Sorry, it's been awhile and it's not the best of chapters; I just felt the need to post Thanks for all of the reviews guys :)
Ikram's attention averted from his book, towards the opening of the rectangular room where the noise had come from. He waited briefly, with little wonder, already knowing whose feet was creating the shuffling. Now standing in the threshold, with his shoulders back, was the feared and respected Altaïr.
"Ikram, I'm ready to finish my mission," he announced with a dead-pan stare. The confident man was never really good at welcoming people; always abruptly beginning a conversation and using statements instead of greetings. He ambled into the room, swinging his arms fluidly, bringing himself to stand before the Bureau leader on a rug in the center of the room.
"Let's hear what you've got and I'll be the judge." He ordered with a gesture of his hand.
"My target, Mohsen La-Algol, is planning to make his move this evening, while Demario's celebration is occurring. He hopes to discover a mysterious treasure by confronting the man and will do so by gathering up his men to raid the palace, forcing the party-goers to flee and the royal family under his control."
"Wait a second--what treasure?" Ikram interrupted with surprise flushing over his face, "don't tell me there's more…"
"In all honestly, I know little about that bit of information. During an interrogation of one of his men, he confessed Mohsen's goals and intentions; says Mohsen is after a god-like treasure within Nazareth." Altaïr's eyes narrowed and darkened, "I fear the worse."
"I suppose that would be a good enough motivation, that is if I were a delusional man like Mohsen. But let's say there is no treasure, what if it is just a myth? What will become of the family?"
"That's where I come in," Ikram nodded in agreement. "My intervention will determine everyone's fate, that is, if I succeed."
Those last words caused his comrade to sit up with bewilderment. "If you succeed? What's that supposed to mean? Don't tell me you're losing your confidence!"
"It's not that. I just think that perhaps Rasheed was unprepared by only sending me."
"Oh? And why's that my friend? You're only the best,"
"He clearly had no idea exactly how many men Mohsen had brought with him. When I accosted one of his men, he made a great effort in revealing how important this task was to Mohsen. Not to mention, some of his missing men will make them suspicious."
"Did you discover a few of those rogues during your investigation?" The Bureau leader inquired, biting his lip.
"Only two, one of which was the one I interrogated and the other was a lagging traveler. I happened to overhear a fairly large group of them; I killed him to maybe cut-back on some of the pressure when I confront Mohsen."
Ikram laughed at this, "No wonder you're so envied, you prepare before you even have the permission too. Sometimes I wonder why you never accepted the position as our next master."
"A lot of our brothers wonder that," Altaïr replied, unable to look his friend in the eyes. "I'm slightly curious, why didn't you?"
He shrugged steadily, "I didn't think I was ready to take on such a big role, I'm not much of a leader-- too independent."
"True," Ikram agreed, shifting in his position to stare at the book shelf behind him. "But your morality has changed over the course of time, you're a much wiser person and your knowledge of the world around you is awe-inspiring. Our brothers like you a lot more than they used too, Altaïr, whether you know it or not."
"Their opinions about me mean little," memories of his defiance came back to him; every time those images returned he couldn't help but feel as though he had been right about everything since the beginning. His jaw shifted under the white cloak.
"Maybe you won't take the offer now, but hopefully over time."
"We'll see,"
Ikram gave the man a somewhat half-assed smile, as if feeling uncertain of what kind of emotion to express. Soon after, he reached underneath his stationary desk for an object Altaïr could not see, and pulled out a finely elongated white feather. It curved in the middle and smoothed out at the tip; he set it before Altaïr gingerly.
"I give you leave; you seem informed enough to rid this world of that demon,"
Altaïr picked the feather up by its stem with his thumb and forefinger. His lips partly and his eyes focused, "Expect me tonight, with news of success, but don't expect me soon." He removed it from in front of his face and into a small bag grasping his thick leather belt.
"Rest if you must," Ikram's eyes moved from Altaïr to the adjacent room, populated with Arabian pillows. Although the only entrance was through the roof, a strange gale of wind seemed to swirl about.
"Where the hell is everyone? We're missing about five men," Mohsen growled from under an extended awning.
"Quasim should be here soon, he was behind me," Gideon announced.
"Well, he isn't now," he snapped in reply. "And where's Naiya?? She's supposed to be here."
"You probably frightened her again…"
"That's a load of crock, that stubborn girl is afraid of nothing."
The nearby rogue, was the middle-aged man, with the scar running through his eye. He watched the two bicker with irritation. His arms were weaved together over his chest and his attention was on Mohsen. You could almost see the hate in his one useful eye; his upper lip twitched.
"Give her a few more moments; she'll show," Gideon claimed, it almost came across as a plea.
Neither Mohsen or Gideon could continue the argument once two of their comrades rushed into the scene after barreling through a crowd of pedestrians. Both Gideon and Mohsen turned their heads quickly as the two men stopped before them, panting heavily hoping to catch their breath.
"Raimi, Jamon… what the hell's your problems? Could you be anymore distracting?" Mohsen barked with a scowl.
Jamon, the older, mahogany haired one, was the first to speak through grinding teeth. "Sir, both Raimi and I found two of our men." His expression was rather pale while Raimi gasped at his side, shaking his head.
"I can't believe it, my brother…" Raimi whimpered.
"What are you talking about? Who?"
"Quasim and Naïf,"
"Well, where are they now?" Mohsen demanded with a voice of irritation.
"Dead," Jamon replied flatly.
Mohsen stared at the two frantic men for a brief moment, his eyes seemed to glaze over at this information. "…dead?"
"I came across Quasim's body in an alleyway while on my way here."
