"You… will pay…" Altaïr said, between his teeth. "Dearly…"
Simas smiled wider.
"It appears that I have some serious advantage…"Simas said, smiling. "Our friends Templars will love to see what I have to give them…"
Maria widened her eyes.
"You can't do this…" She said.
"I can and I will…" Simas said. "Both of you are dead…"
Maria looked at Altaïr.
"Tie them and get ready to the trip…"He said. "We have a long way till we meet our friends in Ar Raqqah…"
Altaïr lowered his head and smiled… their plan was working…
The men then hit them in the head and they both fell on the ground…
X ~ X ~ X
Maria woke up slowly… where was she?
She felt movement and saw she was inside a cart. Moistening her lips, she felt two things: one was a strange taste in her mouth and second, she was gaged…
Maria looked around and saw Altaïr beside her.
She tried to turn to him, but it was impossible being all tied up. However, seeing him, made her try to free herself.
On a move, Maria shrunk her legs and with all her strength, passed her arms through her legs. When she had her in front of her, she removed her gag…
"Altaïr…" She whispered, dragging herself to where he was. "Altaïr?"
She put her tied hands on his face and felt him tremble. She removed his gag.
"Are you ok?" She asked softly.
He opened his eyes and she could see he was hurt.
"Can you speak?" She asked.
"Barely…" he spoke, yet in pain.
"Were does it hurt?" She asked.
"Everywhere…" He said.
Maria looked around. The cart was empty. It was just them
"Can you move?" She asked again.
He tried to moved, but the pain was bad. He then looked at her and shook his head negatively.
"What now?" Maria whispered to him.
Altaïr looked at her.
"We… wait…" He said lowering his voice. "I saw… Rashid… and Abbas hiding… they know Simas have us…"
"What about us?"
"We have to… fight…" He said.
Maria looked at him.
"With what?"
However, Altaïr and Maria felt the cart stop and heard voices and they stopped talking. They looked at each other, remaining quiet. After a while, they felt the cart move again and both of them breathed in relief.
"Don't worry…" He said. "They will come for us…"
X ~ X ~ X
At Hamah:
When Rashid and Abbas returned to the Assassins Bureau, the rafiq asked them:
"Did you find them?"
"Yes, they were captured by Simas and are now being taken to Ar Raqqah…" Rashid said.
"Ok…" said Raouf. "When we find Simas and the others, we attack and surround them…"
All of the Assassins nodded.
"Wait, take some of my men with you…" The rafiq said.
Raouf nodded and all of them, including Aisha exited the Bureau.
The Assassins went by a way that almost no one knew about and exited the city. Mounting on their horses, they galloped to the rescue.
X ~ X ~ X
On the way to Ar Raqqah, Simas made his men stop.
"Here it's a good stop for the fight…" He said.
"What fight?" Abu asked.
Simas got down of his horse and looked at him.
"You really didn't think Altaïr and the woman would be alone in Hamah, did you?" He asked. "The Assassins are getting closer… let's wait."
The men stopped and they started to prepare themselves for the fight.
X ~ X ~ X
At the cart:
Altaïr looked at Maria.
"We stopped…" He whispered. "Be prepared…"
She nodded.
X ~ X ~ X
At the desert:
The Assassins finally could see, at the horizon, Simas and their men.
"We do as we combined…"Raouf said.
The Assassins then took their swords, even Aisha and screaming, galloped towards Simas and his men.
X ~ X ~ X