I would like to make a formal apology to Haardoni Talal…sorry…I mistook you for Tamir…so you are now axed from the story line and replaced by Tamir, the slave trader from Jerusalem! And not the weapons merchant from Damascus… (Yeah…I mixed them up – whoops!)

000

Malik made to walk away, his chest ached terribly and he could not stand to see her reaction. "Wait! Do not go!" Tahlia straightened up and tried to push her queasiness to the back of her mind – that was the worst time for her body to rebel on her like that. "I am sorry…I have not been well all morning and I thought it had passed." She was more than a little mortified, it was hardly attractive losing the contents of her stomach in front of the man she cared for and she was just grateful she had not soiled herself. She wouldn't want to walk around with sick on her clothing or in her hair, Tahlia wiped her mouth on a handkerchief she kept with her and tried to figure out what to say. But really…what was there to say? 'So, your arm fell off…shame that.' Or, 'bet that makes patty cake difficult!' this wasn't something they could joke about, it wasn't like a sprained ankle or a slight fever and it certainly wasn't going to get better. "I do not know what to say…"

"There is nothing you can say." He said quietly, "Go home if you are unwell." Malik walked away, leaving her stood alone in the empty space and unable to say anything. Perhaps now she would give up on her romantic idea of him coming for her, despite how badly Tamir treated her, he had money, he let her roam the streets unhindered – though no one would dare harm her for fear of her husband. If she learnt her place, if she just smiled and nodded, she would be well looked after for life. All he could offer her was an isolated life in the bureau, he would never be able to give her the things she wanted and really – why would she want that?

Tahlia sighed as he vanished from her sight, was that it then? She walked slowly in the opposite direction and squealed in surprise when two men nearly walked into her. They were Tamir's personal guards, they wore the black uniforms with yellow stripes and they were surprised to see her as well, "We thought you were visiting your brother's grave. What are you doing leaving so soon?"

"Did Tamir send you to spy on me?" she asked the man who had spoken, they were not bad men, they had no intention of harming her but she knew that if Tamir ordered it they would turn on her. "I felt ill…so I was on my way back to the house."

"Good," the guard said, "Because Tamir commanded that you come home, he is worried about his 'investment' and is not happy that you are out in such a condition." He placed his hand on her shoulder and began leading her back.

00

"Are you alright, Master?" Malik looked up at the novice who had come to report on people vanishing from the streets, "You just look like someone died." He watched Adin mentally slap himself as he realised what he had said and how close to the truth he had been, "Forgive me…you just look sad. Has something happened?"

Malik sighed through his nose, this boy asked too many questions, he noticed too much and he asked questions too boldly. He did not want to talk about how he had lost the last thing he had had left, how she couldn't say anything to him or how she showed nothing – no reaction other than mild surprise. Was her being sick a reaction of the disgust she must have felt or was she really not feeling well? And if she was unwell then why had he left her alone? He should have made sure she was alright or followed her home…he should have found out what was wrong! Perhaps it was Tamir's abuse! Had he damaged her insides? Adin made a small noise and the Dai looked at him, "I went to Kadar's grave earlier…I am not entirely focussed right now."

"I understand…well I heard some really good gossip if you need a distraction."

"You are like a teenage girl."

"Then the monk who told me must be an old woman!" Adin huffed as he leant on the counter, "I was curious about Tamir's wife; apparently she was a belly dancer at a hookah bar, Tamir took one look at her and decided he was going to marry her, paid a king's ransom for her! but she was in love with someone else…" he failed to notice the older man stiffening as he continued with great enthusiasm, "so, behind Tamir's back she and her secret lover were having it away until something happened to him – the monks reckon he was just some godless jerk who took advantage of her. If that is the case then I think he is a fool…she is way too pretty to treat so cruelly."

Malik wanted to punch him square in the jaw, he didn't know anything! He did not leave her! He did not take advantage…they had only spent one night together and that was only because he thought he could take her away with him. "Is there a point to this, Adin? Or are you simply annoyed because someone lost a treasure like tah – " he bit his tongue and rephrased, "Tamir's wife?"

The boy stood up straighter, Malik's moods were so unpredictable lately, "well, what the shocking thing is. She is pregnant, the monk's sister is the one giving her advice." Malik froze, "I thought, 'well, she is married, what is the problem?'After the wedding, Tamir was called away for a month – hey did not consummate the marriage for a month! They have been married for three months and the monk's sister says she is further along than that! Imagine the scandal if Tamir found out, he would – "

"Kill her." Malik finished quietly. She was with child? And if it wasn't Tamir's then it was…his. He had to see her; he had to ask her if what his feather headed novice was saying was true. So this morning at the mosque she was suffering from morning sickness, her desperation to get away and everything else in between made sense now. Now what? If he left her in that house then no doubt she would lose the child because of the violence she suffered.

"I suppose that is why he stopped himself from kicking her that time in the street…he did not want to risk the unborn…still, who hits their wife like that!" his green eyes looked over the man again, "Are you sure you are alright? You look pale, master…and you are sweating." His hand was swatted away as he reached for Malik's clammy skin.

The Dai was in pain, he wasn't going to admit it though and definitely not to this boy. He had gone into anther of his rages after returning from the grave, he battered the wall with his fist, kicked things over and then threw himself against the wall; the impact of his still healing flesh against the wall caused the limb to burn like fire since. He needed to see Tahlia, if he drank the medicine to dull the pain he would fall asleep and he wanted to see her! "Adin…tonight, I want you to watch the bureau for me."

