Key:
Ani khayav lakhzor... - I need to go back (male) Ma kara? - What happened?
Yeish mashu sheh-ani yakhol laasot? - is there anything i can do? (Male speaking) Ima - mamma
Likhi mimeni- get away from me/ get lost (male) Maspik- shut up (male/female)
Mashu muzar... - something's odd
Aikh ata margish? - How are you feeling? (Female to male- Hayom means 'today') Ma - what
Al tidahg, Al tidahg! - don't worry, don't worry! (Female to male) lo asiti shum davar! - I didn't do anything!
Hakol yihiye bihseder- everything will be OK
000
Fingers picked at the loose threads of the black Dai's robe, the material was torn in places and the once white motifs were dyed pink from diluted blood. Hazel eyes shut sadly as an unfamiliar sting plagued him behind his eyelids, this was Malik's robe, this was the robe with the silver pin in the left sleeve, the one that his dearest friend, the closest thing he had to a true brother, wore. "This was dredged up with the body…the description matches Master Malik's…I…I could not look myself," the novice beside Altaïr wiped at his eyes again, "To think that…it is not right!"
"…Malik is truly dead?" a hand rested on Altaïr's shoulder sympathetically and the Master Assassin made no move to push it off, he didn't think he could move at all, or speak or breathe – Malik had drowned. Malik's student was stood beside him, crying like a small child because the Dai was dead. He would not see Malik suddenly appear and call him a stupid novice, he wasn't going to beat him at chess or spar with him. It was surprising how much it hurt with the knowledge that the man he had been so desperately looking for was now a lifeless corpse on a table in a dirty little house with a doctor picking at him. That was it then. There was no more reason to linger in the dock side town. "Collect everyone together…we…" this didn't feel right, how could he return to Masyaf without the man?
The young man looked at the other with blurry eyes; did Altaïr want to cry too? "Master?"
"Adin…Tell the others we leave tomorrow morning." The novice nodded obediently and left the master's side to inform the others of Altaïr's decision. Altaïr stayed rooted to the spot, he stood at the end of a boardwalk staring out at the open sea, Malik's robe hugged tightly in his arms. He desperately wanted to yell at the water, he wanted to attack it for taking the man – for making him shed tears. "Ani khayav lakhzor…" he felt as if he were failing by leaving but Malik was gone – there was no more reason to linger.
00
"Altaïr!" Malik shot up and looked around the room almost desperately; it had been a dream. He pressed his hand to his ribs and hissed, he had to remember to take it easy, it was the middle of the night and the fireplace lit the room just barely. The movement of Shulamit sitting up tiredly caught his attention, her fists rubbing her eyes and a small yawn escaping her, "Go back to sleep." She grumbled at him in a jumble of words and stumbled the short distance to his side, "I told you to go to sleep!" Malik frowned at her and wondered why she never listened.
"Who is Altaïr?" She asked sleepily, her hand lifting to check his temperature and deciding it was not so bad. She had been looking after him for seven days now and this was the first time his fever had begun to dwindle. She couldn't see the man properly in the gloom but she had heard him call out as he woke up; did he have a bad dream? Or maybe he was reliving a memory? "Malik? Ma kara?"
He sighed at Shulamit's curiosity, "Altaïr…he is a pain in my side but someone I also care about a great deal, he is the Grand Master of the Brotherhood and I think he is a stupid novice. I dreamt he was leaving me behind…now go back to sleep."
"Are you alright?" she heard him huff in irritation as she would not drop it, this was the first time she'd heard him utter anything about someone he knew other than his student he often compared her to, "Do you miss your home?"
"You are not going to let this drop, are you?" He saw her shake her head in the dark, "Then yes. I miss Masyaf, I miss helping train Adin and throwing books at Altaïr when he annoys me…I miss being free to do as I please." Realising how that might sound, he quickly added, "I do not mean that I do not like it here; I just hate sitting around doing nothing!" She could understand that, lately Malik slept less, he moved around more and he was very easily bored. She found the village boring so she could guess how Malik felt. She had given him the few books she had in the house and he had read them within two days, he had fixed the door and even repaired her once broken water bucket – there was nothing vaguely interesting left for him to do. "The longer I am here the further away my brothers are, it is not an easy journey to make alone to Masyaf…especially for someone like me." She was grateful he could not see her in the dark, Shulamit felt sad and she knew she was awful at hiding her feelings – she knew Malik was getting better with everyday that passed and that as soon as he was able he would be gone. And then she would have to…no, she couldn't think about it.
