Freedom's Blade

Chapter 13

Desiree's POV

"Woah, Bello," I say.

The gates of Siena lie before me, and I smile slightly. I jump off of Bello's back and tie him to a pole next to all the other horses that wait outside the city.

I adjust my hood and climb up the nearest building to the rooftop. Scanning the city, I can see many buildings, but nothing that could tell me where Roberto is.

I do a flawless leap of faith into a wagon of hay below and climb out, looking around for any of Muncina's guards.

As I walk through the streets, people look in my direction, but I ignore them and don't make eye contact.

I nearly jump for joy when I see a group of Muncina's men walking down the street, swords in hand. I follow behind them at a distance, praying that they lead me to my target.

As I follow them, my mind wanders to the girl assassins that I left behind in Venezia. Are they looking for me? Have they given up?

The guards lead me to a large building with massive marble pillars in the front. Roberto stands in between these pillars, while his men stand in front of him.

He's speaking to them, but I'm too far away to her.

"Cazzo..." I mutter under my breath. I quickly climb the side of another building and attempt to get closer to Roberto. I manage to get in hearing distance, and I crouch quickly.

"The assassins are our main issue right now! They run through our streets, endangering us as a people! They want to kill you! They want to kill all of us! We can't let that happen!" Muncina calls. I resist the urge to smack my head repeatedly against a wall or throw some knives into his back and continue to listen.

"My job for you is to find the assassins and kill them! First Italy, then the world!" Roberto yells. "Now go!"

The crowd disperses, and I groan in disgust. He's filling their heads with lies about the Brotherhood, and I need to stop it.

I climb down from the roof and approach Roberto. When he sees me, he grins evilly.

"Desiree Miglia! The lone lupo of the assassinos!"

"Roberto Muncina." I spit out the name like poison, and Roberto chuckles.

"I guess I won't have to kill your dear friend Da Vinci now that I've seen you here in Siena," Roberto says, and I growl.

"If you kill him, I will kill you."

"Oh Desiree, you were always the weakest one of your family. I'm still surprised that you were the one to survive."

I unsheathe my hidden blades, and Roberto draws his sword.

"Guards!" he calls, and a group of his men come out of the building behind him.

Rosalia's POV

"There she is!" I exclaim.

Ella, Alessia, Karma and I all jump easily from roof to roof and grow closer to Desiree. As I say this, a group of guards come out of a building and surround the female assassin.

"Come on! We have to help her!" Karma says.

Desiree starts fighting, and we arrive at the fight just in time. I throw a knife at someone who was about to stab Dez, and she looks over at us in shock while she fights.

I stab one in the neck with my hidden blade and slash at another one. Everyone else fights bravely, and I watch as Roberto Muncina retreats into the building behind him.

We wipe out all of the guards and Desiree runs up to us.

"Why did you guys come? Didn't Leonardo tell you to stay back?"

"You were going to get yourself killed. You can't take out an entire army by yourself," Ella says calmly.

Desiree sighs and looks at the building that Roberto retreated into.

"I don't want more people to get involved."

"Why? We just want to help!" Alessia says.

"I know, I know," Desiree mumbles.

"We need to teach you how to work in groups. I can tell that you work alone a lot," Karma says.

"You sound like Altaïr..." Desiree grumbles.

"He's my brother. He taught me everything I know."

Dez sighs and shakes her head.

"I'm sorry. I don't want you guys to get involved. He'll kill you."

I laugh.

"Desiree, if we were scared of death, we wouldn't have become assassins."

A/N: I'm running out of ideas... not qbene.