Morning came all too soon but before he could fully register what was happening, he found himself being tackled as he groggily sat up by a very enthusiastic assassin.
The sight of the honey toned hair and the scent of flowers made his heart jump, even as he restrained himself from strangling the female out of surprise of finding her in his room. She lay on top of him, her light weight pressing down on him, and he felt his heart quicken.
'Does she even realize half of the things that she does, and how improper this is?' he found himself wondering, and then shook his head 'I doubt it'.
Amira smiled at him through a mess of hair before bounding backwards, "Guess what?" she declared happily, and Altaïr felt a small smile tugging at his lips.
"You've been released?" he responded, and her grin broadened and she nodded happily.
"So was last night just you being tired of being forced to remain cooped up in a room for so long?" he queried, and she turned towards him with a innocent smile.
"Remember, nothing happened last night, so I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just here to report for morning training." She told him sweetly as she winked at him mischievously.
Altaïr groaned slightly and looked down at the female resting on his bed as he sat up. Amira studied him briefly and noted several things with a smile.
He was much more attractive than she would have thought from what she could glimpse from under that hood and in the moonlight. His dark brown hair was cut short but remained slightly shaggy, and she could tell that it would begin to curl slightly if allowed to grow out much longer. His eyes were the most surprising to her- they were a warm honey brown, a color that she would not have expected, and the lashes surrounding those eyes were long and dark.
She laughed softly as a thought occurred to her, 'They're like deer eyes.' She thought with a smile, and waved off his curious look.
'All the tears from last night are gone…It's like she's treating it like nothing did happen…I will never understand women…' Altaïr thought to himself. He reached forward and gently swept the remaining strands from her face, feeling her smooth skin under his fingers and found himself tracing the scar on her face.
"What happened?" He asked, and felt a small smile tugging at her lips although none showed on her face. "An assignment that didn't go quite as planned. In the end though, he died like all the others. Men like that are all the same after all…" She murmured, brushing his hand away gently with a smile.
Malik was leaving the healers quarter's with a frown on his face as he thought of what Sarah had told him. "The wounds on her stomach and sides…they're almost halfway healed. With as badly as she was injured, she should have several more weeks of recovery…Altair seems to have taken a liking to her, although he wouldn't admit it when I asked. She's unusual, but sweet, and I think she'll be good for him." she had told him.
"There's certainly something unusual about her…" he muttered as he made his way to Altaïr's room. Malik ducked into the room just in time to see Altaïr pull his hand away from Amira's face and stared at the two dumbfounded for a moment before a wide grin spread on his face.
"Altair, I see Amira found you. You two had better hurry and start your training before it gets much warmer out." He told them, winking at Amira, whose face immediately flushed.
'I know what's going through that mind of yours, brother…But if you breathe a word of this to anyone, I swear I'll remove your other arm…' Altaïr thought maliciously before Amira practically dragged him out of bed.
"Come on sleepy! We need to get started!" She declared, and Altaïr wondered, not for the first time in the last few days, if she had a split personality.
She was almost out the door before Altaïr caught her by a handful of hair. She stopped abruptly before directing an irate glare over her shoulder at the man holding her hair tightly.
"Yes?" she demanded testily and Altaïr contained a smirk.
"Make your way to the seamstress's rooms as well as the armory to pick up your hidden blade. There's a surprise waiting there for you that you'll need for practice." He told her before releasing her, and she shot him one last look before darting out of the room. He ran a hand through his short hair before changing into his robes and heading down to the arenas to wait for her.
Amira bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time, her enthusiasm at finally being able to be mobile again was plainly obvious. She knocked politely on the heavy wooden door and waited until it was opened by an older woman who smiled kindly at her.
"Ah you must be his new partner. Please come in child." The old woman gestured her forward and Amira stepped into the room.