Shulamit went back to her makeshift bed and sighed sleepily, "If your friend cherishes you as much as you do him, he will not give up on you, it will be a busy day tomorrow so I need to sleep."
Malik lay down and thought for a few seconds; why was she suddenly clamming up, "Yeish mashu sheh-ani yakhol laasot?" He truly was bored; he would scrub the floor if she asked at this point and be grateful. He was sick of being inside all day and he desperately needed distraction – he had never been this bored before…not even at the bureau.
"It is market day, everything I am doing tomorrow is women's work – if you get bored you could always…um…oh, just go to sleep and get better!"
00
Malik replaced the fake stone over Shulamit's hiding place; he pulled his grey top on over his head and tsked as the left arm sleeve dangled uselessly, he would have to find something to pin it up with, for now he was risking the wrath of the young woman he was staying with and hopefully she would be away all day in the town across the water; He was taking this chance to explore what was outside the tiny house. The village was very small, all the houses looked identical, most of them a little bigger than the one he had just stepped out of and they seemed to be scattered around randomly. The ground was dry and dusty, a few grassy areas littered around houses, around the large well and around some of the sparsely spread out trees – there were no flowers here...why did he always smell them then? Limping forward he let his eyes follow the ground as it sloped down towards a small beach where the sea lapped at some of the small boat. He had to admit the village was nice in its simplicity, it was pretty but incredibly dull in comparison to anywhere he had been before. "Are you allowed out?" Malik turned his head to stare at the ever more familiar Nina. "Because last I heard you were too sick to even realise when you have hit someone."
The Assassin bristled slightly, he wanted to snap something at her but she was right to be angry – at least someone was! "I am aware of what I did and I am sorry to have done it." She hmphed quietly but still stood staring at him thoughtfully, "Are you going to tell her that I escaped?"
"It depends on how useful you are!" Nina gave him a cheeky grin and continued her walk toward the well, he followed after her trying not to limp too badly, "it depends how well behaved you re as to whether I tell her or not! We actually made a bet on how long you would stay cooped up there, she said you were getting bored. Everyone is at the market today, except the elders, the mothers with really young babies and me – because I am looking after someone! You are the only man here right now." As she spoke she filled one of the buckets she was carrying with the water from the well and held it up toward him, her arms straining at the weight, "Do something useful." Malik took the bucket and watched her fill the other one, "You are much taller than I thought you would be and you do not look like some wayward traveller to me…you could do with a shave though."
He still had not managed to get hold of a razor; he was beginning to look like the Damascus Rafiq, "I have had more important things to do, where are we taking these?" She jerked her head in a direction and he followed dutifully, she talked a lot but he didn't find her useless babble unpleasant, even if she was a little coarse with him. Nina led him to a house at the end of the village and knocked on the door loudly.
"Ima Pelia lives here; she is very old and struggles to get her own water or do much of anything. Today we are going to do some chores for her." She pushed the wooden door open and stuck her head in, "Ima Pelia? It is Nina…I brought you a man!" Malik blinked at the girl, she was very brazen; he wasn't used to girls like Nina and Shulamit who were so outgoing, spoke like boys and yelled back at men. She tugged on his grey top and indicated for him to follow her in, "There you are, how do you feel today?" There was an old woman sat in a chair making the net that Malik often saw Shulamit making, only she did it faster and without trouble, her hair was nearly white and hung over the little old woman's shoulder in a plait. She looked up at them both with her dark green eyes and a bright smile lit up her wrinkly old face.
"Nina! How big you are! And is this Imran? He is very handsome, why complain so much! He looks so strong and mature!" She looked Malik up and down and muttered at him appreciatively, "I do not know why she complains about having you as a husband! If I were fifty years younger I would snap you up!" The Assassin chuckled at the old woman's praise, she was a little dotty but she just oozed with grandmotherly kindness. "Come her, Imran, let Ima Pelia look at you!"
He put the bucket of water on the stone floor and approached the woman, "I am sorry to disappoint, Giverti, I am not Imran…and I do not intend to marry Nina or anyone else for that matter." He knelt down in front of her as he could see her sight was not good and let the woman pat his head as if he were a child.
"Oh? Then who are you?"
"Malik al Sayf."
