The next day

A bright new day had dawned for the kingdom of Corona. A completely blue sky with a bright shining sun had greeted the people as they work up in the morning. The clear water of the seat that surrounded the island kingdom glittered as the sunlight hit it and a gentle breeze blew over the water and through the air. It was another perfect summer day for Corona as this was only the start of the season, there was sure to be many more like it.

On one of the many window ledges that lined the castle, the king of Corona, a tall man with a small beard and moustache and dresses in robes and a large purple kind of coat with a pair of boots on his feet, stood anxiously, leaning on the stone barrier that went around the window ledge, staring down at the landscape of Corona deep in thoughts of worry. It was like he was God staring down at his creation at the time of when he realised he had to start again and he had to assign Noah to build the ark, only this time, rather than with the thought of disappointment and the realisation of having to virtually wipe out mankind, the king was filled with fear, possibly even paralysed by it, though you would have to give him credit he was hiding it very well, and he was trying to find a way of keeping his people safe.

"Dear, are you okay?"

The king looked over his shoulder to see his queen, a pretty woman with brown hair, green eyes and dressed in a kind of dark pink dress that covered her black slip on shoes, walk out of their room onto the window-ledge, worry lingering in her eyes for her husband.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine, dear," he replied, heaving a heavy sigh and looking back down at the town of Corona below. "I'm just a… A little concerned at the moment,"

"About what?" the queen asked, walking up next to him and staring at him, waiting for an answer.

The king sighed again, rubbing a hand hard down his face, and turned his head to look into his wife's green eyes with his brown eyes.

"Well," he began, pausing for a moment in trying to explain this to her. "Do you remember when Richard the First of England, several years ago now, had been selling his forts and ships and even parts of English territory for money to buy weapons?" he asked her and she nodded. She remembered the negotiations between her husband and Richard very well. She found him to be quite a fearful and overly ambitious person because of why he had come to Corona to sell several ships to them, thus making up part of their navy they had now. "Well," he continued, a sense of guilt easily noticeable in his voice. "When I had given him some of the best weapons and armoured technology we had, I thought that would be the end of it. And plus, we had needed the money then for the drop in our funds. But now, a few days ago, I received word that Richard has not done very well as he had hoped in the Holy Lands and some of his men are returning home and are having to stop in other kingdoms to rest along the way," he finished, putting a voice of dislike on the words 'other kingdoms'.

The queen nodded slightly, taking in what her husband had said to her as he looked back down at the city below again. She had found Richard when he had come here to be completely over confident and very, very dedicated, perhaps too dedicated. As her husband had explained, he had hoped to sell them a few ships in exchange for some of the latest armour hardware and for weapons for his Third Crusade in the Holy Lands against Saladin and the Muslims. Although the king did not like the deal himself as he had no problem with Islamic faith in Corona, rather the Muslims alongside the mostly Christian settlement, got on very well with each other, he needed the money because at the time two years ago, Venice and the Holy Roman Empire had joined forces against a rebellious duke in Sicily and all of the ships that would be usually selling trade from the Holy Roman Empire and from Venice were needed elsewhere. This almost crippled the Coronan economy and made living conditions drop to their lowest in a number of decades. Richard had offered them a bountiful amount of money that would see them through the bad spell, as the war in Italy was drawing to an inconclusive close, though it would not exactly get them out, and it seemed the right thing to do despite the fact that the king was going to be lending another king weapons used to kill people. It was something he did not like doing at all, but then again, any leader, after having to watch his people starve and live on pittance, would have done the same thing in order to save them.

However, they were coming back now, at least some of them were, but that was bad enough. Crusaders returning were not really a good sight. Although his history on the First Crusade was quite hazy, he knew that the first Crusaders had stolen and often looted on their way to the Middle East to take Jerusalem and, even though it was not as high as it was then, it still happened now with those returning home. What was worse, one group of Crusaders was returning along the Italian coast and they would have to stop at a kingdom to rest, and there was no doubt in the king's mind that Corona would be one of them.

"I fear for my people, my love," he said, turning his head to look at her. "Who's to say they will not loot and steal and cause havoc here, especially when wehad given them the armaments!"

"Honey, don't worry," the queen reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving him a small but very reassuring smile. "We'll be fine. I know Crusaders don't tend to return in large numbers and plus, we have our guards here to make sure they don't cause havoc. Look, don't worry. We'll be alright,"

His uncertain look remained on his face for a moment longer before he gave into his wife's reassurance and gave a small smile.

"I wish I had your faith," he said to her admiringly.

"You do," she replied matter-of-factly. "You just have to find it and not lose it,"

The king nodded slightly and the two monarchs looked back down at the town below, watching as it slowly dragged itself awake from the night to get on with It's daily affairs.

