Chapter 3
"Touching the Ground Weightlessly"
POV: Shay
The morning was not on the list of the best things in my life today; I woke up nearly screaming into the void of the room I found myself in. I covered my mouth with my hand suppressing the cry and turning it into a noisy gasp. My eyes curiously wondered around the place I was in and after a short stupor I realized that I was in the Templar Quarters. I gulped and tried to get out of bed but sharp pain suddenly sent me collapsing back in the warm bed. After catching my breath I looked down and touched the spot on my stomach where my wound hid under the bandages. I did not remember how I got here, I must have passed out on the ship and Gist brought me here. I smiled at my thoughts, what a great man he is, carrying about me as if I was some kind of a treasure.
The door leading to the bedroom slowly opened and I heard someone's footsteps approaching the chamber. I panicked and quickly rested my head on the pillow pretending I was asleep. I tried to take deep breaths as if Morpheus was embracing me tightly. I heard someone walk in and quietly call others to join them. I had a desire to open one eye and peek at my visitors, but decided to just use my skill in hearing.
"He is still asleep?" A man whispered in a familiar voice that belonged to my quartermaster. I felt very pleased on knowing that he was okay; I suddenly got a strong urge to ask him about Morrigan and how the repair was going. Before I could make my final decision of choosing to suddenly wake up, or stay still and wait, someone softly touched my forehead. It startled me but I kept myself as motionless as I could; the hand moved up stroking my hair a little and then pulling back just as unexpected as it appeared.
"Yes, the doctor said he needs a lot of rest." The second voice I recognized almost immediately; it belonged to the Grand Master. For a split second I felt very embarrassed of paying him a visit in the condition like this, but it wasn't my fault that the Assassins decided to suddenly crush us right near New York. "You may go now, come in the evening when Shay will be awake." Master Kenway pronounced my name with an odd warmth playing in his voice, thought I could tell that his face expression was cold.
I heard Gist thank him and excuse himself as he quickly exited the room. I heard his distant footsteps slowly melt as he exited the house and went on with his business. I heard Mr. Kenway talk to another visitor I was not familiar with, and then I heard more footsteps becoming almost silent as they disappeared from the bedroom. Everything became dead quite again and I managed to let out a sigh of relief. My heart beat was a little unsteady since I dared to hold my breath for the longest time imitating deep breathing my moving my chest up and down. I took a deep breath and slowly opened my eyes suddenly gasping in surprise.
Grand Master's face appeared right in front of mine. His grey eyes looked into mine, studying me, as if waiting for a good explanation of my shenanigans. I felt my face become hotter from the awkwardness this situation brought. I could tell he knew all along about my childish game of pretending to be asleep.
"Good morning, Captain Cormac." A taunting twinkle sparkled in his eyes. "I hope we did not wake you up." He said finally leaning away from me and straightening up with his hands habitually locked behind his back. I gulped and watched the Grand Master smirk at me with his head slightly titled to the side; his appearance was chilling at the moment. His three-cornered hat cast a good shadow on his face making him look like a maniac waiting to shank his prey with a sharp knife.
"N-no, I was already awake…" I said looking away feeling ashamed of my foolish choice of faking my slumber. The Templar chuckled and sat on the edge of the bed near me.
"I know." He said with a half whisper and gazed over to me. "How are you feeling?" He asked trying to lift the blanket up and peek under at the wound. My eyes widened as I saw his hand pulling down the edge; I suddenly stopped him putting my hand on of his. The Master gave me a puzzled look and after a moment snatched his hand away softly. I looked away instantly regretting my actions; Kenway seemed to ignore it and shook his head. "Do not act like a young boy." He said suddenly throwing the blanket completely away from me.
"Master Kenway, what are you doing?" I exclaimed finding myself completely nude in front of him; I felt my face turn red as if I was an innocent girl. I felt ashamed and disgusted more about my actions than appearance before the Templar leader.
"Obviously, I am looking at the wound." He said touching my stomach softly and getting rid of the bandages that became useless overnight. He leaned over slightly touching the wound, that was carefully sowed by the doctor, with his fingertips and making me hiss in pain. Kenway looked at me and nodded his head at his own thoughts. The man reached over to the cabinet getting out clean bandages and a little jar with blue gel in it. "It is going to burn a little, the doctor told me it will make the wound heal faster and if you do not open the wound again, in about a week you will be up on your feet." The Grand Master rolled up his sleeves and started applying the medicine on my wound.
"I apologize for looking so pathetic, Master Kenway." I clutched my teeth together feeling the medicine starting to work. The Templar shook his head and half smiled as he put the jar away and started wrapping the cloth around my waist. I brought myself slightly up so the man could reach under me and around with the bandages. Kenway nodded his head thanking me and finished fixing me up putting the blanket over my body.
