Chapter 21 –The Truth in Alamut – 1228

Darim looked at the fortress of Alamut.

It was named Alamut, "the Eagle's Nest" for good reason. It had a view of miles of territory. It was just as formidable as Masyaf and perhaps more so with mountains to one side and the Caspian Sea to the other. The town grow down the sloping hills to the sea beyond where. The fortress was situated between the densely forested slopes of the Mazandaran province in the north and the dry and barren plain of Qazvin in the south. Nearby the castle of Lambsar was another source of power for the assassins of the region. The Persians were formidable opponents and when Altair had started the guild of assassins many years ago, he had not imagined they would have as much success in the region as they did.

From time to time the Persian brothers would travel to Masyaf seeking Altair's wisdom on matters in the region they controlled and they had been the first to report on the Mongol horde coming closer and closer to area. Fearing being overrun they cried for help and Altair, Darim, and Maria had gone to meet the horde.

Darim dismounted from his mount and walked to the guards who stepped forward at the city gate. They were not aggressive, but watchful. It was approaching noon it the breeze from the sea made it seem cooler than the air really was.

"Safety and Peace, brothers." Darim said spreading his hands.

"And to you, brother." The leader stepped forward. "You have the look of the Levant. We have a family in our care from the region."

"Sef…Amal…" Darim breathed. He then looked up. "Where may I find them?"

The Persian guard stepped forward. "You are the one named Darim Ibn-La'Ahad."

"Yes." Darim said surprised he was known here. His Persian was not great, but he could get by.

"I am Qasim." Qasim nodded. "Come with me."

He led them into them a street that was up the hill near the fortress. The houses were larger and had gardens before him. "Karima is at the market, but some of the children are here." Qasim smiled as he nodded to a raven haired beauty who could not be more than ten came out from the home and waved at him. "Miriam. Could you have your cousin fetch your mother?"

"Yes." She nodded and she was joined by a girl who looked exactly like her before they ran back into the house calling for someone.

"Twins." Darim remarked. "Sef's children?"

"Yes." Qasim nodded. "I have my own. At times they are together playing with dolls."

Darim nodded.

A youth came from the house. He had grey blue eyes and dark hair. Darim froze looking at the boy. He looked exactly as he did in his youth. The boy came to Qasim. "What is needed? Miriam and Maria are always so excitable." He said with a look of disgust.

Qasim chuckled. "They are twin girls." He said. "Now Bilal I need you to fetch your Aunt from the Market. Your uncle has arrived."

"My uncle is dead." The young man said passing them.

"What?" Darim said. "How?" He asked.

"You are not my uncle." The boy said.

"This is your uncle, Darim."

The boy froze and whipped back looking at the older man up and down. Darim was not in his thirties and looked at the boy watching him. "Darim is not my uncle. He is my sire." He said slowly. He looked at the man and blinked.

"But your mother Amal introduced herself as Amal bint Altair bin La'Ahad." Qasim said in confusion. He was not alone and he noticed the youth and assassin watching each other and taking measure.

Darim recovered from the shock at hearing that this boy was his son faster than the boy recovered. Darim looked at him. "Amal is my wife." He said softly.

"But…" Qasim said looking between the pair.

"She uses my father's name because she does not remember we own sire." Darim said softly. "I understand your confusion, friend. It is clear you have been close to the family. How long have they been here?"

"Nearly two years." Qasim answered. "Amal brought them here after there was trouble in Masyaf."

He looked from the guard to his apparent son. "Where is she?"

"Gone." Bilal said turning to go. He moved quickly.

Darim moved to followed, but Qasim lifted his hand. "He will return." He looked at the younger man. "Not the homecoming you were expecting then?"

Darim sat down on a bench nearby. "No." He looked up. "I have a son." He blinked. "I have been gone for more than ten years and I have a son."

"Two daughters as well."

"I was there for their birth." He took a breath. "Why did she not tell me?" He said to himself.

It was sometime before Bilal returned carrying things for his aunt who also had her arms full. She had bought food for two days with her brood she cared for. Her own three daughters and Amal's three proved to be a challenge, though the money Amal had left her helped greatly so she did not have to live off the charity of the assassins who were in command of the fortress. They would look after a widow of their own and her children, but she wished to attempt to live on her own and not be reminded daily about her husband's duty that had gotten him killed.

