Gerhard stormed through the garrison his noble robes flapping wildly around his knees, "Who was responsible for keeping my guest waiting?"
The young squire who was unfortunate enough to be within his eye line did his best to shrink into the wall. "I'm sorry Hochmeister I don't know who showed him into your study."
He struck the boy across the face and the studs of his gauntlet left a trail of cuts on his cheek that he would bear the scars of for life. "This order becomes less reliable with each passing day must I do everything myself?"
He approached the main door, "I have to go somewhere now and I need 2 men to escort me."
Once outside his escorts walked in the direction of the stables but he called them back. "We can get there on foot."
He walked between the men his face becoming redder with every step. This day had been a disaster from that stupid weak English soldier dying without talking to his own idiotic men keeping the Master waiting in his study for over an hour. He had to answer for both of course, it was always the men at the top who suffered but he had ridden the storm and in the end the Master had given him a chance to atone for his mistakes.
Perhaps he had gotten a bit carried away when he was questioning the soldier but that was to be expected, these skills were new to him and he still had to learn to control himself. He would have another chance to do that very soon...
They were sitting on a low part of the seawall and Maria was watching two stone masons argue over which of them was responsible for leaving their tools at the inn, they headed back in the direction they had come from and Maria smiled thinking it was nice excuse for them to go back for another drink. Her eyes drifted back to the ocean and wondered how long it would be before she was sailing home from this very dock.
She had almost forgotten Altair was sitting beside her, he was quite possibly the most unassuming man she had ever met, content with his own thoughts he didn't feel the need to be centre of attention. However he was being even more quiet than usual so she decided to break the silence.
"Why were you running when I first saw you?"
"As I told you the novice you spotted wasn't following you but he was following the soldier who paid you a visit and tonight I learned that he was dead. I wanted to be sure you were not in danger."
Her foot drew a circle in the dirt and when she spoke her voice had a melancholy tone he didn't enjoy hearing. "Warwick, his name was Warwick... well actually it was John but so many are called that we call them by their home town name. He had a family and all he wanted was to go home and be with them."
"It is unfortunate. Do you know of the circumstances of his death?"
"A bloody load of lies is all I got!" Her face instantly becoming animated, "They said he was drinking and must have fallen but have you seen the fortress lately? There are so many guards along those walls you couldn't swing and cat without hitting at least four of them. Apparently nobody saw him fall and I had to pretend I believed it, can you imagine having to accept sympathy from someone who probably had a hand in the murder of a friend?"
He was almost relieved to hear the fire in her voice; he preferred her fighting and kicking. "Are you speaking of the men I saw you with?"
She swung her head toward him and narrowed her eyes. "You saw me? And you say I am not being watched."
"We were there to assess the fortress your presence came as a complete surprise."
"Why are you assessing the fortress, are you planning an attack?"
And here they were, exactly at the point he knew they would reach... How far could they really trust one and other? He had no hesitation in sharing his information with her, after all he planned to show her the location of the bureau and compared to that this was nothing but what would she do with the information? He got to his feet and suggested they walk while they discussed it.
He steered them in the direction of the bureau, as he walked he explained about the unusually large cargo the three orders had taken possession of and how it was their first priority to find out what it was and what it was for.
When she wouldn't meet his gaze he knew something was wrong, "You know something about this don't you?"
Still she wouldn't look at him "I'm not your informant assassin. Did you think you would give me Robert's journal and suddenly I would become an ally?"
"Giving you the journal was to open your eyes to what you seem determined to keep them closed to and no I don't consider us allies I consider us friends Maria."
She swallowed hard not wanting to say the wrong thing, "Believe me if I had any information about your so called Templar plot I would share it with you but I'll be damned if I'll help you defeat the Crusaders."
She waited for his reaction and he took his time giving it, "How do you know you can properly judge what is a plot or what is normal war activity during a truce no less?"
"I don't know but I think I can figure it out. Warwick was killed after he shared information with me. We had planned to travel to Homs together and I will still make that trip. It's probably a wild goose chase but if he was right and there are the victims of a terrible wrong there then I assume the person keeping that secret will know a thing or two. I'll make it my business to find out."
"I see. Where you going to tell me before you went off on this "wild goose chase"?"
They were moments from the bureau now and Altair felt he needed something from her, some sign of commitment to their friendship if not his cause. He stopped walking and took in his surrounding, darkness had fallen and Acre was once again quiet barring the occasional drunkard or patrolling soldiers.
Her eyes flitted to and from his face and her hands folded together in front of her, he did not like what he was seeing. "I would have told you that I was going somewhere but where and why I cannot say for certain. When we set out you said you wanted to show me how to find you and I assume that meant one of your hideouts, yes?"
Altair thought bitterly 'Ah some improvement at least she had stopped referring to it as a lair.' He nodded.
