The Assassin's Sister

Chapter 14 – Master of Lies

A'shadieeyah bint Umar-La'Ahad looked up at the walls of Masyaf's castle towering high above the village that rested halfway up the mountain. She took a breath enjoying the high mountain air. She was helped down by an assassin who died his head to her seeing her own rank.

"Welcome home Di." He said. He looked at her full belly and cocked his head. "Shall I fetch a donkey for you?"

She smiled a little. "Yes. I do not think as fat as I am that I can manage more that a dozen steps on my own."

He nodded and went to fetch one as she looked about the area.

It felt different. It had an odd feel. It was hard to describe. It was not how home had felt before, though then again it had been nearly a year since she had been here.

The assassin came and lifted her onto the sturdy back of the beast. A blanket was there. She reached forward to hold the mane as he led the animal up the winding path toward the castle. She watched as they passed villagers and she wondered if the one called Mary who had born Jesus had felt this way.

She hissed feeling a pain. She gritted her teeth. It was harder than before.

Once at the castle, the assassin helped her to her feet. She thanked him and walked the last few steps into her home. She had been born here, but she strangely felt like an outsider.

Assassins within bowed to one of her rank, but watched her as she made her way to the Master's study. He was here, naturally and he looked at her as she walked in and bowed her head.

"Oh my child!" He greeted. He walked to her. "It is well you are here."

She blinked. "Why?" She then bent over suddenly, crying out.

Al Mualim smiled. "Ah, your child is wishing to join us. The first in our new world."

"New world?" She asked straightening. "Those are Templar words, not ours." She said.

"Different means to the same goal. I said as much to your brother child."

He took her arm and led her toward airy room. The day was warm and the cooling breeze helped her calm.

She looked as she saw assassins about. "What have you done?"

He lifted the treasure he held in his hands and it glowed, pulsing. She looked away, closing her eyes as she cried out again. She felt liquid running down her legs. Her waters had broken. This child was coming.

She shifted and the master noticed. "Well, well. It would seem the child is wishing to join us." He said gently lying her back. Yusuf came forward, his eyes heavy. "See that she is comfortable as the child comes." The master said. "I must deal with someone."

The master left.

The girl remained where she was looking at the older man as he set about doing tasks. She gasped and rose shaky to her feet and made for the door.

Yusuf moved, grabbing her, holding her tighter than his aged hands should have been capable. "What are you doing?" She panted.

"The Master is light." He murmured pulling her back toward the bed.

"What?"

"He is master of all. He will deliver us."

She shivered. Templars wanted a new world. The master had made it reality. She growled, turning in his arms. "Let me go!"

"You will see. The master will return and show you the way."

"I am sorry, old friend." She said softly as she lifted her left hand and drove her hidden blade into his neck.

He gasped, eyes flashing a moment as his connection the master had over him was severed. He looked at her in shock, but then dropped to the earth, blood staining the tiles. The girl gasped as she moved to the door as another pain took her.

She looked about and moved to find a safer place. She needed to find somewhere safe to deliver and then travel to warn her brother of the master being the evil one.

She panted as she moved, fighting through the pain in her limbs and back. She left small flecks of blood on the white flagstones of the fortress as she moved about, avoiding assassins who were clearly under the master's spell, and trying to find a place.

There seemed to be no one who could help her. She took a breath to calm her mind. She needed to think and collect items. She moved carefully to seek out medical stores she would need. The baby would come soon. She felt it shifting.

She could do this…

ZzZ

Altair had ridden hard to Masyaf after facing and defeating Robert de Sable in hand to hand combat. Robert was an expert swordsman, but played by the rules of chivalry, at least while Richard the Lionheart watched them in their fight to the death to determine whose cause was just.

Altair had won and Richard moved to see to Saladin who was attacking. Altair had ridden hard to come to Masyaf. As he arrived he noticed the villagers were listless, walking about without apparent tasks.

Strange.

What had happened?

