Maria had been at the bureau for two days now and was beginning to show real signs of restlessness. Both Malik and Altair had accompanied her outside for short walks or longer reconnaissance missions to the entrance of the cistern but those did little to lighten her increasing agitation at her "incarceration". The novice called Tahir had returned to the bureau earlier than expected and the three men were currently deep in conversation.

She watched them from her position at the games table mentally cursing all of them. Jabal was elsewhere; their relationship had descended into nothing short of outright hatred but their exchange of insults was a nice outlet for her frustration. Altair had tried to intervene but Maria soon put paid to that; she neither needed nor wanted him protecting her from his overzealous brothers.

Malik glanced up from the counter and saw her watching them. "Her face looks like milk that has been left out in the sun for a week."

Altair frowned, "She is here to help and we treat her like a prisoner, tell me how she should be reacting to that."

"Hardly a prisoner she has full run of the bureau and we take her out when we can. Don't forget it is for her own protection that she stays here."

Tahir wanted to add that keeping an eye on her day and night was mostly to soothe Malik's suspicion of the woman but he would have been skinned for saying it instead he suggested an alternative. "I have shared my news with you perhaps I could now accompany her to the home of the woman who was killed; she has told me she wants to pay her respects to the family."

Altair knew of Maria's desire to visit them she had told him often enough and despite his assurances he would escort her as yet he hadn't found the time. He and Malik had been studying the apple at night and it had left both men tired. Still he didn't want her wandering outside with a novice, Tahir was a good man but Maria could out smart him in her sleep. That is when he realised Malik's constant warning about trusting her were beginning to affect his thinking.

"No thank you Tahir I have agreed to escort her."

A few minutes later she sauntered over to the counter and leaned heavily against its rough wooden surface. Malik regarded her expression and knew what was coming.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Surprised that she hadn't joined them to bicker Malik genuinely wracked his brain to think of something useful she could do but she had already given them all the information she had and now it had come down to planning the actual mission. "You have been most helpful Maria but now it is up to us to arrange the details of our entry into the fortress."

"You do know it's got to be tomorrow night don't you?"

All three men looked at her questioningly. "Tomorrow is the first day of Hocktide." Still greeted by blank expressions she rolled her eyes and elaborated for the idiot men. "It's a festival, we celebrate... you don't care what but the point is the soldiers will be boisterous." She enjoyed feeling like a now-it-all for once. The assassins shared a look which only served to increase her satisfaction. 'Leave me out of the planning will you!'

Malik watched her for a second before turning to Altair, "So, tomorrow might be a good time."

Maria turned to Tahir, "Make sure you wear that hood nice and low young man else the young ladies with be fighting each other to get her binds on you." She walked into the back of the bureau with a huge grin on her face and all three men watching her exit with something approaching horror.

Tahir turned to Malik, "What does that mean?"

"I have not got the first idea but I want to know why I wouldn't have to wear my hood low." Raising his voice so she could hear him he called after her. "I'm far better looking than he is Maria."

He heard her grunting laughter and turned to Altair, "You know women always preferred me."

"You care about this?"

"She only said it to annoy me and that I do care about."

Altair lifted his workings from the table and joined Maria in the back, "Vanity is an ugly thing Malik."

Malik narrowed his eyes at the smirking novice walking out the door.

Dinner was over and all of the novices had left the bureau. Maria hadn't joined them eating and Tahir missed her presence at the meal he found it refreshing to have a woman around and a woman who could hold her own with the Master and Malik just made all the more enjoyable. He walked the short distance to the safe house choosing to use the streets rather than the rooftops.

The last woman he had spent any real time with had been his mother and that was so long ago he was sometimes hard pushed to summon her soft features to his mind's eye but when he relaxed fully he could recall her and for a short time he could almost feel the warmth from her eyes and smell the sweet spices she used on her hair. Maria too had the warmth in her eyes although he had only glimpsed it briefly usually when the other novices were teasing him about some mistake or other it was there and whenever he saw it he was reminded of his mother.

He wasn't allowed to mix with the women in the garden that was a privilege only the older assassins could enjoy but even that never troubled him much. So far in his young life he had found himself content to be in the company of his brothers but more and more he found himself glancing at Maria hoping she would offer him a small smile or a kind word. As he entered the street where the safe house was situated a stray dog scrambled across his path but it was limping badly.

"Come here boy." He clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers but the mongrel stayed in the shadows of the bath house. He approached it slowly and held out his hand waiting for the dog to make the next move. It crouched down low sniffing the air and slowly made its way toward him, stopping when it was almost within reach. Tahir slowly held his outstretched hand closer to the animal but made no move to take hold of it. It sniffed at his skin for a time then took a small anxious step closer to him.