"I thank you for the gesture but it is unnecessary."
"I thought you in danger only hours ago and you say it's unnecessary!" He was becoming tired of her constant backing away from him and it was beginning to show.
"Altair will you please try to understand," taking hold of his sleeve she tried to meet his eyes. "I know you are on the right side concerning the Templars, Robert's journal held no revelations for me it only provided details. This may not be about that, if it's not and I help you then I could be betraying men here fighting for religious freedom, a cause I very much believe in."
"I understand there is no need for you to justify your choice." His voice was impersonal and distant.
She looked skyward and sighed, "I give up, I'm trying to be reasonable but you want me to hand you information that I can't in all good conscience give you until I'm sure it's not simply Crusader business. Is that what you wanted all along, perhaps to charm me into telling you all the Templar's little secrets? Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but I've been used a bit too much lately."
His face was set in stone and his voice was utterly lacking in all emotion. "I'll walk you home."
"I would rather you didn't if it's all the same with you, goodnight Altair."
He dipped his head in a slight bow and watched her until she turned into another street. He set his feet in the direction of the bureau but he stood still and turned his head again in her direction. He knew she was being as reasonable as her situation allowed her to be but he wanted more from her, more than she was willing to give and it frustrated him.
Her boots tramped on the stairs leading to her rooms, the heavy footfall of her feet reflecting the burden she felt on her heart. She had told Warwick about the apple to justify her betrayal not to protect him and he had taken it so much to heart he had gone God knows where and told God knows who about it.
She was sure his death had nothing to do with his discovery of the weapons, why on earth should it have? She knew what it was almost to the last item and there was good reason for that, it had been her who had placed the orders for it all. After the failure of Tamir to supply them with suitable weapons they had decided to take matters into their own hands. The best craftsmen and blacksmiths in Europe had been employed around the clock for months on end to fill their order; an order which Warwick had confirmed to Maria had finally been filled.
The plans for the weapons and armour had changed along the way but Maria had to find out if the intended target of the attack was the same. Robert had planned to attack Masyaf with a full scale assault which would have wiped them out. After his death Maria had actually managed to convince some of the higher ranking Knights of the order that the attack should still happen but her motives were revenge, the piece of Eden would have been small reward. In her heart she believed the order to be on solid and honourable footing again and the men who wanted to obtain the apple were dead but what if she was wrong? If the assassin was right and there were still men bent on this plot then Masyaf would fall, of that she had no doubt and the apple would be theirs.
She turned onto her landing and stopped dead. "Gerhard...what an unexpected uh honour..."
He grinned at her showing two rows of brilliantly white teeth, "Seeing you today reminded me how much I missed you so I decided to call on you and was about to give it up as a lost cause but here you are!"
She heard footsteps behind her and turned finding herself face to face with two Teutonic guards, 'Fuck!'
She smiled making a real effort to keep the panic she felt beginning to rise within her out of her expression but she knew he had seen it. "It is indeed a pleasure but somewhat late for a gentleman to be calling on a lady. Perhaps you would be willing to postpone until a more acceptable hour?"
"Nonsense Maria there is never an unacceptable hour for old friends to share an hour or two of friendly conversation." His chuckle almost made her bolt for freedom but it would be useless, the two men blocking the hallway behind her made sure of that.
He pushed her door with his fingertips and it swung open telling her he had already been inside. Like the gentleman he was he stood aside and let her enter first.
No more than a few steps inside his hands went to her neck; she spun round to face him. "What are you doing?" No longer able to even make the attempt to hide her growing alarm.
"Relax Maria I was merely removing your mantle to make you more comfortable." He grinned and she thought it would slide right off his greasy fat face but she stood still and let him remove her cloak.
"I wasn't expecting guests so I'm afraid I have nothing to offer you."
He was almost chest to chest with her but when she took a few steps back he matched them with forward steps of his own keeping the distance the same. "I wouldn't say "nothing"..." His hand reached out to touch her face but she brushed it off and made a determined move away from him.
"It really is late and I've had a trying day, as you know a former employee of mind died in tragic circumstances."
He spoke over her disregarding her words, "I have come to make you an offer Maria and I'm sure when you hear it you will be more than prepared to suffer the inconvenience of my presence in your chambers."
Her hopes rose ever so slightly, perhaps this was not to be her death? "Say what you have to then Gerhard."
He pulled a stool from under the table somehow managing to balance his not inconsiderable body on it; she noticed his arse spilled out covering the surface of the seat. "You had an arrangement with Robert in return for your services he endowed you with certain responsibilities and position. I am willing to make a similar arrangement with you. Of course you won't be my second; that would be unthinkable but I shall procure you a dwelling fitting your position and award you a not insubstantial income."
