Later:
When Connor and the others arrived, Altair and Achilles were already waiting for them.
"How was the rescue?" Altair asked. "Where's Maria?"
"The rescue went well… " Connor said. "Maria and George Washington are in here…"
Altair nodded as Duncan and Jamie opened the door of the carriage. They removed George Washington first, then Maria.
"There's one small problem…" Connor said.
Altair saw she was tied up.
"Why is she like that?" He asked Connor while approaching her.
"She started to cause trouble…" Connor defended himself.
Altair lowered the gag from her mouth. Maria looked at him and the others and started to curse them in Arab…
"Maria…" Altair said after a while. "That's enough…"
She looked at him and didn't stop. Altair put the gag again and got up.
"What she said?" Connor asked.
"You don't want to know…" Altair said. "Duncan, Jamie, take her to our room… release her only when she calm herself…"
Duncan and Jamie nodded and picked a still struggling Maria.
Altair then turned to George Washington, who was free from his ties.
"Sorry about that…" He said. "She's upset…"
"She is witty…" George said.
"Yes, very…" Altair said. "Let me introduce myself… my name is Altair Ibn La' Ahad and I'm the leader of the Assassins…"
George nodded and said:
"I thought Achilles was the leader…" George said.
"He and Connor are my commanders…" Altair said.
George nodded.
"I'm also sorry for the precautions to bring you here…" Altair said. "But I prefer to be cautious than careless…"
George nodded again and said:
"I can tell you are new here…" George said. "But I liked your attitude… it shows how much you care about your creed…"
Altair nodded and thanked him quietly.
"Now, why you decided to rescue me?" George asked.
"We received information that our enemies would kill you, probably tomorrow…" Achilles answered. "You are important to us… we need your help to win the conflict to come…."
"Conflict?" George asked, not understanding.
"More and more, the Templars are coming near us…" Connor said. "We're not going to surrender…"
"And we are going to free this country from them…" Altair said. "So, you can see we why we depend on a Templar like you…"
George nodded and said:
"If I may correct, I'm not a templar anymore… they do everything I condemn… I think we have to be free to choose what we want.."
Altair and Achilles nodded. Connor didn't say anything.
"You must be tired…" Achilles said, turning. "Come this way…"
George nodded and followed Achilles, leaving Altair and Connor alone.
"Do you trust him?" Altair asked.
"I'm not sure…" Connor said. "Let's see where this is going… if you want, I'll keep an eye on him…"
Altair nodded.
"Do this…" he said. "Meanwhile, I'll go see Maria… I just hope she is calmer…"
"Good luck!" Connor said.
X ~ X ~ X
Altair strolled to the room he divided with Maria. The door was closed; Duncan and Jamie were outside.
"Apparently, she is calm…" he said to them. "Why are you outside? Did you release her?"
Duncan denied and Jamie said:
"We tried, but she kicked us out…"
Altair took a deep breath.
"Thank you.. you can go…" He said.
They nodded and left. Altair, in his turn, took another deep breath before entering the room.
"Maria?" He called.
"Free me so I can kill Connor…" She said.
Altair looked directly to her, sitting in the middle of the bed, tied up, without the gag on her mouth.
"Are you going to stay there staring at me?" Maria asked.
"What did you do?" He asked, closing the door behind himself.
Maria took a deep breath. She knew that Altair wouldn't let her get away with this if she didn't tell him the truth.
"I just wanted to help Connor and he tied me up like this…" She said. "Now release me…"
"I don't know… I like you tied up…" Altair said, trying to break her mood.
Maria looked at him.
"Free me, please…" She said. "These ties are hurting me…"
Altair saw she was telling the truth. Slowly, he walked to the bed and sitting down, he started to release her hands. Maria rubbed her hands to make the blood flow.
"Better?" He asked.
"Yes…" She said. "But before I forget…"
Maria punched him on the arm. Altair took a deep breath.
"This is for agreeing with him to do this, for not releasing me when we arrived and to bring me to this room…" She said before untying her feet.
"Contrary to you believe, I didn't ask him to do this…" Altair explained. "He assured me he would take care of you…"
"Yes, and he did this…" Maria said becoming frustrated.
"I had no way of knowing he would do that…" Altair protested.
Maria took a deep breath.
"I know…" She said. "This situation is frustrating… imagine being tied and gagged in front of everyone by a student?"
"This wasn't an excuse for your behavior when you got here…" Altair said.
Maria took a deep breath.
"I know it is not…" She admitted. "But I don't want to be treated like this also, especially by you…"
"I wouldn't treat you like this if you stayed calm…" Altair said.
"Damn, Altair… I'm going to be your wife…" Maria said, turning and lying away from him.
Altair took a deep breath, thinking about what she said.