Italy
City, Florence
Luciana Romana skipped along the pebbled streets of Florence, Italy. Her mother had sent her to accomplish errands for her at the local market, and she had been heading home, basket filled with bread in hand.
Until she suddenly became side tracked.
The shouts and screams of civilians filled the air as the brunette passed the city square.
Must be a hanging... she thought to herself.
As usual, whenever ruckus would arise from the city square, it was usually from a public hanging.
Whenever something like this happens, Luciana ignores it as much as possible and minds her business. But this time, something told her to go.
As she walked between two buildings, she entered the square where a wooden stage stood. On the stage, were three people. Two men and one boy. They seemed to have been related, considering their similar features.
As the man in the middle with a noose around his neck began to yell at the fat, rich man known as Uberto Alberti, the crowd began to part. The brunette stood on the tips of her toes, seeing a white hood separate the crowd of dark-headed citizens.
Before the man with the rope around his neck could finish yelling, the guard pulled a lever and the floor beneath the three collapsed, and the men and the boy fell with it.
But they did not hit the floor.
The rope around each of their necks yanked them, and you can almost hear their necks snapping from the force of falling so hard,
Suddenly, the hooded figure Luciana had noticed before in the crowd, shouted.
"Father!" The stranger yelled as he shoved people side to side, making his way to the front of the crowd.
Luciana took a step back in fear of what was about to happen, but she felt drawn to the situation. It was as if she couldn't leave.
"Him! Grab the boy! He is one of them!" Shouted Uberto from his spot beside the hanging bodies.
The hooded figure made his way out of the crowd. He had been wearing an odd outfit that Luciana had seen before. But she couldn't remember where.
A baggy white shirt with multiple collars and belts, a hood which shadowed his face, along with matching trousers and brown leather boots. He had a white cape which covered his right arm completely, as if hiding something under it. And to finish off his strange ensemble, he wore a bright red belt that held a metallic symbol in the centre.
A symbol that seemed to have triggered something in the back of Luciana's mind.
As the brunette snapped out of her thoughts, a fight had broke out between the strange man and the guards. She scrambled to flea, but once she ran out of the square, she couldn't stop.
She felt as if someone was chasing her, which was impossible because, who would chase an innocent woman who had done nothing to disobey the law?
That wasn't why she was running.
She was running from humanity. Or at least attempting to.
What she just witnessed was Uberto Alberti, the Gonfaloniere of Florence, murder the family of that man.
This is exactly why Luciana refused to attend hangings. This is exactly why Luciana put the hood of her cape up and hummed to herself as an attempt to tune out the screams of terror. This is exactly why Luciana didn't like running errands for her mother.
mostri (monsters) the young woman thought to herself. They are all monstri!
Luciana tripped on a stone, causing her to tumble to the floor. Her hands let go of the bread basket, as she tried to shield herself as she fell. Her body hit the ground with a large thud. She groaned, rolling onto her back and sitting up.
The woman dusted her hands off, before reaching for her bread basket. As her hands wrapped around the wooden handle, the clapping of horse-hooves against the ground began to near her. Her green eyes slowly trailed up from under the brown hood she wore, and she saw a large carriage stopped beside her.
"Signora, are you alright?" A familiar voice spoke from within the wooden carriage. Lucianas eyes trailed from the horses, to the man who was being pulled by them.
Uberto Alberti.
Her chest began to burn, and she felt the intensity of a thousand flames. If her face wasn't already red from running, it was definitely red now. But not from running. From anger.
"You cannot talk, I see." The man spoke with a slight chuckle. A chuckle that made Luciana want to send her fists flying his way. But unless she wanted to
join the strangers family on the stage, she must be quiet.
"Here, signorina." The man reached into a red velvet pouch, and pulled out a gold coin. He flicked the coin with his thumb towards her, and it landed on the cobblestone by her feet.
She didn't want to take it. She disliked taking money from people. But that was not the reason why.
She did not want to accept any charity from the murderous man.
But she did anyway.
The coin he had thrown would surely feed her and her mother for a very long time. So she grabbed it, and shoved it in her basket.
A light smile grew across the man's thick face as she stood up and dusted off her blue skirt. She fixed her cloak, before spitting at the direction of the man.
The saliva landed near the wheel of his carriage, and it left the man in disbelief.
'A woman mustn't spit!' Luciana's mother told her once before. But Luciana did not care for the stereotypes society has bestowed upon women. She did as she pleased. Even if with the snap of his fingers, he can sentence her to death.
Luciana turned on her heel, before quickly walking away from the man and his carriage. She wanted to run, but she knew that if she ran, it would seem suspicious. So she walked, her basket held tightly to her body.
She reached the small, stone structure she called a home. Luciana and her mother were not rich, but they were not poor either. They sustained a good life style by her mothers job as a house maid.
Luciana Romana's mother, Catarina Romana, often spent her days cleaning the houses of people who paid her. Catarina is a well trained blacksmith, and was taught everything about welding by her father, Luciana's grandfather. But a woman cannot get a job as a blacksmith. Even if she did, she would be mocked by the women of the town.
So, Catarina did what she did best besides working with metal.
Clean.
"Madre!" Called Luciana from the doorway as she stepped into their small, but comfortable home.
When the only thing that responded was silence, Luciana grew worried.
Her mother was always home after her day's work, and the only time she steps out is to go to the market. Which was impossible today considering Luciana was the one who completed that errand.
The brunette set the basket down on the kitchen table, before lowering her hood and exiting the kitchen. She made her way towards her mother's bedroom, the floor creaking as usual.
"Madre?" Luciana spoke as she slowly pushed the door open.
She was shocked to see what her eyes bestowed upon.
Catarina Romana, slumped over on her small wooden desk, dead.
Monstri...
Luciana's eyes teared up, and within seconds she was sobbing by her mother's side.
"Mama..." she muttered between gasps and sobs.
She never regularly called her mother 'Mama'. Only when she was a child. But it just seemed to slip.
She approached Catarina's limp body, and saw that she had a paper in one hand with a pen in the other.
Luciana's pale, fragile hand trembled as she reached for the paper.
She began to read.
Dear my little fiore (flower),
If you are reading this, I am sorry you had to see such a tragedy with your innocent eyes. Losing your mother is nothing a little ragazza (girl) should have to bare, but you must. It was bound to happen someday.
I know what you must be thinking. No I did not kill myself. And no, I do not know the exact man who killed me. But one day you will. He will surely find you. But I know who sent him. The Templars. Remember that name, my fiore, for it will haunt you one day. I tried my best to keep you from this life, but now that I am gone, it is up to you now. The Assassins Brotherhood will take you in. Tell them you're my daughter.
In bocca al lupo (good luck)
I love
The letter ended there.
Tears fell from the once gleaming eyes of the young woman, who glanced up at her mother from the letter she was reading.
"Monstri!" She shouted to herself in her mothers room. "I will avenge my mother. I will find the man who did this."
She paused, crumpling up the paper and throwing it with an angry force.
One day.