"Hold friend." He said to one. "What has happened?"

"Gone to see the master."

"Was it the Templars? Did they attack again?"

"They walk the path."

"What path? What are you talking about?"

"Toward the light."

"Speak sense." Altair said stepping closer.

"There is only what the master shows us. This is the truth."

"You've lost your mind!"

"You too will walk the path. Or you will parish. This the master commands."

"It was Al Mualim, was it not? What has he done to you?"

"Praise be to the master! For he had led us to the light."

Altair looked toward the castle. "A'sha!" He gasped. What if this had happened to his sister? Or worse. What if she had fought him?

He moved quickly passing through the innocents of the village. Once nearing the fortress, assassins came forward. Altair tried to avoid doing them harm, but they had no such compunction. They charged him, making ready to kill him.

Altair fought off the first wave, but the second was ready. He lifted his blade ready to fight, but then as he was surrounded, several of the men fell dead about him while others fled.

He looked up on the ridge above and saw Malik with his men as well as Jabal, the Bureau leader from Acre.

"Altair! Up here!" Malik called to him.

Altair ran to him and then smiled at his friend in brother-in-law. "You picked a fine time to arrive."

"So it seems." Malik said. "Is A'sha with you?"

"No." Altair said looking about. "I have not seen her."

Malik swallowed. "Her time was close. I worry for her and now this."

"Guard yourself well, brother, Al Mualim has betrayed us."

"Yes. Betrayed his Templar allies as well."

"How do you know?"

"After we spoke I returned to the ruins beneath Solomon's Temple. Robert had kept a journal. Filled its pages with revelations. What I read there broke my heart, but it also opened my eyes. You were right, Altair, all along our master has used us. We were not meant to save the Holy Land, but deliver it to him. He must be stopped."

"Be careful Malik. What he has done to the others he will do to us given the chance. You must stay far from him."

"What would you propose? My blade arm is still strong and my men remain my own. It would be a mistake not to use us."

"Distract these thralls then. Assault the fortress from behind, if you can draw their attention away from me, I might Al Mualim."

"I will do as you ask Di." Malik said.

"The men we face, their minds are not their own. If you can avoid killing them…"

"Yes. Though he had betrayed the tenants of the Creed, it does not mean we must as well. I will do what I can."

"It is all I ask." Altair looked upwards. "If you find my sister. Keep her safe. Safety and peace brother."

"Your presence will deliver us both." Malik said put his fist over his heart and bowing to Altair. He then signaled his men and they moved down the hill.

Altair took a breath.

Now to face the master.

ZzZ

Malik and his men were successful in distracting the thralls. He moved about, but then froze as he heard a cry from a stable. It was not the cry of an animal, but a woman.

He moved into the stable looking about for who had made the sound. The cry was from pain. None of those whose minds had been taken cried out.

He walked along and found an open stable with fresh hay lying there. He took a breath as he saw a woman on her hands and knees, head down, back arched as she cried. The back of her white robes was stained red with blood and other fluids.

He moved to her side. She looked up, face lined with pain, straw in her hair as she looked up, flexing her hand with her hidden blade.

Malik blocked the blow easily, holding her wrist as she struggled only a moment, but he knew her face.

"A'sha!" He cried. He was happy to see she had kept her mind, but that presented another problem. She was in labor to bring their child into the world without another with her. He knelt in the straw as she relaxed her arm and the hidden blade retracted as she panted in pain and relief at seeing him.

"Malik." She whispered.

"It is all right." He said.

She took a breath. "I…" She sighed and looked up as his men came to him. She smiled a little at them. "Well, the help arrived it seems."

Malik took a breath. "We need fresh water and blankets." He said. "Can we hold them at bay from here?"

"Yes." His men nodded.

"Good." Malik said. "This little one is determined to come in the middle of this war."

Two of his men went to stand guard. The other two went to fetch water and blankets.

