Exodus

Denial

Marcus POV:

Elizabeth: yeah I've been with him about 5 months now. Not necessarily too serious though, mostly because Father controls him. He barely lets us do anything, and my boyfriend isn't exactly the "fight back" type. He's not like you😊

Oh great. ANOTHER one that already has a boyfriend.

Elizabeth: Shit father's here I gotta go! We'll be in touch though. Trust me💕

I put my phone on it's face and attempt to process the whole conversation. Looks like she really was telling the truth about hating her dad, she actually texted me. Though the whole having a boyfriend thing does kinda irk me. You know it's been an entire year since one of my crushes DIDN'T have a boyfriend. A whole year, and two years since I found one that lived close to me and was single. Then again, maybe her having a boyfriend is a blessing in disguise. Means we'll never be anything. Like mom always says, "Never trust a Templar." I won't fall into that hole.

*3 days later...*

I've fallen into the hole.

Elizabeth and I have been texting every day for the last three days, and...and goddamn I think I like her. We've talked whenever she's away from her bastard of a father and just yesterday we texted for five hours straight, all the way until 1:00 AM. She's...well she's just like me. She's compassionate, loving, funny, nerdy, flirty, witty, smart, beautiful, empathetic, understanding. She is everything I'd ever want. I've found myself thinking about her again and again every day.

She's not a Templar. She's more than just a cross. She's not the enemy. She's Elizabeth. And she's getting in my head incredibly fast. She's...she's special. She meant everything she said about her father. She's her own person, and I for one am becoming incredibly fond of this person. She always texts me good morning, and whenever I find myself feeling all alone in this apartment, I think of her and text her. Seeing her name pop up on my phone is starting to make me smile.

But, no time to think about my secret Juliet right now. It's 9:55 and I have to be in the training area in five minutes to get punched in the face by my close friends.

Isn't practice great?

For me, I actually kinda love it, if not for all the eyes on me and almost astronomical expectations. See, there's a reason my mother is Mentor of the entirety of the Brotherhood. My bloodline descends directly from Bayek of Siwa, the first "real" Assassin. He and his wife Aya created a group called the Hidden Ones, which eventually morphed into the Assassins around 1050 CE in Syria. Aya eventually split to form a brotherhood in Rome, while Bayek stayed in their native Egypt. 2000 years of breeding later, here I am. And yes, I'm definitely expected to live up to the legacy of my many times great-grandfather.

Once weight training is finished, we transition to combat training. Today's focus: hand to hand. I step into the boxing ring with Jason with our gloves on, and no headgear because the Templars often try to hit us in the face whenever we can. Won't always be protected.

"Ready to get your ass kicked again?" I jokingly shout across the ring to my friend.

"Nah!" He shouts back, "Definitely ready to knock you out again! Don't worry, your Templar girlfriend won't see."

...They noticed. I know he's joking, but he has no idea the truth behind it.

We fight and I almost barely am into it. My hands, my head, and my body move off of instinct alone, me not truly thinking of anything. The only thing on my mind is Elizabeth still. I kinda just want training to be over so I can go back to my apartment and text her again.

I duck one of Jason's punches and instead of instantly delivering a hard shot to his kidneys as I always do, I instead almost freeze up. He gives me a hard knee to the chin to knock me out of daze, and gives me a look that screams "What're you doing, man?"

It's damn near like I'm losing it.

After training ends I go back upstairs to my room and still, the thought of the Crown Princess of the Templars lingers on me. My infatuation just grows and grows with each minute, it feels like I can't stop it. Really wish she was here with me right now. Ha! I have a bloody crush on a Templar.

Good Lord I have a crush on a Templar.