"A good name for an Assassin." Malik flinched back and looked stricken, who the hell was this old woman? He glanced back at Nina and saw she was too busy to listen; a quiet laugh brought his attention back to the old woman. "Do not be so surprised…it was a guess. I doubt a big fish ate your arm! And you boys can never abandon your little Assassin quirks. Come, sit here and tell me what old Mualim is up to." She even knew the old grand master by name…he sat on the stool she motioned to and related to her quietly about the new leader of the brotherhood, she did not seem surprised to hear that the old master had become a traitor and she asked a few more questions, ones that only someone who had lived in the Assassins' fortress would know. He was thoroughly confused; she asked if the library still looked like a battle field and had anyone fallen off the cliff at the end of the garden yet? She could see his growing confusion and decided to enlighten him, "I used to be a houri in the fortress garden, I married an informant and ended up way out here when he was assigned…he is gone, nearly eight years now…oh the fun we used to have! He used to take me horse riding, fishing and then when our son was born he would take us all…" the old woman trailed off, seemingly lost in her memories and he felt it best to leave her there. What a surprise to find someone way out here that knew of the Brotherhood – especially in the form of this old woman. Why would someone be sent way out here though?
Nina came over and stood by Malik's side, "Is she thinking of her husband?" Malik nodded and the young woman sighed, "Best let her linger with him…help me with the cleaning." They both got to work with sweeping out the house and tidying a few things up, Malik checked the lock on the old woman's door, it was damaged, it looked as if someone from outside had been trying to break in…did Shulamit's door have the same gouges in the wood? He couldn't quite remember but he would check later –maybe Shulamit had a very good reason to worry about thieves after all. He fixed the door and made sure it was still properly attached, at some point Pelia came out of her daze and called Malik back over.
"Did you know that Nina is not her name? No, it is not...when she was small she used to run around the village just before her bath time and – " Nina groaned from where she was collecting the old woman's washing, why did she have to tell everyone this story? "And she would run around naked in the village – her brothers and father chasing her to come back inside; it was so much fun to watch! Anyway, she would run around yelling, 'neena neena!' all you could hear was this child yelling 'neena!' why she yelled that is a mystery…but we all call her Nina in honour of the long ago spectacle." Malik snorted unrepentantly, it was such a random thing to be told but it was highly amusing – Nina's embarrassment just sweetened it.
"Ima Pelia! There was absolutely no point to that story! Why must you tell everyone that…I despair of you!" She lamented loudly in the corner and picked up the now empty buckets, "I will return later with your laundry…alone!" she asked the Assassin to carry the little bundle of clothes and follow her, a blush colouring her cheeks as the old woman laughed at the story still, Malik just smirked still, it explained why Shulamit always called the other insane. Before he left the old woman stopped him.
"I have a homing pigeon that will go to Masyaf, if you need a message sending you can use it. My husband never could retire his old ways…stupid old man…" his coffee coloured eyes watched her gently as she went back into her little dreamland that seemed to be induced by the mere thought of her husband; he would use that pigeon but for now he would simply let the old woman be.
00
Shulamit ran back and forth through the market place, she had to make sure everyone was alright, that the children had breakfast; she made sure that each person had enough on their stall and she helped customers carry their items if needed. Mostly she had to sit and make the nets or repair them with a few other girls. She was mending a huge piece of tangled net but her hijab kept slipping as she moved her head so much, she had not located a pin to keep it in check and it was quickly frustrating her as she struggled with the net – so much so that she had not realised it falling mostly on the street until a young man tripped in it. She gasped at her mistake and went to help him, "You stupid woman!" He spat angrily as he picked himself up and began dusting himself off, Shulamit tried to help but he pushed her roughly away, "Likhi mimeni! I should teach you to be more careful!" He raised his arm as if to hit her and the young woman's eyes shut as she waited for the blow.
"She has apologised." Hearing the new voice she opened one of her brown eyes cautiously, a man dressed in white robes held onto the man's wrist tightly, a dangerous hazel stare glowered out from the shadow of the hood, "Walk away."
"…M—maspik! I will kill you too!" He cried out in pain as the other's fingers began crushing bone; it was only a warning of what he was capable of. "Let me go! I-I-I am sorry! I should have been looking! F-forgive me!" The young man was released and he ran as fast as he could from them – it would be a long time before he tried to act tough again!
