Assassin's Creed: Outlaw - Book One

The Preceptor's Horror

Yughi could not presume to know a great deal of the Templars outside of the Holy Land. It was not his impression that the monarchy here considered themselves subject to Templar will. Unsurprisingly it appeared that the Templars had other ideas.

Yughi tied his horse to a tree so that he could make an approach to the compound. Patrols and guard rotations were light. Probably a combination of elevated presence in Lincoln and arrogance. Yughi found few problems in accessing the courtyard. The preceptory building itself was locked up tight. Yughi decided his best avenue of attack was from the roof.

The main building was split into three sections. Two towers and a gatehouse looked out over a training yard. Behind this, the middle section was a single story flat hall. Four tall windows about four feet wide marked out this space. At the back of the preceptory was a taller cylindrical building, taller than the towers of the gatehouse, crowned with a pointed conical roof.

Stables and servants quarters were built into the walls to the south of the main building. Another yard separated the buildings. The space behind the conical hall to the west was more restrictive. Yughi ran along the rooftops of the servants' houses, out over the stables and jumped onto the slope of the conical hall roof.

The angle of the roof and the smooth slate of the tiles were not ideal but Yughi kept moving, dancing across the roof and scaling the south tower of the gatehouse. He slipped into the tower through a high window to find himself in an empty guard post. The Templars were so confident of their secrecy that their diligence had suffered. Yughi needed to ensure that he remained focused. He should not make the same mistakes as his enemy.

Yughi found a stairway leading down out of the tower. The passageway was narrow and there were few hiding spots. He would have to rely on his senses to remain concealed. Halfway down the stairs, Yughi was forced to stop at the sound of voices coming from the hallway below.

"We scoured the city, my lord," one of the voices said. "There was no evidence of any outlaws still at large."

"Just because there was no evidence," came another voice that Yughi did not recognise, "does not mean that they were not there."

An uneasy silence followed that. Yughi could picture this man's subordinates not wishing to say anything for fear of causing offence. Yughi wondered if the Templar would send his knights back to Lincoln directly.

"The hour is late, the cover afforded by night too convenient for our enemy," the man said. "Go to the dormitory and sleep. We will resume the search tomorrow at first light."

"Aye, my lord," the knight replied. Yughi heard footsteps moving away from the base of the stairs.

Moving swiftly, but silently Yughi descended the steps. At the bottom was a small entrance hallway separating the two watchtowers. In the east wall were the main doors into the building, twelve feet tall, stout and barred. To the west were smaller double doors that stood open leading through into a corridor wide enough for three men to walk down it abreast.

Yughi saw the retreating backs of several knights moving away from him. All along the corridor were doors and many of the knights made their way through those doors as they walked along the hall. By the time the last man had reached the other end, he was alone. Yughi recognised him. It was Asheby, and where Asheby trod Newenham, and hopefully Marian, would not be far behind.

Asheby passed through the door at the far end. By the time the door had closed Yughi was only three paces from the handle. Yughi lifted the latch with practised control and slipped into the hall beyond. Here, indeed, was what he had been looking for. Marian, tied to a chair placed upon the dais of an altar in the gigantic roundhouse of the preceptory.