"Are you hungry?" He asked standing up and putting his sleeves back down. I looked over gazing at his back and wide shoulders; just by one look I could feel the power flowing through the man. I bit my lip in order to get rid of those eerie thoughts, letting a metallic taste appear in my mouth from the bite.
"Yes, I am starving." I said holding my hand up to wipe a little streak of blood running down my chin; as I sat up, a little droplet landed on the white sheet immediately spreading the crimson color on it. I cursed and quickly wiped the blood off my mouth. Master Kenway, of course, saw the whole thing happen and now was standing with his hands crossed on his chest. He shook his head and walked out of the room with a quite comment.
"If you are so hungry, you can at least wait before eating yourself." He said with a smirk before disappearing in the door. I felt ridiculous about myself and leaned back staring at the ceiling. I still could not forgive myself for being in pain with a foolish wound in my stomach. I should have just let Morrigan sail with full speed without caring about the Man O' War, yet my curiosity took advantage of me, and so, I paid an expensive price.
I sighed and heard light footsteps approach the bedroom; I could tell that it was someone else. A tall man with dull clothing on walked into the room holding a tray with plates on it in his hands. If my memory is not tricking me, I saw this man several times near Haytham, especially in the quarters when they accepted me in their Templar Order.
"Ah, I see you are feeling better, any plans of leaving us soon?" He suddenly said with a rough tone setting the tray down. I arched my eyebrow from a sudden comment and tried to smile a little ignoring his unpleasant question.
"Good morning, Sir." I said frowning and glancing at the bowl filled with steaming liquid, soup. The man crossed his arms on his chest and looked at me with a hint of hatred in his blue eyes.
"Charles Lee, my name is." He said walking over to the window and opening it letting the fresh ocean breathe fill the room. I took a deep breath and noticed the visitor staring at me forcefully. I rolled my eyes and leaned over getting the tray from the desk. "So, when are you leaving?" He asked again sounding impatient as he watched me press a spoon against my lips and sip a little on the hot fluid. I tried not to laugh at the man out of simple respect; I put the bowl down on the tray that was placed on my knees and gazed over to Lee.
"My disappearance is scheduled by the Grand Master, Mr. Charles." I smirked at the man as I saw him clutch his hands tightly together. He tried to smile but his lips only drifted into a crooked grin; he nodded his head wishing me a good morning before vanishing from the bedroom. I smirked victoriously and chuckled; now I knew who already hated my guts in the Order. I did not give this aspect much attention and continued consuming the nutrients that where placed on the tray for me. I was as hungry as a wolf; after I finished the soup, the salad and meat followed.
"Enjoying your breakfast in bed, Mr. Cormac?" A velvet but strong voice called me from the door. I looked up still holding a salad leaf between my lips as if I was some kind of an animal. Master Kenway smiled at me observing my "best" look at the moment. He made his way toward my bed and sat down next to me; he leaned forward and removed the leaf away from my mouth. I hungrily held my gaze on the green piece in his fingers as if it was the last edible thing in the world. Haytham shook his head and stood up quickly throwing the leaf outside the window and sitting back down next to me.
"Why did you do that?" I asked frowning in confusion; Kenway shook his head and glanced at the entrance door as if checking if anyone was there. He turned back and looked at me with a soft smile.
"That was a little demonstration of Lee's desire to get rid of you. You were the leaf that he can take and throw away if no-"
"If no one was holding me away from him." I interrupted the man finishing his sentence for him. The Master of Templars nodded his head giving out a slight smirk. "Who is holding me then?" I asked setting the tray with now empty plates back on the little wooden table near my bed. The room suddenly was drowned in heavy silence. Kenway seemed to hesitate with his answer, his eyes were glued to mine; he seemed to study me for a long moment as if searching for something in my dark eyes. I gulped and shifted in the bed feeling a little uncomfortable.
"Your wound." Haytham suddenly answered and stood up hurrying out of the room. "Get some rest now." He said before shutting the door behind him. I blinked and titled my head puzzled; his answer did not surprise me, but it somehow disappointed me. Without understanding my own mind I felt slightly hurt from his cold and dry reply. Something deep inside me screamed with an objection; something deep inside secretly wanted Kenway to say that he was the one keeping me away from Lee's unkind plan.
"Shit." I bit my lip again grasping my stomach from a sudden burning pain from my wound. I lied down and tried to relax, it seemed to work so I remained almost motionless waiting for the aching to fade away. I closed my eyes and waited for slumber to crush upon me, yet nothing happened as the time started to pass by hour after another.
