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Title: Intercept Chapter XIX
Author: Shadowwright
Game: Assassin’s Creed
Characters|Setting: Malik al-Sayf, You, Unnamed Assassins, Unnamed Templars|Jerusalem, Third Crusade
Disclaimer: I am not the creator of the characters listed above or the Assassin's Creed world. Any simularities between real life people and any characters are completely coincidental. This piece has not been written with the purpose of selling anything in order to make money, it is written only to entertain fans of Assassin's Creed. While everything is permitted, not everything is beneficial for underage readers and I write for a mature audience.

You tried to focus your mind on the fact that your brother was alive and well in Acre with Jibal but your heart hurt too much over the recent loss of your child. Malik found you on the roof of the bureau and you had ignored the fact that it had begun to snow again. Malik touched your forearm and pressed his forehead to yours, saying, “Come back inside, my beloved. It is snowing.”
You made no argument with Malik and dumbly descended through the opening in the roof. It was somewhat warmer inside the Bureau and you went to stand next to the brazier. Malik said, “I am concerned for you. You have not been eating right, (your name).”
You said, “It was my fault.”
Malik crossed the room to you and wrapped his arm around you, resting his chin on the top of your head, saying, “No, no. It was not your fault.” He kissed the top of your head. “(Your name), children die in the cradle all the time and no one knows why.”
You wept and Malik just stood there holding you. When you were done, he led you behind the counter and offered you the stool. Malik tried to involve you in cartography and other studies to take your mind off your mutual loss. You set down the compass and rested your head in your hand, saying, “Malik, you are so much stronger than I am. When will this stop hurting?”
Malik’s voice sounded funny when he said, “It never really does. It just hurts less over time.” He took your hand in his and squeezed it. Then he lifted your hand to his lips and kissed it. Malik held your hand to his chest and said, “You must remember that your brother and sister still live.” Malik tried to smile and said, “That I still live.”
You nodded and said, “I think I want to go rest, Malik.”
Malik said, “(Your name), you sleep too much during the day now and walk the bureau at night, without sleeping. You can not continue to do this. I found you standing out in the snow. You must take better care of yourself. I miss you sleeping next to me.”
You smiled a little and said, “I am sorry, Malik.”
Malik said, “Why do you not go practice your music?”
You shook your head and said, “I have not felt much like making music of late, Malik.”
Malik said, “Well, maybe you should play your Buquz and you might feel better.”
You snapped at Malik, “I just want to sleep! What is so wrong with that?! You were the one telling me that I needed to get my rest when I asked to go on missions!”
Malik and you both sighed. You said, “I did not mean that…I…”
Malik nodded his head and said, “I know you did not. I will give you a surveillance mission. I want you to find out everything that you can about this target.”
You nodded when Malik gave you the name and an idea about where the person could be found. You headed out of the bureau and took to the roofs of Jerusalem. Finding a hiding place not far from your target’s residence, you donned your disguise by using a paste containing white chalk on your face and arms and wrapping your arms and head in bandages before putting on your coif and tabard bearing a green cross. You strung the bells on your baldric and flipped your hood up over the coif. When you stepped out of hiding, you walked along the street like a scholar just out front of your target’s residence. When they heard the bells, the few people passing by in the street gave you a wide berth and the guards at the gate of the residence looked uncomfortable. You walked around to one side of the residence’s wall before scaling the wall of the opposite building. Once you scouted the roof top you settled in on the highest point that still gave you some cover and you began to draw the layout of your target’s home. You measured the hour that the guard was changed by the positioning of shadows in the courtyard.

You departed the roof and shed your disguise before returning to the Bureau. Once again, Malik was impressed by the information that you were able to gather on your target. You just shook your head when he told you that he would assign another brother the task of carrying out the assassination. Malik said, “(Your name)…” You walked out of the Bureau and Malik followed you outside, saying, “(Your name), do not shake your head at me and then ignore me. Why did you just walk out?”
You said, “I do not know, Malik.”
Malik held out his hand and said, “You do not know…what is that suppose to mean?”
You looked away from him.
Malik said, “(Your name), look at me!”
You looked at Malik and said, “Outside of our Brotherhood, I felt I did not have much purpose. Now, I feel like I do not have much purpose in it…accept gathering information.”
Malik said, “(Your name), you could have attacked your brothers…”
You said, “and you are not going to let me forget that!”
Malik blinked then clenched his jaw. He said, “What do you expect me to do, (your name)? Altair has run off somewhere east…”
You said, “Malik, you have to make this choice yourself. Why will you not?”
Malik grabbed hold of your arm and dragged you back inside the Bureau. Malik said, “I am not having this conversation with you out on the streets of Jerusalem.” Malik dragged you back to your room and shut the door behind you, barring the door. When you saw Malik approach you, you crossed your arms and said, “Do not even think it, Malik!”
Malik said, “Do not even think what?”
You said, “Do not lay a hand on me!”
Malik said, “Maybe that is part of the problem.” He moved when you moved and remained between you and the doorway. Malik advanced until he had you standing with your back against the wall. He placed his arm above your head and pressed himself against you. You felt your tunic grow wet and your breast band become soaking wet beneath it. You said, “Malik.” You could feel Malik’s breath brush your lips when he said, “I do not care.” Malik nudged a knee between your legs and said, “do you still want me not to touch you, (your name)?”
You said, “The physic said…”
Malik said, “that wait was over days ago. I want you to come to me again, (your name).”
You started to squirm when he covered your mouth with his. When you turned your head to break off the contact, Malik kissed your neck and said, “You know I love you and I will not force you, (Your name). I miss you in our bed. Let me give you another child.”
You pushed against Malik’s shoulders, saying, “I am not ready for this right now. Please, Malik.” Malik pressed his forehead against yours and said, “at least let me give you pleasure.”
You said, “Malik, the front of my tunic is soaked.”
Malik said, “(Your name), the front of my tunic is now soaked too.”
Malik kissed you again and whispered, “help me out of my robes, my beloved.”

