Chapter 4- Escape from the City
A head thrust up to break the surface of the river with a crashing shower of displaced water droplets. Alessia gasped a harried breath past her lips, the cold air flooding her lungs and swiftly being coughed up with water as she desperately tried to clear her throat. Struggling through the frozen water she clawed her way up the frozen riverbank, the cold wind washing over the river chilling her to her bones the instant she left the water. The intensity of their training regime and their natural resolve allowed assassins to survive conditions that would kill other men, but even that may be capable of sparing her now. She held no illusions that the Count truly thought her dead, no doubt he would swiftly have his dogs hunting after both her and Velia and Fina. Without knowing who held the documents he could ill afford to allow any of them to escape the city alive. Without her equipment or the assistance of the Brotherhood Alessia knew she would prove the easiest target, she would have to disappear quickly if she was to have any hope of seeing the sun rise in the morning.
Summoning her resolve in the face of almost certain death Alessia dragged herself to her feet, drawing another chilling gulp of air in her lungs to support her she began drudging her way up the muddy riverbank towards the cityscape emerging above the high crest. She emerged over peak of the hill to find herself at the edge of the Courtyard before the Counts manor, the open space a bustle with those dismayed party guests who had swiftly been dismissed by their eccentric host upon the discovery of the freshly deceased guard concealed within the counts personal chambers. Now cast out into the cold the guests were busily ambling around in the courtyard waiting for their personal carriages to take them home. Alessia thought that if she could get close enough to one of the carriages as it departed she could either slip away with the servants or perhaps hide beneath the coach until-
The Count emerged in the entryway to the manor at the top of the stairs, the golden light from within the manor cascading down the steps to illuminate the retinue of a dozen guards at his back. "She is here somewhere, find her!" he ordered his men forward with the raised tip of his drawn sword, the loyal guards quickly dispersing into the crowd in search of their target. Alessia swiftly assimilated into the crowd in an effort to conceal herself from the roaming guards searching for her, with no weapon in hand discretion and stealth were her only protection.
There was still no sign of Velia or Fina. Assuming that they had safely made it off of the Manors exterior they could have been captured, they may be watching from the shadows or simply abandoned her in order to ensure the information was safely taken out of the city beneath the cover of the chaos they had already instigated. Grand Master Ezio would have expected nothing less of his apprentices. Every Assassin was expected to sacrifice their lives without hesitation to preserve the Brotherhood; such was the third tenant of the Assassins Creed.
Alessia knew she would not be able to conceal herself among the aristocracy of Russian society for long. Although she may have entered the engagement under the guise of a Russian duchess with her makeup washed off and her dress soiled from the river she would likely fare far better posing as a serving girl than the master of an entire winter province. On top of that her dripping wet dress, on top of exposing her to the risk of hypothermia, may as well have been drenched in blood for all the help it offered in blending into the crowd-
"There she is!" a voice rose above the gentle murmur of the crowd. Alessia's disguise dissipated in an instant, the crowd parted all around her as though bowing to an approaching monarch, leaving her exposed and bare to an unforgiving world which surrounded her. Alessia was struck frozen by fear, unable to run, nowhere to hide, nowhere-
"Nowhere to run now little girl" the familiar voice stunned her into silence. Emerging from the crowd stepped the very man himself, Count Raum, escorted by two of his personal guard. A sinister smile played across the nobles lips, confident in his fantasy that there was no way for his pretty to escape again. "And this time" Raum raised his pistol. "I promise I won't miss"
Alessia closed her eyes; if she was to die by his hand she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing the fear in her eyes. She was prepared to face her death, which never came.
"There he is" a man's voice announced.
"You're under arrest" another man declared.
"What are you doing, unhand me whelp!" Raums protested.
"Do you know who I am?" Raum yanked his arm free of the grasp of the guard who held it. "I am Count Raum I, a nobleman of this city and-"
The Guard Captain stepped forward, seemingly unimpressed by his no doubt lofty title. "Then, Count Raum, by order of the city of the city of Moscow you are to be placed under arrest for the murder of Duchess Natalya Blithe"
"What madness is this?" the Count snapped sharply, pulling his other arm free of the grasp of the soldier who held it so that he could storm forward and stand toe to toe with the Guard Captain. "I am a Count of this city and i will not stand for these baseless accusations"
"A witness saw you cast the Duchess from the window of your personal quarters" the Captain remarked. "I would hardly call such a claim baseless"
Count Raum merely laughed to himself at the sheer absurdity of the situation. "You pathetic fool. That trolop is not who she claims. She is no noble, she is a street trash thief come to steal my property right out from under me. Is a man not entitled to defend his honour?"
The Guard Captain refused to falter. "That as it may my orders still stand, and I will ask you again to surrender yourself to my custody for the charge of murder of the Duchess" the Captain ordered his men forward. "Guards, restrain him"
But Raum refused to surrender. "This is outrageous. I did not kill the deceptive whore she is right-" Raum snapped around sharply, leading with an accusing finger to point into thin air. It seemed his prey had vanished swiftly and without a trace.
It seems fate had a twisted sense of humour. In her desperate bid to escape imminent execution it seemed that all she had done was delay the inevitable. Once more the young apprentice Alessia found herself staring down the barrel of a gun, her life about to be consumed in a single flash of black powder. She closed her eyes and prepared herself to accept the seeming inevitability of her fate.
"That's him, that's the murderer!" Alessia heard a voice rise above the murmur of the crowd.
"There he is" a male voice called out.
"You're under arrest"
Alessia dared to open her eyes, dumbstruck by the sight which greeted her as her eyes finally readjusted to the dim light. The man who had moments ago held her life in the barrel of a gun suddenly found himself surrounded by a squad of guards fighting to constrain the rebellious Count. These soldiers were unlike his own, instead of bearing the counts personal standard their uniforms were emblazoned with the double headed eagle, the mark of the city of Moscow itself.
While her mind screamed for her to run, hide, escape, her body was overcome with a sense of relief and confusion which kept her feet firmly planted to the floor. She felt a hand touch her shoulder. "Come with me" a familiar voice whispered in her ear. Before she could respond Alessia felt herself suddenly being dragged into the shadows by a figure dressed in a thick black cloak. The two of them swiftly made their departure from the courtyard, the guards clearly too engrossed by the ensuing chaos to bother challenging a waif and someone beggar girl in cloak.
"Are you ok?" the familiar voice asked from beneath the hood.
Alessia tried to ask. "Who are-?"
"What, you don't even recognise us, some thank you" another figure in the same black cloak emerged at her side. "I guess that means we're doing our job properly"
"I think she was right though" the other person admitted, a glint of a smile emerging beneath the shadows. "The smell of her dress certainly has improved"