Chapter 2: The Assassins

It wasn't often that Ranya and Ilyas would leave Jerusalem together. Their uncle usually wanted one of them to stay in the city, but it wasn't often that they had business elsewhere than in Jerusalem. Even though the guild had a little more than sixty members their reach didn't go farer than that. Their organization was two decades old, but apparently that wasn't enough for them to grow and expand. She had no idea how old the brotherhood that they were heading to might be, but seeing as they had a greater reputation, they will probably have been around for much longer. Aside from that they had their own village and castle which spoke for itself. She was growing nervous. She had set off with her brother twelve days before. According to their plan they should have arrived there by midday, but patrolling saracens and crusaders had complicated their journey.

"You're sure we're still on the right path?", Ilyas inquired.

He had been steadily riding beside her on his brown mare, Amira. She was as sweet-tempered as her owner and was easy to like. Ranya couldn't say that her own black stallion, who went by the name Nero, was an aggressive animal, but he surely wasn't as easy to handle as Amira. Soraya was trotting alongside Nero and would sometimes run a little ahead only to let herself fall back eventually.

"As far as I can tell we're still on the right way. I just hope we'll arrive today, I do not want to spend another day in the dirt." Her brother nodded but didn't reply anything.

They had been riding alongside great stone-cliffs for the last few hours and if Al Mualim hadn't been lying on how to find Masyaf, they must be on the right track. She couldn't wait to find the village and finally get rid of her clothing. Even though it was spring it was too hot to ride at day time with dark clothes. As usual she was wearing tight trousers made out of a light, dark fabric and armor made out of dark leather with a lot of pockets and buckles that were made for storing things quickly. Underneath she wore a matching tunic so that the leather wouldn't irritate her skin too much. On top of all of that she had a dark colored cloak that hid her armor and weapons that were attached to it. As she wasn't skilled with a sword, she had two daggers and a few throwing knives, her bow and quiver were secured on Nero's saddle. The cloak was also equipped with a hood, but whenever she was on a burglary, she didn't bring that obstructive piece of clothing. That was why she had another hood that she had attached to her armor. The fabric that was hanging off the hood's end was bound around her breast and back so that it wouldn't hinder her and could be pulled up if it was cold. Her brother and most of the other thieves wore similar clothes.

"Hey, Rani, I think we are being watched", Ilyas said. She looked over to him who pointed upwards with his head. On top of the cliff she could indeed see a white shape.

"We are close, then", she replied. They followed the cliff path further until they had those rocky walls to both sides of their path. Ranya felt uneasy. Should one of the guards decide they were enemies they wouldn't stand much of a chance. Their arrows would have pierced them before they could escape, let alone fight back. Clever, she thought. If that was the only road that led to Masyaf the Assassins could easily fight off any intruders.

It didn't take them long to arrive at the great wooden gates that were, if closed, a dead end to this cliff path.

"Should we dismount?", Ilyas asked. Ranya nodded. She wasn't sure if they would take it as an offense if they entered the city on their horses. The guards on the gate examined them and especially Soraya but didn't say anything so the twins and their feline companion entered. They didn't have long to wonder what to do as they were immediately greeted by a bearded Assassin.

"You must be our friends from the thieves guild. Al Mualim instructed me to welcome you and lead you to him. My name is Rauf." He grinned broadly as if he was greeting two old friends, not complete strangers.

"A pleasure to meet you, Rauf. I am Ilyas and that is my sister, Ranya." She could see the surprise forming on the Assassin's face. She had been covering her head and due to the sand had also pulled up her piece of cloth that masked her face up to her nose. She pulled the mask down but let the hood cover her head.

Noticing that nobody would continue the conversation, Ilyas asked where they should bring their horses.

"Oh, of course, please follow me to the stables", Rauf said in haste as he eyed Soraya, but didn't say anything.

They turned right and could immediately see the paddock which was in front of the wooden stables. A few horses could be seen and Ranya wondered if they would be enough for all Assassins. If so there couldn't be many of them.

"Most of our horses are currently on a willow an hour away from here in the rather mountainous area. These are by far not all", Rauf answered her thoughts. "Why would you have them so far away?", Ilyas asked.

