Chapter 25: Requiescat In Pace
Year: 1228
Masyaf
The past two years have been hell for both Malik and I. They treated us poorly here. Some days, we would not eat. Other days, we had to spare our food so we could have some when they did not give us any. They only gave us bread and every once in a while, some vegetable and fruit. Malik and I were in the worst condition ever. We were brittle and broken. They had tortured Malik a few times but they mostly just wanted me. Altaïr still had not gotten my secret message. I had sent him the same message every time in different ways. Eventually my writing started to get worse and worse because my hands shook. I had to stop sending letters. The last time I heard from my father was about a year ago.
Since Malik was older, the new life style started to get to him. I could not do anything to help. Some days, I would give him my food. He would not take it. I was at his side the entire time. My wounds had healed slowly. I now have the scares to prove I have been beaten and wrecked at their hands. We were both sore from laying down on the flat concrete floor and the torture they gave us. We could not do anything in our position and just hope that Altaïr got the message I had sent him so many times. I was pacing back and forth because there had been rumors that Altaïr was coming to Masyaf because Darim and Qulan had Assassinated Genghis Khan.
I was happy they did so, but I was worried. I had also heard that Rauf was killed by Swami just like Sef. Rauf was one of fathers friends and another one of his right-hand men. I had met Rauf on a few occasions but I never knew him personally. Father was losing everything he had because of Abbas. It was not right. Even though Abbas was a high-ranking Assassin, he could never be as good of an Assassin as my father. I had also heard that Abbas had formed a council and of course, he was the head. Did not really surprise me when I found out.
I looked over to Malik. He was just bone and skin now. I was close to that. I still had some muscle on my bones but not much. I am just glad I could still walk. Malik's hair had grown so much and so had mine. We gave ourselves haircuts every once in a while but eventually, we just gave up. We let our hair grow out. Malik's beard was as long as his hair. I cut my hair every once in a while now. I had just cut it a week ago, so I was not as bad as Malik's. Malik was in the corner of the cell just lying down. It seemed that was the only thing we could both do now. We were so weak we could barely move to the cell door to get our food.
I looked out the cell door and saw that the guard was sleeping. Abbas sure can pick the best! I shook my head and walked over to where we hid the knife. I pulled it out from our small pile of clothes that got torn or ripped. I grabbed the knife with shaking hands. I was starting to lose it in here. Every part of my body ached and was sore, in pain. I grabbed the knife with both hands and walked over to the cell door. It was more of a shuffle. I got to the cell door and stuck my arm out with the knife in hand. I stuck the knife in the lock and tried to unlock the cell. No use. Even thought, I tired so many times, you can never give up. I think I finally found my defeat.
It was only a matter of time before both Malik and I were just bone in robes or clothes. I never got any new clothes and neither did Malik. We both smelled bad from not showering or cleaning up. The best we had was the water we got to drink. The only time we sacrificed water was when one of us was wounded. Now seemed stupid because if one of us was wounded now, it would be our last wound because we would probably die because of our state. I turned around and went to set the knife back down.
Once the knife was away, I sat down. I had now accepted my defeat. It was hopeless. Nobody was coming to save us. Malik never gave up hope. Somehow he knew that my father was going to come and get us both. I had now, lost all hope of that happening. I rested my head on the wall and swallowed hard. I did not care if today was my last day or tomorrow was. I knew my death was coming soon. I could not help but think that and I knew I could not stop it from happening. It was going to happen and I could feel it happen soon. I just did not know when. I laid down and rested my head on my hands.
I looked over to Malik once more. I flipped over so that I was facing the ceiling. It was the same thing all around. Concrete everything. Concrete walls, floor and ceiling. It is not like I was expecting a fancy cell with candles and a gift basket with fruit as soon as you walked in. I let out a sigh. Perhaps my last. I did not know but I do know that my hero was not coming anytime soon. I waited two years for him to come. He still has not come. I was not expecting anything. I was just expecting to die peacefully and that is it. I knew just by looking at both of us, our time was just about up. Perhaps this would be the last time I close my eyes. I did not know but I knew I was ready to feel deaths embrace. I was ready; I just had to wait for it to come to me.
Death, if you are listening. I am ready for you. I am ready for your embrace and welcome it.
* * *
I woke up to hear the cell doors open. My eyes barley opened before someone was hovered over me. I tried to get up but it did not really work. I let out a groan and then rubbed my eyes to get my vision back. I blinked a few times before I saw whom was hovered over me. I just looked at them for a few minutes before it finally registered to me. I had no energy in me to do anything. I set my arms back so I could at least sit up on the wall. They helped me up to the wall. They looked over to Malik. They turned their head back to me and looked down. Their hand was on the wall holding them up. I looked at them a bit longer.
“Baaba? [dad]”
As soon as I spoke, my voice was weak, cracked and broken. I had lost hope a while ago but I tried not to show it. Altaïr looked up to me. He was on the verge of tears. He could not believe what Abbas did. He could not believe the state we were in. I could not either when it was happening but now; this is what we looked like. I swallowed hard when he looked at me with the same eyes I had. They were full with anger, sadness and disappointment. Not at me or Malik but to himself. I rest my bony hand on his cheek.
“Baaba. I never thought you would come.”
He could not take it anymore and I saw my father cry for the first time in a long time. I reached out to hug him. He hugged me back but gently. He was scared he could break me. I was scared I could break myself, but I could only let myself break me. I already had broken myself years ago but I fixed myself up and now I was broken once again. He let go of me and tried to pull me up. I tried to get up with him but it was hard. I rested my arm around him shoulder. He walked over to Malik and put him around his other shoulder. We walked out of our cell.