"And somebody killed my brother!!" Raimi finally erupted, punching a nearby lantern, sending it flying to the ground with a small wave of sparks. They all seemed to ignore his outburst.
Mohsen turned to face Gideon, sending him a glare. "Gideon," his head shot up. "You said you saw Quasim last, what happened?"
"I-I," Gideon stuttered, shaking his head with confusion. "I have no idea, he was behind me when I left him alone; told him to meet me here in an hour."
"So you have no idea what happened to him?"
"Well…no,"
"That's just great," Mohsen began caressing the hair on his jagged chin; he usually did this to console himself once he became angry, Gideon was starting to pick-up on these gestures.
"Some bastard killed Naïf!!" Raimi shouted, which earned him a few uneasy glances.
"You say they were killed, what makes you assume that?" Mohsen exclaimed, arching a dark brow.
"Because how else would they have died??" Raimi snapped, baring his teeth; beads of sweat were beginning to show.
Mohsen narrowed his eyes intolerably, and sent his stare towards Jamon. "What kind of injuries did they have, do you think perhaps the guards found out about them?"
Jamon was quick to shake his head, "Oh, no way a guard did that, it was too precise. That guard would have just taken one lucky shot with a swing of a sword, and that's not what kind of injury Quasim had."
"So, you're telling me that a guard didn't kill them, but somebody else?"
He nodded, licking his lips, "Yes."
Mohsen was beginning to grow rather suspenseful. "What kind of injury?"
"Small stab wound through the stomach."
"Raimi," the enraged Raimi rounded on his heels to face his master. "What was Naïf's fate?"
The man was tearing up, but it was mostly a result from his built-up anger. "Naïf was right behind me the whole God damn time! Soon enough, I heard him collapse and noticed him clenching his back…he died right in front of me…" His words died down into a whisper.
Mohsen's eyes fixed upon a distant object while he nodded continuously; he bit his lip, causing his teeth to overlap the flesh. He was starting to realize the current circumstances, a feeling of anxiety began building up inside. His past fears were returning and his predictions were beginning to come true.
Mohsen--being as paranoid as he usually was--assumed, that by now, news of his return had reached distant cities. Of course, he was correct about that , but a deeper worry was something that he had only hoped would stay within him. That fear was of the Hashashins; they would hear about his return and they would banish him permanently, after all, he was a wanted man. But the probability of their brotherhood ever discovering his return was slim, it was foolish to assume. Unless, those persistent bastards overheard one of his men's talk; those assassins did have hidden dens within certain cities. Now that seemed rather possible.
Gideon noticed Mohsen's widening eyes and felt a spontaneous feeling of dread wash over him. "Mohsen…?" Gideon murmured.
Raimi was running his hands through his black hair, unable to contain his building depression over his lost brother. His lip quivered and his eyes quenched shut as they filled with tears of denial. "I'm going to find that blood-sucking carnivore and cut out his heart!" Raimi shouted , releasing off an invisible fire.
The eruption of Raimi's enragement snapped Mohsen out of his trance and back into reality. He shot Raimi a grimace before seizing the back of his neck. "Shut the hell up, you fool!" He hissed, pinching the nerves in his neck, causing Raimi's lips to purse. Although the fairly large group of men were well hidden within a small side-street, passing glances still came. "I understand you're angry, but talking and acting are too different things!"
Raimi's eyes peeled open and shifted towards Mohsen; he swallowed hard and exhaled heavily. Gideon watched closely, along with the one-eyed man and the others. Moeshe stared aimlessly at his friend's side, who seemed rather captivated by the other end of the street while he stood unaware of the delirious men around him. It was as if these psychotic actions happened on a regular basis; they didn't seem to mind.
"Wow, what on Earth did I miss?" Came a female's voice from the opening of the street where Moeshe's friend, Hirsi, stared. All attention was now directed towards the recent noise, where it soon revealed the graceful, but solemn Naiya. She stood, leaning her weight on her left leg with her arms crossed under her breasts. Her face seemed rather pale, but none the less, no where near surprised.
"Where have you been?" Mohsen immediately demanded, releasing the dumb-stricken Raimi.
Naiya lay quiet for a short time, while she stared distantly at Mohsen. Finally, she answered, "Out and about, why?"
"Because," he began, his eyes narrowing. "Two of our men were found dead."
"For some reason, I'm not shocked, but your voice contains surprise; what's up with that?"
Mohsen took an officious step forward, "Want to know what I think?"
A silence fell over the thin street while some of the men sat up with interest. Naiya waited impatiently before barking, "Well, what would that be?"
"I believe an assassin murdered them,"
Almost instantly, Raimi's anger returned, followed by a few astonished reactions. "An assassin!?" Raimi growled; Gideon placed a calming hand on Raimi's shoulder, attempting to console his uprising fury.
"Oh? And what makes you think that?" Naiya had to snicker; the man did a good job at amusing her.
"Well, let's consider the facts: two of our men were found dead," he snapped his fingers in the air, "one of which was literally killed right in front of his brother. The other was found sprawled out in an abandoned street. If a guard had killed those men, he sure would have made a much bigger commotion, and he sure as hell would not have done it with subtlety . Which that leads to another thing: if perhaps the Hashashins discovered my return, they would most certainly send some of their men after me. But, those are just hunches." Mohsen shot a sly smile that caused Naiya's lip to rise.
Small talk began within the small crowd, but was soon ended when their master raised his hands into the air. "Let's not get off track now, we're getting a tad bit carried away," his eyes fell shut while they watched intently. "If that is the case, we need to be on our toes," he peered up. "Follow me; tonight we raid the palace of Nazareth." Sand and dirt blew past his feet and Naiya's hair flew up, shielding her distressed eyes.