"We usually have five horses here that have no primary owner, in case someone needs to leave Masyaf urgently. The other horses belong to Assassins that will need them in the next few days or that have just returned to Masyaf and not had the time to bring them to the willow yet."

Two young boys, maybe twelve years old each, approached them and asked for their horses' reins. Ranya could see the excitement forming on their faces as they saw Soraya behind her, but they didn't make a move to approach the cheetah. They asked for special requests regarding the twins' horses, but neither Nero nor Amira had any special needs. "But be careful, Nero becomes nervous quickly in confined space and doesn't like it when you approach him any way but from the front." The boy who she gave Nero's rein to nodded and went off with the other boy and Amira.

"Now that this is taken care off, I am to bring you to Al Mualim", Rauf said and went ahead to show them the way.

Ranya discovered quickly that Masyaf consisted more or less of three levels. They had just been in the first level where the gates and the stables along with houses and small gathering places for people were. There was also a bigger well right at the entrance and Ranya knew from Jerusalem that wells were meeting points for women. She would often see them chat there and gossip about all sorts of things. She sometimes imagined how in another reality she might have been one of those women. They had uneventful lives, but safer all the way. She couldn't picture herself with a jug in one hand and an infant on her hip.

Soraya was trotting alongside her and kept close as she was receiving a lot of alarmed glances from villagers. Some women stepped back in shock as soon as they saw the big cat.

The second level was what Ranya assumed the most lively part of the village. There was a greater gathering place where she could see robed men and some women chatting or busy with other things. There were also some merchants that sold pots, fabrics, food and other stuff that the villagers needed. From here Ranya could already see the colossus that was the fortress of the Assassins. They went uphill to the third level, on which were houses as well, but there was also the entrance to the fortress. Ranya felt uncomfortable and made sure that her daggers were in their right place under her cloak as they went through the open passage. Right in front of them was a smaller cliff on which she could see some guards. At the foot of the cliff were also some Assassins that observed them. She was surprised that no one had stopped them because of Soraya. The path led left around the cliff and upwards, on their left they could see how high the mountain was and how deep the fall would be if they misplaced their feet. As they reached the gate to the fortress, Ranya could see a watchtower to her right that was standing on the hill that carried the fortress.

She was immediately in awe when they entered the castle. The front yard was huge. There was a battle ring on the left side and on the right side of it was a path that led upwards to the castle and also to a tower that must be leading to the battlements. The clashing of swords could be heard throughout the yard as Assassins trained. She could also see some hay dummies that served as target practice for archery. However, she didn't have time to take a closer look as they were continuing their way towards the entrance of the fortress. The first hall was what she would call a library. A giant staircase was right in front of them and separated at the end of the room into two sets of stairs. She could also see a door at the end of the hall, behind which was a garden area, but she didn't have enough time to marvel at the colorful flowers. They followed the stairs and Ranya could already see the open bureau at the end of the room. There was a giant window at that wall which must allow the Assassins' mentor to have an overshadowing look at the front yard. His bureau was flanked with shelves filled with books and scrolls. Ranya saw an old man with a long white beard behind a desk on which scrolls and papers were laying unorganizedly. With their backs to Ranya, her brother and Rauf were three white robed men who immediately turned around when they heard them coming from the side of the bureau.

"Al Mualim, may I introduce you to our guests from Jerusalem, the thieves Ranya and Ilyas." Rauf nodded towards his three brothers and then smiled encouragingly to the thieves. He then left the bureau.

"Welcome to Masyaf, Ranya and Ilyas. Your reputation precedes you. Your uncle has told me much of your skills that I hope will support our brotherhood. And he also told me of your noble companion. She is as majestic as Ismail had described her. But let me introduce you to my students. These are Malik, his brother Kadar and Altaïr."

She examined the men who would accompany her into the temple. They were all wearing similar robes, all were white with a big leathern belt and a sash underneath. While Malik and Kadar wore white robes, Kadar had also grey mixed into the white clothing. She assumed that had something to do with the Assassins' ranks. Malik and his brother had their hood down, whereas she couldn't see much of Altaïr's face. Noticing that her brother had pulled his hood down too along the way, she decided it might give off a better impression if she didn't mask herself. In one move she pulled down her hood to reveal her brown curled hair that she had pinned up in a braid around her head. Ranya looked for any signs of shock on the Assassins' face, as she had now also revealed her grotesque scars, that went in diagonal stripes over her left brow and over her nose. She had those scars thanks to Soraya, but she couldn't blame the big cat, it was Ranya who had been careless.