She gasped seeing Darim rise to his feet to greet her. "Darim." She said softly almost like a prayer. He had aged little other than the wisdom in his eyes and the tan on his skin from long hours in the sun on the Steppe. Darim was a handsome man and he had been the first to court her and she felt her heart jump a little seeing him, but she also well knew his heart belonged to another just as hers did, though hers was now broken after her husband's murder and her father's imprisonment. Amal had gone nearly two years ago to free Malik, but she had not returned with him leading the woman to think she had failed in her task. As such Karima upheld her part of the vow and cared for the children as though they were her own.

Darim looked at her kindly and smiled a little as he stepped to her. "Here let me help you." He said taking the vegetables from her arms and the fresh goat milk.

"Thank you." She said wiping her hands on her apron. They walked into the house and he set the baskets and jug down as did Bilal. She turned to her nephew and smiled at him. "Would you be so kind as to take Miriam and Maria for a walk and go find your sisters for me?"

"Of course, Auntie." He looked at Darim who was organizing the food absently. "Are you sure you want to be alone with him?"

Darim turned and realized the boy did not trust him. He had not given the boy cause to trust him yet he knew and he sighed and knelt before the younger man and looked into his eyes. Darim took a breath. The lad had inherited Darim's mother Maria's dancing eyes and Altair's coloring and body structure, but in his face Darim saw as much of his mother as he saw himself.

"You have the look of your mother." He said.

Bilal looked at him and folded his thin arms. "Aunt I says I look like you."

Darim's cheek lifted in a smile as he looked up at Karima. "You have my eyes and both our Syrian coloring." He said. He lifted a hand and touched the boys head. "You are the man of the house. I need you to trust me before you go on this errand. I will not harm your aunt. I swear to you." He said.

"My mother swore she would come home." He said. Darim read the insecurity in the boy's eyes.

"I will bring her back." Darim said half promising himself and half promising the boy. "I miss her terribly." He said. "I have not seen her in as long as you have years."

"Are you truly my father?" Bilal asked.

"I…"

Karima stepped forward. "Your father left while you were still growing in your mother's womb, Bilal. Neither knew you were there when Darim left with your grandmother and grandfather."

The boy took a breath. "You did not abandon us?"

"I am here, aren't I?" Darim asked spreading his hands. "I came as soon as I could."

The boy nodded. "I will go fetch my sisters now. Safety and peace." He said bowing his hand over his heart on his thin chest.

Darim lifted his own hand to his own chest. "And with you brother."

Bilal gathered the twins with him telling them they were going to go find flowers for their uncle. They left and Karima took a breath.

"Safe for a time." She muttered.

Darim looked at her. "Can I help you?" He asked.

She nodded as she reached for a tuber she had bought. It had a light skin and purple flesh beneath as she began to peel it with a knife. Darim sat down on a bench, drew his own knife, and began to peel on as well and gasped as he cut his thumb after a moment.

She smiled a little. "Cut away, not toward."

He nodded after sucking on his cut a moment. He had killed many in ten years and some even with this knife, but the simple task of skinning a potato was a skill he was yet to learn. The cut stopped bleeding and he continued amazed at her skill as she worked. "Where are Amal and Sef, Karima? What has happened?"

She paused. "Amal left two years ago and has not returned."

"Why?"

"She was going to kill those who murdered Sef." She said.

"Sef was murdered?"

"Yes." She looked up. "And my father was accused of the crime." She took a breath and closed her eyes against the pain. "At first I knew that Amal was jealous of Sef and me being together while you were away, but now, you have returned so you have her and I have no man."

He reached and touched her cheek as a tear ran down it. "After I find my wife, I swear to you. I will care for you. Sef looked after my family for ten years. It is the least I can do."

"Thank you for your kind words." She said touching the warm hand.

He nodded letting his hand drop as he looked back at the potato he held. "Where did Amal go?"

"Masyaf."

"She was not there when we arrived and we were told that Sef and Amal were both here."

"Lies. The order is full of them, Darim." She said.

"Do they treat you well here?"

"Yes." She said.

"Good." He said finishing the tuber and moved onto a second one.

"Do you think she is dead?"

"I do not know." He said.

She nodded. "Bilal has grown into your image." She said smiling. "He grows like you every day." She smiled. "He wishes to be his grandfather one day."

He chuckled. "Youth always has their whims." He looked at her. "Am I truly his father?"

"Do you not trust her?" She asked looking up at him.

"No I do, but I would have hoped she would have told me of her condition before I left her." He swallowed and looked down. "I should never have left her side."

"You had to. Your father commanded it."

