BUTTERFLIES

When she heard that they had finished eating their meal, an idea crossed her mind about how she could get to interact with them instead of being hidden away behind the wall listening to them talk. She could enter the room under the pretext of picking up the plates and ask them how the meal was.

With this thought on her mind.

Kulusumu got to work.

Kulusumu drew near the room where the Knight Templars were eating the meal and discussing with her brother Adam. At first, she hesitated at the door whether to enter inside or give up on her crazy idea and go back to the courtyard. She paced back and forth to the closed door, kept on clutching the sleeves of her hijab, adjusting her veil to cover her lustrous black hair, before pulling back the veil to show a few hairs at the front of her head, while trying to wipe away the little sheen of sweat on her forehead.

The thought of not entering inside was not her place, and it is no place for a young woman like her arose in her as if encouraging her to give up, but Kulusumu was a spirited young woman who delighted in fighting the impossible. The desire of being in the company of these exotic knights excited her and gave her the courage she never knew she had. She could not resign herself to being hidden away inside the house like it was the norm. She was a human being with a beautiful life to live, she was going to be seen, and acknowledged as a person and a woman.

She entered the room with quiet steps having gently knocked on the door before she heard the voice of her brother Adam telling her to come in.

He never knew it was her until he saw her inside the room. He opened his mouth to tell her to move out as this was no place for a young woman. But she had already knelt on the mat that the Knight Templars were sitting on as she greeted them in a sweet and respectful tone while looking on the floor.

"As-salamu Alaikum our esteemed guests, hope the meal we prepared, was to your liking," Kulusumu greeted them while asking if they liked the food. It was not like she did not know that they had enjoyed the meal having eavesdropped on the conversation from outside. This was her ploy to start a conversation with them and set the ground for future interaction.

"Wa-Alaikum as-salam, we have never enjoyed any meal in the last few months as much as we have enjoyed this Cusack. Miss, you and everyone who cooked this meal have our utmost gratitude." She was shocked to hear a Knight Templar reply in perfect Arabic greeting response. She quickly stole a glance in the direction the voice had come from.

She discovered that it had been spoken by the knight called Marino Yosef. He had piercing light brown eyes. Almost similar to her dead fiancé.

Briefly, she sensed a flutter of excitement and butterflies in her stomach, as their eyes locked before she drew away from her gaze back to the floor.

"It pleases us greatly that our humble meal was to your liking. Excuse me as I take away these empty plates for washing." Kulusumu said as straightened herself to pick all the plates they had eaten from.

She came to her senses and forced herself to leave. Kulusumu walked away with the plates in hand. In her heart, she regretted the many words she had wanted to exchange with these templars but had not been brave enough to say.

As she put away the plates in the kitchen. Her face was burning up and her heart was madly racing in her chest, she could not take away the image of that knight Marino Yosef and his piercing eyes, or the mellow and pure voice of his accented by that accent of his. Or the unwanted feeling she had in her heart and stomach, all this made her go weak in her legs. She almost dropped the plates she was holding.

"Watch out Kulusumu!" The cook Anas shouted at her when he saw her almost dropping the plates.

He came close to her, and spoke while looking at her like a strict parent, "you don't look ok young girl, you are all sweating and look unfocused. Could you have developed a fever?" Anas asked.

"There was no need for you to go and collect the plates, I was planning to pick them myself," Anas told her as he rushed to pick some plates from her hands.

"Sorry Anas, I thought you had forgotten to pick them and I was of the view that they had finished the meal when I heard sounds of them talking." She defended herself.

"They send their utmost gratitude; they said the meal you prepared was the best they have eaten in a very long time." Kulusumu expressed the knight's satisfaction with the meal while fanning Anas' ego.

"Are you sure they said that?" Anas asked with disbelief on his face.

"If you don't believe me, you can ask my brother Adam. He was sitting with them when they thanked the cook." Kulusumu said.

