When Altair and Connor finished talking, it was already dawn. Connor got up to go to his village. Maria was in bed, sleeping.
"I hope I helped you…" Connor said.
"You helped us a lot…" Altair said, getting up slowly.
"Can I say something?" Connor asked. "You were right… Achilles should have told you all of what's happening here…"
"Thanks…" Altair said. "I have to have people that I can trust…"
Connor nodded and said goodbye, leaving the room then. Altair walked to bed slowly and carefully laid down next to Maria. She opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Did you understand all?" She asked.
"Yeah…" He said. "Connor explained all… it's too complex… I'll explain everything to you later…"
"Ok…" She said, closing her eyes.
"Happy birthday, by the way…" Altair said.
Maria looked at him again, smiling.
"You remembered…" She said.
"I saw the date on the paper yesterday…" He confessed.
Maria nodded and kissed him.
"Thank you…" She said. "Now, you need to rest…"
Altair nodded, even if he knew he had a lot to think about for Maria's birthday…
X ~ X ~ X
The next day, Maria let Altair resting and got up in silence. Changing, she tried to leave the room without noise.
"Leaving without saying goodbye?" Altair asked.
Maria turned.
"I wanted to let you rest…" She said, approaching a little.
"You know that I'm used to sleeping little, you know that…" He said, getting up from the bed slowly.
"I know… but one day, you'll get sloppy and have a serious injury…" She explained. "And I don't want to be without you…"
Altair walked to her and hugged her.
"I'll try to rest later…" He said, kissing her head. "I promise…"
Maria nodded.
"Thank you…" She said. "Let's go then?"
"Wait, I need to get dressed…" He said.
X ~ X ~ X
After breakfast, Altair and Maria headed outside, where they found Connor with some men.
"Apparently, it's not just you who don't seep…" Maria said putting her hands on her waist.
Connor raised an eyebrow and was going to say something when he saw Altair denying.
Connor nodded and said instead:
"Before class, I want to present to you some of our associates… Stephane Chapheau, Duncan Little and Clipper Wilkinson…"
They greeted each other.
"Connor explained who you for us are…" Duncan said. "By the way, good fight yesterday…"
"Thanks…" Maria said. "It's how I pretend to teach you…"
"And when we'll have the honor to see our leader fight?" Clipper asked.
Altair showed his left hand a little.
"Until I heal from this and my other injuries, I won't be able to fight…" He said.
Maria then interrupted them.
"This conversation is good, but I have a class to teach…" She said.
Connor and Altair nodded.
"Let's go…" Connor said to his colleagues.
Maria sighed. Turning, kissed Altair quickly and joined them.
Altair sighed and resolved to study a little. As soon as he opened the door, he met Achilles in the corridor.
"How's the hand?" Achilles asked.
Altair closed the door.
"It hurts a little…" Altair said. "How did you know?"
"I saw Connor bringing you the stuff…" Achilles answered. "Sorry for that…"
Altair nodded.
"If you need me, I'll be here…" Achilles said.
Altair thought quickly.
"Actually, I need help with two things…" He said. "Connor helped me with our allies list… I need help with the other list…"
Achilles nodded and said:
"Come to my office…"
Altair nodded and followed him.
X ~ X ~ X
Two hours later, Altair gets up from the chair in Achilles office.
"Thanks for the explanation…"
Achilles nodded and asked:
"What's the second thing you wanted to know?"
"It's for Maria…" Altair said. "Today is her birthday and since we're in this situation, I thought something during the night…"
X ~ X ~ X
When Maria finished the training, she saw Altair leaving the house and walking towards her.
"Did you rest?" She asked when he approached her.
"Actually, I was talking with Achilles…" Altair said.
Maria became exasperated.
"Altair…" She whined.
"I know, I know…" He said.
"What am I go to do with you?" She said, denying with her head.
Altair smiled and when he would say something, Connor interrupted:
"Altair, Maria…
They looked at him.
"I want to show you something…"
They nodded and followed him through the woods a little until they reached a small house.
"Hello, Connor…" A woman said.
"Hi, Deborah…" Connor said. "I want to present you to Altair and Maria…"
"Hi… Deborah Carter… but everyone calls me Dobby…"
They greeted each other.
"Please, Dobby… can you pick the weapons for me?" Connor asked.
"Sure…" Dobby said.
