The Secret Crusade ac-3

by Oliver Bowden

  Altair had no time to wonder what she meant because with a flash of steel, as swift as a lightning bolt, she’d drawn her sword and was coming at him, attacking him with a speed, skill and courage that impressed him anew. She swapped sword hands, spun to attack him on his weak side, and he had to move fast to defend. She was good, better than some of the men in his command, and for some moments they traded blows, the balcony resounding to the ring and clash of steel, punctuated by her shouts of effort.

  Altair glanced behind to make sure no reinforcements were arriving. But then again, of course they wouldn’t. Her people had left her behind. Clearly her closeness to de Sable had done her no favours with his replacement.

  On they fought. For a heartbeat she had him with his back to the balustrade, the dark sea over his shoulder and for the same heartbeat he wondered whether she could best him and what a bitter irony that might be. But her desperation to win made her careless and Altair was able to come forward, eventually spinning and kicking her feet from beneath her, then pouncing on her with his blade held to her throat.

  ‘Returned to finish me off?’ she said defiantly, but he could see the fear in her eyes.

  ‘Not just yet,’ he said, though the blade stayed where it was. ‘I want information. Why are the Templars sailing to Cyprus?’

  She grinned. ‘It’s been a long, dirty war, Assassin. Everyone deserves respite.’

  He fought a smile. ‘The more you tell me, the longer you live. So I ask again, why the retreat to Cyprus?’

  ‘What retreat? King Richard has brokered a truce with Salah Al’din, and your Order is leaderless, is it not? Once we recover the Piece of Eden, you ’ll be the one running.’

  Altair nodded, understanding. Knowing, too, that there was much about the Order the Templars presumed to know but did not. The first thing being that the Assassins had a leader, the second that they were not in the habit of running from Templars. He stood and pulled her to her feet. Glaring at him, she brushed herself down.

  ‘The Apple is well hidden,’ he told her, thinking that in fact it was not. It remained in his quarters.

  ‘Altair, consider your options carefully. The Templars would pay a great price for that relic.’

  ‘They already have, haven’t they?’ said Altair, leading her away.

  Moments later, he had gathered with his Assassins, the battle on the harbour over, Acre port theirs. Among them was Jabal, who raised his eyebrows at the appearance of Maria and waved for two Assassins to take her away before he joined Altair.

  ‘What’s happening on Cyprus that would concern the Templars?’ mused Altair, as they strode along. He had already decided their next destination and there was no time to waste.

  ‘Civil strife, perhaps?’ said Jabal, palms spread. ‘Their emperor Isaac Comnenus picked a fight with King Richard many months ago, and now he rots in a Templar dungeon.’

  Altair thought. ‘A pity. Isaac was so easily bent, so willing to take a bribe.’

  They stopped at the harbour steps and Maria was led past them, her chin held high.

  ‘Those days are past,’ Jabal was saying. ‘Now the Templars own the island, purchased from the King for a paltry sum.’

  ‘That’s not the kind of governance we want to encourage. Have we any contacts there?’ asked Altair.

  ‘One in Limassol. A man named Alexander.’

  ‘Send him a message,’ said Altair. ‘Tell him to expect me within the week.’

  36

  He sailed to Cyprus alone – although not quite alone. He took Maria. He had told Jabal that he could use her as Templar bait, but he wrote in his journal that he liked to have her with him; it was as simple and as complicated as that. There had been too few women in his life. Those who shared his bed had done little more than satisfy a need, and he had yet to meet a woman able to stir those feelings found above waist height. Had he met her now? He scratched the question in his journal.

  Arriving in Limassol they discovered that the Templars had occupied the island in earnest. As ever the port was soaked in the orange light of the sun and the sandstone shone with it; the blue waters glittered and the gulls wheeling and swooping above their heads kept up a constant noise. But everywhere there were the red crosses of the Templars, and watchful soldiers eyeing a begrudging populace. They lived under the iron gauntlet of the Templars now, their island sold from beneath them by a king whose claim to it was tenuous at best. Most carried on with their lives; they had mouths to feed. A few plucky souls had formed a Resistance, though. It was they who would be most sympathetic to Altair’s mission, they he planned to meet.

