Fleeting

“Hello, Altaïr.”

Azurelle blinked in her own surprise, “Oh, you know each other?” Maria smiled at her and nodded as Altaïr seemed to have been turned to stone, “Altaïr are you alright? You’re so pale!” she stood up and went to his side, was he sick? Or maybe she’d kept him up all night and this was exhaustion – he and Malik had done all the work during the journey to Masyaf and not taken a rest. He didn’t reply to her, instead he looked at the baby in Maria’s arms looking back at him with matching coloured eyes. The child had Maria’s dark hair but most of his features resembled his own! Altaïr felt a small hand on his bicep and stared down at Azurelle, she looked worried, “I knew I’d bother you last night! I’m sorry, Altaïr?”

“I am fine, it is nothing,” he said after clearing his throat, he gave her the tiniest smile to try and reassure her, “Nazeera is waiting inside for you, you should go to her and eat lunch.” Azurelle nodded slowly, was he truly alright? He seemed to have snapped out of his spell and he seemed normal again, “truly, I am fine.”

“okay…I have a few ideas for the wedding to throw at her and suddenly I’m starving!” his smile brightened in genuine pleasure, he was relieved she seemed to have her appetite back and the fearful hint in her eyes was gone, she even had a slight bounce to her step. Perhaps Maria had something to do with it as she was the only soul that seemed to have spoken to the brunette. He looked at the woman and sat in the vacant space beside her.

“How long have you been here?”

“A day or two, they let me in without much fuss…it helps when the Grand Master’s baby is in your arms.” She watched him swallow nervously as he regarded the boy with wary eyes, it was as if he thought the baby would turn into some sort of monster and attack him, “I named him Hannan – I had toyed with Thomas but he didn’t much like the name. He’s seven months old and began crawling not too long ago…he has a tendency to crawl away and then sit around waiting for someone to pick him up and return him to me.” She leant forward and placed the child on the Assassin’s lap, “this is your son.”

Hannan gazed upwards at the hooded man, his podgy little hands reaching for the material until the sun glinted off the silver triangle that held the straps to the dagger on Altaïr’s back, he decided to play with that instead.
His hand was massive on the child’s head as he hesitantly stroked the soft hair, “w-why did you…you should have told me!” at his raised voice, Hannan paused in his playing and whined, why was this strange man being so loud?

Maria sighed, “You said you didn’t want a child, so when I discovered I was pregnant I kept it to myself and went to stay with a good friend of mine. Why are you so angry? He’s here now.”

“I would have supported you! I would have never of turned away from you, Maria!” Altaïr lowered his voice when there was a pause on the tugging of the strap across his chest, looking down he saw the sad look on his son’s face and exhaled roughly. “I would have been there for him.” He had missed everything of this child’s life, smiles, tears, crawling! This boy didn’t even know who he was!

“You’re upset.” Maria was surprised, she didn’t think Altaïr would be happy to suddenly have a son thrust upon him and here he was genuinely saddened not to have been apart of the boy’s life. “Listen to me. When I left you in Acre I know I hurt you! But we fight so often that I wanted some time away and I know these lands enough to get by on my own…I missed you though – I did get your messages.” She’d kept every desperate, heartfelt note he’d littered in every corner of the holy land in hopes of finding her. “When I found out I was pregnant I panicked! I know you didn’t want a baby – we’d had that conversation before! We were always careful! Oh, god! Altaïr!” her eyes filled with fear when her baby decided that it would be fun to play with the hidden blade on the Assassin’s wrist.

Altaïr pulled tiny fingers from the mechanism, “I should like you to have all ten fingers.” Without ado Hannan let out a wail at not being allowed to do as he pleased, “Maria, he is crying.”

“Really? I thought he was laughing.” She smirked at his bewildered look, “You made him cry. You soothe him!” Maria was content to watch him struggle with the baby, at first he picked him up and held him up in front of his face. Hannan kicked and squirmed in his father’s hold and seemed to wail louder.

“What do I do?!”

