and sleepless Assassin. A visit, then? But by whom at this hour of night?

In the end, it was the feeling of something being wrong to induce me to deepen the matter. I knew it was going to be impossible to find Hope if she didn't want to be found. Her bedrooms- even if I had known their exact location- were surely very well protected, and the same could be said for her studies.

'It must be somewhere not too far from the guards, so that she can call out for her in case of need. Yet somewhere far enough for me not to see her' I reasoned as I walked the garden's path. My eyes drifted to the sky: the stars were perfectly aligned up there, a perfect moment to sail.

So it was this sudden longing for the open ocean that proved to the the stroke of luck I was so in need of, because among the light of the firmament I noticed a dimmer fire, which I immediately understood to be the flame of a candle.

Without giving it all much deal of thought, I began to climb up the window frames, as quietly and as quickly as I could. Finally, I reached in correspondence of the second floor and dared to peep into the room.

The whole place sounded so peaceful that for a moment I believed to have imagined it all. However, there were unmistakable signs that someone must have been there recently: the open window, the candle stub, half-shut drapes. Taking advantage of those, I climbed in, taking care of making no noise at all. Just when I had settled between the wall and the heavy decorative cloth, I heard it. It was a quick, nervous breath that sounded almost like hiccup. The person who produced it was desperately trying to calm himself down and to remain undetected at the same time, but was miserably failing.

There was just one person in New York, maybe in the whole Earth, that breathed like that.

I instantly knew it was Shay.

What was he doing there? Had he managed to sneak in undetected, taking advantage of Hope's distraction? Was he the one who planned to send a visitor all along so that he could sneak in and kill her? Or had he followed me and the target was I?

In the end, none of my hypothesis proved to be right, for Hope entered the room and immediately locked the door behind her.

"He is gone back to sleep"

"God. Can't I have a word with him later?"

"I doubt that's a good idea. He's still furious"

There was a small silence following this. Not able to contain myself anymore, I peeped in the room only to find a much different Shay from the naive Assassin I had left.

He was wearing Templar robes, the same one the Templar Finnegan had worn years before we ended his life, and his hair were tied back in a tail. The worst part of it, though, was the scar I glimpsed on his face. It was an immortal trace of what had happened, and from his look I understood that he was still trying to learn to cope with his sorrow.

Oh, brother. What have I done?

"Have you told me everything, then?"

"I have told you the reason of my shift of allegiances"

"Is that all?" Hope asked. Her tone was not cold: it looked like the old times, when we went back to report her the outcome of a mission with her gangs.

"No, Hope. It is not. I came here to explain because I want you to understand. I t costs me my life to go away. I know that I am doing the right thing, now"
"If you believe, so. I... I wish there had been time to explain. You know, now we are enemies. If we ever meet again, you will try and kill me" she said with a flat voice. 'She is trying to manipulate him', I immediately understood. I was right, because in the next instant Shay readily replied:

"No! What are you saying? I could never do that to you"

"The day will come that you will have to. This is war, Shay."

"But-"

"But what?"
"My Grandmaster is an honourable man. He will understand. There could even be a truce!"

Hope let out a dry laugh. "It is a dream, Shay. It will never come true, and I can see that deep inside you have remained the same"

"I have. I have, only... I woke up"

For a long moment, no one spoke. They were simply staring at each other, and now the light casted soft droplets of light on their faces, so that it looked like they were swimming in the air.

"What will you do now? Will you keep hovering around here?"

"Yes. Until you convince yourself that all of this is wrong" he replied, and he stretched his arm forward to take her hand, which she did not retrieve from his touch.

"I will not. I can't. You... you go away. Stay out of this place for a long time, clear your head, and give me time time to recoil" Hope said in the end, stepping back and allowing him one last glance before darting out of the room.

"...Hope!" Shay exclaimed, his voice loud and desperate. The sound of those two simple syllables fully awakened me, and suddenly I realised the gravity of what was going on around me.

Without giving it a great deal of thought, I jumped out of my hiding place, ready to face Shay myself. And I would have, if only...

... if only Hope hadn't run back into the room and threw herself right into Shay's arms, letting him kissing her boldly and without restrictions.

I stood there, agape, thoughts and questions cluttering my mind, unable to take my eyes off them. It looked like they were needed each other to keep living, and as the time passed they deepened their kiss and held each other tighter with the determination and desperation of two lovers finally aware of their forbidden love.

I had just stepped back in my hiding place when they let go of each other, wondering: what comes next? We were not children any longer. What was I to do? Step in and tear them apart?

No, I knew Hope better than that. As a matter of fact, she stepped back and shook her head sadly.

"I... I am sorry, Shay. I truly am"

"But..."

She took him by the collar and pulled him so near to her that their noses were touching.

"I wish we had lived another life. I wish we hadn't been born in the misery of war and conflict. If that were the case... who knows, I might even have given you a chance" she whispered with a pained expression and an almost shaky voice. Then she leaned forward to press a delicate kiss on his forehead. "Next time we see each other, only one of us will remain alive. Farewell, Shay"

I followed my former friend with my eyes as he passed near to me and jumped out of the window and into the garden. Then I looked at Hope, kneeling motionless of the floor to recoil herself. The next moment she was up again, walking back wherever she came from.

I wasn't sure about what to do on the following day. As I entered the breakfast room with Peter by my side, I noticed that my ally was already seated at the table, a magazine in hand.

"Good morning" she said, raising her eyes towards my small friend with an embarrassed smile. Without hesitation, Peter took a seat right next to her and began chattering merrily about his plans for the day.

I didn't utter a single word. I waited for her to finish her tea before stopping the child's speech with a sign of my hand. "We are due to start our investigations this morning" I started calmly, "but first, we are going to write home"

"Yes! I wrote granddad the other day, but he did not reply. He never does" Peter added enthusiastically.

"I am going to write to Achilles straight after breakfast. I am going to ask him to send some assistance over here"

"Why?" Hope asked, looking at me with curiosity and a little irritation, "I don't need any help"

"I think you do. Especially so after yesterday night"

She didn't make a move, if not for her eyes who darted up to me. "Oh, really?"

"What happened yesterday night?"
"Nothing concerning you, little one" I said, "but there will be consequences. I will inform the Mentor personally"

"And what will you tell him?" she asked, returning to her reading with an apparently careless expression, "that you heard me talking with a former ally, trying to convince him to get back his mind?"

"Yeah, sure. And you were very persuasive in doing so, weren't you? A pity that your womanly charms didn't work"

This words were the last straw that made the camel's back break. As soon as I finished uttering them my friend had stood up, ready to defend herself.

"How dare you, Liam! How dare you interfere with my business!"

"This is not your business, Hope. This is about us, all of us. The Brotherhood!" I replied, finally losing my temper as well.

"You're very well and good with your rigmaroles, Liam. You really are. A true pity that the same words are not valid for yourself. What would you have done, if it had been you ?"

"I would never have given an appointment to a traitor in my own house, let alone cutting down security in an Assassin cove because I wanted to meet a Templar... How much do you want to put at stake to make out with someone who's given up our cause and has joined the enemy? God knows if this is the first time this has even happened!" I blurted out furiously. Was I really angry with her, or was I just disappointed by myself? Maybe it was my own regret that made me talk that way.

Hope took a breath and sat down before answering.

"There is no God, Liam. Not for you, not for me. He has forsaken us long ago. Also, I will not accept to be slandered in my own house any further. If you have anything else to say about what you have spied upon with no right whatsoever, you'd better leave"

"I don't think we'll have to get that far"

"Let's pray so"