Assassin's Creed The Secret Crusade (39 page)

And at the same time as we begin the process of starting the new guild we have also set about hiding the five stones given to us by Altaïr. The keys. Guard them well, he had said, or hide them. After our experiences with the Mongols we had decided that the keys should be hidden so we set about secreting them around and about Constantinople. We are due to hide the last one today, so by the time you read this, all five keys will be safely hidden from the Templars, for an Assassin of the future to find.

Whoever that may be.

Epilogue

From above him on deck the Assassin heard the sounds of a commotion, the familiar drumming of feet that accompanies the approach to land, crew members rushing from their posts to the prow, shimmying up the rigging or hanging off ropes, shielding their eyes to stare long and hard at the shimmering harbours towards which they were sailing, anticipating adventures ahead.

The Assassin, too, had adventures ahead of him. Of course, his would likely be markedly different from the escapades fondly imagined by the crew, which no doubt consisted primarily of visiting taverns and consorting with whores. The Assassin almost envied them the simplicity of their endeavours. His tasks would be more complicated.

He closed Niccolò’s journals and pushed the book away from him on the desk, his fingers running across the ageing cover, mulling over what he had just learned, the full significance of which, he knew, would take time to make itself known. And then, with a deep breath, he stood, pulled on his robe, secured the mechanism of the blade to his wrist and pulled up his cowl. Next, he opened the hatch of his quarters to appear on deck where he, too, shielded his eyes to cast his gaze upon the harbour as the ship sliced through the sparkling water towards it, people gathered there already to welcome them.

Ezio had arrived in the great city. He was in Constantinople.

Dramatis Personae

Niccolò Polo, the narrator

Maffeo Polo

The Assassins

Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad

Maria, his wife (née Thorpe)

Darim and Sef, their sons

Al Mualim, the Master

Faheem al-Sayf

Umar Ibn-La’Ahad, Altaïr’s father

Abbas Sofian

Ahmad Sofian, Abbas’s father

Malik Al-Sayf

Tazim, Malik’s son, also known as Malik

Kadar, Malik’s brother

Rauf

Jabal

Labib

Swami

Farim

Masyaf villagers

Mukhlis, his wife, Aalia, and daughter, Nada

The Crusades

Richard I of England, ‘the Lionheart’

Salah Al’din, Sultan of the Saracens

Shihab Al’din, his son

Altaïr’s Nine Targets

Tamir, black-market merchant

Abu’l Nuqoud, the Merchant King of Damascus

Garnier de Naplouse, the Grand Master, the Knights Hospitalier

Talal, a slave trader

Majd Addin, regent of Jerusalem

William de Montferrat, lord of Acre

Sibrand, Grand Master, the Knights Teutonic

Jubair al-Hakim, chief scholar of Damascus

Robert de Sable, Grand Master, the Knights Templar

In Cyprus

Osman, Limassol citadel captain

Frederick the Red, ranking Templar knight of Limassol

Armand Bouchart, Robert de Sable’s successor

Markos, Resistance

Barnabas, Resistance

Barnabas, imposter

Jonas, a merchant

Moloch, ‘The Bull’

Shalim and Shahar, sons of Moloch

The Bandits

Fahad

Bayhas

Long Hair

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to

Yves Guillemot

Jean Guesdon

Corey May

Darby McDevitt

Jeffrey Yohalem

Matt Turner

And also

Alain Corre

Laurent Detoc

Sébastien Puel

Geoffroy Sardin

Xavier Guilbert

Tommy François

Cecile Russeil

Christele Jalady

The Ubisoft Legal Department

Charlie Patterson

Chris Marcus

Etienne Allonier

Maria Loreto

Alex Clarke

Alice Shepherd

Andrew Holmes

Clémence Deleuze

Guillaume Carmona