"Even still."

"Perhaps she knew that you needed to go with your father and that was the only way to assure that."

He listened to the truth of her words. "Perhaps you are right."

"Would you have left her if you would have known she was again expecting?"

"No." He said.

She nodded. "There you go then." She rose to her feet and put the tubers in a put with some water and then began to cut some goat meat she had purchased as well.

He sighed.

It was nearly dark when he heard voices. At first he had been weary, but then he knew the sounds were those of children. The door opened and he looked at Bilal who smiled at him. Behind him came a dark haired beauty with dark eyes. Behind her came two girls he well knew, but they were older now and both had bodies of young women. Leena had his eyes while Majida had those of his father. So clever were those eyes as she paused and regarded him. Dark and piercing. Well he knew those eyes. Altair would live on after his death in those dark eyes just as Maria would live in Leena and Bilal. He looked at Leena. The girl was the very image of the drawing that Altair had made of Maria in her younger days.

Karima smiled at them. "Come then, greet your father!" She said.

Leena and Majida stepped forward and embraced the man why hardly remembered and whose face they only knew in weak memory. He hugged each and kissed each on the brow. He looked to Karima. "What have you been feeding them?" He asked smiling. "They have grown like mustard."

Karima smiled. "My own daughters Noor, Miriam, and Maria." She nodded to them. "Your uncle, Darim."

"He came back from the Mongols?" Noor asked.

"Is he an assassin too?" Miriam asked.

"Where is your blade?" Her twin asked rolling his left arm in her hand.

He chuckled at her and loved it from her hand and flicked the stub of his finger against the mechanism, revealing the blade as it came from its sheath. "It is not a toy." He said.

"No." Noor said. "It is a tool. The tool of the assassin."

"Mother said that those who cannot fight with blades can still die by them." Majida said. "We all can fight, father."

He smiled at her as he sheathed the weapon and nodded. "Good, but for now in the morning I must go to find your mother."

"What if she is dead like uncle Sef?" Leena asked.

"Then I will avenge her and return to you." He said simply.

They nodded.

The evening meal was mostly silent and then Karima ordered them to wash and go to bed. Darim stood by the fire letting it warm him as he watched Karima clean up. He sighed and looked at her. "I ride in the morning for Masyaf." He said simply.

She nodded. "Fortune favor your blade, Darim."

He touched her cheek softly. "Thank you."

She smiled and went to the other part of the house to check on the children.

Darim slept little on the bench before the fire. He had slept on far less comfortable ground so that was not the problem. It was more that his mind was full. Amal had given him a son, a beautiful son who was far more mature than he should be at his age. She had never written about him in her letters. Was it perhaps she knew that he would return?

He sighed.

She had left to seek revenge for his brother's murder and not returned. Mailk was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. The assassins had to know about the betrayal and so did his father. He prayed her would reach Masyaf in time.

ZzZ

Dawn broke.

Darim was saddling his horse and checking the straps. He had taken provisions that Karima had offered to him and gave her money to restock her supplies. He sighed and caressed the horse's head. This horse had seen him through much. The horse was shorter than any Arabian horse had ridden, but he was surefooted and could carry Darim well. He was not built for speed or show, but he was very functional, capable of traveling miles upon miles.

He heard a noise and turned to see Bilal standing, arms folded about his body to ward off the chill. Darim regarded the sleep child.

"I heard you. I wanted to say goodbye."

Darim nodded and knelt before the young boy. "I need you to keep an eye on you sisters, aunt, and cousins for me. You are the man of the house until I return." He said. "Can you do that for me?"

"I promised mother." He said softly. "I miss her."

"I promise to find her." Darim said cupping the boy's chin to make him look at him.

"What if…?" The boy looked on the edge of tears. "I have a father now, but what if my mother is gone."

"Do not think such things, Bilal." He said. He took the boy by the shoulders. "I regret not being here for you. Perhaps I could have saved us all grief."

"Uncle Sef said you were brave and good." He took a breath.

"He was a good man, your uncle." Darim nodded, taking a breath to hide his own grief from the boy.

"Yes. He taught me much. I hope to make you and him proud one day."

Darim smiled at the youth. "You already do."

"Safety and peace, father." The boy said.

Darim embraced his son and held him. "You as well, my son." He said. He nodded and rose to his feet.

He mounted as the boy stood back from him. "Remember, Bilal. You are Bilal ibn Darim ibn Altair bin La'Ahad." He put his hand to his chest.