Keeper of the Grail

drink.

“Tristan, I’m not sure how much longer I can keep going. This is dangerous. With the noise we’re making and the fact that we won’t be able to draw a weapon until we put down the litter, we’re at a big disadvantage. Anyone, bandits or Assassins, could be upon us before we even know it,” he said.

I knew Robard was right, but I still felt that we needed to make sure the Assassin was well enough before we left her behind.

“How much longer until we reach Tyre, do you think?” I asked.

Robard shrugged.

Then a voice from behind us said, in perfect English, “Well, since you’re headed in the completely wrong direction, I’d say never.”

24

At the sound of the voice I was so startled I visibly jumped in the air. Robard let out a gasp and fumbled at his bow, but when we turned at the sound, we saw the girl standing behind us, her wounded arm held loosely at her side.

We stared, dumbstruck. Though pale and somewhat unsteady on her feet, she otherwise seemed well enough.

“Who are you?” Robard asked, not quite sure what to do. The look on his face was comical. My hand had flown to the hilt of my sword at the sound of her voice. Now I felt ridiculous and dropped it to my side.

“I am Maryam,” she said, looking at me. “Your name is Tristan, correct?”

I nodded.

“I thank you for tending to my shoulder. It is painful and will be for a while, but I appreciate your efforts,” she said.

“It was nothing,” I answered.

“I helped,” Robard said. I shot Robard a glare. If helping constituted complaining and gathering water, then yes, he had helped.

“Yes, and thank you as well,” she said, looking at him.

She spoke perfect English, apparently able to understand us the entire time she had been conscious.

“How is it you speak English?” I asked.

“I come from a small village near Jerusalem. My father owned a farm nearby, and we traded there when Christians occupied the city. It was necessary to learn English to make a living,” she said.

Robard and I were unsettled. First we were attacked. Then we discovered that one of the attackers was a girl. Next we learned she spoke English. What next?

“Why are you headed to Tyre?” she asked.

I had no intention of telling her the true nature of my mission. Or even that I carried dispatches for the Templar Commandery there. She was an enemy after all. I decided to use Robard’s excuse, glancing at him first and tilting my head, hoping he was wise enough to play along. “We are hoping to find a ship to England. Our conscription is over,” I said. Robard nodded in agreement, understanding the need for a ruse.

Maryam looked at me a moment as if she didn’t quite believe me, but did not press it.

Now that she was standing, the color was slowly returning to her face. Her hair cascaded around her shoulders, glimmering in the moonlight.

“I helped,” Robard reminded her.

She laughed. It sounded like music. “Thank you, Archer, even though it was your lucky shot that hit me,” she teased. She appeared to bear him no ill will for having wounded her in the first place.

Robard’s eyes narrowed. He was not quite sure what to make of her. He muttered under his breath, but the phrase lucky shot, my arse stood out.

“How did you find us in the woods?” I asked.

She looked at me, then stared off, either not knowing or not wanting to say.

“I’m not sure. We were patrolling. Ahmad, our leader, saw the boulders and thought that it might make a good hiding place for enemies. He spotted you and ordered an attack,” she said.

I wondered then if she was lying. Her explanation didn’t make sense. There were dozens of outcroppings of boulders in the area. Out of all of them they had stumbled across ours? Had we made some mistake? Her answer seemed vague, and I wondered if we had accidentally revealed ourselves somehow. Did she hope we might make the same mistake again, leading her companions directly to us?

“Why were you sleeping in the daytime? Why travel at night?” she asked.

“We thought it safer. This area is full of bandits as well as Saracen patrols. And Assassins, as we’ve learned. With just the two of us we thought it better to travel by night.”

She accepted my explanation with a nod. “Well, shall we get started?” she asked.

“Get started? What do you mean?” Robard asked.

“To Tyre, of course.”

Robard coughed and asked to speak to me privately. We ventured a few paces away.

“Tristan, I can understand you treating her wounds. I can even understand carrying her to safety, but we cannot trust her. She’s an Assassin for heaven’s sake! What if she’s leading us into a trap? She seems well enough to travel alone now. I say we leave her and make our way to Tyre on our own,” he said.

I was quiet for a moment, trying to think. Perhaps Robard was right. It was time to take our leave.

We ambled back to Maryam.

“Maryam, I…we appreciate your offer, but since you seem well enough to travel, Robard and I think we will move on alone from here. Thank you though,” I said.

Maryam looked at us a moment, then smiled and laughed.

Robard grew a little hot under the collar. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Nothing. Except that you are heading directly away from Tyre now. If you got lost so easily, what makes you think you’ll be able to find it on your own?” she said.

In all the excitement, I had momentarily forgotten that Maryam had informed us that we had been traveling in the wrong direction.

Robard’s cheeks turned red. “We knew that. We were merely taking a slightly easier path since we had to carry you,” he said.

“Hmm. Really? It just looks like you might want someone to guide you there,” she said.

“What? Why do you think we need to be led anywhere?” he sputtered.

“Because if you keep going this way, you’ll run into a few regiments of Saracens,” she said.

My stomach tightened and I felt a momentary surge of panic. Saracens nearby? Patrols, yes. Small units, perhaps, but whole regiments? This far east?

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“My patrol camped with them just two days ago. If you wish to avoid them, you need to head toward the coast. Stay inland like this and you’ll be discovered for sure,” she said.

“And just what makes you think they will discover us?” Robard asked.

“Well…we did, didn’t we?” she said. From where I stood I could swear that her eyes twinkled as she said it.

Robard looked at me. His face was a mask of red. Not rage, but embarrassment. “Tristan? A moment?” He nodded for me to follow him.

We again stepped away where Maryam couldn’t overhear us.

“Do you believe her?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

“What if she’s telling the truth though? About the Saracens?” he said.

I just shrugged.

“Although I suppose it’s just as likely she could be deceiving us,” he said.