“Well, stop holding him like he’s covered in something unpleasant! He’s like any other person…just smaller with less bladder control.” Altaïr rolled his eyes at her so called help; the baby thrust out his arms out and babbled something that sounded suspiciously like, ‘mama’. He hugged Hannan to his chest and rubbed his back, it worked when he had to console Maria or Azurelle and apparently it worked on him too. “See, it wasn’t so hard.”

“Maria, I would have been more than happy to have experienced this with you…”

“Are you getting soft, Assassin?” Maria’s eyes danced with laughter as he glared at her, why did she insist on picking on him when he revealed his feelings? She was infuriating! “Maybe spending time with pregnant women has changed your view on children…” she slid closer to him, running her fingers along her baby’s cheek, “she’s a sweet girl, bloody terrified of her situation but so willing to deal with it.”

“Azurelle has two ways of dealing with things: her way and crying in a corner. Usually she cries and throws tantrums before realising she must be responsible – she usually makes the right decisions in the end.” He had missed Maria, he could smell her perfume at this distance, her hair had grown and her eyes looked tired – a side effect of being a single mother – but she seemed happy. “What did you two talk about?”

“I cleared a few things up for her, like how giving birth wasn’t as bad as she’d been told – she’ll be a natural! I can see it!” Maria leant closer to him, she had missed him the entire time, if she had known he would have been so willing to be a father she’d have found him the moment she’d found out. It had been foolish to leave him!

“thank you, Maria…she has not had an easy time, she had thought she had miscarried, she has no way of supporting herself and she is still so young – so protected that she knows so little of real life outside of her family.”

“Has Malik not been helping?”

“Malik?”

Maria frowned at his confused expression, “I heard Malik was getting married – which is a miracle in itself – and she’s pregnant, she travelled here from Jerusalem…she’s planning for a wedding.” It all pointed to an obvious answer, “he’s too old for her but if that’s what they want…unless he’s marrying her because he got her pregnant!”
Altaïr sat up from the woman, “she is not marrying Malik, her sister is.”

“So where’s the father?” Maria stared at him, disappointed she had nothing to mock the Dai with but still curious, surely the father of Azurelle’s child hadn’t run! Altaïr wouldn’t look at her, he fussed with the baby intent on ignoring her question and her gaze, she wasn’t stupid, he knew if she looked into his eyes she’d see the guilt. “Come on, tell me! You travelled for a month with her didn’t you? Surely you know!” he didn’t know how he was going to tell her or Azurelle, Maria would not forgive him and the other girl…how would she take the news her new best friend was also a mother of his child? “My god…” Maria muttered as she remembered something that had not seemed important. Altaïr had not slept well, Azurelle had not slept well and the girl had said, ‘I knew I’d bother you last night’ “Altaïr, look at me.”

“Maria, surely you have better things to do than collect idle gossip, Azurelle does not ne – ”

“Look. At. Me!” he did as she commanded and he saw her eyes widen. She saw the guilt, the regret and more truth in his hazel eyes than if he’d opened his mouth, “you won’t have a child with me but you’ll impregnate the first little – ”

“Do not curse her, Maria! She is not to blame for this.”

“Sorry, I mustn’t insult the mother of your child! I hope you enjoy the rest of your life with her!” Maria stood up and held out her arms for her son, “give him to me.”

“Maria…”

“Give me my son, Altaïr!” she barked angrily, he could see her trembling with her anger and was reluctant to give up Hannan, who had fallen asleep against his shoulder. “You have another on the way – you won’t miss him.” Her words stung the Assassin and his hold tightened on the boy.

“You left me! It was months before I touched anyone else – months!” Hannan stirred in his arms, “you left me and I looked for you, Maria! I looked! It was a simple arrangement that resulted in her accidentally getting pregnant.”

“You accidentally fucked her too?” she wasn’t going to listen to this any longer, “give me my baby, now!” by now he was wailing at the noise, a few of the others in the garden looked their way in curiosity. Altaïr handed her his son before he screamed his little throat raw, he watched her turn without another word and begin walking away; he stood and quickly followed, he wasn’t going to let her vanish with Hannan!