Malik watched his wife roll to her back. "Malik. You need…to check for the head. I feel it. Is it close?"

He blinked. He only had basic training in field medicine, but he realized he had no other option than to help his medic wife deliver the child. He let his hand run down her leg to where it joined. He could feel the blood and fluid there. "What am I feeling for?" He asked.

"The head. Should be solid, pushing to come out."

He took a breath and felt. A contraction hit and she bent forward with a cry. He felt something there, pressing against his hand. It was solid. Yes. A head! "Yes! It is there. What do I do?"

She nodded as she sat up straighter and panted. "I must push it out." She said.

One of the men, Cemil, knelt beside her. He gently pressed a cool cloth to her brow and moved behind her, putting himself between the stall wall and her body. He pulled her back bodily to him, his legs to the side of her own. He nodded to Malik. "We will help her through this Di."

"Do you know what to do?" Malik asked.

"I just watched with my sister. One of us must help her. The other must see to the child."

Malik nodded. He looked over and saw Jabal watching wearily. He stood ready to be the last line of defense for his leader and lady if need be, but he was also fascinated by the birth.

"When the shoulders come, you will have to turn it Malik, guide it out." A'sha hissed as she gripped the arms of the assassin holding her.

He grimaced at the force she had in her grip, but nodded to Malik. As the next pain came, her pressed her forward, lifting her legs and helping her bear down. Malik was amazed at how quickly it progressed. Labor normally took hours and this was happening in minutes. It meant his poor wife had been in labor for some time.

He reached and gently turned the shoulders as he had been directed, guiding one free and then the other. He then reached, supporting the neck as the baby came free with the next contract and him pulling slightly.

The baby shivered in the cool of the stable.

"It's not crying…what do I do?" Malik asked in a panic. "The cord is about his neck!"

"Is it blue?"

"No. Pink, but…"

"It is fine. It can breathe. It is just resting from the journey."

"What?" He asked as he lifted the cord from his neck. He looked at the thick mop of blood stained hair, the thin boned body as it tucked up not liking the temperature outside the womb.

A'sha took a breath, panting from her efforts as she moved to her knees and smiled as Malik looked almost panicked at the baby on the blanket. "Birth is hard on them too." She smiled.

She bent and used her mouth to suck the fluid from the mouth and nose. She spat to the side as Malik wiped the body and smiled seeing it was a boy as his foot moved in response as he took a deep breath and whimpered, opening his eyes to try to focus about him.

"A son." He whispered. "You gave me a son."

She smiled and nodded as he pressed a kiss somewhere on her face. She then bent, using thin string to tie off the umbilical cord. She then used her blade to slice the connection between herself and the child.

Jabal stepped forward with a thin blanket to swaddle the infant. He looked down at the lady. He had never been so close to a birth. It was amazing how strong the mother looked, though weary from her labors. He wondered if it were always so.

The baby whimpered and A'sha wrapped it to keep it warm and then sighed, collapsing for a moment. She waved off Cemil who went to her. "I'm fine. Let me rest." She said softly.

He nodded allowing her to lay back a moment. She still had pains though not as severe.

Some moments later the afterbirth came from her. Cemil moved to clean the bloody straw and the afterbirth to be disposed of later.

The two guards came in. "The thralls have left the area. Some of them seemed to be no longer controlled Di." One said.

Malik nodded. "Do any of you have extra clothing?" He asked as he moved to where his wife lay, curled about the child she had borne. She was not asleep, but was resting.

"Yes." Cemil nodded. He moved to his pack and opened it handing the Rafiq the clothing. They would be large on her, but they would have to do.

All the men except for Malik stepped outside. Malik helped her dress and he looked at her. "Can you walk, Habititi?" He asked. "For a short while?"

She nodded. "I can walk." She said feeling the tightness in her loins, but it seemed to loosen as she moved. Malik moved, lifting his son in his arms. The baby's eyes flashed opened, but then relaxed, still not hungry enough to wail for the breast.

