Chapter Text
"Congratulations, Ibn-La'Ahad! You fulfilled the important mission entrusted to you. You exceeded my expectations."
The supreme mentor, Al Mualim, boasted. His expressions only demonstrated satisfaction and relief.
"I'm just doing my duty, and that is to protect the brotherhood." _The little eagle responded with a small, discreet smile.
"Exactly. It's your duty... you must never forget our duty." _The great mentor replied.
"Now that you've finished the mission, you can take the day off, or continue training to further hone your assassin skills. If I were you, I'd take the time to train, but it's your decision."
Altaïr nodded, said goodbye, and left the castle.
Perhaps taking the day off doesn't sound so bad, since the assassin spent his time improving his skills.
The day was peaceful. Masyaf was being bathed in the warm rain of sunlight, as always, with the mornings beginning beautifully tinged with a brilliant golden light.
Several citizens admired this as they began a new day.
On this occasion, it was Kadar who had his head up to the window, taking in the fine view over the city.
Kadar was thinking about the day off they'd been given, how boring it would be without his older brother.
He was thinking—
Oh…
The door opened.
Kadar looked away and turned to look who entered.
It was his beloved brother Malik, who had a smile on his face, even though his eyes were also full of tiredness.
"I'm back..."
Malik closed the door, leaving some things on the small chair next to it.
"How are you?"
The one with the sunburnt complexion stretched, but not before receiving a big hug from the one with eyes as clear as water._ "I can tell you missed me..."
The older one's arms were outside the embrace, but they slowly lowered to receive the welcome.
"Yes. I missed you a lot."
The younger one's face remained resting on the other's chest, listening to the calm heartbeats.
"How did training go? I bet you had more fun than I did." _He let out a small laugh at the end of the sentence. The laugh was followed by another.
"Yes. Although we didn't do much more than train our stealth."
His head detached from his chest, releasing the cartographer.
"Very well. Believe it or not, stealth is essential to being a great assassin."
"That's what you always tell Altaïr." _Both boys laughed.
"Of course. Because it's very difficult for him to restrain himself and wait." _Kadar nodded.
"But he's still a great assassin..."
The younger one replied, making the older one roll his eyes mockingly.