"What has happened to you?" He put a hand on the dogs head and stroked the hair between its ears; the dog happily moved its head in time with his hand. He knelt down and saw a large gash on the dog's hindquarters. "Someone has taken a lump out of your thigh boy."

He stroked the dog again and left it to its own devices if it followed then he would tend its wounds and feed him if not then it would die, either way he felt the dog had the right to choose its own fate. He neared the safe house and saw the dog sneaking up behind him and smiled.

Maria sat on the rooftop of the bureau and enjoyed the night air. The light from the half moon was catching the smoke as it rose from houses giving the entire city an unearthly glow she found strangely comforting. She was thinking about tomorrow night and the plans which had been set in motion, Malik was now almost sure it wasn't a trap but Maria would drop an occasional reminder of her affiliation with the Templars just to keep him on his toes. She was looking forward to the mission and had no intention of being left out now when she had suffered days of boredom in the bureau waiting for them to decide when to strike.

The two men were in what she had come to think of as their office staring at that stupid artefact searching for revelations. They believed she was asleep but she had crept past them every night to come out here and they were none the wiser. She had always sought solitude and imagined she always would; being around people became tiresome and irked her spirit, these times on her own were something she would always treasure. She looked in the direction of the fortress and could make out the shape of her tower, black against the night sky. She could almost hear the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks below.

'Tomorrow I shall be with you but as enemy in your midst will you still hold me to your breast and comfort me with your silence?'

She thought of Robert and lay down on the latticed roof watching the clouds pass over her world.

They were dancing and clapping together all united under the banner of the Crusaders but their bond was deeper. They had bled together and starved together but now in the pale light of a half moon they shared the joy of victory. There were small pockets of grief, men remembering a fallen friend or mourning the death of a much loved steed but what Maria recalled most was the music and the merriment.

She had been spinning around for what felt like an age moving from one man to another in an increasingly faster paced reel. The shrill flutes and whistles produced a happy tune and the drums kept the pace of the dancers frantic. Her smile was wide and genuine as she moved to the next man; Stephen took her hands and dipped his head before forcing her into a series of spins which almost made her dizzy. She was laughing when she caught side of Robert standing on the edge of the celebration looking unusually pensive. She leaned in closer to Stephen shouting in his ear that she needed to go and speak with Robert but he couldn't hear her. She pulled her hands from his and he shrugged and moved on to his next partner.

As she got closer to him her smile faltered and when she saw the melancholy look in his eyes it vanished completely. "Does something trouble you my Lord?"

He sat on a nearby barrel, "Maria I find thoughts of the future are clouding my ability to enjoy the present."

She stood before him trying to read his mood since his vague words offered little, "The future looks bright does it not. Saladin and his forces are being pushed further back every day, surely it's only a matter of time before Crusader soldiers march into Jerusalem and reclaim that holiest of places in the name of Christ."

His hand brushed her cheek and Maria had to force herself not to step back. They had become close and Robert had shown her more confidence than she would ever have imagined possible but this was out with the bounds of their relationship.

He noticed her hesitation to permit the contact but held his hand on her cheek. "I wish I was worthy of that look I see in your eyes Maria, you hold me in such high regard I fear I can never live up to your ideals."

She relaxed and even smiled again. "You live up to them everyday my Lord. I know you are a man of flesh and blood same as the rest but you have something great inside you, I see it."

He stood to his full height and led her by the hand into his tent. "We have business to address you and I perhaps now would be a good time to see to it."

She looked back at the men and the few women presently enjoying the celebration but Robert had business to attend to and she felt proud he had chosen her to serve him; there would always be another party...

She ducked under his arm which was holding the tent flap open for her and began to walk towards his desk but he reached for her hand and pulled her back to him. Confused by his strange behaviour she opened her mouth to enquire as to his mood when he moved suddenly forward and drew her fully into his arms. He kissed her without waiting to see if she wanted to be kissed but it wouldn't have mattered, she would have been too stunned to offer any rejections. He had never shown the slightest sign of attraction to her nor she for him yet now she found herself in his embrace with his mouth locked against hers.

She waited to see if he would stop but his grip on her tightened as he pulled her body impossibly close to his. His mouth began to move against hers and she knew one way or another she would have to react and quickly. The beginnings of the stirrings she occasionally felt in her lower regions told her that her body wasn't against this happening and the fact that she loved the man should mean her mind would be in favour too but somewhere deep inside Maria knew that the very fact she was even capable of asking questions of herself at this time meant he probably wasn't the man her childish heart -which would sometimes emerge in her dreams- would have dreamed of.

