Assassin's Creed: Unity (novel)

Assassin's Creed: Unity is a novel written by Oliver Bowden released in the UK on 20 November 2014 and the US on 2 December 2014. The novel portrays Élise de la Serre's perspective of the events from the game of the same name.

Blurb

"I have been beaten, deceived and betrayed. They murdered my father- and I will have my revenge at whatever cost!"

―Élise de la Serre.

1789: The magnificent city of Paris sees the dawn of the French Revolution. The cobblestone streets run red with blood as the people rise against the oppressive aristocracy. But revolutionary justice comes at a high price...

At a time when the divide between the rich and poor is at its most extreme, and a nation is tearing itself apart, a young man and woman fight to avenge all they have lost. Soon Arno and Élise are drawn into the centuries-old battle between the Assassins and the Templars - a world with dangers more deadly than they could ever have imagined.

Plot summary

Extract from the Journal of Arno Dorian

12 September 1794

Arno recalled his memories of Élise as he read the secrets hidden in her journal.

Extracts from the Journal of Élise de la Serre

9 April 1778

Aware of her privileged childhood as a noble, a ten-year-old Élise introduced herself in her journal as a child of François and Julie de la Serre and how she noticed the difference of the lives of nobles and the poor. She realized that she was naive before: Élise never questioned her parents why her training and education of history was different from the etiquette lessons other noble children learned or that her mother was different from other women at court.

Élise revealed that Julie had been sick for a long time and that her mother was at the brink of death.

10 April 1778

Julie had survived the night as Élise sat by her, discerned how she and her father hid their grief from the de la Serre ward, Arno.

Élise remembered her times in the convent when she was five, how Julie threatened Mother Superior because of Élise's caning wounds, how Julie stayed away from other ladies and how Élise was forced to play with dolls with other girls against her preference for boys and their toy soldiers; memories in which she realized that her family was not an ordinary one.

She received a message from her combat mentor, Frederick Weatherall, in which he stated that he wanted to see Julie and meet Élise in the library at midnight, another secret the young girl had to keep.

11 April 1778

Élise helped Weatherall sneak to her mother's room, aware of their secret relationship, and later spied on him weeping beside her mother.

The young girl retold the first time she had met Weatherall in her journal, which also happened to be the first time she had seen her mother and Weatherall engage an enemy, an incident that added to her blooming curiosity.

12 April 1778

With her mother fading away, Élise worried much for her age and often asked the maidservant Ruth if her mother survived the night.

She spent her time recollecting her memories on her journal, such as the visit of the Templar Mr. Carroll with his wife and daughter, and the failed assassination attempt on her mother during their visit to Paris, which lead to the Parisian Rite of the Templar Order's suspicions. Due to the incident, however, Élise's parents were forced to tell her of the Assassin-Templar War and her destiny to become the Grand Master of the Parisian Rite.

13 April 1778

Élise wrote her feelings of grief and longing for her ill mother, and how she wished for everything to turn out fine again.

Extract from the Journal of Arno Dorian

12 September 1794

Arno described his relationship with Élise; their first meeting in the Palace of Versailles as children and his father's death, which prompted François to adopt Arno as the de la Serre ward.

Extracts from the Journal of Élise de la Serre

14 April 1778

François and Élise, worried for Julie's condition, shared their grief and pain; although Élise noticed her father's attention turning towards Arno as time passed by.

Revisiting her memories, Élise realized that Arno became her best friend. As she spent her mornings training in combat and grooming as the future Grand Master, her afternoons were spent playing with their ward who became an escape for her responsibilities. Her parents, however, noticed her growing friendship with the boy and revealed Arno's Assassin descent. François asked her to indoctrinate Arno and influence him to join the Order, which Élise and Julie resisted.

15 April 1778

The dying Julie instructed Élise to be strong and to serve as the strength and the third voice for François. She asked Élise to abide her own principles which were founded on compassion and that she would die happy and proud of her daughter. Élise and François stayed by her side as she died.

18 April 1778

With the loss of her mother, Élise often hid her grief to the other members of the house, including Arno, who she thought did not fully understand the situation for he did not know Julie personally. She felt a bit of envy for the boy who had started training by François' orders.

She met with a grieving Weatherall who gave her a short sword as a gift from Julie. Later that day, she was summoned by François, where she let out her feelings.

Extract from the Journal of Arno Dorian

12 September 1794

Guilty from what he had read from Élise's journal, Arno admitted that she was far more mature than him and carried a huge burden for her age.

Arno recalled Élise's education at the Maison Royale de Saint-Louis school at Saint-Cyr after Julie's death. She sent letters to Arno telling stories about her hated classmates, teachers, and headmistress Madame Levene and her punishments for insolence.

He read her journal full of scorn and contempt in which Élise failed to realize that she was mourning, not rebelling.