Kahliah was first to enter the home, the large home that was more like a show home; they were invited there for dinner for some absurd reason. Fancy art covered the white walls, these beautiful white walls. They dined as a family, James's eyes fixed on his daughter as she danced with a handful of men.

"Stop, my love, let her have her night" Elizabeth whispered.

"My skills must be rusty" James joked.

"I thought you promised to give that up" Elizabeth snapped as she spun out, acting as if it were part of the dance. He pulled her back in, kissed her as he whispered "I meant being able to hide things from you"

"Now that you have never been good at" Elizabeth whispered as she kissed him softly.

"I love you" he whispered as they danced. He kept a close eye on Kahliah as she giggled, flirting with a couple of boys. It was their night as a family, Kahliah's night to really shine brightly like a diamond or the sun. James held his wife gently in his arms, still dancing with her as he watched Kahliah, her gentle innocence shone through as he realised he had made the right choice. Forcing her into the family business was wrong, it was cruel and sickening. If he had continued his work, he might not even have been alive to see her age, to see her flirting with boys her own age.

He left Elizabeth with her friends as he poured himself a drink, using it as an excuse to keep an eye on his daughter. An older man, roughly his age walked past him, pouring himself one as he glanced at James.

"Are you enjoying the party?" the man asked.

"You are as subtle as those men are with my daughter. What do you want, Robert?"

"Once one of us, always one of us, I see" Robert commented as he sipped his wine.

"Do not make me ask again" James warned, his eyes fixed on Robert.

"I wonder what your father would make of this, your daughter I mean. Just look at her, her innocence unbroken, she is perfect if she were not born into our order. You made her into the perfect little peacock, attracting attention but what about archery, seeing the target, sword fighting? Did none of that matter to you; did you forget who you are when you killed the leader? I doubt your father would be proud of his granddaughter, her being as weak as she is"

"My father is not alive to see her, neither is my grandfather and I have not forgotten how they died. How can I forget being delivered my father's head as a fifteen year old boy? How can I forget endless days and nights training and for what? So we can fight like good little soldiers and breed good little soldiers? No, no thank you. If Kahliah is different, good, I welcome it, if I am different then good, I welcome that too because both of those means I live past my father's age and my grandfather's age without me worrying if my wife and child are either going to be targets or have my head delivered to them on a plate!" James hissed, spilling his wine on Robert's shoes. Robert angrily walked on but there was a sudden chill as a man walked across the room, towards Kahliah. James was sure he recognised the man; sure he had seen his face before somewhere. Out of instinct, he grabbed a silver tray, throwing the glasses off and threw himself towards Kahliah. He felt a thud on the silver tray; people screamed as James stood up suddenly but for the man it was too late for those cruel eyes were back... Jack was back.

"So you wish to challenge me? Is there any part of you left worth challenging, old man?" the monster asked.

"A blind old man could strike you, since I am neither, I have a good chance. Leave this place and my daughter and you shall live" Jack snapped. He grabbed a small dagger, plunging it through the man's stomach.

The man coughed his own blood, laughing hysterically as whispered "you got to save one but what about the other? I wonder how Elizabeth is doing"

"Robert, take my daughter somewhere safe, blindfold her if you must but do it!" Jack ordered as he took the dead man's sword. He could hear Kahliah in the distance, fighting as she tried to get away. Robert followed Jack, a mistake on his behalf as Jack ran to find Elizabeth. She stood with her friends, smiling as he ran over. He hugged her gently and whispered "thank God you are alive; we need to get you out of here"

"Why, what is it? My love, what is wrong?" she asked in a hurry as he grabbed her arm. He tried to drag her away as he saw Kahliah out the corner of his eye. It was a moment of weakness, blindness that cost him dearly only it seemed the price was not his own life but instead the price was her life.

