the-secret-crusade-oliver-bowden

38
As it turned out, his next move was decided for him. Sitting high in a
tower in the shade of a bell, Altaïr had become aware of movement in
the streets, which had been so empty. People were leaving their homes.
He had no idea where they were going, but decided he wanted to know.
Sure enough, with the smoke was still rising from the charred
remains of the safe-house, the Templars were mobilizing. Altaïr used the
roofs to follow townspeople as they made their way to the square and
saw the expressions they wore, overheard their conversations. Talk was
of revenge and reprisals. More than once he heard Armand Bouchart’s
name. Bouchart had just arrived on the island, they said. He had a
fearsome reputation. A cruel reputation.
Altaïr was about to see that reputation in action, but for the time
being he was overjoyed to see Maria in the crowd, alive and unharmed.
She was flanked by two Templar knights in the gathering crowd – their
prisoner by the look of it, though she wasn’t bound. Like everybody else
in the square, her attention was fixed on the steps of the cathedral.
He kept her in his eyeline, staying out of sight on a rooftop
overlooking the square, watching as Osman took up position on the
steps, standing slightly to one side, ready for the entrance of Armand
Bouchart, the new Templar leader, who strode out and joined him.
Like de Sable before him, Bouchart seemed to have been chosen for