The next day

Another beautiful bright day had dawned for Corona and the people were glad, not only of the weather but also that their lost princess had returned to them last night, having been rescued and the word had been spread that the man in the hood had been killed in the rescue, which the people of the kingdom were glad of and they would no longer have to worry about him, though the chase yesterday when Rapunzel had been kidnaped by the man had left It's scars on the kingdom and it was likely to leave more as the Crusaders had lost a man here and, although the one who had killed him was dead, they were not at all pleased with the king and they had warned him to watch what he was doing in the city now or they would take a reprisal against the kingdom, which left him with worry for his people. Hopefully, nobody else like him would return to the kingdom and cause any more chaos.

Unfortunately, unknown to them, the man who had caused all of the chaos yesterday was still in the city, but, at this moment in time, was having headache of his own.

"Altair, are you mad?"

In the carpentry, Salad had found out about what had happened yesterday through Altair, who had also told him that he had had to reveal why he was here, something that did not go down well with Salad.

"Salad, I had no choice. Even I was in precarious position and there was no way out," Altair explained.

"That's not the point!" Salad told him. "You revealed your intentions here and have, therefore, broken one of the creeds of the Assassins!" he placed a hand on his forehead and heaved a heavy sigh. "Oh, your Al Mualim is not here. You know what happened last time you broke the Creeds,"

Altair sighed through gritted teeth, nodding slightly. He knew very well from experience what would happen if you broke one of the Creeds and he was tired of hearing it and having to admit that he had been foolish back then, but this time it had to be justifiable because it was either that or he would end up having to kill virtually every guard in the kingdom to escape and that would have caused Robert's lieutenant to flee and then he really would have failed to bring peace to the Holy Lands and put an end to the Templar threat.

"I know, Salad!" he hissed. "But you would have done the same," he told him.

Salad sighed heavily again. "Admittedly, yes I would have, but I hope that you would have learned from past experience not to make the same mistake twice,"

"Look, It's done, Salad. I agree, I did not want to tell them but I had no choice to! Besides, It's done and this time, some good has come out of it. I have help with me in finding Robert's lieutenant and the captain of the city has agreed to keep his guards off of my trail whilst I search the city for him or anyone who has any knowledge on him,"

Salad gave a slight nod and looked down at the ground, half-turning away from Altair so that his body was looking towards Altair's room.

"I hope your right about this," he said to him.

"Don't worry, I am," Altair reassured him. "Also, I managed to find out about this healing incarnation,"

Salad looked up at him. "Well, what is it? Where is it?" he asked.

"It's the princess," Altair answered. Salad looked puzzled though.

"What…you mean she has this cure?"

Altair shook his head. "No, she is the cure,"

Salad went a little wide-eyed. "How can she be? H-how does she use it when she needs to?"

"Well," Altair began. "She sings this song that makes this kind of glow and…well, it heals. I mean, yesterday I cut my hand in the stable and she healed it and completely got rid of the scar,"

"Let me see," Salad walked over to him. Altair showed him his hand and he examined it, feeling over it and looking between his fingers. He even looked on the other side of his hand as if he was expecting what Altair was telling him to be a kind of trick, but to his amazement, it was not. "Incredible!" he gasped, looking up at Altair. "This gift really is precious," he said.

"Yes," Altair nodded. "But I said I was not going to take her back with me,"

Upon these words, the expression on Altair's face changed to shock and disbelief. What? What did he say about this healing incarnation?

"What do you mean: you are not going to take her back with you?" he asked.

"I mean, I'm leaving her here, Salad. She does not deserve to be taken away again," Altair explained.

"Again?"

"Yes. She did mention that she had been kidnapped and used for her healing power when she was young and It's only been very recent she has been returned. Plus, she is in love,"

Salad sighed in frustration. "Altair, you know we cannot allow the needs of something else to interfere with our work here. It could jeopardise everything!"

"I know that!" Altair snapped. "But I won't do it. Besides, Al Mualim said that if I could not gain the healing incarnation itself or a part of it, then I was to at least glimpse it. I have and so that part of the mission is done,"

Salad went to argue back but a sudden knock on the door stopped him. He looked uneasily towards it, expecting it to be someone like a guard or a Crusader. Altair, however, walked towards the door as if nothing was wrong and opened the small slot and looked through for a seconds before closing it and opening the door. Standing outside was Rapunzel and next to her was Eugene.

"Quick inside!" Altair told them, ushering them in. They obeyed and he closed the door behind them and locked it. "Are you two okay?" he asked.

"Yeah we're fine," Rapunzel replied but Eugene just ignored him. He was obviously still not happy with Altair for what he had done and right now the last thing he wanted to do was help him.

Rapunzel nudged him and gave him a look that urged him to at least say something and not be rude and ignore. He sighed.

"Yep, we're good," he muttered tonelessly and Rapunzel rolled her eyes.

At least try and make an effort to forgive or befriend him she thought, annoyed at him.