She closed her eyes praying he would be gone when she opened them but alas he was still there. "What services would you expect me to provide?"
"The same as you gave him Liebchin?" He watched her sit opposite him and he licked his lips, his ardour already rising.
She eyed him for a few seconds trying to ascertain his true intentions before deciding on a reply. "Women almost never get to choose the men we share our lives with. Our Father's are an accident of birth and he then chooses our husband for us and Gerhard my father was a cold man who judged his daughters purely on how big a dowry they would fetch him. Women don't get to choose either of the two men who play the most important roles in their lives but what we do get to choose is who we take as a lover."
He looked behind him glad two of his men were witnessing this high and mighty bitch come to her knees before him.
She looked at his men standing behind him and accepted the fate she knew was now hers. "I've met one man I would have chosen to be my lover and one other I would have chosen as a father. You Gerhard are neither of these men. I would no sooner choose you as a lover than I would choose a snake as a neck warmer. You're an even bigger bastard than any of the men life chose for me. It offends me to even share the air I breathe with you let alone my bed."
The expected eruption of fury never came instead he got slowly to his feet, walked over to his men and said something in a low voice.
He returned his attention to her, "I'm sorry you feel that way Maria but I suspect you saw through my little rouse. There was no deal I simply wanted to play with you before I'm forced to take you apart one piece a time."
His men came to her and she sprang to her feet ducking under one of their arms but on her way back up she took the full brunt of the other man's swinging arm in her throat. She fell to the ground gasping for air. As he knelt beside her Gerhard unsheathed a beautifully ornate dagger and cut off her sword belt. His soldier grabbed it and tossed it to the other side of the room.
"I wouldn't want to bed you Maria you see we are almost sure you have been in league with the assassin since before Robert fell and what kind of man would I be to put my cock inside you knowing you bed down with rats." He slid the dagger under her chin and slowly pulled it downwards leaving a thin trail of blood in its wake. The path of the dagger continued until it reached her tunic where he had to apply more pressure but it soon gave way and the cold steel tore the garment apart.
She closed her eyes as he pulled either side open exposing her naked chest to their greedy eyes. "Perhaps I was too hasty Maria. What would your assassin say if he tried to fuck you again after I have?"
One man had her hands pinned over her head and the other had her legs in a death grip so she used the only weapon he had left her with. "I think he would ask if you had raped me with your little finger Herr Gerhard, because after the first two inches you wouldn't leave a trace."
He flinched and Maria smirked. 'I got you, you good for nothing little worm'
He got to his feet and told his man to spread her legs which he then stood between. She looked up at the man and smiled, "Do your fucking worst."
He did just that.
He drew his foot back almost to the back of the knee then brought it crashing forward. His metal covered foot connected full force with her genitals. "Perhaps it was a better idea to penetrate you with my Sabaton according to you it went further in than my manhood would have. Was that satisfying for you?"
She had been stabbed and beaten in her lifetime but no pain had ever hit her as hard as this. Her screams seemed to fill the whole world but she knew no one would come. Acre was a place where you kept your head down and your ears closed.
He got down between her legs and tore a piece of her tunic, stuffing it into her mouth he said, "Save that voice for later pretty one, I'm going to take you somewhere where you can scream to your heart's content but right now it is grating on my nerves."
Her body was shaking violently and when she started choking on the fabric he pried her mouth open and pulled it out, "How careless of me! You might have choked on this and I have such plans for you."
This time he gagged her with a longer piece of her tunic, wrapping it around her head, "There now isn't that better?" His hands wandered onto her shoulders and made a path to her breasts and he began kneading them, his fingertips disappearing into the soft tissue. For a few terrifying seconds his eyes went blank before a look of pure euphoria washed over his face and Maria understood her last few hours on this earth were going to be terrible.
Then suddenly he let her go and walked toward the window. He knew he couldn't make any mistakes this time; he had to make this bitch talk. But oh how badly he wanted to hear her cry out, to feel her body break beneath his fingers. His love of pain only went one way and when he thought of what the master would do to him if he failed again his desire waned. This time he would be smart he would go the brothel and sate his urgent needs with those wenches before he got back to this one.
Knowledge of the apple had set him free, had allowed him to explore the true desires he had long suppressed for fear of Heavenly retribution, but there was no heaven and more importantly no hell. Men such as he was only limited by his own imagination and he seemed to have an almost infinite supply of that.
He turned back to his men, "Take her to the garrison I need to... pay someone a visit."
They unceremoniously dragged her to her feet and when she got to within 3 feet of the German she began struggling kicking her legs out at him but he was unperturbed by this. "You bore me woman." He wrapped his hand in her hair – liking how it felt when it tangled with her braids- and smashed her head against the stone wall. "There the journey back to the garrison will be less trouble for you now."