Hidden in the Shadows(Ezio Auditore )

Willkommen

      I rode silently into Firenze, my back straight, as my black stallion rode forward, hooves clattering along the stone rode ways as the afternoon sun shined down on the stone city, I had to admit it was beautiful but it was nowhere near as beautiful as my home, I preferred the woods even if I had been raised in a city myself. People gasped and murmured quietly to each other, stepping out of the way so my horse wouldn't trample them, watching me cautiously. I was a stranger to them and their stares hadn't bothered me much but I know why it bothered them: I was a woman, I wasn't wearing a dress, and I wasn't riding with both  legs on one side like a traditional woman. Instead of a dress I wore black leather pants that clung to me legs, gold chain belts holding up two strips of black knee length loin cloths as the belts rested along my waist, knee high black boots, and black hooded robe that fit my slender body perfectly as the silver sash tied around my waist held my robes up. My hood was down and my waste long blond hair had been pulled back while both sides of my skull had been pulled in braids and tied with feathers like the Norse warrior women. My skin was a light tan and my eyes a grayish blue that had seemed to match my skin well.

       I was an assassin from the German brotherhood, daughter of Grandmaster Alaric van den Sternberg, and once he was gone I was to assume his mantle seeing I was already a high ranking member at only fifteen. I had spent my whole life training in the brotherhood and seeing my parents were the best assassins in the German Brotherhood I had learned rather quickly. I wanted to be an Assassin all my life, I practically begged my father once I could talk and walk to train me and he did so without hesitation. Father had sent me on a mission here in Firenze, Italy, to help out Giovanni Auditore and his family rebuild the brotherhood in Italy but to also track down the last few Templars who escaped from our grasp. I was to be going to my Aunt Greta's and her 'Orphanage' to help her seeing my 'parents' had died but I was also to be the fiancee to Giovanni's older son, that was my story anyway, but Aunt Greta had missions here and connections to Giovanni. Father thought it was also a good Idea for me and his son to marry to create stronger connections between the two brotherhoods. After a few long months of riding I was finally here, a small satchel filled with the necessities strapped to the saddle, as the bottom of my robes covered Equinox's back. Tucked inside both my boots were small throwing knives, strapped to my inner thighs were gold and green Egyptian daggers that I had been passed down to me, my hidden blade on my right arm hidden by my gloves and a few more blades tucked into hidden spaces in my robes and blouse.

      I was never one for dresses or jewelry or ridiculous hairstyles, I preferred to be comfortable which is why I wore men's clothes. Girly things bored me, I wanted adventure, not a life stuck as a housewife waiting for a husband- no I ran wild, jumping from roof top to roof top, climbing churches, fighting, racing, anything that gave me a thrill but I also enjoyed reading and writing, learning new things as much as I could which is why I spoke several different languages: Italian, French, English, Spanish, Latin, Chinese, Turkish, Ancient Greek, and of course my mother tongue German. My thirst for new things had made it hard for me to stay settled for to long. I never fit in anywhere but that was ok with me. Back in the brotherhood I was treated as an equal and with respect, sometimes even awe from the novices, and they had opened up to me but now I was in Firenza, a whole new country and new setbacks. Up ahead I saw my Aunt Greta's home and orphanage, a huge three story gray stone mansion as a large garden sat in the front yard that was in full bloom. Kids from toddlers to teens were out in the garden, some playing, some talking and sitting with others, as laughs and giggles filled the air. I loved my Aunt Greta, she was a strong woman and very organized when it came to the assassins, how she balanced both made me admire her even more. I never knew my mother seeing she died in childbirth with me but Aunt Greta had stepped in to raise me before she moved here. The last time I saw her I was only five.

      Right across from Aunt Greta's was another mansion, slightly bigger then her own, but nearly Identical except I was sure the garden was out behind their house. It looked like a nobles house and I knew it belonged to the Auditore family, seeing Aunt Greta had already told me, as I spotted three people outside the front gate. One was a young girl, around my age, with olive skin and black hair with some of it pulled up into an elaborate bun as she wore a beautiful red dress with long sleeves, next to her was one of her elder brothers but this one looked as it he were around eighteen or so with slightly long dark drown hair and the same olive skin and it looked as if he were giving a slightly stern talking to to a boy only a year older then me. The boy had dark brown hair that was pulled back and tied with a red ribbon, his skin slightly darker then his older brothers and from what I could see his eyes were a golden brown. My heart fluttered a bit at the sight of him, he was a handsome man, their was no denying that. All of them were dressed in fancy clothing which must have meant they were nobles or from nobility and if I was correct they were Giovanni Auditore's children.