Stroking his long beard, Anas smiled before speaking up. "I believe you Kulusumu, your brother is a sneaky businessman, am sure he could have told them he was the one who cooked if you were not there. Am glad they know how to appreciate a good cook and his cooking."

***

55 Hours Ago

Abu Bin Zayyid was going to have his revenge no matter what. And he now had the perfect plan for achieving it.

He smiled to himself as he raised the dagger that had killed the female slave Amina Maimouna to his lips and licked away all the blood.

As the taste of the slain female servant's blood registered on his tongue, he gazed at the starry sky, as he watched the night sky, suddenly a meteor flashed across the night sky, flying eastwards, leaving a trail of yellowish light in its wake. This caught the attention of Abu. He stopped in his tracks.

This must be a sign from Allah to me, he thought to himself. "Wow! Even Allah has sent me a sign that I shall succeed in this endeavor," he shouted to himself.

With all this excitement coursing through his blood, he formulated his perfect plan for getting his revenge and clearing his name of all wrongdoing in the Assassins Order.

Having gotten concrete intel on the whereabouts of the Templar Knight Yosef and his companions comprising of Commander Gallo Francis. He was going to request help from the order.

Reaching his rented room. He picked a pen and paper and began writing a to letter an elder who was supervising him.

27th September 1191

Assalamu Alaikum esteemed Elder Saddam,

Praise be to Allah, and prayers and peace be unto His Messenger and final prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him).

Greetings from your humble servant Abu Bin Zayyid stationed in Jaffa.

Recently, I have observed some strange activities taking place in Jaffa by the Master of the Templars. One such case is the secretive posting of a Knight called Yosef Gideon from Cyprus. He was brought by the ship Ambrosia Hand, captained by that Syrian traitor Captain Ramzi. As I communicated earlier on, Ramzi is a collaborator with the Templars and he transports high-level cargo and personnel. I

believe he even converted to Christianity secretly. The imam of the local mosque has never seen him attending any prayer service whenever he is in Jaffa.

On top of this, the above-named Knight was accompanied by an escort of the elite Templar Knight squad led by Commander Gallo Francis, as you very well know. Gallo and his team have been a thorn in our flesh and we have been looking for the perfect opportunity to squash them and wash away the shame they caused in Jaffa. If we do this, Sultan Saladin will owe us a big favor. You will be highly rewarded in the order above the other elders.

Commander Gallo and this secretive knight, from reliable intelligence I have collected and received, are headed to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on a classified mission as well as some unknown areas. And am sure they are up to no good, as we have learned the hard way, never give an inch to these filthy Christians or they will invade three inches. I was of the view that we send them to hell before they harm us. As you know, my late mentor Yakub emphasized the statement, "do more harm to your enemies before they get the chance to harm you". May Allah rest his soul in peace until we meet in Jana.

Thus, am humbly requesting that my suspension be put on hold. Allow to leave Jaffa and follow these enemies.

Lastly, I am requesting to be supported by some of the friendly bandits or mercenaries stationed in Bayt Dajan, a team of twenty men with horses or camels with experience fighting the Knight Templars should be enough to send these enemies of Islam to the flames of hell where their portion awaits them.

Shall share some of the loot with them as it has always been the case.

Leaving this night to follow them so that I don't lose them, you can reach me in Bayat Dajan or any of our outposts along the way.

ALLAHU AKBAR!

Your humble servant,

Abu Bin Zayyid.

Having finished writing the letter. He sealed it in an envelope before heating some wax and stamping it with the fake business stamp that represented his authority in the Order's secret communication. This stamp had an image of an eagle's claws holding three ripe stalks of wheat, with the wording Jaffa Wheat Traders Company.

Without any hesitation or delay, he walked back into the night and looked for his contact to deliver this letter to the headquarters in Masyaf. With the letter handed in, he stole a horse from outside a tavern by the dock.

He started his hot pursuit of the Knight Templars.