  He made his way from his ship and along the docks. With him came Maria, her hands bound. He’d made sure she had removed any signs identifying her as a Templar Crusader and, to all intent and purposes, she was his slave. This situation, of course, angered her and she wasn’t slow to make it known, grumbling as they passed through the docks, which were quieter than expected. Altair was privately amused by her discomfort.

  ‘What if I started screaming?’ she said, through gritted teeth.

  Altair chuckled. ‘People would cover their ears and carry on. They’ve seen an unhappy slave before.’

  But what people? The docks were strangely empty, and as they came up into the back-streets, they found the highways deserted too. Suddenly a man stepped out of an alley in front of them, wearing scruffy robes and a turban. Disused barrels and the skeletons of empty crates lay about, and from somewhere they could hear water dripping. They were alone, Altair realized, just as two more men stepped out of other alleys around them.

  ‘The port is off-limits,’ said the first man. ‘Show your face.’

  ‘Nothing under this hood but an ugly old Assassin,’ growled Altair, and he raised his head to regard the man.

  The thug smirked, a threat no longer, grinning. ‘Altair.’

  ‘Alexander,’ said Altair, ‘you got my message.’

  ‘I assumed it was a Templar trap. Who is the woman?’ He looked Maria up and down, a twinkle in his eye.

  ‘Templar bait,’ explained Altair. ‘She was de Sable’s. Unfortunately she’s a burden.’

  Maria fixed him with a gaze: if looks could kill, it would have tortured him viciously first.

  ‘We can hold her for you, Altair,’ said Alexander. ‘We have a secure safe-house.’

  She cursed their rotten souls as they made their way to it, such coarse language for an English woman.

  Altair asked Alexander why there were so few citizens on the streets.

  ‘Quite a ghost town, eh? People are afraid to leave their homes for fear of breaking some obscure new law.’

  Altair thought. ‘The Templars have never been interested in governing before. I wonder why now.’

  Alexander was nodding. As they walked, they passed two soldiers, who looked at them suspiciously. Altair steeled himself against Maria giving them away. She didn’t, and he wondered whether it had anything to do with her having been abandoned by her own side in Acre. Or perhaps… No. He put that thought out of his mind.

  They reached the safe-house, a derelict warehouse that Alexander had made his base. There was a storeroom sealed with a barred wooden door but they let Maria remain in the open for the moment; Altair checked the rope at her wrists, running a finger between it and her arm to make sure she was comfortable. Now she gave him a look of what he could only describe as appreciative disdain.

  ‘I won’t assume you’re here out of charity,’ said Alexander, when they were settled. ‘May I ask your purpose?’

  Altair wanted to act quickly – he wanted to move in on the Templar base at once – but he owed the Cypriot an explanation. ‘It’s a complicated story, but can be summed up easily: the Templars have access to knowledge and weapons far deadlier than anyone could have imagined. I plan to change this. One such weapon is in our hands. A device with the ability to warp the minds of men. If the Templars possess more like it, I want to know.’

  Maria piped up from behind th
em: ‘And we can certainly trust the Assassins to put the Apple, the Piece of Eden, to better use…’

  Altair suppressed a smile but ignored her, saying to Alexander, ‘Where are the Templars holed up now?’

  ‘In Limassol Castle, but they’re expanding their reach.’

  That had to be stopped, thought Altair.

  ‘And how do I get inside?’ he asked.

  Alexander told him about Osman, a Templar whose sympathies lay with the Cypriot Resistance. ‘Kill the captain of the guard,’ he said. ‘With him dead it’s likely Osman will be promoted to the post. And if that happens, well, you could walk straight in.’

  ‘It’s a start,’ said Altair.

  As he moved through the streets of the city he marvelled at how quiet it was. As he walked, he thought of Maria and the Apple. He had brought it with him, of course – it remained in the cabin of his ship. Had it been foolish, perhaps, to bring the Treasure into such close proximity with the enemy? Only time would tell.

