Assassin's Creed (c) Ubisoft

Ethan looked up from the papers he was grading at the sound of a knock upon his door. Evie and Jacob were out playing and he wasn't expecting them back until later. "Wonder who it is?" he muttered to himself. "Better not be the damn council." He slipped a knife into his pocket and went to answer the door. He was rather surprised to see one of the mothers before him. Her hair pulled back into a tight bund, a brooch securing the lace at her throat, a dark colored dress and a severe look on her face. "Mrs. Pumpernickle," Ethan said surprised. "What… what do I owe the pleasure?" Ethan asked and gestured for the lady to come in.

She gave Ethan a snooty glare before sniffing and lifting her rat-like nose into the air and entering Ethan's house. Ethan closed the door as the woman turned and fixed him with a cold grey-eye stare. "Is your wife around?" she asked.

"Ah, no," Ethan said, glancing at his feet. "Cecily… my wife, she died… childbirth."

"Pity," Mrs. Pumpernickle said, glancing about the room.
"Why are you here Mrs. Pumpernickle?" Ethan asked, curiosity gnawing at him. "Did Jacob tear up your flowerbeds again?"

"No," Mrs. Pumpernickle said, "thank goodness for that. No, Mr. Frye I'm here to speak to you about your daughter, Evelyn."

"It's Evie," Ethan said. "Cecily and I didn't like the name Evelyn."

"Regardless, I'm here to talk to you about her upbringing," Mrs. Pumpernickle said. "Do you realize she goes gallivanting off with the local boys and her brother?"

"She and Jacob are twins, they are very close. Jacob looks out for her and she looks out for Jacob," Ethan said, not really seeing the problem with Evie playing with Jacob and his friends. The two looked out for each other and Evie made sure Jacob didn't get into too much trouble. Clearly, Mrs. Pumpernickle didn't like that answer. Ethan swallowed at the sight of her glower.

"She is… what… ten?"

"Twelve actually," Ethan said. It's been six years since I left India… six years since I returned home… Ethan thought surprised how fast time flew by.

"All the more reason! She shouldn't be running around like… like… like a little hellion! She's a young lady! Do you have no sense of paternal duty? Do you not care about your daughter's reputation? About her virtue?" Mrs. Pumpernickle seethed. "How can you be so irresponsible as to let her go running around in the streets with her brother and his friends!"

"I uh… just never… thought it was a problem," Ethan mumbled, fiddling with his hands. Evie always came back safe and sound, maybe with a few cuts and a couple of bruisers, but so did Jacob. His children were happy and they were learning valuable skills that they'll eventually need when they were brought into the Brotherhood.

"Of course you don't!" Mrs. Pumpernickle shrieked. "You are a man and have no idea of the methods and manners needed to properly raise a young woman!"

"So what do you want me to do?" Ethan asked, getting frustrated with the woman. "Hire a governess to teach Evie how to be a proper young lady?"

At that Mrs. Pumpernickle smiled. "I'm glad you asked, Mr. Frye. I'd be more than happy to take your daughter under my wing. I'm sure my own daughters, Abagail and Elisabeth will be more than happy to get to know your daughter."

"Oh, well… that would be most helpful but," Ethan said, "wouldn't it be better if I... I could ask her grandmother…"

"Mr. Frye, I don't mind doing this. I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart and my concern for your daughter," Mrs. Pumpernickle said. "Think of your daughter Mr. Frye, do you truly want her to be… scandalous?"

My daughter is going to be an Assassin, so scandals will the last of her worries when she's hunting Templars and searching for Pieces of Eden. "Of course not," Ethan muttered. "Ve—"

"Da!" Jacob shouted, bursting in through the door. He had a cut on his cheek and one above his right eye. "Da, you'd never believe what just happened! So," he spotted Mrs. Pumpernickle. "Hullo Mrs. Pumpernickle," Jacob muttered when he spotted the snooty woman. "Da, Evie an' I were playing with the lads out in the drag when Marty an' his mates come strollin' by an' they know Evie's a girl an' everything," Jacob licked his lips and glanced over his shoulder as Evie came in. "They are older too, Marty an' 'em. They got a bit too fresh with Evie, so I told them to leave her alone or else. They didn't like that an' tried again an' I punched Marty. We got into a scrap, a big one."

"He would've lost too," Evie said, taking up the story, "if I hadn't come in and showed them. What does it make it now Jacob?"

"Dunno, what you're talkin' about Evie," Jacob muttered.

"How many times have I saved your arse?"

Jacob flushed. "She showed them good, too, Da," Jacob said. "Don't think Marty an' his mates will be comin' around no more, neither, because of Evie."

"Aye," Evie chimed, "I showed them that just 'cause I got quim oppose to cock, doesn't mean I'm some bloody meater."

