Chapter Four
"It Takes Two to Tango"
Masyaf
Evangeline dreaded that feeling. The feeling of waking up and knowing. Knowing that the day was darkened and soured by a simple feeling that she had. Evangeline Harper hated those days and she had a deep and depressing feeling that, for as long as she was stuck in Masyaf, there would be plenty to go around. Sighing and shoving her hair out of her face, she could see the rays of sunlight coming in through the windows. Dalphine was still asleep in bed and Evangeline wasn't even going to dare to wake her. The woman had been up all night delivering a child to a screaming and possibly obnoxious young woman somewhere in a home across the village. Evangeline wished that she could sleep awhile longer as well, but in fear that it would become habit, she urged herself off of the comfortable bed and out of the mess of sheets.
Evangeline ran a brush through her hair and threw some new clothes on and then sprinted out the door and onto the rocks that sat before the fortress, waiting for Malik to exit and speak with her. The sun beat down against her back and she slouched after a while, feeling completely unladylike and a bit rebellious. She sighed and watched the people, a natural habit of hers. They all seemed the same. They all frowned at and ran from the same things, they all laughed at the same things, and they never stopped working. The people were constantly on the move. It wasn't just Masyaf, though. Damascus was fast paced as well and her father had told her of Jerusalem and Acre being even worse because of the war and Royal Guard occupation.
Evangeline thought about it some more until she realized another feeling that she hated. The feeling of eyes. Somewhere out in that crowd, there were eyes watching her, boring holes into her and it started to drive her insane after ten minutes. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but this was all too real. She frantically looked around her perch on the rock and noticed a man dressed in beige simply staring at her in her peripheral vision. It unnerved her as to who this man was and what he could possibly gain from staring at her. She had enough of it all. Altair was watching. The Royal Guards were watching. Yasir was watching. This street creep was watching. Evangeline opened her mouth to yell at the man, but as she turned, she realized that she was about to start scolding a combat training mannequin. The light brown, person-shaped, hay-stuffed dummy stood there on a wooden base and taunted the young woman. She sighed again. This was going to be a very long day.
After another ten minutes of waiting next to the stupid figure, she moved to the other side of the street and sat on those rocks to ease her mind's assumptions. By the time that she got comfortable, Malik and another, much younger, man started to walk down the dirt road. They seemed to have a purpose to their walking, Evangeline could tell. These men were not out for a stroll. Malik smiled at her and she smiled back, wondering if he had time to answer her questions. The young woman decided that it wasn't smart to stop him right then. Perhaps when he seemed to be less busy, she could relieve herself of the worries. Evangeline also figured that just because Malik was the only phantom that she trusted, didn't mean that he was the only one that could be trusted. All of these men had to know something.
"Good morning, Evangeline," he said as he slowed. "Kadar, wait. We must wait for Altair." The name made her stop. Why did Malik need to associate himself with the filth? Surely he was better acquainted in this village than with that man. Evangeline remembered her acting idea and kept her lips zipped, though. The younger man named Kadar turned to Evangeline and smiled, nodding his head once. "Evangeline, this is my brother, Kadar." Evangeline smiled and greeted him appropriately.
"Where are you going?" Evangeline questioned innocently, not realizing that such a simple question caused so much alarm within a phantom's mind. Malik and Kadar both pretended to hear something off in the distance that was of much more interest to them than her question, Malik toward the village and Kadar quickly looking into the rock, proving that he needed more practice at what he was doing. Evangeline narrowed her eyes, but said nothing, as the devil had started to walk down the hill. Evangeline wasn't even sure if she could consider that a walk. It was more of a strut like he was showing off who he was. She scoffed internally and watched as Malik and Kadar both nodded to Altair. The man ignored the gesture and stared at Evangeline, his eyes piercing into her soul.
And that's when Kadar began introducing them. Altair never took his eyes off of hers and she never dared to do so either, though her gaze was much warmer and… unaware. They continued this until Kadar's words pulled them back into reality. "Altair, this is Evangeline, the new arrival. Al Mualim allowed her to stay. Evangeline, this is Altair. He is... very respected in Masyaf." It was obvious by the look on Malik's face and the clenching of Altair's gloved fist that Kadar had almost slipped on something large and narrowly managed to save himself. Evangeline took note of the secrecy.
The young woman directed her attention from Kadar to Altair and forced herself to do something she thought she'd never do for this particular man. The urge to lay into the man and scream every obscene word she could think of strengthened. The former noblewoman smiled at him as genuinely as she could, though she feared that it still did appear forced and unenthusiastic. The man raised his chin a little bit and nodded curtly at the gesture. Altair laughed internally. The stoic assassin knew, no matter how convincing the smile, that Evangeline was far from over their multiple confrontations. That was okay with him. Altair knew how to act as well and he planned on doing so. It does take two to tango and, after all, he was curious as to how far the supposed Templar would go with her lies.
Malik looked up at the sky and started to judge the sun. "Altair, we should be heading off. Come, Kadar, we have much to set about doing." Malik and Kadar nodded to Evangeline and she sincerely returned the gesture. They began to walk down the dirt road, but Altair lingered a moment and stepped over to the rock where the woman sat. She tensed and leaned away, but he put up a hand in surrender. Evangeline narrowed her eyes to inquire what the phantom wished to say.