Meanwhile, at the bridge

If there was one thing about guard duty, it was that it was boring as Hell. All you did was stand around in the same place, sometimes doing completely pointless marches from one place to another, and you had to be there for a certain length of time every day. Though, there were the upsides to it, especially on the bridge that led from the Italian mainland to the island kingdom. You could talk to the traders and newcomers or people leaving, adding at least some amusement to this job in hearing what you and them had to say to one another, or to the guards, though it was not as much fun if you were seen doing so by a superior captain or officer who would want you to act as if you were enjoying your duty, though it was likely that he would not enjoy it himself if he was given the task, or if you were the only guard on duty at that point.

At the moment, the current guard on the bridge was feeling this way. He was only about nineteen with a tall thin body with blonde hair, blue eyes and a mind that clearly showed it was bored through the emotionless look on his face and that he was sitting on the wall that ran along the side of the top of the bridge with his fist curled up and his head resting on it, looking ahead with complete dullness as if he was almost bored to tears.

Please something happen! he mentally begged. Please so I can actually do something!

Just then, as if answering his pleas, the sounds of hooves clopping along a paved path filled his ears and he looked right towards the mainland to see a large black horse walking towards him. Sitting on the back of the horse was a man dressed in a kind of white robe that covered his body, though he had some kind of white rag clothing underneath it and he had brown boots on his feet. A white hood covered his head and he appeared to be looking down at the horse as if not wanting to be noticed. A hint of concern did fill the guard as he stood up, his hand moving towards his sword just in case this man suddenly attacked him, even though he did not look like someone who would. For all he knew, this man could be another Christian monk or an Islamic scholar, though mostly the first guess as Muslims in this part of Europe were really rare with the current Crusade going on in the Holy Lands at the moment. However, if he was, then where was his Bible or his Qur'an or whatever book it was?

Nevertheless, the guard, taking his duty into mind, stepped forward and held up a hand to the horse as it approached.

"Hold, traveller!" the guard said in a commanding-like voice to make sure the man knew he was in control at the moment.

The man pulled back on the horses' reins and looked down at the guard with his piercing eagle-like eyes.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked the guard with displeasure.

"What is your business here?" the guard asked.

"I'm here to see a friend of mine," the man replied tonelessly. He could not really tell the guard what he was here for or he would be chased away. His eyes looked down at the guard's hand nearest his sword. Even though the guard had slower reactions and weaker skill with a blade than himself, starting a killing spree of the guards now would not be a wise thing. "He's a carpenter here," he added.

The guard 'hmmed' slightly but moved his hand from his sword. The man's excuse did seem quite quick, but he could not prove he was lying. He would just have to hope he was not going to cause trouble in the city.

"Right, well, you'll have to leave your horse with me," the guard said. "I'll take him to the stables," he added, pointing to a small wooden building next to a small embankment. It had a wooden door on the side facing the main path that led from the bridge into the city and several pen doors along the other side, which faced the building a little further down from it, which led out into a small fenced off pasture with a small drinking crate for the horses in it. "I'll give him back to you when you leave," the guard added.

The man gave a slight sigh of annoyance, but he was in another kingdom and he had to follow their rules and not his, less he wanted a repeat of what happened last time.

"Very well," he said and he got off his horse and handed the reins to the guard and walked off past him without another word. The guard watched him go questionably and filled with concern.

I don't like the look of him he thought with unease.

Altair walked down the path from the bridge, past the stable and into the town of Corona. Very quickly, he became lost in the busy streets of the town. People were entering and exiting houses and taverns and shops or calling to people to come look at what they had for sale on their stalls, mostly comprising of fish or fruit or bread or pottery and such, children played games of tag or hide and seek in the alleyways or in the street, friends chatted to one another. Everywhere you looked something was going on.

"Now where are you, Salad?" Altair muttered to himself as he walked down the street, looking at the buildings he passed to try and find the house, and workplace, of his friend.

It was definitely a lot more difficult than he thought it would be, but he had dealt with situations like this many times before. He would not be able to ask for directions in case he drew unwanted attention to himself and risk comprising the brotherhood and breaking one of the three creeds they stood by. He would just have to keep searching the town until he found it himself, though it was going to take a while and while he had been taught that patience was a virtue, he just wanted to get on with this mission so he could find and deal with Robert's lieutenant and find this tenth Templar.

As he walked on towards a courtyard, the sound of children laughing filled his ears and he looked ahead to see a group of young girls sitting along the side of the fountain with a taller girl of about eighteen with dark brown hair, green eyes and dressed in a dark pinkish kind of dress. At the moment, she was sitting behind one of the smaller girls, fiddling about with her hair and trying to put it in a kind of ponytail, the other girls smiled and watched intently as she did so, waiting for their turn. Just ordinary life to Altair and he drew his eyes away to continue his search.