Altair, though, really could not care less if Eugene was still angry at him or not for what happened yesterday. Quite frankly, he was not really up for letting him, or Rapunzel for that matter, help them, but now they knew why he was here and if he sent them of now, then they could easily reveal why he was here and that would be the end of him here in Corona. He was just going to have to let them help him.

"Hey Salad," Rapunzel greeted him.

"Hello, Rapunzel," he replied, shaking her hand. "Hello, Eugene," he nodded at him. "Can I…offer you two a drink?" he asked.

"Oh…uh, no. We're fine," Rapunzel replied. "Thanks anyway,"

"Well, sit down at least," he insisted. "Altair needs to talk to you," he added.

They nodded and sat down behind the table. Salad walked off behind his counter to prepare the carpet rolls for today. Altair sat down behind the table opposite the two and cleared his throat.

"Did you speak to the captain this morning?" he asked.

Rapunzel nodded. "Yeah, he said that the guards were to be aware that several Crusaders have suddenly started wearing the hoods you have," she explained. "They didn't take very easily but…since he's the captain they have to listen to him,"

Altair nodded. "Good. At least then we'll have a bit more of a chance in finding Robert's lieutenant with ease," he replied. "What about the Crusaders?"

"He's definitely managed to convince them to stay in the city," she continued. "It was a lot harder than with the guards but those leading the Crusader detachment didn't seem in a hurry so everything is falling into place,"

"Good," Altair muttered, nodding with relief. Finally, they could begin searching for Robert's lieutenant amongst these Crusaders. The leader of this Crusader force had to know something about him and Altair would have to hunt him down and make him talk in order to find out who this lieutenant was and what he had planned.

Behind the counter, Salad picked out a newly sewed red carpet from the shelves beneath the wooden desk. As he did, a small note fell from the shelf to the floor, which he saw and he bent down and picked it up and read it.

"Altair," he called, causing him, Eugene and Rapunzel to look over at him. He held up the note. "The note from Al Mualim on your arrival here. It says you were to write to him when you had found the healing incarnation,"

In realisation, Altair slammed a hand onto his forehead and heaved a heavy sigh. "Yes, I remember!" he growled. Damn! He had completely forgotten about that. He was going to have to sort that out now before he forgot about it again and Al Mualim would not be pleased with him. He stood up. "Excuse me, you two," he said to Eugene and Rapunzel. "I have to go and sort out this little thing,"

"Take all the time in the world," Eugene muttered, though it was loud enough for Rapunzel to hear him and she shot him an annoyed look. Altair just ignored him.

"Is there a library here?" he asked Rapunzel.

She nodded. "Yes, just further down the path in the direction of the mosque and the church. You can't miss it," she explained. Just then, an idea popped in her head. "Eugene, you can show him the way,"

Both Altair and Eugene went wide-eyed upon hearing this. "What?" Eugene exclaimed, his head snapping round to look at her.

"You heard me," she told him. "Altair needs help finding the library. You can show him the way,"

He stifled a laugh. "Uh, no way, Rapunzel," he told her, standing his ground. "As much as I'm involved in this, I'm not helping him,"

"I don't need his help anyway," Altair pointed out to her, his voice also hoping that Eugene would not be coming along with him. He did not want to speak with him as much as Eugene did not want to help him, but what Rapunzel was doing was, in their opinions, a bad idea, but she still pressed on.

"No, you two aregoing to the library together," she said sternly. "I know you two don't like each other, but…" she looked back and forth between them, her eyes carrying the same stern look that told them she was being serious. "You can learn to appreciate one another. Besides, you two could help each other,"

Altair looked at Eugene, meeting his gaze for a moment before he sighed through gritted teeth. "Alright fine," he gave in. "Come, Eugene,"

Forcing out a heavy, un-approving breath through his nose, Eugene got up and walked over to the door with Altair, who unlocked it and opened it up, the daylight flooding in like water flowing through an open dam, stunning them for a moment before their eyes grew used to the glare of the sun. Rapunzel got up as well and walked past them outside.

"Where are you going?" Eugene asked her.

"To the castle. Keep an eye on the captain and see if he meets anymore Crusaders," she told them. "If he does, I'll come to the library," she began walking off down the oath back towards the castle, but stopped after a few feet and looked back over her shoulder at them. "Oh and please try not to kill to kill each other," she added, her voice growing stern once more before she walked back on towards the castle.

"I won't," Altair muttered as he and Eugene stepped outside, closing the door to the carpentry, quickly waving a goodbye to Salad as he did. "As long as Mr Rider here doesn't get in my way," he added but Eugene had heard him.

"Then don't get in mine," he growled at Altair, who just rolled his eyes, not believing Eugene's tone of voice or even what he was saying to be a threat to him. "Alright, c'mon, It's this way," he said, walking on ahead of the assassin, who followed him up the path towards the castle, Altair following close behind.