"I hope the journey was well for you. The roads do become more and more dangerous these days." Al Mualim skimmed over his beard as if he was in deep thinking, but his eyes stayed fixed on the thieves. His right eye was white, an indication that he had been blinded, probably due to a battle wound. The same fate had thankfully been spared for Ranya, as Soraya had not hurt her eye in the accident that had left the thief's face scarred.

"We met no serious troubles on our way. Traveling with a cheetah usually scares bandits or other evildoers away", Ilyas replied.

"So I would say as well. You must be tired however, so I will not bother you any longer with unnecessary talk. The reason why you are here is that I want to have an artefact retrieved. I do trust my students, but I need to make sure that this mission does not fail at any cost. Your uncle might have told you that we were thinking about a closer alliance for quite some time and this will be the first step into such a relationship.

"Ranya, you have been in Solomon's temple once, you know some of the tunnels and secret passages. An advantage that none of my students nor I myself have. I cannot tell where exactly the artefact is, but I suspect that it must be somewhere under this part. Please have a look at my map."

Ranya went forward to his desk and looked at the sketched map that showed the upper buildings, or what was still left of it. He pointed at what used to be a bigger tower. Ranya remembered that part of the temple. "May I?", she asked and pointed at the quill. "Please", the mentor responded. The other Assassins and Ilyas gathered around the desk as Ranya began to draw the hidden passages onto the paper. "This tunnel's entrance has been shut in the past, but there is another way, albeit a less comfortable one. There is a smaller tunnel that can be reached through here." She drew another tunnel that led to the northern side of the mountain on which the temple stood. "We would have to climb up there."

"That will be no problem", Al Mualim said. "You will leave tomorrow morning by sunrise, the stable boys will have your horses ready and will have also packed something for you to eat and drink." It was then that Ranya remembered they had forgotten their bags on their horses' saddles. They would have to go all the way down and up again.

"Ilyas, your uncle sent me an owl today that you would wait in Masyaf for your sister's return. My students are honorable men and you can trust them that they will protect your sister. Your uncle also told me that you are very skilled with a sword, so I thought it would be beneficial if you could show my novices some of your abilities." Ilyas nodded. "It would be an honour."

"Are there any questions left?", Al Mualim asked.

"The temple is currently occupied, by whom we do not know, probably some saracen troops. Do you have information about how many of them might currently be in the temple?", Ranya asked.

"Sadly, none of our informants could give us this information. I lay my whole trust in your hands and I am sure, that none of you will disappoint me."

Ranya had hoped for more input, but there was no way to find anything out before they entered the temple. She hoped that Al Mualim hadn't put his trust in the wrong hands.

Soraya had sat down at the railing opposite of the desk where one could look down at the library. She watched them curiously.

"You can decide what to do with your cheetah. I promise that no harm will come to her if she stays in Masyaf with your brother, as long as she doesn't harm anyone", Al Mualim spoke.

"I will discuss this with my brother", Ranya said.

"Very well then, you are dismissed. Kadar will show you your room." The twins nodded and followed the younger Assassin. He led them through a door next to the mentor's bureau behind which was a long corridor that went right and followed the buildings structure towards the garden that Ranya had seen earlier. She suspected they were on the second level here and that there was an entrance through the gardens or maybe from the front yard as well. They didn't have to walk very far, as their room was the first one, which was closest to the bureau. Kadar opened the wooden door and let them enter the room. Soraya was the first and jumped directly onto one of the cots.

"These are the best rooms here, but since we don't get to have a lot of visitors, they're mostly unoccupied. Even the master Assassins don't have such nice rooms." His complaining voice made Ranya smile. "Do all of you live in the fortress?", she asked.

Kadar shook his head. "Only those of us that don't have a family in the village. Malik and I live with our parents down there." She nodded.

