For the few seconds in time that Altair was silent, it felt as if the world and my heart had come to a complete stop. He looked over at me and to my surprise, he was smiling.

“There’s no other person I would rather take as a student,” he said. “But I can’t go against orders again…”

I asked, “Again? You’ve gone against the Master’s orders before?”

“Not this Master’s, ones of a previous leader. I learned well from what happened and I advise you to obey all orders. Do it for me if not for your own well-being.”

The only reply I could muster was a mere nod through my shock. I had thought Altair didn’t care a bit about me. This caring side of the assassin made me feel a strange ooze in my stomach while my heart pounded heavily against my ribs. What was this?

He suddenly looked rather concerned. “Are you alright, you look a little ill?”

“Oh, umm, too much food,” I lied. In truth, my stomach was angry at me for not eating at the feast and I was feeling rather dizzy.

“Well, let’s get you back to quarters.” Altair wrapped his arm around my shoulder and walked me to the novice quarters in complete silence. I was so glad that he couldn’t see me blush in the dim light of the night as he escorted me to my little corner in the barn. I sat on my bed and, throw a dirty window, watched the assassin walk back toward the stone castle. What was going on with my life now? First Jabir, then Jaul, now Altair. I pondered first about Jabir, the complete wild card of the situation. What concerned me was that he seemed like a passionate person who would commit suicide because it would be considered a romantic death. When I had seen Jabir the other day, he was obviously pretty depressed that I wouldn’t go back with him.

There was also Jaul. I felt like such a jerk, the way I had run away like that. It wasn’t his fault, or anyone else I had happened to run over, that he was my assigned mentor. Perhaps it was another of the Master’s test. He was testing my emotional restraint that was it! I had to prove that I could handle any order given to me, despite how I felt.

Altair, however, was something I couldn’t figure out. He was someone that had been guided me when I got blasted into this world. He was the reason I was alive right now and the reason I had been accepted as a novice. The way I could pay him back was by following orders, like he had told me to.

“The food wasn’t that bad, was it?” Someone asked, sitting down next to me. I looked over to lock eyes with a concerned cook.

“The food was excellent, Cala. It’s just that-” I was interrupted by an angry rumble coming from my stomach. She chuckled.

“Come on, we’ll talk in the kitchen.”

I literally inhaled the food placed in front me. Cala kept bringing me more while she cleaned off the counters and started scrubbing dishes. After I had my fill, I grabbed a plate and began working with her.

“So, what were you going to say?” She asked, looking up at me as I picked up a cup. I wasn’t really sure if she could keep a secret, but I needed to talk to someone.

“Well, I have a mentor now. The thing is, it’s not who I’d like it to be. I’m grateful for even being mentored, but I’m just a little upset, that’s all,” I said slowly, carefully choosing my words. Cala took the cup from my hands.

Lovingly, almost like a mother, she asked, “It’s more than that, isn’t it?”

My knees collapsed under me, and my hair slid in front of my face to hide the glassy droplets that slide down my face. Cala kneeled down next to me and pat my shoulder. Before I burst with anger and sadness and fear, I had to tell someone. Unfortunately, my words clashed together in a blur when I spoke.

“I really miss my parents, but I can never go back home. I think one of my close friends is going to do something terrible just because I’m training to be an assassin. I don’t want anything to happen to him! Jaul has done nothing to me and I’m being such a jerk. I should go apologize, but I don’t know what to say. I wonder how my mother is doing. She must miss me so much. What about my brother? I hope nothing’s happened to him!” I paused for another round of sobs and suddenly I said, “I think I’m in love.”

Cala lifted my face up and smiled. “As for this friend of yours, I’m sure he won’t do anything. If he’s mature, he’ll accept your decision and move on. As for Jaul, he’s a very nice and understanding person who will forgive you. Why, when he was a novice, he used to help me in the kitchen.

Your family probably does miss you, but you know they’re probably safe and sound in their home.” She helped me up and before starting to speak again, she locked eyes with me. “I can’t help much on the topic of love, but I can say that you should be sure it’s love and not lust.”

