Chapter 20

Both Altair and Hana gave their account of what had happened to Malik before they were told to get some food, some drink and some rest. The Master Assassin left the Bureau without another word whereas the copper haired female thanked the Dai before sitting down at the small table to have some water and some fruit.

Hana was just wondering if Malik had remembered his offer of the maps when he took a seat at the table to the left of the female, a few pieces of parchment in his hands.

"How have you been getting along with the Jerusalem map?" He asked.

She nodded her head and finished her mouthful before she spoke, "I turn it around so the main gate to the city is where it is supposed to be from where I'm standing…I'm guessing that's right because I didn't get lost when I used it that way."

Malik smiled, "You're obviously a natural." He placed all the other maps – but one – on top of her satchel, keeping the one for Kingdom on the table in front of him. "I've made this one so that the only routes you have are direct routes to the other cities. Otherwise it'd just get confusing." Hana nodded her head in understanding as she continued to eat. "I doubt very much you'll be able to get lost with it, I tried to make it as simple as I could – because you can't read." He pointed to a few clusters of squares on the map, "These are little villages, of course there are a few more buildings on the routes to the cities, but I have only marked the ones that we know to be safe for assassins. I hope these will serve you well, Hana." He finished as he rose to his feet.

"Thank you, Malik." The copper haired female smiled up at him, "You are very kind."

"You make it easy to be." He replied, "Now please, have as much food as you'd like and rest well. I believe Altair wants to leave as early as possible tomorrow morning."

The Bureau settled into a companionable silence, and once Hana had had enough to eat, she decided to look around the city for a while. She wasn't going to stay out late, no, but she would like to have a look around to get her bearings for the next time she was to come on an assignment.

Hana scaled the wall above the fountain and pulled herself onto the rooftop before she took a deep breath of the fresh air and looked up at the darkening sky above her. She could hear the commotion of the merchants packing up their wares for the day, and sat watching them for a while before she thought about going to find somewhere she could listen to some music.

Unfortunately she couldn't hear any when she hovered over the rooftops of the taverns (too nervous to actually step foot inside in case she unintentionally caused trouble with the guards), the brothels were unusually quiet and all places where she believed music to be were quiet.

"We're leaving early tomorrow." She heard the Master Assassin's boots land with a thud on the rooftop before he spoke, "Do you not wish to rest?"

She glanced over towards him before she continued watching the market close, "I thought I'd look for some music. But I couldn't find any, so I'm just watching the merchants pack away their things."

Altair nodded his head in understanding, "The civilians of Jerusalem do not play instruments in public." He said, "It draws attention of the guards. If you wish to listen to some music, the city bells toll when someone important is found dead."

"Oh." Hana deadpanned, "I should've thought of that from Damascus."

"When Jabal scolded you for shredding your robes?"

"Yes." She nodded her head upon remembering that that was when she had first spoken to the Master Assassin one-to-one, when he had offered to help her clean her wounds. "Are you staying in the Bureau tonight?" She asked, getting to her feet upon deciding to head back.

Altair was silent for a moment and simply looked at her, before he slowly nodded his head once, "Yes."

She was probably happier than she should have been, and had to stop herself from physically showing it on her face, "What made you change your mind?"

He looked away before he started walking towards her and then past her – jumping from one rooftop to another – only waiting for a second so that the female could catch up and walk beside him, "Patrols have doubled." He replied, "If you found yourself in trouble, Malik would blame me if you were injured."

So, self-preservation. Or was he basically saying that he didn't want her to walk back on her own because it was dangerous? She rolled her eyes at the thought. But she understood what he meant; she wasweak. The copper haired female struggled with five Saracen guards, so if the patrols had doubled then how was she to fair against ten of them?

In any case, they scaled buildings and free-jogged back to the Bureau in a comfortable silence, and once they dropped inside it appeared as though Malik had already retired to bed. They settled down for the night after packing their supplies for the morning, and after about five hours of sleep – Altair woke the copper haired female when he was ready to leave.

A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you for the review I received for the last chapter! You have no idea how much it meant to me to have one after thinking that my story was crap for the past six or seven chapters! I know the story is getting off a little slowly, but I'm trying to build a good relationship with Hana and Altair before anything happens between them. Trust me, the rating for this story will be changing to M.

Please review xx