"Is there anything else you need?", he asked. Ranya had already spotted food and carafe on a table, so she didn't need to ask for dinner.

"No thank you, we will be fine", Ranya said and Kadar nodded and went off after he had wished them a good night.

"Now dear sister, have we ever enjoyed such luxury?", Ilyas asked as he took a piece of bread and ate it. They had also put some bulgur in a bowl for them.

"Well, nowhere outside the Vault, that's certain."

Together they ate and discussed the events. "I think the Assassins that you go with are quite okay. Kadar seems to be nice and I think his brother will not be much different. I'm not sure about the other one, Altaïr. I think after you had put your hood down he should have done they same. It was rude of him to cover his face." Ranya agreed with him.

They decided that Soraya would stay in the fortress with Ilyas. Ranya would be protected by the Assassins and she didn't want to leave Ilyas behind without any company. "It's not like I'm alone. Rauf is also nice, I will try to find him while you are away. It's always good to have some friends." His sister nodded and threw a piece of bread to Soraya.

"I have some food for her in my bag, but I left it with Nero. I will go down and bring it."

"Do you want me to come with you? I need my bag as well."

They took Soraya with them and left the fortress. On their way through the village, they met Rauf, however. "Is something amiss?", the Assassin asked.

"No, everything is fine, we just forgot to bring our bags. We left them with the horses", Ilyas replied.

"Oh yes, the stable boys will have probably put them away with the saddles. I am not sure if there are still some stable boys as it is getting dark. I can join you if you want to and show you where we store our gear."

The twins accepted his help and followed him to the stables. Seeing Amira and Nero on the paddock, Ranya halted to pet the horses. "You can wait here with your cheetah if you want to, I am afraid she might scare the horses that are currently inside." Ranya agreed and so Ilyas and Rauf went into the stables. Meanwhile Ranya petted Amira's head. "Nero, you better take care of her", the thief said to her stallion. He bowed his head as if to show her he understood her command.

"You must be the female thief that everyone is gossiping about." Ranya turned around to another Assassin. He was wearing a beard like Rauf.

"And you must be the Assassin that I've never heard of", she countered. It had come off more rude than she had intended so she smiled to show him she was only joking. She could see his white teeth as he grinned

"My name is Abbas Sofian", he introduced himself.

"And you already know who I am." He hadn't stopped smiling and she felt somewhat uncomfortable.

"There are rumors that the old man of the mountain wants to join our forces with the infamous thieves guild."

"So I've heard." A cold shiver ran down her spine as he was approaching her until he was standing right in front of her and she had to look up to him. Soraya was growling next to her, but Ranya made a move with her hand that silenced her friend. Behind her she could hear Nero and Amira becoming restless. They noticed the tense atmosphere between the humans.

"All I want is to warn you. If you harm the brotherhood in any way, be it jeopardizing your mission or if I notice your brother prying around …"

They were interrupted by a voice. "Leave her in peace, Abbas." They both turned to look at the person. It was an Assassin, unsurprisingly, but Ranya didn't know who as she hadn't heard his voice before. He came closer and it was then that she realized it was Altaïr. The men glared at each other for some tense moments, but finally Abbas retreated and left the scene without saying anything more.

Ranya wasn't sure how far Abbas would have gone, but she couldn't imagine that he would have seriously harmed her as that would backfire at his precious brotherhood. But she had felt intimidated since her only way of defense were her daggers which couldn't do much against a sword. Then there was also Soraya, but the thief didn't like the idea of her friend getting hurt by a blade. "Thank you", she said.

He nodded in response. He didn't have his hood down and she would have loved to see his expression, but she would have to rely on her imagination. "Did he hurt you?", he asked. His voice was demanding and cold, but she didn't feel threatened by him. "No. I think he just wanted to scare me."

"I doubt he would try to harm you with your cheetah nearby, but I'd advise you to not travel alone at dawn in Masyaf."

"Oh I'm not alone. My brother and one of your brothers are inside."

As if they had heard that, they stepped out of the stables with bags in their hands. Ranya could see the question arising on her brother's face, but she shook her head to tell him everything was okay. Rauf greeted his brother heartily.