  At the marketplace he located the Templar captain of the guard, who had kindly made himself easy to spot, wearing a red tunic over chainmail and looking as imperious as a king. Altair looked around, seeing other guards in the vicinity. He lowered his head, drawing no attention to himself, avoiding the gaze of a guard who watched him with narrowed, suspicious eyes. When he passed on, he did so looking for all the world like a scholar. Then, very carefully, he began to work his way around, manoeuvring himself to the rear of the captain, who stood at the other end of the lane, barking orders at his men. Apart from the captain and now his killer, the lane was empty.

  Altair took a throwing knife from the sheath at his shoulder, then, with a flick of his wrist, set it free. The captain sank to the stone with a long groan, and by the time the guards came running, Altair had taken an adjoining alley and was melting into the empty side-streets. His task fulfilled, he had now to go in search of Osman, just as Alexander had instructed.

  Stealthy and fast, he made his way across the rooftops of the sun-bleached city, scuttling catlike across the wooden beams, until he found himself overlooking a courtyard. There below him was Osman. A Templar, he nevertheless had Assassin sympathies, and Altair waited until he was alone before lowering himself into the courtyard.

  As he did so, Osman looked from Altair to the wall above them, then back again, regarding his visitor with amused eyes. At the very least he had a high regard for the Assassin’s stealth.

  ‘Greetings, Osman,’ said Altair. ‘Alexander sends his regards, and wishes your grandmother a joyous birthday.’

  Osman laughed. ‘The dear lady, may she rest in peace. Now, how may I help you, friend?’

  ‘Can you tell me why the Templars purchased Cyprus? Was it to set up another exchequer?’

  ‘I don’t rank high enough to know for certain, but I have heard talk of an archive of some kind,’ said Osman, as he looked left, then right. If he was seen talking to Altair he would almost certainly be put to death in the market square.

  ‘An archive? Interesting. And who is the ranking Templar in Limassol?’

  ‘A knight named Frederick the Red. He trains soldiers in Limassol Castle. A real brute.’

  Altair nodded. ‘With the castle guard dead, what would it take to get me inside?’

  ‘Assuming I’m appointed to his position, I could find an excuse to reduce the castle watch for a short time. Would that work?”

  ‘I’ll make it,’ said Altair.

  Things were moving quickly.

  ‘Osman is making the arrangements,’ he told Alexander later, back at the safe-house. While he’d been out, Maria had spent much of the day in the storeroom where she had kept Alexander entertained with a string of insults and wisecracks, her infuriation only increasing when he had asked her to repeat them, a fan of her English diction. Now, however, she had been allowed out to eat and sat on an unsteady wooden chair, glaring at Altair and Alexander, who sat talking, and shooting angry glances at any other Resistance men who happened to pass through.

  ‘Excellent. Now what?’ said Alexander.

  ‘We give him some time,’ said Altair. He turned to Maria. ‘He also told me about the Templar archive. Have you heard of such a thing?’

  ‘Of course,’ said Maria. ‘That’s where we keep our undergarments.’

  Altair despaired. Turning back to Alexander, he said, ‘Cyprus would be a good location to safeguard both knowledge and weapons. With the right strategy, it’s an easy island to defend.’

  He stood. Osman would have had time to clear the castle walls by now. It was time to infiltrate the castle.

  37

  A short while later he found himself in the courtyard of Limassol Castle, ready for the infiltration. Staying in the shadows, he looked up at the forbidding stone walls, noting the arches that were guarded and timing the movements of the men on the ramparts.

  He was pleased to note that there were just a few men: Osman had done his work well. The fortress wasn’t completely insecure but Altair could get in. And that was all he needed.

  He scaled a wall to the ramparts, then crept into the castle. A guard screamed and fell, one of Altair’s throwing knives in his neck. Another heard the commotion and came running along the hallway, only to meet the Assassin’s blade. Altair lowered the guard to the stone, placed his foot to his back and retrieved his blade, which dripped blood to the floor. Then he continued making his way through the sparsely inhabited castle, disposing of guards when he saw them. Osman really had done his job efficiently. Not only had there been fewer guards on the walls but there seemed to be an absence of men inside as well. Altair ignored the uncertainty that formed in his gut. The twinge of disquiet.

  Up and up he went, further and further into the castle’s inner sections until he came to a balcony overlooking a large courtyard used as a training square.