"Evangeline, I wish to apologize. Damascus was my fault and last night was a misunderstanding. I was given false information and acted too quickly. I want you to know how genuinely upset I am by my actions and I hope that you can forgive me." Evangeline was shocked. Could he possibly be apologizing? Could she possibly consider forgiving him? Evangeline had never been one for grudges, but his actions were much more severe than a simple slip-up. But he seemed sincere. He seemed incredibly sincere. She pondered on it and studied what she could of his face. It was no secret that he looked like a murderer. It was no lie that he looked like there wasn't a soft spot in his heart for anything. But Evangeline wasn't unkind. What she was, was inexperienced, naïve, uneducated, and stupid. Altair enjoyed taking advantage of that.
Altair smiled slightly when she wasn't looking, knowing that he had trapped her. Her act wanted to accept the apology, but the real side wanted to tell him exactly what was on her mind. Evangeline, however, was unaware of Altair's acting job as well. The noblewoman wanted to swallow her pride and act. She wanted to follow the script that she had written for herself, but what if she never had the chance to tell him how she felt? She huffed and turned back to look at the man. He raised an eyebrow, waiting to hear her scripted acceptance of his apology. Instead, he received something that he hadn't prepared himself for.
Maintaining eye contact with her, she sighed and broke off. "I don't believe that you know the pain you have caused me, Altair. You banished me from my home! You separated me from my family and caused my dearest friend to be imprisoned and possibly sold away! Altair, you ruined my life! I will choose this once and this once only, to take my anger down a notch, but that in no way means that I am not still uncontrollably angered by you! Yes, I stumbled into your den or whatever you call it here, but that does not mean that I can allow your words to mend the open wounds that you so carelessly and cruelly tore into my life as simply as you think they can!"
Evangeline began to tear up and, just as the single tear began to run down her cheek, she ran away from the man. His eyebrow went back down and his chin lowered. Perhaps it could be said that he did feel bad, but no one would ever truly know. Altair didn't even know. He felt odd- different- but he couldn't be sure that the odd feeling was remorse. Clearing his head of the emotion with no intention of returning to it, he moved on to catch up with Malik and Kadar, who did not question what had taken him so long. The mounted their horses and rode off to Solomon's Temple.
Meanwhile, Evangeline sat inbetween two houses. This girl was broken. She cried uncontrollably for everything again. Her stomach hurt with guilt and her head pounded with rage. Why did this have to happen? She would never have an answer to that. Only God knew. She leaned her forehead against the cold and shaded building and checked to make sure that no one was looking. Evangeline didn't want to be the center of attention. People in Masyaf were too curious, too eager to gather around and judge those who inadvertently made a spectacle of themselves. Evangeline did not feel the need to be pushed in the middle of a crowd and judged for being human. People walked by and, much to Evangeline's relief, they minded their own business.
Dalphine was one of them. She came out of the house and pulled the woman to her feet and into her home. Dalphine scolded her for praying in public. That set Evangeline off. "Dalphine, really! I have had enough of all of this! I am not allowed to breathe in the wrong direction because of that man! I am not allowed to return home! I have never been allowed to be angry!" Dalphine pursed her lips and sat Evangeline down, combing her fingers through the crying woman's hair until she fell asleep.
"Evangeline, just because nothing seems right does not mean that it is wrong. Just because life made some awful things happen does not mean that there will be no light at the end of the road. This is not over and because life works in strange ways, you will be surprised, my dear. You will be very surprised." Dalphine smiled and began to think of all of her surprises, Evangeline being one of them. Dalphine stood up and went to her own bed for the night.
Before the sun could officially rise, Evangeline woke and leaned against the backboard of her bed, feeling completely useless. Evangeline decided that she was going to work her way through this on her own. She was going to heal herself, beginning with the last ounce of forgiveness that she had. Altair had apologized and, for her own sake, she was going to as well. This anger that she held was eating her alive and she wouldn't last much longer. She needed to make it through to see her family and Azusa again. She needed to be at peace to do that. Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else, but instead you are the one that gets burned, Evangeline. You may have blown up at him, but you still have the means and the mind to fix it and maybe, just maybe, he can get you out of what he put you through.
Disclaimer: I only own Evangeline Harper, Dalphine Babineaux, and the plot that accompanies the original Assassin's Creed. YAY!
I hope you enjoyed Chapter Four! I'm really hoping that I'm doing alright. I have gotten some new favorites and follows (which I am THRILLED about! Thank you!). I hope that you guys enjoyed the intro to the story and, next chapter, Altair returns to haunt Evangeline! Now, here's where I need you guys! Can you please Review and let me know what you think of Evangeline! Is there anything that needs to be done to her to make her more realistic? Is she... a... *chokes*... Mary Sue? I took one of those tests for her and it said she was a total Sue and I'm like O.O... what do I do...? And the story as well! I need feedback! So please, please, please let me know what you think! I'm really scared now of what happens when the... romance starts... HEY! It's not a spoiler because the description says it all. Oh! And one last thing! How many of you are confused about who is going to replace Desmond in Black Flag? Is it true that they do some Animus Island "upload Desmond into a new body" thing? IDK! Until next time!
-Violyss