The older man, a gentleman sat at his large oak desk. The number of books caught Kahliah's attention, everything from the history of assassins, those before her, those who died of age or in the line of duty were noted within its pages, her grandfather and great-grandfather merely two in a large book filled with them.

The old man with snow for hair smiled at her as he sipped his tea. He looked at Kahliah, his eyes catching hers as he smiled a little brighter. "You are a headstrong child, much like your father was but do you know the mistake most of us make? A mistake I myself have made too, I will admit"

"Falling in love" Kahliah replied bitterly.

"No, not that, I cannot call that a mistake but matters of the heart rarely are. Being overly confident, allowing revenge to motivate us and guide us, they are all things that are our mistakes. They are mistakes myself and others like me share equally. My fault, almost my undoing was revenge; I implore you not to go down that path, Kahliah because you may find it is harder to get off once you are on it"

"Are you doubting my skill?" she asked rudely, her voice trembling with fury.

"No, I am however doubting that which you are doing. Killing your way up the ladder will not stop you from hurting, killing him will not stop it either but all I ask is that you listen to me, you do not have to follow my advice but I hope you will. Go see Antoine, he will set you up with a target and a partner, that is the only thing I shall insist you have with you, to accompany you"

"Why?" she snapped.

"Because I want to know that you are ok to send out there. I did not send your father out alone until he was eighteen, I will be doing the same with you. If you do not like it, lump it and deal with it. I shall tell Alice she is to join you"

Reluctantly Kahliah did as she was ordered. She took a small handkerchief, a couple of pistols and her large, heavy long sword. Alice preferred two blades and a pistol but that was her own choice, they would both look after and look out for each other, using their training and the environment to their advantage.

Their target, a Lucas Darrington, a ruthless man who used his wealth to corrupt others, he had his fingers in several different pies, each one with ties to the government in one form or another. No one could arrest him, no arrest warrants were issued for him despite his taste for breaking bones and making any opponents disappear. If his opponents were lucky, they would be found several days later, floating in the rivers and usually placed to warn others away. His mansion was close, very close and unfortunately uncomfortable close but they were given a job to do. They walked to Antoine's home, a small building that was quaint, small and pretty, a cream colour on the walls and a hint of rose from his wife's perfume.

They were given the target and his basic information, told to be careful and not to get caught. The window to his room was usually left open, being a large man; she guessed he found it easy to get cold at night. They knew how to get into the house, they knew what they had to do but usually the contracts were not as easy as things first actually appeared to be. He was probably a monster, probably something sickening to the core but probably normal looking on the outside and that was the frightening thing. They climbed up their building silently, their black hoods covering their faces. They forced themselves into the house, forcing themselves into the man's house. He had to die, he just had to die but Kahliah couldn't help but fear frightened. It was to be her first kill, the first time she had taken a life. Even though she had trained for many years, she hadn't taken the next step to becoming an assassin, taking a life. According to the rules, you could only be given the tattoo of an assassin and only be called an assassin when you have taken a life.

She looked at the large man, a hideous man who took up most of the double bed he was sleeping in, dribbling in. He was hideous with hideously pale skin, mattered black hair and he stunk of alcohol. He was horrible; he looked like an ancient man, that sickening man who deserved to die. Kahliah did not care about him, not at all. He looked just like a fat, horrible old man, sickening inside and outside. She turned him over, letting Alice hold him down as she plunged her knife in his throat. The spray of blood narrowly missed them, hitting the wall as he finally died. Kahliah covered the handkerchief in his blood before she turned around and walked towards the window. Alice slowly followed her, probably wondering what was wrong with her but she kept her mouth shut until they go outside.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked nastily.

"Have you seen him? He was a sickening man! Who knows how many lives I have saved by getting rid of him, how many women I have helped by getting rid of him. He lived in sin and therefore had to die"

"Good, as long as you are not killing out of anger for someone else but at least you have completed your first kill, now you can take other contracts but that is up to you"

She walked into the inn before walking upstairs, into the room that said 'Staff Only' with a smile on her face, the bloody handkerchief crumpled in her hand. Alice had promised to meet her a few minutes later; she was going to get Jack to be a witness. Part of the invitation was you needed to have one, a witness who welcomed you into the world, the Brotherhood itself. It was a little strange but she accepted it, she stood there while Jack agreed to all the above stated, rules about protecting me as I progressed through the ranks and no longer needed him.

She felt close to him, even as the small black rose was tattooed into her skin, black and red and beautifully done. She was finally part of it; she finally understood her father's own tattoo. The rose was the symbol, the symbol of their Brotherhood, the marks on his blade, neatly done were how many people's blood it had tasted over the years. Kahliah bowed as she received her own, once it meant being married to the job, today however it meant something much different, she was part of the job but not married to it, she was free to have children of her own and train them to be assassins if she wanted. Was this why her father refused? Was it to stop her from falling into the ranks, from seeking revenge?