"Billy said Evie is a right bricky girl," Jacob said, beaming with pride that his friend thought that highly of his sister.

Ethan offered his children a queasy smile as they finished the story. While he was proud that Evie could hold her own in a fight, he was conscious that Mrs. Pumpernickle was standing beside him and heard the entire tale in all of its lurid detail.

"Outrageous! Simply outrageous!" Mrs. Pumpernickle thundered, shocking Evie and Jacob. "Mr. Frye… Ethan! You let your daughter run around in the streets, using such language and… and fist fighting! Good heavens! At this rate she'll end up being a merry little strumpet!" Mrs. Pumpernickle took a deep breath to regain her calm. "No, I will simply not allow your daughter to ruin herself any long in such a fashion. Starting tomorrow Mr. Frye, I'll come and collect Evie at ten o'clock sharp and give her proper lessons that any young woman would be eternally grateful for," she said and marched to the door. She yanked it open and said, "good day Mr. Frye," before slamming it shut behind her. Ethan winced at the sound and then looked at his children.

"Come along, children, might as well clean up your scraps," Ethan said and went into the back of the kitchen to get a rag and a bowl of water, the twins trailing after him like lost puppies.

Jacob and Evie sat down at the table and their father joined them. "C'mere Jacob," Ethan muttered, pulling his son closer and dabbling at the cuts on the boy's face with a wet rag.

"Why was Mrs. Pumpernickle here, Papa?" Evie asked. Ethan sighed tiredly.

"Yeah," Jacob chirped, only to mutter ow when Ethan pressed on the cut above his eye. "Why was she here?"

"She's concern for you Evie," Ethan said, rinsing the rag in the water, "she thinks I'm not being a responsible father."

"Is it because you go away so often?" Evie asked. Ethan chuckled, wishing that was only half of his problem.

"No," Ethan said, "it's because I let you play with Jacob and his friends."

The twins glanced at each other. "What's wrong with that?" they shouted, together. Ethan rubbed his forehead. Wishing, not for the first time, that Cecily was still alive. Maybe she could help him with this, show him how to be a good father to Evie. He looked at his daughter and couldn't help but feel pride in her. She was whip sharp and had an unquenchable curiosity. She was going to make a brilliant assassin one day.

"Evie's a girl," Ethan said, hoping that would explain it.

"So?" the twins asked.

"I don't see why I can't play with Jacob and the others," Evie said, "Marty is even afraid of me."

"An' Jimmy, too, Da. Can't forget good ol' Jimmy." Jacob said, "Evie beat him up once because he was bothering me."

"Bloody hell," Ethan grumbled, his head dropping into his hands. "Children," he said, "you must come to understand that English society doesn't see men and women as… equals."

Evie and Jacob looked at each other and then at their father. Sure, there weren't a lot of girls on the streets, and some of the boys even made fun of Evie at first, but once she showed them that she could hold her own and keep up with them, they quieted down. She'd punch the ones that kept at it. The boys accepted her, eventually and if she was absent from their fun, they'd ask Jacob where she was.

Gone was this fallacy that boys and girls were different. No longer was she Jacob's sister but instead she was just Evie. "But… Evie…" Jacob stammered.

"Well I think it's stupid," Evie said, crossing her arms over her chest. "They'll just have to accept that I like playing with Jacob and our friends and that I don't want to go to Mrs. Pumpernickle's for… for… princess lessons!"

"I'm sure Evie, that those boys are loyal and true as any friend, but the world doesn't see it like that. You are a girl and Jacob is a boy. The world sees you as two very different people and there are two very different sets of rules," Ethan said, "and besides, I'm sure Mrs. Pumpernickle's lessons won't be that bad. You may enjoy them."

"No I won't," Evie declared.

"You should learn these kills. They'll benefit you in the future," Ethan said.

"Assassins aren't ladies," Evie pointed out. "Assassins fight Templars and kill them. Ladies don't kill."

"I have a book on Aveline de Grandpré that you should read," Ethan said. "Regardless, you'll be going to Mrs. Pumpernickle's…. just for a few days, if you don't like it, Evie, I'll get word to your grandmother and she'll teach you instead? Fair?"

"No," Evie said. "I propose that if I have to learn to be a lady, so should Jacob."

Ethan swore colorfully and Jacob squeaked in panic. "I didn't agree to this!" Jacob yelped, terrified of the fact he may have to be forced into a dress. "I'm not wearing nor barmy dress!"

"You're not," Ethan said, his voice stern. "Evie, your brother can't learn to be a lady."

"Oh, right," Evie said, realizing that Jacob was a boy, "fine then. He'll learn to be a gentleman. A proper gentleman. It's only fair."

"I'm not wearing a suit!" Jacob interjected. Evie shot her brother a glare.