Elizabeth let out a gasp, blood poured down her dress as she struggled to stand, her hands shaking as she placed them over her wounds. He could hear Kahliah screaming as Robert pulled her out of the room. James grabbed Elizabeth, catching her as she fell towards the ground. He clung onto her, covering her hands and her wound.

"Stay with me, Elizabeth, you cannot leave me now!"

"I release you... from your promise, my love. Take care of Kahliah, like I know you will"

"Do not go, you can... you will be fine, the wound is not that deep" he whispered as he tried to pick her up.

"No, do not threat, my love. I do not feel the pain, my time is coming to an end and we both know that"

"You have to stay, stay with me!" James yelled.

She stroked his cheek as she whispered "I will always be with you, we shall always be together, just you and me and Kahliah. When your time comes, I shall welcome you into the gates of Heaven, until then... I must watch you live your life as God intended you to"

She drew her last breath, her blood covering the floor and his hands. He closed her eyes gently, kissing her forehead as he cried over her. "May God take you into the kingdom of Heaven and may we meet someday, together. If God exists, he will have you come for me when the time is right and us together when it is Kahliah's time. As for the promise you released me from, I swear to you, on pain of death, a promise I shall die if it means I keep it that I, James de Balon shall keep our child safe, from harm for as long as I think it necessary, until there is not a single breath left within my body!"

He left her there, his brothers or sisters would bury her with honour, she died with honour but he was worried for Kahliah, she had seen her mother... die like that, there was no getting over that, there was no changing what she had seen. He walked into his house, opening the passage that had for so long been locked. He put on his armour, pulling down his hood. James was the father; Jack was to be the avenger, the man who would avenge the woman both sides loved, the woman who commanded them both. If she wished, they would eat out of her hands, if she commanded it, they would beg her for forgiveness but she had both of their hearts, Jack's fighting spirit, James's love and passion.

He walked into the inn, his head down as he looked at Robert. Robert looked towards a narrow doorway. He had to talk to Kahliah, explain. She was probably blindfolded and frightened, she was so young... so very young.  He put his hand on Robert's shoulder, an apology of some sort. Robert bowed his head as if it had been accepted for once. He did not need to verbally say it; he did not want to have to. If he had to, he would probably snap, probably end up tearing someone's head off, literally if he had the chance.

A younger assassin looked up at him, her eyes calm as she opened the double doors, her hair hidden by her hood. He forced his way in; staring in disbelief at the man he once called his leader. "What happened, who killed Elizabeth?! I want answers!"

"Do not use that tone with the master!" the young assassin snapped, holding a blade to Jack's throat.

Jack forced it out her hand in seconds, holding it to her own; he saw his anger reflected in her eyes like a mirror as he held the blade against her throat. "Jack, back off, that is enough!" the man yelled out. Jack let her go, giving her back her knife before glaring but all this older man said was "I know you want answers, I can understand that but tonight's attack was out of the blue, a shock to us all. None of us, not one of us saw it coming or we would have warned you. It looks like The Shadows are back, out of hiding"

"I want to keep my child safe, nothing more or less. Have I made myself clear?" Jack snapped.

"How will you survive without us, without this order and our protection? Kahliah is as weak as a fragile flower, you are in mourning and I cannot see you being able to train a little girl"

"The vengeful acts that are along my path will only make me a better killer, a better monster. You could have protected Elizabeth, you could have looked after her and yet you did not, you refused to; you turned your back on me, on her and on my daughter. If it were not for our past connection and my mother being part of this place, I would be spilling your blood too. I may hate those who killed Elizabeth but I also hate the people who played their part in it. Her blood is on your hands too!"

The man curled his lip, his eyes dark and soulless as he said "then her blood is on your own hands too. You killed her by hiding from what you were; you killed her when you decided not to train your daughter. If your daughter had been trained, she would have anticipated the threat and made sure she could not be harmed but instead you have made her docile, fragile. She sits in the other room, crying over the dead. If she were an assassin, she would not be crying, she would be plotting her next move. You killed Elizabeth, your choices marked her for death, leaving her as an open target, it is your fault she is dead!"