"Anyway, I came to look for my horse, if you'll excuse me." Altaïr left the scene and entered the stables. His horse must be inside then, not on the paddock.

Rauf accompanied them to the third level, where he lived with his family and bid them goodbye. Back in their room, Ranya fed Soraya who apparently wanted to sleep on Ranya's bed after her dinner.

"What were you and Altaïr talking about?", Ilyas said. Ranya heard in his voice that he sensed something had been wrong.

"There was another Assassin, he introduced himself as Abbas Sofian. He threatened me. He warned us that we better not harm the brotherhood. He particularly pointed out that he doesn't want you prying around."

Ilyas nodded as if he had suspected something like that. "I wish I had come sooner, but you won't believe how unorganized that place is."

"He just wanted to scare me. I don't think that he would actually hurt us, but be careful when I'm away."

"Will do, I still have my sword and Soraya." She smiled and looked back at her feline friend who was already fast asleep on Ranya's cot.

"It seems, dear sister, that you will have to sleep on the ground." Her brother laughed loudly, but Soraya didn't even lift her head. Ranya tried to push her away to get more space, but the big cat wouldn't be moved. The thief decided that she will just have to make herself as small as possible. Hopefully, Soraya will leave sometime at night. "Goodnight, brother."

"Goodnight, Rani."

Altaïr petted Antar's side as he treated an almost healed wound of his stallion. They had been fleeing from saracen guards and as Antar had jumped over a fence he had somehow injured himself on his stomach. There had probably been some wood sticking out of the fence that they hadn't seen. Altaïr always visited his horse either in the early hours before sunrise or later in the evening when there weren't many people left in the stables that could cause distress for Antar. Some Assassins said that his stallion was aggressive, like his owner, some would add, but in reality Antar became nervous quite easily which often resulted in him kicking or trying to break free. His horse was as white as his robes, the exact opposite of the thief's horse. He had noticed the female thief as she had been standing at the paddock, next to her the cheetah and she had talked to two of the horses. Altaïr assumed that the black horse was hers, but then there had also been a brown mare. One of them must belong to the thief's brother.

Anyway, he had waited in the shadow of a house for her to go away, but then he had spotted Abbas approaching her. Abbas and Altaïr used to be friends until one day when they came into a fight that brought them into Masyaf's cells for one month. After that they hadn't talked much with each other, as their mentor had also punished Abbas by extending his Assassin training by a year.

Not wanting to cross his path with Abbas, Altaïr had stayed hidden. He had been too far away to hear what they were talking about, but seeing how the cheetah had tensed up he knew that Abbas was trying to threaten their guest. He didn't really know why, there was no threat coming from the thieves. As far as he knew the female one didn't even carry a sword. Her cheetah might be more dangerous, but Altaïr didn't think she would order the animal to harm anyone in Masyaf.

It was then that the Assassin decided to step in and send Abbas away. She still had had her hood down and Altaïr had been able to have a closer look at her face. The scars were very prominent and he was sure they must have hurt like hell. He assumed that the scars must have come from an animal, maybe even her own pet.

Altaïr had been quite surprised as she had thanked him for stepping in. She didn't look like a woman who couldn't stand up to men that threatened her.

The Assassin couldn't say that he wasn't interested in the woman's abilities, after all the brotherhood didn't take woman in and he was looking forward to see how good a thief she actually was. He and his brothers had been quite surprised when their mentor had told them that they would be accompanied by another person, they didn't really need help after all, although her knowledge of the temple could come in handy but Altaïr was confident that they would succeed without her help as well. Altaïr assumed that the mission was less about profiting from the thief's knowledge but more about testing her abilities and using the services of the guild.

Al Mualim had told them that he wants the brotherhood to have closer ties to the guild. Altaïr wasn't sure what to think about that. Surely, even he had heard about the thieves that lived somewhere in Jerusalem but were impossible to find. With an alliance the brotherhood could strengthen their forces in Jerusalem and the guild could profit from the Assassins' protection.

Be that as it may, Altaïr was sure he would see the value of such an alliance in the next days.

A/N: The armor that the thieves are wearing is somehow inspired by what Garrett from the game Thief wears. Just imagine that outfit whenever the thieves are wearing their regular clothing.