Assassin's Creed: Outlaw - Book One

A Templar In Lincoln

The money that Robin had taken paid off Stephen Malebys mortgage. It also bankrolled the mercenary a loan to build up his own band of men. There was money to buy the King's Rest, so Hal Scathelock could reinvigorate the thieves' guild. The rest of the money Robin donated to orphanages, hospitals and left in caches with Bess and Hal to be distributed piecemeal to those in need.

Everyone understood where the money to pay these fees had originated and, word had it, that the Sheriff was beside himself with fury. The fact was that neither Malebys's residence nor the King's Rest was of any actual value to him. The money the Sheriff had stolen Robin had stolen right back. Then that stolen money was returned on condition that thieves and mercenaries be allowed to operate once more.

The Sheriff tried to strong arm the location of the outlaws out of various vulnerable parties but the whole thing happened so fast that his old tactics quickly proved useless. People apprehended in the night would vanish from custody. The sheriff's men ended up dead if they interfered in outlaw business. Worst of all Robin Hood and his band of outlaws backed off actually interfering in the Sheriff's acquisition of power and wealth in other areas.

The message was clear. Tangling with the outlaw's resources wasn't worth the effort. The Sheriff was throwing good money after bad.

Of course, the Sheriff suspected that it was worth it. He suspected that allowing the outlaws to help the poor and the needy would probably lead to trouble down the line. The problem was that the liberation of the thieves, mercenaries and courtesans was lumped in with a lot of other social change.

Most of the money still flowed into the coffers of Nottingham Castle anyway. The difference was that the people were generally happier this way. Robin Hood had become a local legend remarkably quickly, even a folk hero. Another thing the Sheriff learned was that people who believed in a saviour were much harder to terrorise.

Word came back to the outlaws that someone pulling the Sheriff's strings had told him to stop ripping apart Sherwood Forest looking for the outlaws and to concentrate on other business. As the new year slowly turned into a blustery springtime a new status quo began to make itself felt in Sherwood Forest.

Yughi spent his time training, patrolling and involving himself in minor skirmishes at Robin's behest. Both the thieves and the courtesans had instructions to pass on news of artefacts or Templar schemes directly.

It was the latter that came through the grapevine first. The news came to Will Scarlet through Hal that a Norman knight and Templar had come to Lincoln Cathedral to meet with the current bishop.

Since the killing of Thomas de Say the Templar activity in the region had been pretty quiet. There was little doubt that the Sheriff was a Templar but he appeared to be acting on his own.

Not only that but de Say had represented ecclesiastical power, where the Sheriff wielded political power. For there to be two such high powered Templars nearby was a definite indication that something was going to happen, and soon.

For this reason, Yughi needed to get closer to the situation, to make an assessment of the threat. One day in early March he made the journey to Lincoln to see for himself what was happening. Robin had offered to send outlaws with Yughi but the assassin had chosen to go alone.

Since Yughi had arrived in Britain many things had changed. He had trained hard, helped Robin to take control of his outlaws, turned them into something like a miniature Brotherhood of assassins. Yughi had worked on his own skills also, learning the bow from Robin, new hand to hand skills from Marian and perfecting his tree-running by Scarlet's instruction.

In addition, Tuck had schooled the assassin thoroughly in flattening his accent, now he could pass for an Englishman as long as he did not speak too much. He still sometimes exhibited an odd cadence to his speech but this was barely noticeable.