You were having the strangest and most horrifying dream. You had hired yourself out as a wet nurse in the house of your most recent target. Once you had gotten the babe down to sleep, you had slipped out of the nursery and made your way through the hallways of the house. You looked down and found a pair of dressmaker’s shears in your hand. You came to the doorway to the bedroom of the Master of the Household and gave a soft knock. When no one answered, you opened the door and entered.
Once inside, it seemed like you were looking at the room through a red veil. You heard the soft breathing of your target and saw that he was sleeping alone. You went and stood at the edge of the bed. His face somehow seemed familiar to you. You were overcome with the urge to drive the shears into the man’s throat and rammed them right through his windpipe. His eyes bulged as he came awake and a sick noise came out of his mouth instead of a scream. You continued to lift the shears above your head and bring them down again until you could no longer recognize his face and his chest was covered in red.
You stepped over to the stand holding the pitcher and basin and began to wash up. You looked up at the reflection in the mirror and could hardly recognize yourself. The edge of your lip curled upward just before you bent over and washed the blood off your face. You burned your clothing in the fireplace and dressed in some of the garments belonging to the lady of the house. You left the room and made your way to the servant’s entrance of the house. As you made your way out the front gates, a great wail could be heard rising up from inside the household.
You walked all the way to the Jordan and pitched the blood-covered sheers into the river. You walked to the building where the Order of St. Lazarus housed their knights and scrounged your rucksack out of a hiding place outside the building. Once you were dressed again in your novice robes, you dumped the clothes belonging to the lady of the house in a brazier to burn. You jerked awake to find that you had fallen asleep in an alleyway. After mumbling to yourself about how that was not the safest place to fall asleep, you returned to the Bureau.
When you entered the main room, you saw Malik talking with another Assassin and you said, “Peace and Safety to you both.” The Assassin and Malik repeated the greeting back to you. You said, “Please, do not let me interrupt you.”
The Assassin said, “As I was telling you, Malik. They have increased the guard since (your name) gave you that information. I tried to do some easedropping to discover why this was so.”
Malik said, “and were you able to discover why?”
The Assassin said, “Someone already murdered the target in his sleep.”
Malik said, “were you able to find out who did it?”
The Assassin said, “There is a witness that claims that they saw his wife leaving their room around the time that the target was murdered.”
Malik said, “That is interesting. The man had some unhealthy appetites outside of being a threat to us. Perhaps his wife learned of them and killed him.”
The Assassin said, “perhaps.”
Malik said, “Well, I will give you a different assignment as soon as I have the intelligence that I need. You may rest for now.”
The Assassin nodded and said, “Thank you, Dai.”
You waited for the Assassin to leave before approaching Malik. Malik looked up at you and said, “Where have you been all day, (your name)?”
You leaned across the counter and gave Malik a kiss.
Malik smiled. “Thank you. You still have not answered my question.”
You said, “Malik, I think you need to adjust how much medicine you are putting in my tea. I woke up in an alley and I do not even remember falling asleep there.”
Malik frowned and said, “That can not be good. I would not want some thief to steal something precious from me…”
You said, “Malik!”
Malik said, “We can speak with your physic. Maybe, she will be fine with reducing your sedative.” Malik stroked your hair and said, “I do not think you are needing so strong a dose anymore.”
You smiled and said, “Thank you, Malik. Is there still enough time for us to pay her a visit today.”
Malik closed the book he had been reading and replaced it on the shelf behind him. Malik said, “I do not see why not.” Malik came out from behind his counter and led you to the front door of the Bureau. After you both stepped outside, Malik locked the door behind you. You both walked together to the house of the physic.