"Jacob," Ethan said. His son closed his mouth. "This isn't open anymore for discussion Evie, you'll be going to Mrs. Pumpernickle's."

"This is highly unfair!" Evie protested, "How can we call ourselves an advanced civilization when boys and girls aren't even treated equally!"

"Enough Evie!" Ethan snapped. "This is how the world works. You will be going to Mrs. Pumpernickle's and that's final."

"This is bloody awful!" Evie shouted, getting up from her seat.

"And you can't swear anymore, it's not proper or lady like!" Ethan said.

"Bloody hell! I hate you!" Evie shouted, before running off. Ethan heard her stomp up the stairs and he winced when she slammed the door.

"Can I still swear, Da?" Jacob asked.

"No," Ethan said. "If you're sister can't, neither can you."

"Bloody hell," Jacob grumbled.

Jacob stood outside their shared room, staring at the door. He knocked. "Uh… Evie," he called, "can… can I come in?" he asked.

"Go away Jacob!" Evie shouted, her voice choked with tears. Jacob bit his lip, shrugged and open the door anyway. Evie glared at him. "I said go away Jacob!" she threw a pillow at him but he caught it. He kicked the door close.

"This is my room too," Jacob said as he walked up to the bed. He set the pillow down and sat next to Evie. "I'm sorry you're upset," Jacob mumbled.

"You don't get it," Evie said, sitting up and wiping away her tears. "I'm a girl."

"So?" Jacob said. He still didn't understand why everyone was making a big fuss about Evie being a girl. She could climb trees and buildings, run just as fast as the boys, and she could beat them up too. She wasn't afraid of getting dirty or her hair messed up like the other girls he knew, and Evie didn't like playing with dolls like they did. It was almost like having a brother. "I don't see why they are making a fuss about it? Nobody ever says anything about you being a girl."

Evie gave him a look. Jacob flushed. He knew that look. It was the look Evie gave him when he said or did something stupid. "My being a girl has everything to do with it! Of course you don't hear the other boys say anything about me, cause you're my brother and you'll punch them if they do. So they keep their mouth shut." Evie said and pulled her knees to her chest. "But the other girls, they say things about me. Mean things and so do the boys. But boys I can deal with. You punch a boy and he knows not to mess with ya."

"Well then just punch them," Jacob said, "that'll shut 'em up."

Evie gave him that look again. "Girls don't punch other girls, Jacob."

"Why?" Jacob asked.

"Because we just… don't! Girls do things differently than boys!"

"Well that's stupid," Jacob scoffed, "I mean, we're both gonna be assassins when we're grown up, so I don't see why you have to learn any of this hogwash fancy stuff."

"You don't get it, Jacob. I have to learn it," Evie said, glancing at her window, "even if I don't want to. I have to pretend to be the proper lady that society wants me to be."

"Then why are you crying about it?" Jacob asked. "If ya have to do it, then why—"

"Because I don't want to, Jacob!" Evie snapped, glaring at her brother. "You can do whatever you want, be whatever you want to be! There is no box for you to go into developed by society! For me there is a box! I can't do anything outside of that box! I have to only be whatever is within that box and be happy with my lot!" Evie shook her head. "Of course you wouldn't understand it, because you are a boy."

Jacob stared at his sister, her words cutting him to the wick. He wanted to understand it, he wanted to help Evie. It was frustrating that he didn't know how to help her. Her getting mad at him for asking questions wasn't making his job any easier. "Well fine!" Jacob snapped, getting to his feet. "I don't want you joining me and my friends anymore, if you're gonna be like this! We don't want a weepy girl hanging out with us anymore!" Jacob shouted and left the room. Evie stared at the space where brother was, and felt abandoned.

She screamed, and threw a pillow at the door, before hugging the last one on her bed and crying. "Stupid Jacob," Evie sobbed, "stupid Jacob, stupid boys, stupid Mrs. Pumpernickle! Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

The following day, at ten o'clock sharp, Mrs. Pumpernickle came to collect Evie. Evie glared resentfully at her father and brother as the woman shuffled her out of the door, commenting on her to mind her skirts and the mud. She watched as Jacob mouthed sorry to her before Mrs. Pumpernickle closed the door.

They reached Mrs. Pumpernickle's house fifteen minutes later and Evie put on her best smile for Elisabeth and Abagail, but Evie knew. She knew from the look in the eyes of the Pumpernickle girls that she was different. She was too much like a boy in how she held herself and how she walked. She glanced over to the streets when she heard a shout, the local boys playing one of their many games. She longed to joined them, but Mrs. Pumpernickle shuffled her and the other two girls inside.

"Now then," Mrs. Pumpernickle said, addressing Evie, "let's begin shall we?"

Evie sighed, resigned to her fate.

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Nemo