Special thanks to the assassin's creed encyclopedia that I pulled from my bookshelf just for this chapter. Yes, I am that much of a nerd that I own a book on a game. I've been laughed at that enough by… basically everyone around me.

Chapter 14

"The assassin order does not expect perfection from humanity" Altaïr continued repeating words that were once spoken to him by the wise Al Mualim. "after all, only through learning from mistakes can there be growth. We rather hope to see humanity pursue the dream of one day reaching perfection through free self-expression and an open source attitude towards knowledge" Maya frowned releasing her death grip on the door and turning towards him completely. "That's impossible" she shot at him "It's an ideal situation, it never will happen" Altaïr was unable to decide whether her words were disappointing to him or just insulting but he had perhaps heard it many times before. Just never out of the mouth of someone he actually cared about. It wasn't a revelation of any kind, really. He had already given up hope of trying to not become touched by her.
"So, it is better to forbid people to read? To learn?" he calmly responded knowing full well how Maya felt about that. "Forbid them to choose what path they take and take control over everything they do, taking away free will? You of all people, Maya, knows that that is not the answer"

Their late night conversations when he had been recovering just held this subject. Maya would speak hatred about the disrespect brought upon woman. They were not allowed to learn not allowed to take charge. It was hard to realize but her family was one of the very few who choose to treat woman as their own. Her father listened to her mother and asked her advice, she was allowed to walk next to her father without having to hold her head down. There were certain rules that weren't brought upon them by Allah, but by simple minded men which filled Maya with hatred for her own people.
Altaïr remembered how many times she had spat out her irritation when she had seen another woman being mistreated by her husband. She was convinced that woman were good for only one thing; bare children.
Maya was in danger though, if she continued down that path. The life of a unmarried woman of her age in Jerusalem brought suspicion. But Maya had told Altaïr that she would rather die a horrible death then be treated like that.

"No" she admitted, visibly relaxing. Her eyes were running all over the place, her mind racing a thousand miles per hour as she tried to recap what just had been said. "But why do you not just speak of these ideas but murder those who are in your way?" she quietly asked as she started seeing Altaïr as himself again. Feeling that he was no threat to her. His kind brown eyes searched hers as he sighed deeply. "They choose to insinuate themselves into high levels of society, obtaining a key role and high ranking supporters. Our words are no use against such power" Maya's eyebrows seemed to only deepen their fold between them. Unable to really consider his word true; even though, perhaps, she already knows it is the truth. "Why don't you harm the innocent then?" Maya quietly spoke unable to really find an intelligent question. "We follow three tenets." He answered truthfully feeling the nervous edge disappear slowly as he was certain that Maya no longer felt the need to run. Her facial expression was eager as she searched his eyes for more answers. The invisible boundary was gone; all in the open and she was not yet ready to just give this conversation up; knowing full well that he would probably never again answer all her questions honestly.
"1. Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent. 2. Hide in plain sight and 3. Never compromise the brotherhood" and perhaps he had not fully obeyed that last tenet by sharing this kind of information with her. And as that thought crept in his mind he felt himself getting more uncomfortable with the openness of this conversation. What if someone heard him talking? Or perhaps Maya would decide that he was not choosing the right path and would choose to share this kind of information with men who weren't supposed to hear. It perhaps wasn't a great secret; he had not yet revealed the location of the brotherhood but it would only be a matter of minutes when Maya would ask. He knew she would; he would've asked, of he were her. From the moment he had once mentioned the place he grew up she had been nothing but curious, asking him questions and wanting to know what place it was where these unthinkable things – unthinkable to her and her culture – were possible.

"Altaïr?" her quiet voice broke through the silence that momentarily had settled between them as they allowed their thoughts to reason with themselves. "Please get upstairs, my father is on his way" she informed him and it took him a moment to recompose from his confusion, but he quickly disappeared upstairs after he too, saw him approaching through the blinds.
Maya smiled at her father the moment he opened the door. Perhaps he could see the exhaustion of the day on Maya's face but he didn't comment, only frowned his thick eyebrows as he looked at her for a moment. "Are you alright?" he asked her after he took a scroll from the table he had sat on this morning, eating his breakfast. He had forgotten it; making it the reason for his return in the afternoon. He never really worried about his daughter – she was intelligent and could take care of herself. But the bewildered look on her face changed all that. "I'm fine, father" she spoke wanting to ease his mind.
Sayyid for a moment hesitated but decided to push it away, placing the scroll underneath his arm as he kissed her cheek lightly. She kindly opened the door for him and waved as he walked out.
With a sigh she turned around. No matter how bad she wanted to walk after him and tell him everything she just heard, she resisted the urge. Knowing full well that Sayyid would not want Altaïr in his house any longer and that thought was unbearable for her. She could not say she understood the reason why he murdered, perhaps it took her awhile to fully get what it was he was saying. Even though she had been scared of him before, she still looked up to him a lot; his words were filled with wisdom before, he was an intelligent man who obviously had heard and seen a lot. And she had to take that with her when she would create her own opinion about this creed.
She turned to step up the stairs to her bedroom, once again being confronted by a handsome, what appeared to be, assassin.