We were free at last! I never thought I would see daylight again. I was so sure I was not going to. We walked down the hall when I noticed the guard. He was unconscious. Once we got to the stairs, I started to walk by myself. I was just expecting that Altaïr would hold me up. When we got to the stairs, he carried Malik and held my side to keep me steady. By the time we were halfway up the stairs, Malik awoke from his sleep. When he noticed that we were not in the cell anymore. He looked around. He saw Altaïr and the light that use to be in his eyes came back. I smiled and a tear rolled down my face.
“Altaïr! I knew you would come and get us.”
His voice was also weak, cracked and broken. Altaïr kept his head down. He was hiding emotions just like I did. With the perfect poker face and a hood. We got to the door and I saw guards on the floor. I smiled. That is the work of my father. For the first time in two years, I felt happy again. Just knowing that my father came for us made me happy. Seeing his face again made me happy. We walked out and the sun blinded me. I put a hand up to block the sun from my eyes since my hood got totally wrecked. We walked towards the house that I remember staying in when I stayed here in Masyaf.
Once we got in, Maria ran to us and helped me to the bedroom. Altaïr was right behind us. He headed to the guest room and I was on the second bed while Malik was on the first one. I sat down on the bed. I could not lie down. I could not. Maria sat down beside me and held me close to her. She rubbed my back as she brushed my hair back. My brown hair like hers was not even close to what it used to be. It was full of dirt, grease and blood. I looked over to Altaïr and he just looked between Malik and I. He still could not believe this. Malik turned his head to Altaïr.
“I am sorry Altaïr. If I was only a better leader, this would not have happened.”
Altaïr rushed over to his friends’ side. He looked at him.
“La3, it is not your fault.”
“Naam, it is. I was the leader of the Creed and I let everybody down.”
“What happened?” Altaïr asked us both
“Abbas and Swami.” I answered
“How did this happen?”
“Je ne sait pas papa. [I do not know dad]”
He held his head down low. He let out a sigh before asking more questions to the both of us.
“What did they do?”
“Coup d’état. They killed Rauf and Sef.”
“Sef?” Maria whispered
I nodded my head as I swallowed back tears. Maria held me tighter to her. I did not blame her for doing so. After a few seconds past, she loosened her grip on me. She was also scared that she would break me but they did not realize, I broke myself a long time ago and nobody else could break me now.
“I saw it all.”
Once I said that. Anger rose in Altaïr. He looked around the room trying to calm himself. He started to pace back and forth.
“After it happened, she came to me.” Malik said “They had walked into my house and put the murder weapon in my bedroom. If I had known, I would have protected Harees better than I had.”
“Malik, none of this is your fault.”
“Naam it is! If I had been a better leader, I would have known what he was doing. I could have stopped it.” he whispered
Altaïr looked at Malik and then over to me again and started to pace back and forth. He looked around before speaking up again.
“What about Sef's family?”
“Sef and I did not like what Abbas was up to so we told them to go to Alamut. They should still be there.”
Altaïr kept pacing back and forth for a while. Maria got up and walked over to her husband and comforted him. He instantly calmed down when she laid one single touch on him. He looked down to her. She walked out of the room and went somewhere. Altaïr stayed with us. I looked around the room and then laid back on the bed. Altaïr walked over to me. He held my bony hand in his.
“I am sorry tifl. I did not see your messages until I got here. Abbas had said that you and Malik had killed Sef. I did not believe any of it. I knew you would not kill your brother or friend. I looked back at your letters and that is when I saw the hidden message written to me so many times.”
He held his head down low. A tear rolled down my face. He looked back up and wiped the tear away with his thumb like he always did when I cried. I loved my father and most of all I love the people around me now. That made another tear roll down my face. He wiped it away.
“Baaba, I am sorry. We should have left earlier than we did. Sef asked me several times but because I kept getting missions, it was hard. It should have been me.” I whispered
“La3. I believe that everything happens for a reason. There is a reason Sef died that day and not the both of you or you. There is a reason.”
At that moment, Maria came back in with a bucket of water and a rag. Altaïr looked over his shoulder at her as she made her way over to Malik to clean him up. Altaïr looked back to me. He smiled at me a weak smile and then got up to walk out the door. I knew he was going to do something hopefully, nothing bad or crazy. Altaïr was in a state of shock and anger. I knew him well enough that those two did not mix. Maria watched as Altaïr walked out of the room. Maria looked over to me and went back to cleaning Malik. I looked up to the ceiling and then my eyes started to feel heavy. With every blink they got heavier and heavier. My eyes closed.
When I opened my eyes, it felt only a minute had gone by. When I looked over I saw the door open. I thought Maria or Altaïr was coming in to check on us. Once a head popped through, I wanted to close my eyes and pretend I never saw his face. My vision was still blurry from waking up. He walked into the room with a knife in hands and a sack. I close my eyes and when I opened them again, Swami had the knife up to Malik's neck. I wanted to scream or shout or yell. Anything that would get him away from Malik's body. When I tried to let something out of my mouth, no noise came out. My body wanted to do its own thing.
I closed my eyes and opened them once more. Swami was walking out of the room with the sack and knife. I looked over to Malik. He laid there without a head. It was just his body lying there. Swami had de-headed him and put his head in a sack to show to everyone. It was his new prize now. I sat up, feeling a bit stronger than I had before. I looked down to myself and noticed I was in my Assassin robes. I smiled and then got up slowly, knowing I could fall at any moment. I looked over to Malik's body.
“Requiescat in pace.”
I said before I left. I was leaving to go get revenge. I knew that is what Malik wanted for me and that is what I want for myself.