Bolts of cloth lay neatly piled around the room, and a garment lay on the table beside the large window. The woman picked it up and handed it to her with a smile. The pale fabric was light and breathable, nearly pure white in color and was slightly different than the ones she had seen the others wearing. First, the make was much different. It had a short section of crimson lacing up the front much like her last uniform had had. The sash was the same shade of crimson, as was the trim of the robe, and the overall fit would be much more form fitting than the men's robes.
The clothes that she would wear underneath were not overly different than what she had worn before, with only a few modifications. She had the same type of vest with the red lacing up the front, and a pair of soft brown pants that she would wear on missions, as well as a pair of shorts that she could wear on a day-to-day basis. The pants that the seamstress had made came down to her ankles and were made of a soft black cloth.
"Try it all on!" The woman urged her, pushing her gently towards the changing screen, and Amira willingly ducked behind it and changed into the outfit.
She smiled as she walked out, and the old woman's face lit up. "It is perfect for you dear!" she exclaimed, turning Amira towards a floor length mirror leaning against the wall behind her.
Amira admired the woman's craftsmanship and praised her accordingly, much to the woman's delight.
"You will be a wonderful influence on that man. It's about time he had a woman around with a solid head on her shoulders!" the woman told her with a grin, and Amira found herself taking a liking to the older woman. She bid her farewell, saying that she had to make it to the armory and to the arena before Altaïr lost all patience, and the woman shooed her on her way with a wave of her hand.
"Go now, and don't keep that impatient man waiting then. He gets grouchy far quicker than you would imagine…" she told Amira, who smiled and nodded before darting out of the room and down the stairs.
Amira entered the armory and was greeted by a large, burly man who smiled broadly at her before launching into conversation.
"This blade of yours is remarkable! The alterations that were made to it are ingenious, and would help us to remain unseen even more in daily life! The lack of a ring finger is rather telling after all…I hope that you don't mind that I took the liberty to create a design for a new blade based off of yours?" he questioned, taking a breath from the stream of words that had poured from his mouth, looking at her uncertainly.
Amira grinned at him and shook her head, "I only wish you had asked for my assistance. I could have drawn you a replica sketch easily if you needed one. This blade was a modified design of our current design in my time that I created." Amira told him, and saw him nod admiringly.
"Not many women know how to work with weapons. You are an unusual one to have around, but it's refreshing." He told her as he handed her back her blade and her new leather guards. She inspected them closely and then nodded in approval before strapping them onto her wrists.
"Won't you need boots like the others?" he asked questioningly, looking pointedly at her sandal clad feet and she smiled at him.
"These are special to me. I designed them myself, but I wouldn't be opposed to having a pair of boots made, if we can have them designed the same as my sandals have been." She told him, and he quirked an eyebrow at her.
Amira flashed him a humorless grin before she spun gracefully in a semi circle and directed a kick at the side of a spare targets head. The straw head of the target lolled to one side and Amira tapped the heel of her sandal lightly then stood with a smirk.
The blacksmith inspected the damage curiously, noting the cleanness of the cut, 'Almost as though the straw was cut clean through with a blade…' he thought to himself before glancing at her curiously. She tapped her right heel against the ground lightly and he heard a metallic shhink as two halves of a blade flipped out from the sides of the sandal and formed a single blade at the tip of the sandal.
He stared down at it in surprise before looking up at her smug smirk, "Not what you expected, now is it?" she asked, and he shook his head. She retriggered the closure and the blades flipped neatly back into their slots.
Before he could ask, she replied to his unspoken question with a laugh. "Yes I will provide you with the design. I'm sure that you can find a way to modify it to work with the men's shoes. But right now, I have a very impatient assassin waiting for me." She told him with a smile before ducking out of the room with a wave of her hand and he called his thanks from behind her.
A/N: Ok so this is the last update until mid august or so…I'm going home for summer break for a few weeks and I won't be around any places with internet for parts of it. That and this computer is getting worked on so I won't have it anyways =[ But I promise I'll be penning out the rest of the chapters during that time and you will all have lots of new ones to look forward to! Much love to all of you and I'll be back in a few weeks!