Chapter 10
Would Allah approve of such her feelings for such a man? A none religious man?
He had one night, when she had been caring for him, told her that his mother was a Christian and his father was a Muslim. They both died when he was very young, due to a certain illness, but he didn't want to give her more information about that and he had turned his back towards her. Maybe he had find the images in his mind to unbearable to think of.
But she wondered where he came from; where such things were possible, for a couple of different religious believes to be married. Here, in Jerusalem it was most certainly unaccepted, they would've been scolded had they lived here. Maya was one of the few single woman and when spoken about it she was often called strange or better yet, a whore.
What kind of freedom he must have experienced for living in a place where all this was possible. But she quickly hated herself for thinking such thoughts; he had let a hard life, losing his parents at a young age!
Maybe that was the reason he did not believe in Allah. But maybe Allah had punished them for being together, for his father to be with a infidel.
She had been so deep in thought, that she had not taken notice of the bells that had brought her upstairs in the first place, had stopped. Her father always send her to her room, she must lock the doors on the balcony and sit there and wait till all danger passed. Just these days these bells went off so quickly, people seemed to have become paranoid for danger and it had left her a tiny bit careless about the bell.
The only thing taking her mind out of her thoughts were the balcony doors clattering as someone tried to open them and she jumped up slightly worried. She stepped forward carefully afraid of what she would find at the other side, but as she pushed open her curtains she had never before had been so relieved to see that handsome face stare back at her; well perhaps she had before, when she was nearly killed by those guards.
She still wondered what he had done to them. Probably murdered them; why else would he be carrying so much weapons with him?
She smiled warmly at him, and he straight away walked towards her bed, starting to undo his belt. "Well, it is nice seeing you to" Maya sarcastically mentioned sitting down on the bed next to his belt and red sash. His eyes ran over her and he smiled back at her. "It's more than nice seeing you, Maya. But I wonder if your parents would be agreeing if they saw me here without their knowledge" he quietly continued and she was touched that he actually thought of that. Taking off was always less work than putting it on, Maya noticed. This probably because of the accuracy it took to put it on. But he was done in less than a few minutes before he pushed the small bundle underneath her bed and carefully placed the sheets over it.
Maya was unaware of how extraordinary she really was to earn that privilege to be around him without his weapons and even to be left alone with his weapons. He took great care of them, and before he had left the bureau to see her, he had carefully wiped each weapon even though he only used his hidden blade. They shone perfectly and sharpened with a caring hand. Malik had shook his head as he had watched him do it.
Malik had also wondered about where he was going at this hour; usually Altaïr would sleep and leave the day after well rested; he knew Altaïr well, as they once had been friends.
He turned towards her after he stood up and smiled as he saw the brooch placed on her blue dress, he touched it without permission and Maya wondered why he always did that; he saw no harm in doing so either. As if he was raised entirely different then her, without womanly influence. "I wondered if you would even be wearing it, but you really do like it then" she smiled brightly and nodded her head. "I do, I can't thank you enough for it" he smirked back at her, his scarred lips twisting and making her butterflies roll around in her sensitive stomach. He took both her hands in his again and it made Maya tense, nerves running through her entire being, afraid of what he was capable of would he decide being sick of her.
He brought both of her hands up and kissed them making her breath shake once again. He smiled against them before releasing them, dropping them softly and Maya felt weightless because of it.
He stepped out of the balcony doors without a word, he would be knocking on the door in less than a minute.

Sayyid laughed loudly as Altaïr made a smart joke, Adira enjoying his company as well and drinking her tea calmly. Maya had been quiet, sitting next to Altaïr made her suddenly nervous. Before she had not minded at all, but now each movement he made seemed to be a burden to her stomach, the strange sensation kept coming and only was harder to ignore as his knee would sometimes touch hers as he leant forward to take something from all the delicacies her mother had placed on the table. It was evident her parents had grown fond of Altaïr.
Adira would glance at her daughter every once in a while, and she knew well when she was in love. She had seen Maya crushing over a man before, when she had been only 17, yet the man had no interest in her as he had already settled her eye on another young woman. And Maya had been devastated by that. She had cried for days and Adira could still feel the sadness she felt for her young daughter. She had grown since then, more mature, but she had never really caught more than a special interest for a man. But as she saw her glance at Altaïr and as she noticed how her hands shook as she drank her tea she knew Maya had finally found a man that was to her interest once more. And Adira couldn't help but be proud of that. Altaïr would make a good husband; he had treated them all so kindly and he would treat Maya kindly as well. He was a handsome man with good qualities, perhaps exactly the qualities Maya would need in her life.
Later that evening Maya had quickly stumbled up stairs; not wanting to let Altaïr leave without seeing him again. Her parents had eyed her suspiciously and for a moment Adira had found the need to listen at her door but she fought against her own curiosity. She trusted her daughter and she was not at all worried about anything forbidden to happen if Altaïr was truly capable of climbing to the balcony, or perhaps he stood underneath it, serenading for her. But it was only Adira's curiosity that called for her to eaves drop. But she quickly started washing the dishes to resist the urge.
Meanwhile Maya stood nervously across the room. She played with her fingers. Her silence was unusual; even she knew this. She always had something to say or something to question him about yet now no words were leaving her lips as she watched him put on his attire.
He then looked up at her, pulling his hood up his head; he always wore his hood, always. Never before had he taken it off, not even for a few minutes a day, only at night did he leave it down. However since he had met Maya he had left it off for longer periods at a time and he felt not as exposed as he had expected.
"Will you be back?" she asked quietly forcing the question to come out; it had been pounding in her head for days now. She refused to stay in doubt for months. His smile was once Maya enjoyed; to her shame maybe. But the way small wrinkles appeared on each side, and the way his whole face seemed to smile with him made her feel warm inside. "Tomorrow, if you would like to join me, I have to deliver something for my friend" he said and felt only a little stupid for purposing the idea; even though it was not dangerous at all he could never be entirely sure. She nodded her head, a little too eager and she blushed at that.
A hand landed on her waist and she felt the warmth even through the thin fabric of her simple blue dress. She felt her heart beat loudly at the touch that; even though felt so good, was so uncomfortable as well. He leaned forward and kissed her cheek so softly. Just as he wanted to separate from her to leave she decided that she had not had enough and placed her arms around his neck once more. She could again feel his muscle tense as she leaned her head against his shoulder. But his strong arms soon rested around her waist that seemed so fragile at that moment. "Goodnight, Maya" he whispered in her ear as he was so close to her, and then let her go. Maya giggled nervously as he waved lightly, standing on the edge of her balcony before disappearing again.