A small smile crept up on my face. “Thank you, Cala. I know exactly what to so now!” I quickly hugged her and walked as briskly as I could back to my bed. I assumed it was around midnight by now and back at the sheds, as many liked to call the novice quarters, people were pouring in after the festivities. Some men were drunk and everyone else was trying to keep out their way. Once in a while, an unfortunate soul would accidently stumble in front of a drunkard and find themselves carried off by the intoxicated man. I was relieved to be sitting on my bed in a bunk house where no one appeared drunk. No wait, as I looked around I saw several boys who were staring at me as if they wanted to…. My heart suddenly froze when I felt Jaul sit down next to me. I began to talk first, because I didn’t want to answer questions about my puffy eyes and messy hair.

“I’m sorry. For running off like that, I mean.” I tried to think of some nice comment to throw in, but my brain hurt from crying. My throbbing head raced to form a sentence, but Jaul interrupted my thought process.

“I know I just became known as a master assassin tonight, but I hope you can trust me to-”

I cut him off. “Oh, no, it’s not that I think you’re incapable as a teacher! It’s just that it was all rather sudden, that’s all.”

“Oh.” He smiled and said, “Well, we’re getting up before everyone else, so get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a first for both of us.”

I was actually kind of happy that Jaul was my teacher and not Altair. For one, we would both be a newbie, me at being an assassin and him at teaching. If I had been assigned to train under Altair, I would have felt uncomfortable and intimidated because he seemed to be a true master at the art of assassination.

I walked into a closet and slipped into some pajamas. Then, I took the filthy robes which I hadn’t washed since I’d received them, and miraculously scrubbed every spot of dirt out of them. It would feel so nice to slip in to clean clothes in the morning, just as slipping into my bed felt now. Okay, sure it wasn’t the best of all beds, but after a day of training it felt like sleeping on clouds and soon and I quickly drifted off into a dreamless sleep. However, it felt like mere minutes of heaven before Jaul shook me awake. I stretched and dragged myself out of bed to change.

My new mentor was standing in front of a black stallion’s stable, affectionately stroking the animal’s nose. He smiled warmly as I pat the black beauty.

“Get a good night’s sleep?” he asked with genuine friendliness.

“Yes, just not enough of it,” I admitted.

“Same here.” There was a slight sparkle in Jaul’s eye and a small smile that pulled at his cheek. He obviously didn’t like being looked upon as an emotionless stone. I thought I would rather enjoy learning from him.

He led me over to the fighting arena and unsheathed a short sword which he informed me he had just received yesterday. I slid my sword out as well and felt incredibly intimidated by Jaul’s confident stance while he effortlessly tossed his short sword from hand to hand. However, I refused to let him take any note of my nervousness. When he looked over to motion me into the ring, he saw a confident young adult who looked extremely eager to do battle. I got a sickly bubbling in my stomach when I looked across the ring and saw a master assassin.

He charged me, and for a split second I thought I’d be sliced in half. The loud scrape of metal made me realize that I had blocked his attack. He rushed at me again, aiming for my shoulder. I ducked under his sword so as to cause him to trip over me, which worked quite effectively. His short sword flew out of his hand and slide out of the ring. I ran over to him and to my surprise, he was laughing.

“I’ve never seen that one before. I must say, that was quite clever,” He said, standing up. “However, I still have one more sword.” He unsheathed the long sword hanging from his belt and took a step toward me. My reflexes kicked in and sent me in the exact direction Jaul had predicted I’d go in. The sharp edge pierced my arm, shooting a numbing pain into my head. The blinding pain quickly developed into some sick blinding thirst for revenge. I began ferociously slashing at Jaul, but he cleverly blocked every single swing.

Suddenly, out of peripheral vision I saw a familiar figure walking up the stairs to the fortress. It couldn’t be! I stopped fighting all together and I didn’t feel the gash made in my leg. I didn’t hear Jaul calling me from the ring, demanding why I had stopped fighting. All I could think about was Jabir.