Fork in the Road (Altair/Assassins Creed)

Chapter 39

When Hana awoke that very next morning, she had the most awful cramp in her legs and the worst neck ache she had ever had in her entire life. She sat up and stretched her arms skywards and winced as she moved her head to ease her stiff neck. Standing up wasn't so easy, and she hobbled around the rooftop like an invalid for at least fifteen minutes before she felt as close to normal as she could get.

She sighed, and wiped sleep from her eyes before grabbing an orange from her pack for breakfast, and drank what little was left in her waterskin.

Then she set to work. Being close to the market gave her the advantage of travelling very little on her unsure legs, and she delved into the throng of civilians to seat herself on a nearby bench.

She felt like she was getting nowhere with this, and just as she was about to leave she managed to catch the name of her Target being mentioned by a couple of merchants.

"Amran will be collecting coin today." The merchant said, "I do not believe I have made enough!"

"Me neither! His taxes are extortionate now! I have four hungry children at home and my wife is carrying our fifth, I haven't been able to provide enough food for the past few days."

"But Imran, my friend, you are a baker!"

"Yes, but I have to sell all I make to get the money! Besides, you have plenty of rice to feed your family, Todi."

The first merchant - Todi - sighed, "The last time I fed my family before I sold my wares, I was short eight silver coins. Amran took my eldest daughter to make up for the price. He has done so with others too. Taken children to pay off debts."

"What does he do with them? Put them to work I guess?"

"I dread to think!" Todi said, "The way he looked at her, and merely eight years old too! It disgusts me!"

"Have you been to see her?"

"I went to his house in the Middle District once, but he has two guards standing at the front gate and they would not let me pass."

It was lucky that the two merchants had stopped speaking then so that they could serve customers, for Hana came across incredibly light headed. She had no water left, and so she had to sit down for a moment. The late-teen felt nauseous too, and her hands were shaking.

She knew she was going to get an ear full from Jabal, but she needed to go to the Bureau. She had little information, but it would have to do.

As she carefully made her way back to the Bureau (using one of Malik's maps as a guide), her nausea passed and she was able to quicken her pace so that it didn't take her long to arrive at Jabal's domain.

She dropped inside not a moment later, and headed around the corner to find the Dai standing at the counter painting a pot.

"You have information for me?" He asked, glancing up. "Out with it, girl."

"Amran is collecting taxes today from the merchants." She said, swallowing thickly. "If they cannot pay him then he will take their children instead..." She blinked a few times and shook her head when her ear began to ring and dots clouded her vision. "I, err... one of the merchants said that-"

"-Yes," Jabal waved his hand and rolled his eyes. "The man takes a fancy to children, that is obvious. What of his guard?" He asked then.

"He has two that guard the front of his house, in the Middle District."

"And that's all you have for me?"

She nodded her head, resting her back against the door frame, her empty water skin hanging limply from her slim fingers.

Jabal leant over the counter and snatched it from the girl before leaving for a second to fill it. He tossed it back to her as soon as he returned, "Go and rest." He said, "Drink more water, you're still dehydrated from your stupidity in Jerusalem."

She left without another word, and deposited herself into the pile of untouched pillows. It looked as though she was the only assassin on assignment in Damascus, and she hoped that at least someone would join her. One more assassin as company would mean that she had someone there to break the ice with Jabal.

The female found it easy to fall asleep, and when she awoke it was because Jabal kicked her booted feet.

"Wake up," He had a white feather pinched between his fingers. "Amran shall be collecting his taxes within the next hour, so you'd better get going."

"I had enough information?" She asked, sitting up groggily.

"He will not have any guards with him." Jabal said, "He's not important enough for that. If anything, he will take one of his doormen." He watched her as she got to her feet, and handed her a piece of bread. "Eat, it'll settle your stomach."

She thanked him, happy that he had finally shown her a mere minuscule of concern, before she headed out of the bureau and retraced her steps back to the market.

Hana frowned then from her position on the rooftop. How was she going to know what the guy even looked like?

"This bag is three silver short!"

There was a man standing, alone, in front of a merchants stall. His long black cape, although dirty, was still finer than the clothing on anyone else's backs. Hana decided that this man was, obviously, her Target.

"How old are your children?"

The question sent a wave of absolute disgust through her, and Hana was about to leap down to the ground below when she remembered what she needed to do first.

Look.

She peered over the sides of the rooftop surrounding her, and after launching a throwing knife at a guard standing off to the side, Hana deemed it safe enough for her to perform her assassination.

And nothing went wrong.

She jumped down into a pile of hay, rolled out and onto her feet in one swift (yet stiff) motion, before she edged over to her target. The merchant was crying, his hands held together as he pleaded with the Pedophile, not to take his nine year old son from him. So he took no notice of the white robed woman, not until her dagger shot through the mans neck and blood splattered across his pots.

The female quickly swiped her feather across the blood on the man, before the screams began. She took off, running into no guards as she darted up to the rooftops and dived into a roof garden. But there was no clanking of chain mail, and Hana peeked out from behind the curtains before cautiously stepping out from her hiding place.

There was one archer to dispatch, before she finally dived into the Bureau. No bells tolled, not even two hours later when she was practically shooed from Damascus by the Dai.