the-secret-crusade-oliver-bowden

52
They laid Malik on a pallet and Maria sat as his side, giving him sips
from a beaker.
‘Thank you,’ he gasped. His eyes had cleared a little. He pulled
himself up in the bed, seeming uncomfortable with Maria’s proximity, as
though he thought it dishonourable to be tended by her.
‘What happened to Sef?’ asked Altaïr. With three of them inside it, the
room was small. Now it became smaller, seeming to close in on them.
‘Murdered,’ said Malik. ‘Two years ago Abbas staged his coup. He had
Sef killed, then placed the murder weapon in my room. Another Assassin
swore that he’d heard Sef and me arguing, and Abbas brought the Order
to the conclusion that it was I who was responsible for Sef’s murder.’
Altaïr and Maria looked at one another. For two years their son had
been dead. Altaïr felt rage bubbling within him and strove to control it –
to control the impulse to turn, leave the room, go to the fortress and cut
Abbas, watch him beg for mercy and bleed to death.
Maria put a hand to his arm, feeling and sharing his pain.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Malik. ‘I couldn’t send a message while I was in
prison. Besides, Abbas controlled all communications in and out of the
fortress. No doubt he has been busy changing other ordinances during
my imprisonment, for his own benefit.’
‘He has,’ said Altaïr. ‘It seems he has supporters on the council.’