"Yes I know I did, I did what she asked of me. If keeping her promise was what killed her then it is because it was meant to be. I loved her, I still love her and I shall fight for her legacy. Her daughter is our legacy, she is what she was meant to be, not an assassin, not a monster looking for her next kill but whatever she was meant to be. I wanted her to be a child, to play with dolls and wear dresses, not learn to fire a gun or hit the bullseye. If letting her be a child, teen and hopefully adult one day, meant she would live a happy life, free from the burdens and struggles of our own meant I would lose one, I think both I and Elizabeth made that choice, made it under the false belief that you, all of you would protect us, even if I was no longer part of you" Jack replied rudely, his eyes filled with hatred, loss and despair. Mourning for someone so precious, someone who had died in his arms as he held her so tightly, wishing and praying that she was going to be ok, hoping falsely.

He left, pulling his hood down. It was for them a symbol of honour but for Kahliah, another thing to make her scream and try and run for the hills. Seeing men all cloaked and hooded was enough to terrify even the bravest of the brave. Even if it was a bad idea, even if it went against their code of honour and secrecy, it did not matter for it had to be. He stepped into the room, barely making a sound as she sat crying in the corner, probably waiting for news. She lifted her head up and asked "where is my mother? Where is she?"

"Your mother... has gone" Jack replied, his voice breaking with emotion.

"What is this place? Where the hell am I?! Can I remove this damn blindfold now?!" she yelled as she struggled against the knot.

Jack pulled a knife from his belt, she flinched at the sound, struggling before he pulled the blindfold, giving him enough room to safely slide the knife and slice it off. She rubbed her eyes, the blindfold soaked from where she had been crying so much as she turned around. Jack dropped the knife and looked at her, the shock and horror in her eyes was what he expected to see, if not anticipating.

"Father?" she asked as she reached out to touch his face.

He grabbed her other hand gently, his smooth hands free of her mother's blood as he nodded.

She hugged him, clinging onto him as she whispered "why did you save me? Why did you not save her?! I could be dead and she alive right now; I could be gone like I was supposed to be!"

"Because I promised her that I would keep you safe. She told me that if it was a choice between you or her, you were the only one who deserved to be saved. I loved your mother and I still do, I love you and I always will and I will keep my promise, I will keep you safe, do you understand?"

"WHY DID YOU KEEP THIS FROM ME? WHY DID YOU LIE TO ME? I COULD HAVE SAVED HER IF I KNEW HOW! I COULD HAVE HELPED HER BUT YOUR DECISIONS HAVE STOPPED THAT! NOW I CAN NEVER SAVE HER, I CAN NEVER EVEN SEE HER AGAIN AND IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" she screamed as she hammered his chest before crying. She clung onto him, crying her eyes out as he merely hugged her. She was distraught, rightfully so and probably did not mean what she was saying, probably did not mean any of it.

She cried for what felt like forever as he hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "I shall always be here, my daughter, no matter what happens"

"I do not want to lose you! This fight has already taken mother from me; do I have to lose you too? Do I have to lose my father, just after my mother?" she asked with glinting eyes, her eyes like diamonds, glistening with tears.

"I am still your father, assassin or not, I am who I am, Kahliah, your father"

"Train me" she commanded.

"What?" he asked, not quite sure about what he heard.

"You heard me, I know you did. I want you to train me, even if I do not become an assassin, I want to survive, I need to learn how to survive and if that means you training me then so be it, you better bloody train me!"

"If it is what you want, Kahliah, I will have Robert train you. I feel uncomfortable training you, like I am breaking a promise" Jack replied as he hugged her gently.

Dressed as assassins, each one of the cloaked, they burnt Elizabeth's body out of respect and love for her. She was an innocent woman, a pawn in a game she had no part of. Kahliah was learning quickly, she could already hit a target five hundred yards away and still make a kill shot.