But that childish voice as so often happened in adulthood had to be crushed. She learned early in life that you seldom find your heart's desire and even if you dare to dream of pursuing it there will always be someone to pull you back to reality. Robert had helped her achieve her dreams and she knew that this was where she was meant to be. She let her arms wrap around his neck and opened her mouth to allow his tongue to enter hers. He manoeuvred them to the small bed in the corner of his tent as his seneschal became his lover.

Her current lover's voice brought her back to the here and now, "More and more often I find you day dreaming Maria."

She looked through the gaps in the roof and grinned, "How do you know it's not you I'm dreaming about?"

He waited for her to join him on the ground before he replied. "If it were me you would go to great lengths to disguise it, you would never volunteer such information."

"Where is Malik?"

"He will be asleep by now we are both exhausted and have abandoned our studies for the time being. The apple drains us Maria and we need to be strong for what lies ahead."

He wrapped his arms around her waist enjoying the brief moment of privacy they could share. Not since the time spent in her room had he been in a position to embrace her and he was beginning to feel the adverse effects missing her touch would have on him. Her fingers stroked the rough stubble on his cheeks before she pulled back his hood. "You really do look done in go back inside and get some sleep Altair. You can relax I'm not considering escape I'm just enjoying the night air."

"When you came back on the first night I knew running away wasn't in your plans."

She gawped at him, "You knew! You knew and you never came out after me?"

He led them both to the cushions on the floor and pulled her down beside him. "You are not my prisoner Maria; you are free to go if you truly want to. I just hoped would stay."

She smiled her head buried in his chest. He lay back and let his body sink into the pillow and Maria lay down beside him face to face. "Talk to me about your life Maria. Tell me something I don't know about you."

She spoke of her mother and how Ceana had reminded her of her. He listened to her voice as she spoke and realised this was the happiest he had ever been. This woman had come to mean a great deal to him and he needed to begin to convince her there would be a place for her at Masyaf because the alternative- her leaving him and taking this peace he felt when she was near with her- was unthinkable.

He told her of Umar, the renowned assassin and his father and how life had been for him after his death. He came close to telling her about Adha but there would be other nights for that conversation. Her almond eyes, the deepest blue he had ever seen were beginning to grow heavy. "Come inside and rest now habibti we can talk more tomorrow."

She pulled his head close to hers and kissed him soft and slow, "No matter what happens after tomorrow I want to thank you for opening my eyes to the truth Altair."

He got up and brought her to her feet then taking her hand he brushed her cheek with his thumb, "Tomorrow will go as planned and no harm will come to you Maria I won't allow it."

Leaning her head against his chin she smiled sadly; she hadn't been thinking about the mission.

The novices arrived and left earlier than usual because Malik was double checking even the smallest details of the plan. They all returned mid-afternoon bearing strange tales of men being tied up by groups of you women and not being released until a fee was paid. Maria had no idea what most of their chatter was about since it was in Arabic, if they spoke it to her she could pick out large chunks of the conversation but when they spoke to each other fast and flowing she was utterly lost.

Tahir came and stood beside her at the long table which stood against the wall. "Are you fully prepared for this evening Maria?"

"As ready as I can be Tahir. It's just a matter of waiting now."

"We will eat soon and when the sun begins to set we will begin."

He was rewarded with another of her charming smiles and he almost found himself moving closer to her. Altair's voice from the counter saved him from that error. "Tahir come here."

Maria paid no attention after Tahir had left her side, she resumed cleaning her sword.

"You offered to escort Maria to the home of the Ceana's family; I have decided to permit this."

Tahir nodded and looked around at Maria. "Does she know we will be going?"

"I haven't told her yet, eat now if you want to and I will ensure Maria is ready to leave within the hour. Return here as soon as the visit is over and do not let any guards get close enough to Maria to identify her."

The boy bowed his head and joined his brothers in their early meal. Altair took Maria aside and gave her the news about the trip. "I'm sorry you had to wait it was my intention to escort you but I have been busy. Will you accept Tahir in my place?"

After last night she knew he didn't think she would run off he was simply trying to protect her so she smiled and thanked him politely assuring him that the novice was a perfectly acceptable stand in.

Maria and Tahir made their way quietly through quiet streets of Acre. Quiet here at least but Maria knew that almost everyone would be at the fort for the festival. They hardly saw another human being and just before they reached the street where the family lived Tahir turned to her and said, "Would you mind if we took a very short detour. The safe house is only a couple of streets past where we are going and I want to check in on a patient of mine?"

