Chapter 2

The next morning Arno made his way towards Napoleon's mansion. It wasn't very difficult finding out where he lived because the whole street has now been named after him. Arno decided to climb the walls in order to enter the building through an open window that he spotted. He thought it probably wasn't very effective to just knock on the door, there were too many guards patrolling this street for Arno's liking. Arno skillfully scaled the wall, it almost seemed like a natural instinct to spot each little ledge which helped him climb up. Once inside the house, he carefully snuck around, peeking inside each chamber as he passed them by, trying to find the general. It didn't take long for Arno to find the room with Napoleon inside, the door was partially open of the chamber at the end of the hall.

Arno was never the type to knock on a door and wait patiently for an answer. He entered through the door and slipped inside without alerting the occupant. He closed the door rather harshly on purpose and made his way towards the desk near the window where the general was seated. The thud of the door alerted Napoleon, who quickly turned his head in alarm but relaxed again when he saw Arno.

"Ah good morning mon ami. It has been quite a while since we last spoke. I must say that your presence here startled me, I wasn't expecting any visitors at the moment. May I ask why you broke inside my study chambers instead of just knocking on the front door like all civilized people do?"

Arno stood beside the desk and chuckled. "Well with all these guards of you wondering about and with your recent popularity in this city, I wasn't so sure they would even let me in. I couldn't take any chances so I just invited myself inside."

Napoleon shook his head. "Have you come to reconsider my offer to join the army? Now that I am leading all the armed land forces, it would be easy for you to join up. You would be a marshall in no time I can assure you."

"You know that I am not very keen on following orders Napoleon, besides I am here on another business but I suppose it does involve your army this time. "

"Who is it exactly whom you are working for?" Napoleon asked curiously. "Are you here to trace more enemies of yours? If you are, I am not so sure if I can help you this time. It wouldn't be very wise to point you towards the people you want to kill without me knowing who ordered them dead. It could seriously damage my reputation and therefore my own safety."

Arno sat down on a chair next to the desk and replied. "Ah no I am not on a warpath this time, I am afraid I have to disappoint you. No, I have heard from reliable sources that you are planning on going to Egypt very soon and I have come here to join your expedition."

Napoleon looked confused. "How on earth did you know about this? I have done everything in my power to keep the whole expedition a secret, not even my own men know the destination. Once the word gets out, the British would probably do anything to stop us. Why would you want to go to Egypt anyway?"

"Well let's say it doesn't matter at this moment who provided me with this information. I have orders to be part of your own personal security." Arno produced a paper from his coat and handed it over to Napoleon who looked even more confused as he accepted the paper from Arno's hand.

Napoleon inspected the document and sighed. "So the directory themselves sent you here to be my personal guard on this expedition. This is quite a curious development to be honest. I wasn't aware that they were so concerned about my personal safety, no quite the contrary, I am expecting an assassination attempt at any moment." Arno's eyes flickered at the word assassination but he kept quiet as Napoleon continued to investigate the paper. "Very well then Arno, it's fortunate that we are already acquainted because of all the men that the directory could have sent, I would only trust you."

Arno smiled and sat up straight. "I'm flattered. So it's settled then General, when do we set sail?"

"Meet me at the docks of Marseille at the end of next week. My men are already there preparing for the expedition. I'll be leaving in two days to Marseille, once I set all my affairs in this city in order." Napoleon replied while returning the document to Arno.

"Speaking of affairs, how is married life going for you Napoleon? I heard you quickly became engaged with a woman called Josephine after Captain Bernadotte left with Desireé."

Napoleon sighed and reclined back in his seat. "Well it definitely isn't like how the old classical stories love to portray it. It's mostly just frustration, begging my wife to travel along with me but she seems to be enjoying other matters..." Napoleon's thoughts trailed off.

"Are you alright general? Arno replied looking slightly concerned.

"I'm fine Arno thank you, one of the reasons why I am so keen to leave now is to just be away from all the mess in this city. A refreshing start of a new campaign far away from Paris is exactly what I need right now. It's not that my wife will miss me during my absence so that will be the least of my concerns. Anyway I hope you read up your knowledge on Egypt, if you are going to be my personal guard I expect you to be at least aware of current political situations in Egypt. The Mamelukes are an old but powerful force to be reckoned with. Although they won't be a match against my men but I still would like to be as prepared as I can possible be."

Arno chuckled, "Always the military commander aren't you? Anyways I don't think it's foreign armies you need to be concerned with this time I am afraid."

"What do you mean with that Arno?" Napoleon asked confused.

"Well, let's just say that there are greater powers pulling the strings at this moment. Don't worry my friend, I'll do anything in my power to keep you safe general." Arno smiled and stood up from his chair. He amically shook hands with Napoleon and made his way back to the hallway.

"Arno, would you mind taking the door this time?" Napoleon asked

"As you wish general." Arno replied. Arno made his way through the hall towards the staircase and descended down. A servant appeared at the door and opened it for him. Arno thanked the servant and exited the building back on the busy streets of Paris again. This whole trip could turn out to be quite interesting, Arno thought to himself. The distance between Arno's hideout and Napoleon's mansion wasn't very far, within an hour Arno was back again in the attic of the tavern, which hid the underground Assassin's quarters.

The attic was an absolute mess when Arno first set foot in it several years ago, but now it has been richly furbished with shelves full of books on almost any topic you could imagine. The floors were covered with exotic carpets from the East and there were plenty of paintings inside, some of which were saved from the fury of the revolution.