Adin smiled, "Of course, Master! I would be glad to watch while you rest." The novice's bright eyes excitement dwindled slightly as Malik sent him a guilty look, "…you are going to vanish again? Like that other time?" when was the Assassin going to realise he was still wounded and needed rest? Where was he going anyway? "Master, please. Where are you going? I can not justify keeping watch of the bureau and lying about where you are again…I am just a novice – the others will be angry if I lie to them." If another informant came in and asked where Malik was what was he supposed to say? The informer in the poor district would report Malik's abandonment in a flash; he had always wanted to be Rafiq of Jerusalem and if he had to destroy Malik to do it, he would!

Giving the boy a level look, Malik considered his options. He liked Adin, he was a good kid, he was smart, responsible and he had kept quiet about Malik's lack of care for himself and his disappearances. "Tamir's wife, her name is Tahlia and I was supposed to steal her from that man and bring her to Masyaf." Adin's mouth dropped open, "I am that 'godless jerk'."

00

Night time seemed to take forever to fall; Tahlia had watched the day pass her by slowly as she had little to do in the locked room. Tamir had decided that because of how frail she had been she had to stay out of the way, she had to rest and she had to drink the foul stuff the healer brought her. Though she would drink buckets of it as long as the woman kept her secret, if that man were to find out that she was four months and not three… it wasn't worth thinking about. Tahlia heard a scraping noise and sat up from her bed, through the wooden lattice she could see a familiar figure, "Malik…you will fall!" she hissed urgently and went to the window, "What are you doing?"

"I am trying to get in, it is a little more difficult than I thought and I really do not want Tamir's men seeing me."

"…it opens from this side. Hold onto something." She waited from him to move before she slid the wooden panel across and let him climb in. Tahlia put it back in place and turned to look at the man who seemed different, "you do not look well." She reached to feel his head and he flinched away, "You are such a baby! Malik, your hand…" she noticed his knuckles were bruised and scabbed over, what had this stupid man been doing since this morning? She told him to sit down on the bed and for once he obeyed, if she had been able to speak above a whisper she would have yelled at him but instead she went to a large cupboard and pulled out salve and bandage. "Do I still have to look after you?"

Malik watched silently as she tended his hand, it was just like before. She had always been his nurse since they had met; she would fuss over him and tell him off for being so reckless. "Why are you locked in here? Why does he not keep you in his room?"

"I have not been well. I get no sleep when he is near me and he would rather I sleep in a locked room than not at all…I guess he got sick and tired of me fainting during the day, or being woken because I feel sick." She tucked in the tail of his bandage and smiled at her work before looking at his left arm. Letting her smile drop, Tahlia stood and sat beside him on the bed, "I have a nice lady who comes to check on my health…she was worried about Tamir hurting me. She told him it would be better if I slept alone and that…he should not become intimate with me for a while."

"because it may harm your baby?" it was an innocent enough question but it made her lips quiver and her hands fly up to dig the heels of her palms into her eyes as she tried not to weep in front of him. "Tahlia…were you ever going to tell me? I know I am unfit to be a father now or even a lover but you could have told me."

"Unfit?" she covered her mouth with one of her hands, praying that the guards in the hall had not heard her little outburst. Lowering her voice again she levelled a glare at Malik, "It is an arm, Malik! Not your head or your stupid squishy brain! So what, you have to learn new ways to do things and give up clapping…why is this," her hand rested on his left shoulder and she looked him in the eye, "making it impossible for us to be together? If you truly are not repulsed by me because of the things I am forced to do as a wife…then why should I not want you either?"

"…you are so insensitive. I can clap – I hit a novice and they clap for me." He wiped the wetness from her cheeks and rested their foreheads together, "I have nothing, Tahlia, I have to live like a hermit in the bureau, there is only money for the very basics and without my arm I will never be an active Assassin again – even if I train until I am fully capable again. I can not give you what you need, you would have to be trapped in the bureau because Tamir's men would always be looking for you, there would not be enough for you to eat with a child on the way, then there will not be enough for the child when he no longer wants milk and from what you have said, you need the care of a healer very much and I can not provide one."

"but Malik…if I have a girl, Tamir will sell her and if I have a boy, I will be no more than a wet nurse as he trains our child t become a monster." Either way she was going to lose her child. "What do I do? You are the smartest man I know; I trust you and I need your help so much now."

She stared at his dark eyes as they darted abut the room; he did this when he was thinking quickly and she waited eagerly for his response. She would do anything he asked – "Stay here, be as submissive to Tamir as you can so you will not get hit and have the child here." – Except that. He saw the rejection by the furrowed brows and the angry line of her mouth, "Take advantage of his money, of the care he is offering you and this will ensure a safe birth for you both. Then I will have a plan in place, I will get you out of here and you and our child will be safe."

"And where will you be?" she asked, she still did not like the idea and he made it all sound so simple, "can you not…I do not know – stab him or something."

"No, but believe me, I want him dead. He is too much of a powerful man for me to just to cut his throat…if there was something, if he were abusing his power then maybe I could petition to the Master that Tamir should be killed." Otherwise there wasn't anything to be done and they were stuck back at the beginning.

Tahlia bit her lip as she thought carefully, "Malik…Tamir…he has been making horrible orders. I can hear him, I have read some of the letters in his room, well, little pieces because you know I am terrible at reading, he is stealing people off the streets. He orders his men to pick up whores and then imprison them in a warehouse of the middle district. The drunks and the crazy, children who are orphaned r stray too far from their parents…babies. He steals pregnant women and then sells their children to rich couples." He listened carefully, linking what she told him to Adin's claim of people going missing, the letters from acre about people vanishing, children and mothers. Was it coincidence or was Tamir taking from one city and selling them in Jerusalem? "Is that helpful? Is this bad enough?"

"…I think it is."

000

So not in the mood for writing these days…sigh. Safety and peace is being written still…just very slowly.