Mailk nodded to the group.

They needed to find Altair.

ZzZ

Altair had made his way to the gardens of the fortress. Al Mualim had called them Paradise before. He looked about wondering how he would face the master when suddenly he found his body surrounded by light. He could not move. He was in pain as it held him.

"No!" He cried spinning about. "What is happening?" He struggled in the grasp of the treasure. Above him walked Al Mualim on the balcony holding the artifact.

"So the student returns."

"I've never been one to run." Altair said defiantly.

Al Mualim chuckled. "Never been one to listen either."

"I still live because of it!"

"What will I do with you?"

"Let me go."

"Oh, Altair. I hear the hatred in your voice, feel its heat. Let you go, now that would be unwise."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I found proof."

"Proof? Proof of what?"

"Proof that nothing is true and everything is permitted." Al Mualim lifted the Apple. "Come destroy the betrayer." He said. "Send him from this world."

Altair looked. He was again facing the nine men he had killed.

His systematically dealt with them all. He took a breath and then gasped as he was again held by the light of the treasure. He growled. "Face me or are you afraid." He barked.

"I have stood before a thousand men. All of them superior to you." Al Mualim said. He had come down to the terrace above the water garden where he held Altair prisoner. "And all of them dead by my hand." He then smiled as he nodded woman who stepped forward.

Slight and in dark assassin robes, her head was bent as she stepped forward, arms out stretched revealing two hidden blades. She moved remarkably easily that belayed her swollen belly. Her head lifted and she smiled, eyes gleaming at Altair as she crossed her arms and then dropped them to her sides, ready to battle him.

"No!" Altair gasped. He could not fight her. Not A'sha. Not his sister. She was pregnant, her belly showed under her robes, jutting out as she ducked catlike before him.

"It is time to let the mouse show she is truly a cobra. Show this fool what is truly means to be an assassin, my child." Al Mualim told her.

She had cocked her head. "Yes, master." She said, voice like ice.

Altair found himself freed with just enough time to dodge her attack. He blinked. "A'sha. It is me!" He begged. "Stop this."

She snap-rolled, on one knee, she hissed. She lifted her hand before her, blade gleaming as the eyes behind it from beneath her hood.

Altair blinked. That was a maneuver she could not do pregnant. It was impossible to move that agilely with a child in her womb. She did nothing to protect it.

He then moved parrying her attack, but she still marked him, cutting his upper arm. Superficial it still stung. He looked at her. If she was an illusion how was she able to cause him pain?

He then circled her as she did him. She had other weapons, but did not use them. She had her twin hidden blades, something Altair had never seen before. It was actually a beautiful idea, but…

She charged again and he side stepped, twirling and knocking her to the earth, flat on her stomach. She growled and rolled to her feet.

Altair nodded grimly. This was not his sister being controlled by Al Mualim. This was another illusion. She would have been in too much pain to rise had that truly been her.

He then went on the offensive and attacked, gaining the upper hand. He knocked her hands away from him and then buried his own hidden blade in her throat. She looked at him, eyes wide in surprise and then dropped to the earth, and disappeared as the others had.

Al Mualim stood near, watching.

"Where is she?" Altair asked, held again.

"Safe. Do you honestly think I would harm her? She will birth the first assassin to my new order."

Altair growled. "Where is she?"

"Above, laboring."

Altair blinked. He had been around laboring women. They cried out in pain for hours. He had heard nothing. Was the old man lying or was the Apple muffling her cries?

Altair hissed. "Come then. Fight me."

"I am not afraid."

"Prove it." Altair said, defiant again.

"What could I possibly fear?" The master asked as the Apple shone and then made copies of himself before Altair. "Look at the power I command."

Again, Altair was in a fight for his life with multiple foes. He blinked and then found his sixth sense, something he had often used to find a target and see their intentions, now of use to find the real Al Mualim among the phantoms.

At last it was he and his mentor again and they faced each other.