"May your blade taste the blood of those fallen so far from our path, they need to die" the Grand Assassin stated as she put it on, a small glove with hidden compartments designed for one purpose, to kill. She had taken the first step down the path to being an assassin but at the same time it was the path to something a lot crueller, the path to revenge, one much worse than she had already been on. It was as if the world had not just cracked open, it had broken open and she could now see through all of it; see for miles as the paths laid out for her to see.

She was an angry mind, a monstrous mind with a thirst for the blood of her enemies, the revenge that was making her sick to her stomach. She was evil inside, a broken mind and yet she felt fine, just angry. The Shadows had played with her emotions, played with her mind. They made her fall in love, making her feel sick inside but before that, they killed her mother, stabbed her mercilessly. He was a sick man and so was she now, she hated him, she loved him but she hated him.

She smiled a little as she looked at the blade, a small 'K' engraved into it. The blade itself was silver but the K and a small rose, like her tattoo was in gold. Was this her final gift? Her final welcome into the world she had longed to enter into. She could feel her heart beating rapidly as she smiled at her father. He seemed proud of her, even more so when he handed over a pistol, the same engraving on it, same flower that shone, calling for her.

"Welcome to The Brotherhood, my daughter" he whispered softly in her ear before he hugged her gently. She could feel how warm he was, perhaps how happy he was too to say those words. She was happy enough to receive them, happy enough to smile and feel glad about it. There was an idea that flashed through her mind, a person she wanted to use them on. William, he had to die, he had no choice but to perish by her hand if it came down to it, if she was given the contract, she would do it, kill him.

The hatred burnt within her, she cursed it cruelly yet it refused to give up the ghost, refused to stop fighting her happiness. She clung onto her father as they took a breath; she looked down and asked "how can you stop? How can you not hate them enough to kill every last one of them?"

"Do you want to hear the truth, Kahliah?"

She nodded once, subtly.

"I do hate them, it takes me all my strength not to kill them but I want to, I feel the need to in my bones but it is an emotion that only brews hate and that only brews a great, dark hatred and evil. It is like a sickness that never once truly goes away unless you try to forgive, understand and stop yourself from breaking"

"How, how do I do it? How do I fight what I feel right now?"

"By looking deep within yourself, by fighting the hatred until it dies down. Although it will never truly die, you always feel it, I do too"

"I am frightened" she confessed gently.

"Frightened of revenge, I suppose. You should be but there is one question I have, you do not have to answer it but think on it. Did you kill in revenge?"

"No" she replied truthfully.

"Then you have not started to wonder down that path, my daughter" Jack whispered as he hugged her gently. He could not protect her, shield her from everything but he could try, try doing as much as possible with as little they had.

"I want to be like you one day, a strong and capable assassin, I want to fly through the ranks in the time acceptable, I want to be good and I want to be strong and wise. One day I will be as you are now, I will raise children of my own and although I respect your decision, I cannot and will not hide this world from them"

"I cannot and will not stop you but I cannot apologise for my own choices, I had my reasons and you shall have your own reasons. I will not hate your choices, my daughter nor will I stand in your way"

"How will I know when the time is right or the person? How did you know?"

"When you love them above every worldly possession, when you see yourself with them forever and know that even death cannot and will not part you from the other, when you love any children you have with them, more than anything in the world. When all of that becomes apparent, when you feel all of the above, you know there is good in your heart made by true love but the path of true love is never an easy one"

"Neither is the path to revenge" Jack whispered as he hugged her.

"Do you have a contract tonight?" she asked softly.

"You know I cannot tell you that, I do not want you waiting for me"

"I want to join you" Kahliah complained.

Jack put his hand on her shoulder and whispered "you have done your duty, allow me to do mine" he picked up his large, heavy sword, sharpening it quickly as Kahliah turned away, she could hear him leave, hear him walk out the inn and take a horse. She wanted to follow him but refused to allow herself the chance to. She sighed and picked up her diary, writing the day's events in a code, just in case anyone found it. She was used to Jack leaving; calling him 'father' and listening to people call him 'James' in public. She did not want a special name; she liked her name and the idea of people fearing it.

One day people would fear her, one day people would know her name and know her only as one of the greatest assassins to have ever lived. She was going to be the one to get rid of her targets quickly and effectively with little to no spillage of their blood, not above and beyond what was necessary. The damage they caused warranted death, execution but she was going to be humane, as humane as they deserved. She wanted to rip out their hearts, sure but she was not going to, she could not do it. That would be cruel and inhumane, evil and cruel and cause untold issues in The Brotherhood if she did it but the temptation was there, the burning desire was definitely there inside her.

She sighed, lying on her bed as she fell asleep, dreaming of her happy place, a life that she had where her mother smiled at her, lovingly and took care of her happily. Once Kahliah was an ordinary girl, playing with toys, dolls and eating sweets, now she'd become an assassin, her tattoo and blade showing off her first kill, her hatred in her heart for the enemy themselves, the monsters she couldn't stand, ever. William had broken her heart but in due time he was going to pay for that, in due time he was going to feel that himself, feel his mind as it broke down and destroyed him for what he had done to Kahliah, to The Brotherhood. If she had to, she was going to kill him, wipe him from the face of the earth but if she did not have to, she would not and maybe even could not.