Sugared Words and Split Lips

by Prussian_Queen

Summary:

Estella Torres-Aderos was twelve years old when she watched her assassin father murder her mother. Raised by her grandfather, Laureano Torres, she grew up hating the assassins, using what training she had to aid her grandfather in furthering the templar cause. That was until Ah Tabai ordered James Kid to return her to the assassins alive, though by any means necessary.

Notes:

It’s been a while since I wrote fanfictions like this, and I’ve never posted them on Ao3. Honestly, I fell in love with James/Mary when I first saw them in-game and there aren’t enough fanfics of them.

Chapter 1: Prologue

It had been sundown as a young girl, only 12 years of age, raced along the rooftops. Petticoats and skirts had been left at home, in favor of breeches and men's clothes. While improper and unladylike, the girl had no care for that, her only concern reaching home before her father.
With a small thud, she jumped down, first to a platform, then to the ground. She entered a small apartment, feeling elated to see a man at the door. “Father! You’re-” The elation quickly turned to a sinking feeling in her stomach as she heard the shriek of metal on metal, the sound of her father's hidden blade returning to its shieth. It was as if her world was falling apart. At first, all she could focus on was the color red. The red dripping down her father’s blade. The red pooling on the floor at her feet. The red of the symbol on his cloak, the symbol of the creed that would be burned into her memory.
As her father stepped to the side, staring in shock and sadness at his child, her view became clear, and an anguished cry came from her lips. “Mama!” At her father’s feet lay her mother, an open wound still releasing blood, although the poor woman’s death had been near instant. The child rushed to her mother, trying to stop the bleeding, though it was too late. In the woman’s hand was a crumpled paper. The killer tried to take it, but as he did, soldiers entered the building, guided by an older man. The girl’s father attempted to resist, though she did not aid him. Very soon he was captured and arrested. No one came near the girl until the old man lowered himself. “Is this your mother, child?” His tone was soft so as not to cause her more distress, and the child nodded, not letting go of her mother’s hand.
The old man reached out to brush aside the mother’s hair. “This woman was my daughter, though I have not seen her since she ran away to marry that man.” His words were regretful. “That would make me your grandfather.” He offered his hand to the girl. “Would you let me take care of you from now on?”
The child hesitated, her thoughts flying, before taking the man… her grandfather’s hand. “May I ask your name Grandfather?” He smiled as she called him that, happy to have his family back. “Laureano de Torres child. And may I ask yours?” She nodded. “I am Estella Aderos Grandfather.”