Altair growled being held again.

"Have you any final words?" The master asked him.

"You lied to me. Called Robert goal foul when you all along it was yours as well."

"I have never been much good at sharing." The master agreed.

"You will not succeed. Others will find the strength to stand against you."

"Like your sister. With a child I can easily control her. However, this is why so long as men have free will there can be no peace."

"I killed the last man who as such." Altair said quietly, still defiant.

"Bold words, boy! But just words."

"Then let me go. I will put words into action."

Al Mualim laughed at that.

"Tell me master, why did you not make me like the other assassins. Why allow me to retain my mind?"

"Who you are and what you do are twined too tight together. To rob you of one would deprive me of the other and those Templars had to die." He sighed. "But the truth is, I did try. In my study when I showed you the treasure. But you are not like the others. You saw through the illusion. So did your sister."

"Illusion?"

"That is all it has ever done." Al Mualim said in amusement. "This Templar treasure. This piece of Eden. This word of God. Do you understand now? That sea was never parted. Water never turned to win and staves did not turn to snakes. It was this. Illusions. All of them."

"What you plan is no less an illusion. To force men to follow you against their will."

"Is it any less real than the phantoms the Saracens and the Christians follow now? Those craven gods who retreat from this world so that men may slaughter one another in their names? They live amongst an illusion already. I am simply giving them another. One that demands less blood."

"At least they choose these phantoms."

"Oh do they? Aside from the occasional convert or heretic."

"It is not right."

"Ah, and now logic has left you. In it's place you embrace emotion. I am disappointed."

"What is to be done then?"

"You will not follow me and I cannot compel you."

"And you refuse to give up this evil scheme."

"It seems then that we are at an impasse."

"No! We are at an end."

"I will miss you Altair. You were my very best student." The master said, moving into an attack position.

Altair took a breath as the Apple released him. He then focused. The pair dueled. The old man surprised Altair with how quickly the man could move, but soon, Altair had the upper hand and he mortally wounded the master.

He knelt beside the old man, looking at him. The Apple rolled away from him.

Al Mualim looked at him. "Impossible. The student does not defeat the teacher." He said breathing heavily.

"La shay' haqiqah, koulo shay' moumkin." Altair intoned. The Creed in Arabic.

"So it seems." The old man agreed. "You have won then. Go claim your prize."

"You held fire in your hand old man. It should have been destroyed."

"Destroy the only thing capable of ending the crusades and creating true peace. Never."

"Than I will." Altair said.

"We will see about that." The Old Man said and then his eyes closed forever.

Altair took a breath and rose slowly to his feet, ignoring the minor cuts on his body as he looked down at the body before him. "Forgive me for this mentor. But the Apple corrupted you. And through you, it would have corrupted us. For us to live, you had to die."

He looked at the Apple as it shimmered and then showed an orb with many points sparking upon it.

He stared at it and then he heard footfalls. He looked to the side as Malik came to him, stopping and looking at the spectacle before him, holding a small bundle in his arm. His men were behind him. Between them stepped A'sha, alive, well, pale, but happy looking.

She came to her brother's side, looking back at the mentor before she touched his arm. "Brother?" She asked softly.

"It is over." He said softly.

She nodded and took a breath, faltering a moment, weakened. He caught her in his arms and looked at her curiously as he lifted her, her arm about her shoulders. He looked at Malik and heard a soft coo from the bundle as it moved a little. Malik looked down and smiled lightly as a small arm lifted upwards, moving in the awkward way of someone who still did not know how all their limbs worked yet. It fussed only a little.

Suddenly her swoon against him perfect made sense.

She had just now given birth.

He looked down at her as she looked at the orb before them in wonder. He held her close and sighed feeling relieved that she was here, safe, with her family and had safely delivered her child.

"What is it, Altair? What does it mean?" She asked, voice soft and strained.

"I do not know, sister." He said, eyes lifting to follow her own. "I do not know."