Ethan looked at the woman asleep on the floor of his tent; she had felt faint and simply lay down after making sure the baby was warmly wrapped up and fallen asleep. That had been nearly half an hour prior and the commander now deemed it safe to approach her without losing an eye. She was an odd mixture of hot and cold; her skin was raised with goose bumps, she shivered also but she was sweating with the force of her fever. If he didn't do something soon – she would die of something! How could his men be so incompetent? He had told them how important this woman was, how they needed her unharmed and on good terms! So what did they do? They attack her in the middle of the night, kill her husband, refuse her access to a two day old daughter and attempt to rape her…she didn't even have any shoes on! He felt as if he should give her a few days to recover from giving birth just to make the travel less life threatening to her but they had to move soon or the Assassin's would surely come looking. At the very least, Ethan knew he could help with the child, he had watched her with the baby and although she was extremely loving and affectionate – she had no idea what she was doing!

"My Lord, we have mapped out a route to Acre that will be well guarded by our own and would like you to inspect it." He sighed and followed his guard out of the tent; Nadira was too deep asleep to be a problem for him now. At least that is what she hoped he would think. The dark haired woman sat up slowly and looked around for anything that would be of use, there was a bedroll, a chair and a small table with ink and parchment but that was it. Getting up she grabbed the pen, dipped it into the black ink and began scribbling on a piece of the parchment;

Acre, taking route well guarded by own men.

She huffed at the shortness of it, that would not do and she only had one option. Biting down on her left thumb hard enough to draw blood and make her eyes water, she tried to force her power to give her a vision of her own future. Pain was the best way to bring on a vision but without a specific focus she would end up knowing the weather forecast for the next month! Gasping at the sharp pain in her temples she grumbled in irritation before biting her index finger viciously and causing her vision to cloud;

River will flood tomorrow evening and block all paths. Black ship with gold decorations – birds.

Nadira put the pen back as she had found it and practically crawled back to Zayba, there was a rug beneath the basket and she hid the note beneath it. But how would it be found? "What should I do, Zayba?" she asked her quietly as she thought it over…what had Malik said about messages? Her eyes flashed in triumph and she began rubbing her bloody thumb and finger over the thick material of the tent.

00

Altaïr slowed his horse when the camp came into view. How dare they – how dare they have the audacity to stop so close to the city as if no crime had been committed! He told his horse to stay and made his way stealthily to the camp; he used the tall cliff face to shadow him and made sure to stay out of sight of the watch tower further from the tents. He scowled angrily as he realised it was mostly abandoned, had they even brought Nadira here? There were two guards on the tower, another guard warming his hands by the fire and he could hear someone else in one of the larger tents. The Assassin slipped a throwing knife from his belt and aimed it at the man by the fire; he was dead within moments and sat as if nothing had occurred. Satisfied he was still unknown he entered the tent, drawing his dagger as he did so he could block the sword that clashed with his. The man inside reeled back in shock, how had this man known he would strike out?

"You were expecting me – where is the woman and child?"

"I do not know what you are talking about, demon." He swung at the Assassin again and found it deflected expertly, metal screeched against metal and after destroying the table with a clumsy fall from the guard Altaïr pinned him down.

"Where are they?" he hissed in the man's ear. There was nothing but angry growling coming from the man. Taking this chance to let his hazel eyes sweep the tent, he saw blood on the material and not far away a small soft doll that he had given to the infant. He lingered too long on the toy and grunted as he found himself thrown to the ground and his own dagger presented to his throat.

The guard grinned at him, "Where are they?" he asked still smiling, "The baby – that damn bastard cried and cried, hurt my ears and irritated me! So we drowned it in that little pond outside." Altaïr stopped breathing for a second. Zayba was dead? She was barely even given a chance to live at all! The man noticed the change in the Assassin and continued merrily, "And that bitch. She was so bossy; she thought she could give us orders and not have to face the consequences! We were going to let her off but then she kicked my twin in the crotch – could not have that…had to teach her a lesson if you know what I mean." He relaxed a little as he thought about his little story; there was nothing better than really destroying an enemy before killing them. "You know, at first we thought it would be a waste of time – I mean with her having a baby and everything but it was worth it! She did not hug our cocks as tight as we would have liked but she was noisy…a little tender I suppos – Whoa!"

Hearing just about enough, Altaïr reared up, the dagger drawing blood from his neck not deterring him as he grabbed the man's face and slammed it onto the ground, "Where has she been taken?"

"Like I would tell a filthy little Arab like you!" a few more impacts with the ground had the man yelling in agony as his nose was broken – then his cheek bone – he heard the sick crush of skull next – a ringing in his ear as more of his face was smashed. The Templer screamed for him to stop, his voice slurred because of the damage and his body seemingly frozen by the brief torture, "Go…g-go…" Altaïr leaned in closer so he could hear, "Go…to hell!" a little flick of his wrist and the Assassin's hidden blade pierced the man's throat. He left the body on the ground after cleaning his blade on the man's clothing – he had to resist the urge to spit on the corpse. Altaïr made his way over to the soft doll and picked it up with a slight tremble running through his hand. He tucked it gently into one of his pouches and examined the mark on the tent, he recognised it as a distress sign that the Brotherhood used. He ripped the rug aside and picked up the note, nearly tearing it as he opened it, the writing was terrible and he could not understand the language she had written it in – she must have been in pain if she had reverted to writing in her mother tongue. Malik would be able to read it.

