She rewarded his attention with a smile and a squeeze of his fingers before they found themselves in a familiar wing of the castle, and the door barely had time to rattle closed upon its hinges before Maria had thrown herself at her husband and held him close, nuzzling into the crook of his neck and almost shaking with longing.

"You," she breathed against his throat, "are never, never to be gone so long again or I swear it Altaïr there is no argument you could conceive or make that will keep me from journeying with you."