The physician insisted on giving you a full examination after hearing about the complications with your pregnancy. She expressed her condolences over the loss of your child and assured you that there could be many other children in the future to help reduce the pain of the loss of your first. She changed your medicine, explaining to Malik that now that you were no longer pregnant, that there were better choices for your treatment. Malik seemed a little surprised when your physician prescribed hashish. When she gave Malik a portion, you noticed that it looked like the odd small hard bread that you had ingested in the past. You gave Malik a look and then asked, “Is this medicine alright to take if I get pregnant again?”
Your physician said, “It is better for you to use a different medicine if you become pregnant again. We can change your medicine when next you are expecting. It is important to come see me as soon as you suspect that you may be with child.”
You said, “What can happen if I used this medicine during pregnancy.”
Your physician said, “Low birth weight and there can be other complications.”
You looked at Malik and the color drained from your face. Malik rushed to grab you when you came close to fainting. Your physician urged you to lie down and Malik helped you lower yourself down onto some cushions.
Your physician said, “What is the matter? Why did you almost faint?”
You said, “I’ve seen that medicine before. I…I did not know…”
Malik smiled and said, “some members of our family ingest Hashish for recreational use…or smoke it. (Your name) does not smoke it…”
You said, “It is possible that I might have ingested it though when I was pregnant.”
Malik turned your face towards him. “Neither of us knew…we can not know that that was the cause of our son’s death. Please, do not blame yourself, (your name).” Malik kissed you on the forehead and said, “Please.”
Your physician said, “Malik is right. You have no cause to blame yourself for your child’s death, (your name).”
Malik soothed you as you started to cry. He look up at your physician and she said, “The medicine will help. Many Mothers are depressed after giving birth. She will recover.” Your face turned red for a different reason when Malik said, “What can we do about her lactating? She has no child to suckle at her breast…”
Your physician said, “Many women with too much milk will work as a wet nurse to alleviate the pain of carrying the milk and avoid health problems.”
Malik said, “health problems?”
Your physician said, “what happens to a cow or she goat if you do not milk them?”
You said, “I am not a cow!”
Malik said, “No offense was meant, (your name).”
Your physician said, “I was only trying to be discreet because you seem to be embarrassed to speak of this in front of your husband. I am sorry that I could not think of better examples.”

Again Malik sent you out to gather information on a target and again the Assassin assigned to kill the target returned to Malik with no blood on his feather. When the Assassin handed the feather back to Malik, Malik said, “Did the mission fail?”
The Assassin said, “No. The target was already dead…again.”
Malik said, “Were you able to find out anything about how they died?”
The Assassin said, “I saw the guards find his body on the cobblestones outside his house. They claimed that it looked like he had commited suicide by jumping out of one of the windows on an upper floor.”
You looked up from the map with which you were working and saw that Malik appeared vexed. Malik said, “That is interesting.”
You said, “I did observe him trying to kiss his own daughter in the courtyard. I had heard rumours that he was lying with some of his own family members.”
The Assassin said, “You think maybe that an unwilling family member may have had something to do with him hitting the cobblestones?”
You said, “Well, his daughter did not look like she was willing…”
Malik said, “I think it would take more strength than a woman possesses to manage that, (your name).”
You said, “Oh, thanks for that!”
The Assassin chuckled.
You said, “so…your lack of confidence in our female members to execute an assassination finally comes out.”
Malik said, “That is not true, (your name). There is a big difference between killing someone with a hidden blade or a sword and hefting a man that size out a window…especially when he has considerable physical strength to contend with.”
You said, “If you say so, Malik.”
The Assassin was laughing really hard now.
Malik said, “Well, I know so.”
You turned and walked towards the door. After you left the room, you thought you heard the Assassin say, “If Altair was a woman…” and Malik say, “She can be ten times worse than Altair sometimes…besides, Altair has changed…he is our Mentor now.” You lingered in the hallway long enough to hear the Assassin say, “and Altair has wandered off into the East, doing precisely what he wants again.” You moved on down the hallway, wondering what news the messenger Malik sent to Masyaf would bring back to Jerusalem upon his return.
After dinner, you made a face when Malik offered you that strange somewhat hard substance that you now knew to be hashish. You took it and stuck it in your mouth and chewed. As expected, you felt a burning sensation in the back of your throat and Malik was quick to offer you water. Others in your circle seemed to still find this funny. After a few moments, you seemed to find the littlest things funny and you became particularly affectionate towards Malik. Malik set aside his hookah and no one seemed bothered when he returned your affection. You moaned when Malik would not allow you to sleep splayed across him on the cushions out in the main room. He led you back to your room and laid down next to you on your pallet. You sat up in the dark and Malik said, “(Your name), are you alright?”
Your answer was to giggle then to stick your head under the covers. Malik said, “What are you doing? Oh!” You tasted the fruits of his apricot tree and drank deep of their nectar. Malik arched his neck back and gently gripped your hair. Malik let out a groan before dropping his head back onto his pillow. He sighed and slipped off to sleep.