OK! Before today, it had only been three days since I checked my email, only three because I only really get one two in that time span. I had 54 messages. I flipped out when I realized they were reviews and notifications from readers. This is great motivation on my part to continue writing. Thank you SO MUCH!
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Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC.
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Chapter 3
Adel was excited as they spotted the towers of Jerusalem in the distance in the early morning and wanted to finish the trip quickly. She urged her horse into a loping canter that Aasifa could keep up all day. A half hour passed and they crested the hill that led to the gates. Her eyes continued to follow the trail and spotted a few guards along the edge of the steep, windy hill. She was about to trot down when Altaïr grabbed her hands stopping her.
"We must remain undetected." He said indifferently.
"Oh, okay." Together, side-by-side they made their way slowly down the road slouched over their saddles. They came up to a pile of hay and tied their horses up. She reached over Aasifa's rump to undo her saddle bags when Altaïr stopped her once again.
"Leave it; someone will get them for us. Come." Adel walked after Altaïr who remained out of sight of the guards. She spotted a group of praying priests heading towards the gate and realized that was where Altaïr was headed. With ease in their white robes and hooded features, they blended in with them. The only thing that made her nervous was the fact she was decked out in weaponry, she'd have to ask Altaïr about that later how they remained undetected. As the group came towards the gate, the guards stepped out of their way, breaking the line down the middle. Her anxiety grew as she passed them, expecting them to stop her. Nothing happened and a breath whooshed out of her in relief. Once out of sight of the guards, she let herself out of the group, and headed to the left towards the assassin bureau.
She turned around to look for Altaïr and found him nowhere; she became incredibly grateful for memorizing the maps of the districts. Unconcerned she continued on her way. She made it several blocks when she found the alcove with a ladder that led up to the roof of the bureau. The roof was woven wood with the assassin symbol in the center. She lowered herself and landed silently on her feet, and walked to the entrance of the building.
Malik looked up and smiled, "Hello little Assassin, you are here on your first contract, yes."
"Yes, sir." She gazed around the cool dark room, with wall to wall of books. She breathed in heavily, enjoying the scent of rose incense.
"Who is your sponsor?"
"Altaïr." There was silence.
"My condolences, Little Assassin." She turned and looked at him, he was serious.
"For what?"
Malik looked her over, "Sa'eed always was impressed with your tolerance, brags about it non-stop. I didn't actually believe you were this good. Surely you must have had argued on the way here."
"We argued once as we were heading out of Masyaf, but that was it. I've been working to stay on his good side."
"I'll bet that was a chore and a half; what did you argue about?"
"How to keep horses alive." He was silent, expecting more, "He left in a huff. I'll bet Sa'eed said something because he was fine right before we were leaving."
"Was he trying to run his horse into the ground?" Adel said nothing and just smirked. Malik shook his head, "So, how can I help you out?"
"I'm looking for a woman named Adara, sound familiar?"
Malik snorted, "Yeah, check out the North-East region of the middle district. You'll learn quickly enough who she is. Keep yourself in check, she likes them young." Malik eyed him up and down and shook his head, "be gone Little Assassin, you have work to do."
She bowed and thanked him and turned to leave, when she remembered she had a question, "Why is it guards don't notice us when we're in groups of priests?"
"It is based on how perceptive the guard is. The lower ranking ones see white and call it good, not really expecting pacifists to hide a killer whether they realize it or not. The guards don't look at the priests for killers, is what I'm trying to say. But don't get too comfortable because the higher ranking guards will spot you. Any more questions?"
"Where is Altaïr?"
"I haven't seen him; he probably disappeared to watch you." Adel stiffened at this comment. Being watched wasn't good. Being watched by an assassin was worse, by Altaïr; that was deadly.
She bowed again, "Thank you."
"Don't let him push you around. Follow the tenets, and the creed and you will do just fine."
"Thank you" she said again and left the way she came, up onto the bright rooftop into the merciless sun. She gazed around hoping to find her sponsor but found nobody.
She traveled quickly over the flat roofs, hopping from one to another with practiced ease. The division was obvious between districts with walled off sections. She looked down at the gate she saw two guards. She back tracked a roof top and hopped down, startling a few citizens. She stood and ignored them and walked down the street as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Seeing a cluster of men head towards the direction of the gate, she sped up and joined their group at the back, not really attracting their attention, or the attention of the guards when going through the gate.
Once inside the gate she followed the group until she was out of sight of the guards on the inside. She took a deep breath to stabilize herself. Anxiety raced through her blood. Here she was in the middle of Jerusalem on her first contract by herself, well, mostly. She had trained since she was little, no more than a toddler, just a small child. She could do this; it's what she was trained for.