She looked at the sun beginning its descent and puckered her lips. "Okay but we must be very quick no more than 10 minutes agreed?"

Tahir agreed quickly pleased that his request was being granted.

In less than five minutes they had reached his patient and Maria had to stop herself from laughing when she saw this assassin in training pulling scraps of food from one of his pouches to feed to an injured dog. It was a black short haired mongrel but she had to admit it had a charming face. "What's his name?"

"It's a she and I haven't given her a name yet I have been more concerned with her wound."

She looked at the linen the boy had bound around the dog's hind end, "You've done a good job of dressing the wound. For now you can only provide her food and water but she looks like she will be fine."

The young man smiled and rubbed his hand along the beast's spine, which she arched to show how much she enjoyed it. "I'll think of a name for her later but it doesn't matter I won't get to keep her."

Maria wondered which of the two half wits at the bureau she would have to nag into submission in order that he could keep the dog but there wasn't time to discuss that now. "Tahir we have to go."

He gave the dog one final clap before joining Maria on the road, "Please don't tell anyone about her they tease me enough already."

She leaned into him and whispered, "Worry not Tahir my lips are sealed."

She knocked on the door and waited before knocking again with a touch more force. From inside she heard footsteps dragging across the floor before their owner reached the door and pulled it open and she was greeted by a bleary eyed youth. "What is it you want knocking like you was trying to wake the dead?"

Maria smelled ale and a lot of it by the stench coming from inside, "Is your Father home?"

"No he's in the gaol for fighting with soldiers and I hope to be joining him there soon enough so if you'll kindly go away and leave me be I have a busy night ahead of me."

Maria shoved her foot in the door to stop him closing it and pulled the boy toward her by the scruff of the neck. "Your Mother died aiding me and if you think I would repay that by letting her idiot son get drunk and start a riot you are sorely mistaken. Get back inside and get into your boots." She shoved him hard enough for the boy to stumble but he balanced himself before he fell.

"You're the woman who was hurt then? It's hard to tell you were covered in blood when last I saw you." Incredibly he sank into a chair and let his head drop onto the table.

Maria stormed across the room and smashed a huge pewter jug against the table top sending whatever he had left of his ale across the surface forming puddles on the floor, his head shot up and she smiled. "Good I have your attention. What is your name boy?"

He screwed up his face like a petulant child but answered just the same. "It's Uilleam."

"Alright Uilleam I understand you have had a bad few days I really do but I swear if you don't get across that room and get into your boots right now so help me God I will drag your drunken arse bare foot down the fucking road now move it!"

Tahir stood behind her and whispered, "Where are you taking him?"

"Somewhere I can lock him up until he is sober."

"Malik is not going to like this Maria."

She turned to the novice and gave him his first glimpse of the woman who had ridden at Robert De Sable's side in many battles. "He will be free to voice any objections Tahir but I'm keeping this boy safe if I have to tie him up and sit on him."

Between them they managed to get the boy back to the bureau but Maria stopped in the small forecourt next to the building. "Go inside and tell Altair what is happening, ask him if there is somewhere else I can put him overnight."

In no time at all she saw Altair making his way down the ladder to join her. "He's drunk and plans to fight with soldiers. He said his father is in custody for fighting already. I know you must worry about the security of this place but I couldn't leave him Altair not after what his mother did for us."

Altair regarded the youth sitting on the ground, he was in no state to fight anyone but Maria was once again letting her heart rule her head. "We have a safe house he can spend the night there."

"Take him inside Altair it wouldn't do for us to neglect him after his mother showed such courage in aiding us." Maria spun around to find herself face to face with Malik. Sneaky bastard had used the door and crept up on her. He paused to enjoy the surprise on the woman's face, "Did you think me incapable of stealth Maria?"

She considered giving a dishonest reply but quickly changed her mind, "It's not stealth but kindness which surprises me Malik."

The boy on the ground tried to stagger to his feet but Maria planted a boot on his stomach. "Now the only problem is how do we get this ox into the bureau?"

Malik flicked his eyes at her before replying in a voice laden with smug satisfaction, "I suggest you lift from the knees Maria."

"He can't use the "secret door" hidden behind the crates then?"

"Right first time, he cannot."

Altair shrugged refusing to take part in their squabble and hauled the youth to his feet, "Tahir take an arm."

Maria grinned in Malik's general direction but he was already swaggering back around the corner.

I found this chapter pretty much done but I'm worried it's poor because I didn't give it a lot of attention. This is it for a while for real I haven't got another word written for either story :) Safety and peace! :D