"It's where we keep our weapons… muskets, guns, darts with ropes…" Connor explained as the weapons were brought.
They waited until Dobby put everything on the table.
"What are of this?" Altair asked.
Maria was also curious.
Connor remembered then they didn't have any of this on their time…
"They are firearms…" Connor said as he picked the musket and showing them. "Just aim and shoot…"
They nodded.
"And this one?" Maria asked, picking up a dart.
"Careful with this, girl…" Dobby said, picking it from her hand.
Altair denied. Maria looked at her ugly and was about to say something when Connor intervened.
"She calls everyone like that, Maria…"
"Yeah, I passed to call everyone like that when I came here…" Dobby confirmed. "The women are girls and the men are boys…"
Maria nodded reluctantly.
"But what is it exactly?" She asked again.
"It's a rope dart…" Connor explained. "I like to use like that…"
Connor ran to a tree and climbed it quickly, which let Altair and Maria surprised. Walking into a thick branch, he threw the dart at a training doll, pulled it near him and jumped from the branch, raising the doll and hanging it high in the tree.
"Wow…" Maria said when Connor returned.
"You need to teach me this when I get better…" Altair said.
"Sure…" Connor said. "But getting back to the subject, since you are hurt, you can try the pistol…"
Dobby gave the firearm to Connor.
"It's the same the musket…" He said. "Unlock aim and shoot."
Altair nodded.
"Do you want to try?" Connor asked, giving Altair the pistol.
"Sure…" Altair said, picking up the pistol.
He unlocked it, aimed to the floor and pressed the trigger.
"Very practical, don't you think?" Connor asked.
"Yeah…" Altair agreed. "It's like to shoot an arrow with a crossbow…"
"A crossbow?" Connor asked.
"We have a machine that throws arrows…" Altair said.
Connor nodded.
"For this, we have the arc…" Connor said.
As they spoke, Dobby called Maria softly.
"If we let, they will speak until tomorrow…"
Maria crossed her arms in her chest and breathed exasperated until she intervened and picked the pistol from Altair's hand.
"Imagine you two into a store, discussing firearms, the boredom it might be…" She said.
Altair smiled and Connor became embarrassed.
"Sorry…" They said together.
Connor turned to Dobby.
"Thanks, Deborah… you can guard all…"
"You're welcome…" Dobby said.
At this moment, Altair remembered he had to talk to Connor:
"Connor, can I talk to you alone?" He asked.
"Sure…" Connor said
They walked to a short distance, leaving Maria and Dobby alone.
"Maria…" Dobby said as Maria looked at her. "Do you know if Altair is compromised?"
"Why do you want to know?" Maria asked, starting to get jealous.
"He's handsome…" Dobby asked. "And with those muscles, he must be wonderful in bed…"
Maria breathed angrily and said with clenched teeth:
"Yes, he is …"
Dobby looked at her and raised her hands.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything…. I'll never speak of him again, girl…"
With this, Maria left her and started to go to the house quickly. She passed Altair and Connor on the way.
"Maria?" Altair called but was ignored.
She didn't stop.
"I'll arrange everything for you, Altair…" Connor said. "Go…"
Altair nodded and followed Maria.
He found Maria by the training area, with her hands on the wood railing.
"Maria?" He asked. "Did something happen?"
"It's nothing really… it'll pass…" She said.
Altair walked to her side ad she looked at him.
"Maria, whatever bothers you, I need to know…" He said. "So we can resolve it together…"
"I know…" She said.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Altair asked again.
"I'm not angry, I'm jealous…" Maria said, looking in front of her.
Altair raised an eyebrow.
"From whom?" He asked.
"Dobby…" Maria said with disdain.
"What did she do?" Altair asked.
"She asked if the handsome here is compromised…" She said. "And dared to say that you should be wonderful in bed…"
Altair looked surprised. He didn't expect that…
"Exactly…" She said. "I told you the women pay attention to you…"
Altair took a deep breath and straightened himself. He then made Maria tun to him and put his arms on her shoulders. Approaching his face from her, he said seriously to her:
"I'll never betray you, Maria… I have my eyes on you, only…"
With this, he hugged and kissed her. When they parted, she smiled at him.
"Let's eat something and then we rest, ok?" She asked.
Altair nodded, wondering if Connor could prepare everything.