Lineage of Brotherhood

Chapter 14

Part of him wondered if perhaps he was being a bit selfish and simply wanted to keep an eye on her until she regained conciousness; to be the first to see her well once more. Rather than leave her in a solo room back at the fortress to awake alone. He did not think she would be under threat while unconscious, since only he, Malik, and the now deceased Mualim were the only three who knew of her true heritage and the role she played. However he was not willing to take that chance.

His dwelling was simplistic, but adequate for a man of his status. A room for sleeping in, a room for study, a room for the use of a chamber pot or washing basin, and a room for making and eating of meals that he rarely used.

He carried Esther to the room for sleeping in and carefully laid her upon the bed, removing only her cloak so it did not bother her during rest. He almost collapsed right then and their beside her as he removed his own cloak but halted when the Apple still held in his grasp.

He went to his study and found a adequate sized leather pouch and placed the Apple within. He secured it closed and attached it onto to his belt for safe keeping. His body felt weary and he longed to return to the bed room and rest beside her. He knew he needed to send word to Malik and other brothers. Dutifully he stayed in the study and sat at the desk and readied parchment, ink, and quill to write the most necessary words to Malik at the very least.

Once the letter was written he rolled it up and took it out to the balcony were he whistled and within a minute a female Golden Eagle came perched with a pouch on her leg. He secured the message and spoke kindly, "Aquila, take this to our brother Malik in Jerusalem." He ordered the regal bird and perched her upon his arm and lifted her up into flight. He returned indoors only when she was out of sight.

. . .

Abbas eyed the Master Assassin, then the object. It was a lot to accept all at once, especially given the bad blood between them. He had almost defeated Altair with his hidden blades before, though it was widely accepted that Altair had allowed Abbas to get the upper hand, it was hard not to consider trying to take the device for himself. But as he looked around to his other brothers, it seemed that he was alone in this sentiment. To them, if the Brotherhood was going to continue, Altair's prowess in battle and dedication to the Creed would make him the most suitable mentor amongst them.

As Altair took Esther up into his arms, Abbas turned and let him pass. Still, the root of his disdain remained.

Then entire way back to Altair's dwelling, Esther barely even stirred. Even as he removed her cloak and laid her in bed, she showed no signs of coming out of her slumber. But once he returned, her head was turned toward the door. Her eye lids had parted just enough for the candlelight to glint off of her eyes. She tried to sit up momentarily, but it proved to be a fruitless venture that she gave up on rather quickly.

She felt awful. More so because of the role she'd played in all of this than anything else. As it turned out, Altair defeated Mualim on his own. The only contribution she'd made was almost killing him and dooming all of their brothers. But, not only had Altair saved the Brotherhood, he'd been able to do so while sparing her life. When the Apple's influence begin to take hold, she'd been certain that one of them was going to die. The fact that they were looking at each other now was nothing short of a miracle.

Again, she tried to sit up. This time, she slid her feet off the edge of the bed and propped herself up with her elbow before pushing herself up to a seated position. Her head bowed slightly,"I'm so sorry, Altair... for everything."

She had confessed to keeping secrets from him, to her ties to Robert and the Rite. But her hope had been that coming back to Masyaf to help Atair would be step toward making things right. With how things turned out, it was hard to feel like she'd even come close to doing so.