  There he saw Frederick the Red, a huge, bearded giant presiding over a duel between two of his men. The sight of him made Altair smile. The genial spy Osman had been right. Frederick the Red was indeed a brute of a man.

  ‘No mercy, men,’ he was roaring. ‘This is an island of superstitious heathens. Remember, they do not want you here, they do not like you, they do not understand the true wisdom of your cause, and they are scheming at every turn to cast you out. Stay on your guard, and trust no one.’

  Both in full armour, the two knights battled it out, the sound of their swords ringing around the yard. Staying out of sight on the balcony above, Altair listened to the Templar leader as he spurred them on.

  ‘Find the chinks in your opponent’s armour. Strike hard. Save your celebrations for the tavern.’

  Now Altair stood and took a step up to the wall, in plain sight of the three men in the training yard below. Still they remained engrossed in the battle. He gauged the height from where he stood to the stone below, then took a deep breath, stretched out his arms and jumped.

  With a soft thump he landed directly behind Frederick the Red, his knees bent, arms out for balance. The bearded leader turned as Altair straightened. Eyes blazing, he roared, ‘An Assassin on Cyprus? Well, well. How quickly you vermin adapt. I’ll put an end to -’

  He never finished his sentence. Altair, who had wanted to look into the Templar’s eyes before he delivered the killing blow, engaged his blade and sliced his neck in one movement, the entire action over in the blink of an eye. With a short, strangulated sound, Frederick the Red crumpled, his neck a gaping red hole and his blood flooding over the stone around him, truly living up to his name.

  For a second his men stood silent, their helmets robbing them of any emotion so that Altair could only picture the looks of shock behind the steel. Then they recovered – and attacked. Altair drove his blade through the eye slit of the first. From behind the helmet there was an agonized choking noise and blood leaked from the visor as the swordsman fell. Then the second of the two duellists struck, wielding his broadsword more in hope than expectation of finding his target. The Assassin sidestepped easily,
palming a throwing knife at the same time, then twisting and, in a single motion, ramming upwards with his knife under the knight’s chestplate.

  Battle over, the three corpses settled on the stone, and Altair looked around the yard catching his breath. The castle, being so lightly populated, had its advantages, he thought. He returned to the balcony, letting himself out as he had come in. On his return journey the nagging voice of doubt grew louder. Most of the bodies he passed were those he had left earlier, still undisturbed, and there were no sentries at all now. None. Where was everybody?

  He got his answer shortly after he had left the fortress and made his way across the rooftops to the safe-house, already looking forward to resting and perhaps some verbal jousting with Maria. Maybe even a little conversation with her. All he’d been able to glean from her so far was that she was English, that she had been de Sable’s steward (exactly what that meant, Altair hadn’t asked) and that she had become involved in the Crusades after an incident at home in England. That had intrigued him. He hoped to find out soon what had happened to her.

  Suddenly he saw smoke, a thick pillar darkening the sky.

  And it was coming from the safe-house.

  His heart was hammering as he drew closer. He saw Crusader soldiers standing guard and keeping back anyone trying to get near to the building, which was burning. Fingers of flame reached from the windows and the door, dense curls of black smoke crowning the roof. This was why Frederick’s castle has been so poorly guarded.

  Altair’s first thought was not for the safety of the Order, Alexander or any of the other Resistance men who might have been inside. His first thought was for Maria.

  Fury ripped through him. He snapped his wrist to eject his blade. In one movement he had leaped down from the rooftop and met two of the Templar guards below. The first died shouting, the second had time to turn, with wide, surprised eyes, as Altair’s blade opened his throat. The shout went up and more soldiers came running, but Altair fought on, desperate to reach the safe-house, not knowing whether Maria was trapped inside, perhaps choking to death. Had she been left in the storeroom? Was she in there now, pounding on the door, gasping for air in the smoke-filled room? If so, he could only begin to imagine the terror she must be feeling. More Templar guards came to him, their swordpoints eager for blood. And he fought on. He battled them with throwing knives and sword until he was exhausted, the street was littered with Templar corpses, bleeding into the dirt, and he was rushing towards the now smouldering safe-house, calling her name.