However, even here it proved to be a difficult task. All the buildings around the courtyard seemed to be either shops or houses. Everywhere he looked, he could not find anything that looked to be a promising shop of a carpenter. Frustration began to fill him like water filling up a tank. It was starting to get to him that he would not find Salad's carpentry, but it was that thought that made him more determined, but also more stressed out, to find him.

As he walked around the courtyard though, he did draw the attention of Rapunzel as she looked up to see him wandering about as if he was lost. To her, this newcomer was probably another Christian monk or an Islamic scholar or someone like that. They had had a few of them here before to preach in the local church or the nearby mosque. Maybe they were what he was looking for.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, girls," Rapunzel said, getting up and walking over to the man as he turned away from another house.

Altair gritted his teeth together and clenched his fist tightly, it shaking with annoyance. It was starting to get to him now that he was not finding Salad's carpentry. Where the Hell was it?

"Uh…excuse me, sir?" a woman's voice asked and he looked up to see the young woman with brown hair approach him, her large green eyes staring into his sharp, eagle-like eyes. Altair released his clenched fist and cleared his throat.

"Yes?" he asked in a friendly manner.

"Um…sorry, but are you lost?" Rapunzel asked helpfully, searching his body for any sign of a kind of book, but found nothing, which only heightened her suspicion of him, adding to that he was wearing a different kind of clothes she had seen on monks and scholars in the past. "I mean, if you're looking for the church or the mosque…" she pointed down one of the nearby paths that led away from the courtyard. "They're over in that di-"

"No, no, I'm not looking for a holy building," Altair cut her off, causing her to lower her hand. He sighed, hating himself for doing this, but he was going to have to ask her where Salad lived and hoped for the best. "I'm looking for a carpenter," he told her. "By the name of Salad-al-hunim," he added.

"Oh, Salad?" Rapunzel repeated and Altair nodded. "Um, his carpentry's right there," she pointed down the same path in the direction of the church and the mosque, but at a small brick building with a small door on the front. A tiny movable, but closed slot hole was visible on the front of it near the top of the door.

"Oh, um…thank you," he replied and, quickly, he walked off towards the carpentry.

"Hang on I don't think he's in, though," she pointed out to him.

"I'll just make sure if he is or not," he replied, not looking back at her, walking on towards the building.

"Oh…um, okay," Rapunzel watched him walk up the building with a confused look on her face. Who was he? More importantly: what did he want with Salad? How did he even know he was in? There was something strange about him, though exactly what she did not know.

Deciding it was best to put it out of her mind, though it was hard to do so, she walked back over to the girls, though she could not help but looked back at the man several times, even when she re-joined them. There was definitely something strange about him, something very strange ind-

"Ow!" the girl who's hair Rapunzel was doing suddenly gasped, startling her.

"Oh, sorry," Rapunzel apologized and she resumed doing the girl's hair, trying to keep her mind set on it.

Nearby, down the street, Altair approached the door and knocked on it slightly. No response came back for a moment. Maybe the girl was right and he was not in. He was probably at the mosque praying. At least, thanks to the girl again, he knew where Salad would be if he was praying at the mo-

Suddenly, the slot on the top of the door half-opened and a pair of brown eyes just below the bottom of a kind of hood peered out at Altair.

"Who is it?" a voice rasped.

"Is that Salad?" Altair asked.

"Yes. Look, if you want a carpet, you'll have to come back later when I open,"

The slot went to close, but Altair stopped it. "No, no, Salad! It's Altair!"

The man stopped the slot just millimetres from closing completely. For a moment, it stayed where it was as if frozen. Then, slowly, it opened up and the brown eyes stared back out at Altair.

"Altair," the man said, aghast. "Wait there,"

The slot closed and the sound of unlocking noises came from the other side. Altair watched as the door slowly creaked open to reveal a short elderly man of about sixty two with a big white beard, brown eyes and was dressed in a kind of dark blue robe with a white hood over his head. He stared a little wide-eyed at Altair as if he was some kind of long lost relative that had returned.

"It's good to see you, Altair," he said. He looked up and down the street as if nervous that they were being watched. "Come, come in, quickly!" he urged.

Altair quickly stepped inside, but just as Salad went to close the door, a tall man dressed in a kind of cream coloured top and shorts and a pair of old brown shoes on his feet, suddenly, rushed over and pushed a hand on the door, stopping Salad from closing it.

"Ah, Salad, I didn't realise you were open!" he exclaimed.

"No, sorry, Frank! I-I'm closed!" he replied, trying to shut the door but the man would not budge.

"Wait if you're closed, then why are you letting him in?" he asked.

"He's a relative visiting me. Now, please, will you go!" Salad gave the door one forceful push and it slammed shut, almost hitting the man in the face. The man listened to the sounds of locking erupt from inside.

"What is with him?" he muttered to himself as he walked off, annoyed at what had just happened.