She set off down the street heading to the north taking in the scene of the merchants heralding their items and prices. The smell of food, dirt, and animals filled her nose, seeing guards patrol towards her she acted interested in the nearest vendor who happened to be selling jewelry.
"HELLO young man, how can I interest you? Are you searching something out for a young lady, or perhaps something for yourself?" The overweight merchant asked eagerly.
"Just looking," she said.
"Well here, we have a fine assortment of the finest gold around—" She watched the guards pass in the corner of her eye and she thanked the merchant and walked away, leaving him very disappointed. All of a sudden the hair rose on the back of her neck, she was being watched. Inconspicuously she glanced at the roofs and saw Altaïr. With purpose she made her way to the nearest ladder not wanting to attract any attention. She walked to where she had seen Altaïr and found he was not there any longer. A hand grabbed her arm and dragged her into a screened flower garden.
"What is your objective?" Demanded Altaïr, he seemed he was in a bad mood again. He was scowling, honey eyes piercing. It was best to behave.
"I'm to go to the north-east part of the middle district and learn as much as I can about a woman named Adara." Altaïr nodded.
"Fine, continue on, don't make a mess of things." He threatened. She was taken aback.
"Jeez, who put a scorpion in your shorts?" He snarled and she jumped out of the garden faster than a cheetah and was down off the roof before he could do something to her. She ran several blocks and looked up and behind her and to either side. No sign of Altaïr. "That was incredibly stupid, why did I say that, so much for playing it safe." She shook her head at herself and had that feeling she was being watched again. She ignored it and continued her journey.
Once in the place she was supposed to be, she hadn't the faintest idea where she should start. She gazed around and found a tower just a building down. She turned off the main road down an alley and climbed the wall. Quickly she decided the best place to start and ran at the wall and up, and caught a hold of a lip in the wall. Easily she scaled the wall to the top and walked out to the edge of the wooden perch. She let her mind go and opened her eyes, noticing nothing specific and everything specific. She saw the guards and their routes a woman being tormented by guards as well as a priest. She memorized the city below her. Her best bets for information were the two busiest parts of the district. From her stand point seemed to be a brothel and a covered shopping center. Satisfied she gathered her wits; she used to be terrified of heights but worked it out, and threw herself over the edge. She tucked herself together and flipped so she landed bottom first into a pile of hay. She hopped out and shook her robes out and headed towards the shopping center.
The shopping center too was guarded, and instead of hiding in plain sight, she came in over the top of them through the rafters. This way, she wouldn't have to deal with guards, customers and the dreaded merchants. She wandered around for several hours in the rafters hoping for some small tidbit but she got nothing. Resigned she made her way to a window and saw a small locked chest. She went over to it and sprung the lock in half a second with her lock picks and found a stash of gold. Her eyebrows shot up. She just found a thief's loot. Grinning, counted quickly and put all fifty gold pieces in her purse.
"One man's loss is another man's gain." She closed the chest and left with a smile on her face.
Having gone six hours without food, she was hungry. She purchased a bit of food off a vendor and crossed a small courtyard when she heard the name Adara off the lips of two arguing men. She detoured around the square fountain and sat on an unoccupied bench and pretended to be enjoying her meal as she listened to the two men argue.
"She wouldn't even look twice at you if it hadn't been for me, now, stop complaining and hand over my share. I gave you what you wanted.—" A solid figure sat down next to her.
"What are you doing?" Altaïr snarled quietly, "Now is not the time to be eating." Irritated that he had made her miss some of the conversation she ignored and continued to eat.
"Maybe if you stopped and listened you'd realize what I am really doing." She handed her bowl over to Altaïr. He gazed at its contents and was about to push it away when his stomach growled. He snatched it out of her hands and inhaled the spicy rice contents. Food in his mouth seemed like the best way to shut him up without losing a limb.
"Adara is expecting you, now go!" The man who had been speaking before pushed the other man who was scrawny and not very attractive, in fact he reminded her greatly of a rat with a pointed nose and pursing lips from a bad overbite, except his clothes were beautifully fine and colorful. He looked back at the bigger man who shoved him away but continued to walk away. Her gaze swung fully on the larger man. He seemed sinister to her, meaty from too much food but decked in simple trousers, shirt and over robe. She had a feeling he had more than enough money to buy better clothes than what he was wearing. His eyes were black, small and beady. He had a black walrus mustache over his lip and a wide face. In his hand was the soft leather purse of coins. He tossed it up and caught it several time as he watched the rat man walk away before putting it inside his robe.
"Should I go after rat man or chunky here?" she asked.
Altaïr choked on his food, she swatted his back, earning herself a glare, "Follow the noble, I'll follow this man."
Oh man, this chapter was kind of long. I hope this mission doesn't drag out too long.
Hope you enjoyed it. REVIEW!
Thank you!
Love, Animi 3
