Chapter 38 - Maiden Aboard

"When will Sir John come back so we get married?" Alexa wondered, pulling the blanket over herself in Philomena's best cabin.

Archbishop Giotto Albizzi promised to ask the Catholic Pope for permission for this wedding, in secret not to warn of Alexa's situation and location until everything was fully resolved. The marriage could not be performed immediately in the face of the complex situation of the maiden, recently declared excommunicated with her baptismal name, by the two Churches.

The Archbishop looked like a good man, unlike her first judgemental thoughts, and perhaps that was why Rinaldo wanted to destroy Archbishop Albizzi so vigorously.

The maiden closed her eyes, thinking of her fiance, but it was the image of Prince Magnus that came to her mind. Alexa shook her head in disgust, and that's when Nerissa, the maid, began to snore heavily in the upper bed.

"Gosh, she's so much worse than Locke!" the maiden wondered. But having a light sleep, she knew it would be virtually impossible to sleep.

"Maiden!" she thought she heard a voice, and felt the typical chill of lifelessness near her. The blanket on her feet lifted a little, and she felt a cold hand touch her heel.

"I'm awake," she said to the Shade. She knew who it was, the warrior Antonio, who vanished after her words.

Naturally a sense of alert fully awakened her, and she climbed out of bed cautiously.

Alexa did not know the cause of the death of one of her escorts, exactly the one who should do the first shift, and did not know what time it was, to be sure of the end of their shifts. But of course, she suspected a killer was on board.

'Blue Eyes was right! I didn't care much, but he said some hired assassins were around!'

The maiden didn't know who exactly was paying these killers, but she guessed why.

The Dallassenos knew many secrets, and the identity of many secret members of the Order, as well as many secrets of the Emperor of Constantinople himself. Hadn't this been the real reason that led to the whole tragedy? Since all members were condemned to death, it made sense to try to ensure the silence of those who knew.

Alexa crouched, and as slowly as possible began to push one of the chests to the door, to prevent the door from being opened from the outside. Her maid's sleep wasn't disturbed the slightest by the soft shuffling noise, drowned out by the waves of the sea hitting the ship's hull. She dressed quickly in her men's traveling clothes, also picking up her dagger, with an increasingly acute sense of danger.

'Think, think Lex!' she tried to focus, to plan what to do. About dawn the Portuguese ship would stop at the village where ships used to get water for the voyage. Many believed that this water was of better quality. Alexa practically heard the voice of her brother Narces, the Emperor's spy, saying,

'A killer in such a situation will seek to neutralize threats and ensure a safe escape. He probably intends to kill the target shortly before the escape, to avoid being discovered. Then he will try to go unnoticed until just before the crucial moment, as he intends to leave immediately with the accomplishment's proof_ that is, your head_ near dawn. Either shortly before, or shortly after. So, to get off the ship, the assassin has two options: get out on a cockboat, already close to the port, or walk out, when the ship docks.'

But there was no guarantee that it was just one assassin. It could be a group, and they could even have bribed the crew and seamen to act without any hindrances.

'Oh, the more I think, the more paralyzed with fear I get! I can't just wait! I need to know what to do!'

Glancing at the hatch, she decided to try to sneak out and find out what was going on without the assassin or assassins seeing her. After making sure no one was outside, she squeezed herself through the hatch and crept stealthily around the corners.

The maiden heard a TCHBOOM! She hid behind the thick main mast to peer at the hooded figure who had just plopped something rather heavy into the sea.

Alexa imagined it was Antonio's corpse, and said a little prayer for his soul not to be lost in the sea. From where she was, she could only see the killer's back. Alexa tried to see if there were any sailors in the crow's nest, but eventually found it pointless, because if there were any, awake, he would have seen the killer throw a body overboard.

Perhaps it was best to go back and see if Dieter was still alive, and warn him. But where would he be?

The hooded assassin passed close to her, luckily Alexa was attentive and hid quickly. She had been trained by the best, and even though she wasn't great, the maiden had a lot of confidence in her rogue skills.

Alexa even evaluated fleeing using a cockboat, but that was really a stupid idea because she didn't know if she would have the strength. And besides, she could just get lost, paddling the wrong direction. She could see the coast in the distance, but she didn't know if she could handle the boat by herself.

Dieter was certainly on the lower deck, and Alexa wondered how to get to him. The hooded assassin was heading for it, but stopped just as the door to the lower deck was opened cautiously from inside. The hooded figure hid, pulling from its folds a blade that gleamed in the moonlight. Alexa covered her mouth for a moment, unsure whether to reveal her own hiding place or to help who was coming to the main deck. As her intuition told her, it was Dieter!

The killer was very skilled at using the shadows as cover, and the Holstein's warrior stepped out onto the deck, not imagining being so close to the assassin. Dieter was clearly searching for Antonio, and perhaps for her, and had his sword ready for use in one hand.

He walked cautiously, and the killer loomed behind him like a big cat for its prey.

Dieter, however, suddenly turned on his heels, attacking the thug, and they both began a melee fight.

Alexa jumped up from her hiding place and ran down the side, climbing over the lower deck entrance as the men dueled with their blades. The assassin had his back to her, taking advantage of his protected rear guard, and focusing on the powerful attacks of the Saxon warrior.

But the assassin was as fast as a desert snake, and in one blow managed to hit the warrior in the face. Dieter at this point slightly lost his upper hand, and Alexa decided to interfere. Then the maiden grabbed a bucket that was there, at the right time, and threw herself over the assassin's shoulders, shoving the bucket on his head.

Dieter seized the opportunity with one blow, killing the opponent who inevitably tried to get rid of the person on his shoulders. Alexa felt the body beneath her soften, and smiling and victorious looked at Dieter…

He also smiled back, unaware of the person behind him with a blade pointed at his back.