Lineage of Brotherhood

Chapter 5

Solomon's Tomb was already almost 2000 years old. Pieces of columns and stonework lay on the sandy ground. The halls were now mostly comprised of exposed rock from the cave itself. Altair had just driven his hidden blade through the neck of a Templar guard. Esther gracefully ran down a wall to join him, with Karda following her steps and rolling out as he came down to meet them.

When Abbas had confronted Altair, it was Malik who had prevented Esther from intervening. It was an act that likely kept Esther out of the dungeons herself. When she sought to keep herself occupied in Altair's absence, Malik was insistent that she work with him in preparation for his release. As much as anybody, he wanted to see to it that Mualim's favored Assassin was humbled.

Over time, this lead to Esther and Malik forming a friendship that was second only to her complicated relationship with Altair. Karda, Malik's little brother, took to her like an older sister. And she to him.

Esther nodded to Altair as she stood upright with her arms folded across her chest. Speaking to the young assassin, "You would do well to observe a Master Assassin in action, Karda. There's a reason why Altair has earned Al-Mualim's favor." Karda gave a nod as well, but looked to the Master Assassin with a bit of his older brother's suspicion in his eyes. With Esther's blessing and the ire of his brother, Karda wasn't always sure what to make of Altair.

She continued with a few more simple instructions for Karda. "We must be careful, there are sure to be more inside. We'll avoid alerting them until the last possible moment." As she turned to Altair who wore is Master Assassin's garb, she still couldn't help but feel a sense of pride for him in his accomplishment. At twenty-five years of age, he had attained the rank quicker than any Assassin before him. Since she had yet to match it, their relationship hadn't advanced past the point it had reached during their last sparring session, but she had clearly primed herself for her own promotion.

Looking to Altaïr, Esther asked, "Where to next?"

. . . .

Altaïr was not surprised when the day soon came that he was promoted to the rank of Master Assassin. He had become the youngest member ever to obtain the rank at the age of twenty five. With his promotion he was bequeathed dual hidden blades. With this growth in rank Altair's arrogance grew stronger than ever before. It was well known within the Brotherhood that Altair had a loose regard for the three tenets of the Creed. Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent, hide in plain sight, and never compromise the Brotherhood.

Even before he had reached the rank of Master Assassin, Altair did not hesitate to allow witnesses to see any assassination assignment he was ordered to do. The people of Masyaf respected the Assassin's and needed them for protection. Altair chose to think of it as sending a message so that the people did not forget the importance of the Assassins presence.

He knew is feelings for Esther would have been considered a possible compromise by his Mentor, Al-Mualim. As such he refused to act upon them beyond the acknowledgement that they had the night of his release from isolation. Part of him was disappointed when she was not also given the rank of Master Assassin. In his mind even Al-Mualim would be unable to dispute any possible relationship between Altair and Esther if they were equals. The other part of him was pleased that only he had received a rank advancement. In Altair's eyes Esther was better skilled than Malik, but Al-Mualim had yet to acknowledge this. Abbas would have been another possible candidate, but after his attempt to take Altair's life his status of consideration was compromised.

As for never killing an innocent...when Esther asked Altair where they should proceed. Altair turned away from the dead body of the once guard and proceeded to walk back down the tunnel from which they had just come. They could have easily passed by the guard without alerting him. Yet, Altair chose to assassinate him. Being a guard for the Knights Templar did not make him entirely innocent in Altair's mind, but taking his life could have been easily avoided.