00

He had followed her to the guest area of the fortress; this was usually where allies could stay if they needed protection for their relationship to the Assassins. She had reached a dead end and now stood with her back to him, she busied herself by bouncing her son in her arms and murmuring for him to calm. Altaïr stood at the doorway, his breath coming quickly as he allowed her to work her charm on the little one, they had continued to argue through the halls the entire way and now that she was trapped he could let his panic subside.
Hannan cried himself to exhaustion and was laid down on a second bed in the room, Maria had piled pillows and blankets in the centre so he would not roll out and injure himself, “I know you do not like to be woken…it wasn’t intentional so shush.” He moaned and whined quietly, his little face red and angry at the disturbance they had caused to his slumber.

“Maria.”

“Go away!” she hissed unhappily, “I have nothing to say to you!”

“You never change! You are always going to be impossible and defiant…I have trusted you with everything that I am, you know things I would tell no one else…if you asked I would lay down my weapons – why must you play this game!” had he really done something so terrible? Se had left him, she had told him she no longer wished to be with him and he had begged her to stay! He had done everything in his power to return the stubborn English woman to his side and failed. Running into Azurelle had stopped an unbearable ache in his chest, she unintentionally brought him joy and happiness in what had seemed like such a bleak time – the little brunette had let him take and take from her and he would not abandon her when she now needed him…not even for Maria. “I missed you.”

She turned to face him, her anger evident even as tears slipped down her cheeks, “it doesn’t seem so.” He reached for her and she slapped him across his left cheek, “don’t you dare! You can’t come to me from her arms.”
Rubbing his cheek at the smarting sting, Altaïr glared hard at her. She wasn’t like Azurelle, she wouldn’t calm down and see sense and he’d forgotten how volatile the Ex Templer was, if he let her she would easily run him through. She had also forgotten not to let her guard down in front of the Assassin – he moved like lightning and pulled her against his chest, her arms were trapped between them and she could only struggle against his hold, “let me go!” she shrieked, he covered her mouth with his own, he had only meant to quiet her before she woke the sleeping baby close by but he could only melt into her as she didn’t fight against his lips.

He pulled away with a struggle, “you will wake him.” She glanced at the little one before returning a displeased look to the Assassin, “Now listen to me! Azurelle knows nothing of you, I was weak, I was lonely and hurting…she was…it was never serious and we both knew that! This pregnancy was not planned and it surprised us both!”

“There are herbs and other ways to ensure that there is no conception – did you not think?”

“I was a fool and she was inexperienced, she did not know…it is over now, it has been for weeks but I will not leave her alone”

Maria scoffed, wonderful! Not only had he seduced a young, naïve girl but he had chosen a virgin who had no idea what she was letting him get her into! “You’re a selfish bastard, Altaïr! You lead a vulnerable, barely out of her childhood, girl into a loveless affair because you are upset?”

“Forgive me…do not leave me again – do not take my son from me.” He kissed her again and forced his tongue past her lips, sighing in relief as she reciprocated eagerly, Altaïr let his arms loosen, his hold shifting to a firm embrace, his hand tangled into her hair deepening the kiss – he would drown in her if she would allow it. “Forgive me.” His lips caressed her throat gently as she became lucid in his arms and he revelled in her gasp – except her gasp sounded higher, almost sweeter like…Azurelle’s. He noticed Maria was stock still against him and he pulled back from the woman and looked over his shoulder.

“I I…I’m sorry! I was going to…I mean- Maria I was…I’m sorry!” Azurelle’s mouth opened and shut silently as she stammered and blushed. She was frozen on the spot and it wasn’t until a noise was made by Hannan that she jumped, her eyes widened even further as she remembered how much the baby resembled Altaïr, that and the vision of them in each others arms made her realise that the child was Altaïr’s, her hands rested on her stomach unconsciously as she looked down at the floor, “I was going to ask you something, Maria…but I’ll come back later – I’m sorry I barged in!” she apologised quickly and left the room in daze.

000

Thank you for the reviews…I was most entertained! I am not evil…just a fanfic writer. MWAH