Assassin's Creed: Outlaw - Book One

A Conspirator's Meeting

The streets were still thick with soldiers, this made the job of following Newenham more difficult. As he crossed the Castle Square he paused to talk with the town crier. Yughi realised that he could not continue to operate effectively without some sort of disguise.

Spotting a couple of soldiers opposite his current position he hurried over to an alley just behind their position. Once there he selected a nearby citizen and clumsily fumbled a pickpocketing attempt.

"Hey!" the surprised citizen said. "Watch it! Thief!"

As expected the two guards raced after Yughi who ducked into a back alley and round from there into a yard at the back of a smithy. The two guards came round the corner in quick pursuit. One found himself on the wrong end of Yughi's hidden blade. The second drew his sword and closed on the assassin.

Yughi could not damage the livery of the second guard. He gripped the man's wrist as he made a swing and twisted hard. The soldier yelped in surprise as his sword fell from his grasp. Moving quickly Yughi pulled the man in, transferred his grip to the guard's head and twisted hard breaking his neck and killing him instantly.

This done Yughi concealed the bodies down a well in the back of the communal yard, but not before stripping the broken-necked guard and donning his clothes. Now attired as one of the enemies, Yughi sheathed the guard's dropped sword and made his way back to the square.

Dressed as one of the castle guards Yughi found that people paid far less attention to him. In fact, most people tried to avoid looking at him or catching his eye.

Circling round to where he had last seen Newenham Yughi picked up the man's trail. The Templar was walking across the square towards the castle. Yughi followed on behind.

As Yughi was just about to step out of the square and set foot upon the short road to the castle a voice called out to him:

"Hey, you there!"

Preparing for disaster Yughi turned, cursing whatever fortune had ruined his disguise. He was surprised to see another soldier, not a castle guard, another Templar, a younger man. Accompanying this man was another, a scruffy fellow, probably a thief.

"I'll need you to keep an eye on this one, whilst I talk with my master, do you think you can manage that?" the young Templar asked.

"Aye sir," Yughi said, he decided that it would be best to remain terse, less chance of this soldier spotting his accent as Baruch had.

"Take him then," the young Templar said. "And follow me."

Yughi said nothing, just took hold of the thief by the arm and followed the younger Templar walking toward the castle gate. This stroke of fortune had completely reversed Yughi's position in a single moment. As a lone soldier Yughi would still have had to maintain a low profile, now he could walk into the castle and no one would suspect a thing. He just had to play along.

Yughi's fortune improved as Newenham caught sight of the young Templar in the castle courtyard.

"Sirrah Asheby," Newenham addressed his inferior. "What is this you have dragged in off the streets of Lincoln today?"

"This is he who has been agitating the low folk against the Jews, Master," Asheby responded. "The one you wanted to speak with."

"Indeed I did," Newenham said, a broad grin lighting on his face. "Indeed I did. Would you all care to come into my chambers? We can talk in private there."

As the small party made their way into the castle building and up a set of stairs the thief began to look very nervous indeed. His complexion went from pale to green. For a moment the man made eye contact with Yughi. Having just learned that this man was sowing seeds of hatred against the Jews the assassin did not find it hard to return an icy glare that only appeared to deepen the man's terror.

Once the man was delivered to Newenham's chamber Yughi's luck took a small downward turn.

"You may leave now," Newenham said. "I'll take care of this fellow from here."

Yughi knew that simply stepping outside of the door and waiting would not be an option, Newenham was too clever for that. The Templar would wait a few moments, check the door and then proceed as long as the way was clear.

If Yughi was going to learn what Newenham intended he would have to make use of that short pause. He left Newenham's chamber and sprinted back to the stairwell. Once there he climbed the stairs to the roof.

From there he slid over to the edge of the parapet and vaulted over. He scrambled along to a hang above Newenham's chamber and carefully lowered himself down to a position outside the window. Yughi was pleased that the voices within were muffled but still distinguishable.

"So here is the man who sits in the gutter stirring up trouble for the Jews of Lincoln," said Newenham, a cat toying with a filthy rodent caught between his claws.

"If it pleases you, sir, them people don't deserve no place in a town with decent folk," the thief protested. "They killed the Lord Jesus, that's what the priest said. I ain't doing no more than reminding people, so they don't forget what the Judem done."

"You seem to think I have some interest in the motivation for your quarrel," said Newenham. "I don't. All I care about is that this quarrel exists, you are lucky, for you may prove of service to me."

"Tell me what I can do to serve you sir?" asked the thief, his tone was somewhere between relieved and despondent. Although his doom at this time, in this place, was no longer certain, the danger was by no means over and everyone knew it.

"The Bishop at Lincoln, you know of him?" Newenham asked.

"Good Hugh of Avalon," the thief replied, "Aye sir, all righteous men of Lincoln know his name and they honour it every day."

"Well," Newenham cut across the thief's gushing praise, "it would appear that even a Bishop can lose his way. Do you know that he is planning to issue a proclamation asking forgiveness for the crime of the Jews?"

"No, that's impossible!" the thief was aghast.

"I understand how shocking that must be for you," Newenham said. "I have no desire to see such a thing come to pass either. So I am going to offer you a chance to prevent it."

"How sir?" the thief asked, "tell me and I will do it."

"Simple, really," Newenham replied. "As honoured guests of the city of Lincoln my colleague Sir Asheby, here, and myself are invited to attend mass in the Cathedral on Sunday. We will be in the position to admit you to the building. What we would like you to do is silence this man and his sympathy for the Jews. Do you think you could do that?"

"You wish for me to..." the thief could not bring himself to say the words out loud. "I would be caught. I would be executed."

"I have as little interest in creating a martyr as you do in becoming one," Newenham said. "We have other arrangements in place, that you would do best knowing less of, that will ensure your safe anonymity. You have the word of the Master of the Temple at London. Also, there would be a small consideration payable upon successful... execution. Does that do a little to soothe your worries?"

"As it pleases you, my lord," the thief said.

"You have the right attitude," said Newenham. "I foresee a prosperous future for a man with such gifts."

Hanging from the wall below the window Yughi Gal was forced to disagree. He could not see a very long future for any man in that room. If Newenham wanted the Bishop of Lincoln dead then Yughi knew one thing for certain, if such an act came to pass it would be bad for everyone, so he had to stop it, alone if necessary.