After quickly dispatching the tower guards who had come to investigate the previous screaming he ran to the pond by the camp, it was shallow but murky and he could not see to the bottom. Altaïr stepped in and began frantically searching with his hands for a little body he prayed he would not find. He prayed that his instincts that the man had been lying were right – he found nothing. It had been a lie…at least about Zayba's fate. Nadira's had sounded too convincing but the man was a snake!

00

Malik watched as his men went about packing things up from the bureau; they had to find a new place because this one had been forever compromised. It angered and saddened the Dai; he had met Nadira here, his home was here, his baby had been born here and they had been taken here. A sound from the roof made everyone stiffen and ready themselves for a fight – they all wanted a piece of the Templer scum! Altaïr appeared and they relaxed, except for Malik who looked at him expectantly, "Did you find anything?"

"A mostly empty camp but they were there; here." He handed the not to Malik and the man practically snatched it from his hand, he hissed in pain as his injured hand clenched.

"Acre, she is being taken to Acre by the north west route guarded by the enemy. The river will be flooded tomorrow with no way past and the ship you are looking for is black and gold…may have birds adorning it." He saw how the writing was jagged and splotched, his mind ran through what state she must have been in for her usually faultless writing to be so…distraught. "Did you find out anything that may have happened? Do not give me that look, Altaïr! If you know something than say!"

Altaïr internally winced a how easily Malik read his expression, "There was a man at the camp, he said that they had drowned Zayba…but I found no trace of her in the pond and I am almost certain of his deception."

"Almost?" he snapped as he kicked the chess table over, "Almost? This is my child, she is barely days old and you do not know what has happened to her?"

"Malik, I found this," he gave the doll to the Dai before continuing, "No basket, no blankets or anything to say a baby was ever there. Why take these things if there is no baby to care for? If she was truly lost then these things would have been abandoned with the doll." Altaïr watched the older man hold the toy to him, he almost nuzzled it and for a moment he looked completely lost. A few of the others looked at him with a shared pain, as if they could imagine the heartache but not fully comprehend it – Altaïr felt it too. If one of his sons were ever lost to him…even the thought was painful enough but to not know…

Malik didn't look away from the toy; his dark eyes were nearly black and so empty that the other Assassin felt a deep pang within himself at the sight, "What of Nadira? They will not kill her…but they can hurt her…and we both understand that people can live through horrible torture…did this man say anything of her?" at this Altaïr looked away, he did not know for sure if the news he had was true and so he would not plague his friend with it. "Altaïr?"

"I will find her…both of them and I will bring them back to you. I leave for Acre now, Brother."

00

They were in another camp now, another tent that looked like the last but was miles away from the last. "Messages in blood? That was a little macabre, do you not think? …wish I could have understood it." Nadira squealed and flinched violently when she heard the commander's voice. He had been quiet for such a long time that she had forgotten about him. The action sent a jolt of pain through her, her head throbbed painfully from the vision she had just experienced and she suddenly felt queasy. Ethan's eyes widened as he witnessed her skin pale and all the tell tale signs of someone who was about to be sick; quickly he searched for something to give her and barely had it to her before she was ill. "If you are going to be sick every time you get a surprise I will walk loudly…oh…damn it." He rubbed his face in his hands and looked up unhappily – she had just vomited in his helmet. It was too late now.

"Sorry, I just…I am sorry." Nadira tried to take a few deep breaths but ended up just emptying what remained in her stomach. She was more embarrassed than when he had been present whilst she was breastfeeding – was she going to have any dignity left to her?

Ethan blinked in surprise when she apologised, "Try taking deep breaths." He stalked over to the little table and emptied his water canteen onto a scrap of cloth he had planned to use to clean his armour. He felt her jump when he placed the wet cloth on the back of her neck, her side ways glare had no effect on him and he refused to move away – she was his responsibility and he would look after her. "How did you suddenly worsen?" he asked mostly to himself before turning his head and yelling toward the flap of the tent, "Conrad!"

"My Lord?" the other man answered before even coming into view.

"The horses are ready, I assume. We will leave now and make a stop in that little village to see a doctor…I can not in good conscious take her straight to Acre in this condition." The man hesitated for a moment, "What is it?"

Conrad looked at the ill woman and sighed, she did look terrible, "The river is threatening to flood…if we make the stop in the village we will be blocked in."

"Then send a message to the ship in Acre, have it sail around to the port in Alep and we will meet it there."

Nadira heaved a moment longer but looked up with watery eyes, "B-but Alep is the completely opposite way!" her throat burned horribly and her stomach churned emptily as she had nothing more to bring up.

Ethan shrugged, "Do not worry, the trip is not much further and as I said; as long as you behave I will make sure no harm comes to you or the little one." Once again he turned to the other, "As soon as you have sent the message, bring some bread and something to soothe our guest's nerves – see if you can find some mint, which cools fevers does it not? Then prepare the horses."

000

P.S. Altaïr! You are going the wrong way!