Shulamit watched in amazement and then turned to her rescuer, first having to readjust her headdress again. "Thank you! Is there anyway I can repay you?" The figure shook his head, the sun catching his eyes and making them seem golden as he regarded her quietly – Altaïr did not know why but he reached into his pouch and gave her the silver pin that had been attached to Malik's blue robe, he had wanted to keep hold of it, as a reminder of his lost comrade but he seemed to lose control of his body as he handed it to her, "Oh…a-are you sure?" He nodded again and she accepted it gratefully before he walked away and got lost in the crowd. Shulamit watched him vanish in wonder, "Mashu muzar..."
00
His day with Nina had exhausted him by late afternoon and he only followed her now because she had not run out of things for him to help with – she was a slave driver! By the time the first few boats from the town began to arrive, he was feeling too run down to stay and meet the villagers, "You look a little pale, go back to the house – I can finish the rest on my own." Nina thanked him for his help and promised she would keep his house break a secret this time; he was just glad she seemed to have forgiven him for causing her friend harm. Just as he was about to shut the door, his brain reminded him to check the lock – there were the same marks as on the old woman's door…thieves were defiantly a threat.
He had just hidden his boots when Shulamit came in. "Oh! You are more dressed than usual, Aikh ata margish Hayom?" She gave him the usual smile as she removed her shoes, "Did you find breakfast? Are you hungry…actually, I should probably start dinner now." She went about getting things together and chattered about nothing at all.
She seemed a little jittery to the Assassin, he had discovered during his week in her company that if something untoward had happened to her she would rush about the house and start cleaning things that did not need to be cleaned, or in this case – ask a question and not wait for a reply, "Ma kara? You seem…odd." She paused and looked at him as if deciding whether it would interest him at all, "Tell me, I have been stuck here all day with only my own company…" He silently hoped Nina would not say anything now that he had lied.
She hesitated a little longer, usually she felt better after telling him, he would tell her to forget it or advise her. "There was a man in the market; I caused him to fall – accidentally! He was angry and he raised his hand – "
"Ma?" he snapped, he would find this man and return the favour! "Who was he?" Malik stepped closer and searched for some sort of mark on her, the only thing he found was the faded and almost gone bruise he had given her.
"Al tidahg, Al tidahg! Another man stopped him! A man all in white and a hood…he was a little strange and he said nothing to me – he gave me…" she went back to the counter and picked up the pin before coming to show the Dai, "He gave me this and then walked off…he looked really sad now that I think about it…then again those cloistered guys always look depressed! He just gave it to me, never said a word and it was very strange! It looks expensive!"
Malik took the pin and examined it. He saw the brotherhood's emblem on the silver and the flicked it open to look on the underside, "this…this is mine! It is the one I used on my coat…quick! What did this man look like?" He grabbed her shoulder and gave her a little shake when she gave him a blank look, "Think!"
"He…um…he had light brown eyes….and – Oh! They looked golden in the sun, and there was…yes, a little scar on his lips!" She searched her memory; he had been wearing a hood and had not lingered. How was she supposed to remember him, he just looked like anyone else? Why had the man had something that belonged to Malik? Why did he give it to her, it had been very strange and she wondered if it had happened at all – and why was it so important? "Malik, what is wrong? What am I missing?"
Light brown eyes, golden in the sun, scarred lips and very quiet. They were still here! "Altaïr, you met Altaïr!" He was up in seconds, his former tiredness gone as his heart pumped faster; he had to go to them now, "Shulamit, I need to get to the town, please, take me there!" he needed to get his things – no, he could come back! He just needed to let the others know he was alive! Malik was nearly out of the door when he looked back at the woman, she hadn't moved at all, "Hurry! He will not linger."
"Oh, Malik…" She turned slowly around to look at him. She looked as if she might cry as her hands rose to cover her mouth, "I should have recognised the uniform…on, no…" how could she have been so blind? "They are gone…it was a little after dawn when I saw him…he walked out of the gates, got onto a black stallion and left with four others…I am so stupid!" Shulamit watched his face slacken at the news, the excited light left his eyes and he let his hand drop from the door handle…he looked defeated and she knew it was her fault, "I am so stupid! I should have looked harder! Your friends were right in front of me and…I am so… lo asiti shum davar!" It was at that point she began to cry – she could not feel guiltier for letting him down this way! He sighed and went to her, she was standing in the middle of the room trying to cover her face, the Assassin pulled her close and let her sniffle against him and mutter over and over about how sorry she was. It wasn't the end of the world – it just meant he was stuck here for a while.
"Hakol yihiye bihseder…"
000
Tired!