I heard voices coming from the outside the bedroom and desperately wanted to stand up from my bed and open the door. I tried to lift myself up, but failed instantly falling back on the soft pillows under my head. My wound burned and distracted me from my deep thoughts.
"Master Kenway, I am pretty sure Gist can take care of him before your joint mission." I heard Charles's psychic voice explode threw the walls. He was yelling something again, probably trying to convince Master Kenway to throw me out of the house. There was a quite reply from Haytham that I did not hear, but really wanted to. Charles started growling and said something again that was really hard to understand.
"Lee, go check on him, it has been five hours." Kenway's voice suddenly appeared near the door but no one came in into the bedroom. I heard Charles groan in annoyance and ask to wait another twenty minutes, because he wanted to do something important beforehand. I glanced at the open window and sighed; I had no idea why Lee disliked me so much for nothing. I closed my eyes trying to ignore the foreign sounds coming from the outside of the window as I slowly drifted into sleep.
The aching gradually began to vanish from my body and I lightly smiled as a warm feeling turned into a sweet relief. The odd thoughts began unwillingly pop in my mind as I fully relaxed. I frowned, half asleep, feeling the pillow quickly warm up under my cheek. I opened my eyed slowly and saw a shadowy figure standing in front of me. The silhouette seemed very familiar; I reached my hand in order to touch the stranger but my fingers sank through the transparent clothes. I lifted my head a little, my vision blurry, I saw a triangular shaped hat comfortably sitting on the figure's head.
"Master Kenway?" I whispered trying to reach forward again and grab the man. I failed to do so, the figure evaporated right in front of me, leaving the room completely silent. "What the hell is going on?" I hissed suddenly finding myself on the deck of my ship. I looked around not understanding of what was going on with me.
Morrigan seemed to be in a perfect condition, yet very empty. The crew and my quartermaster were gone from the ship; I discovered myself being the only one standing near the wheel. I touched the dark wood slightly and it started spinning to the left side by itself; Morrigan slowly turned around in the water that glowed with white. I suddenly saw Haytham standing near me with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance of the snow-white void. He gave me a quick glance and smiled softly; I smiled back brightly without realizing it.
"I am looking forward in sailing with you, Mr. Cormac." His quite voice caressed my ears as I grasped the steering wheel and nodded.
"I am willing to show you many interesting places I came across when carelessly sailing the cold waters." I started, looking at the smiling Templar. "I found many old ship wrecks with a lot of hidden secrets in them and endless loot. I even killed a polar bear to get to one of the chests." Haytham chuckled at my words but said nothing; he slowly made his way over to me and placed his hand on my cheek. I stared at the Grand Master with wide eyes letting the wheel go that continued to turn side to side on its own.
"Wake up." Kenway suddenly said stroking my cheek. I half closed my eyes without listening. The man suddenly slapped me, his voice becoming rough and cold. "Wake up, Shay!" He said slowly disappearing from my gaze. "Stop floating above the ground!"
I suddenly opened my eyes and gasped seeing a familiar face right above mine. I felt hot breath hit my lips and chin; I saw a pair of grey eyes stare into mine with concern.
"M-master Kenway?" I asked watching the man nod and slowly pull away from me. I finally regained my vision pushing away the blurriness; I found myself being in the center of attention in a circle of eight pairs of eyes. I saw Haytham, Gist, Lee, and a doctor stand near my bed exchanging worried looks between each other. Kenway seemed to be very tensed up just like the other three; the men were sharing the same alarm feeling. "Is there something wrong?" I almost whispered, terror crawling down my spine and causing cold chills cover my whole body.
"You were yelling something cryptic in your sleep; you also had a chaotic fever." The doctor said before anyone else could start their explanation. "It has been going on for an hour now. Charles found you like this and called me and your quartermaster, yet we could not wake you up." He said suddenly trailing off and glancing at Gist and Lee giving a hint for one of them to finish what he had started. The Quartermaster shook his head and gazed over to Charles; the man rolled his eyes and glared at me the same way he did this morning.
"You called Master Kenway in your sleep several times, so we had to call him here, tearing him away from an important mission, so he could wake you up." He said with an annoyed tone crossing his arms and looking over to Haytham. I gulped and followed his gaze, Master Templar stood in the corner of the bedroom closely observing me. I felt very embarrassed and looked down clutching the covers of the blanket as I slowly sat up pushing the pillow under my loin to make it more comfortable. Something fell down in front of me from my forehead; it was a cold wet cloth, probably placed on my head to get rid of the fire that chose to burn me alive. I heard Kenway push away from the wall and take a step toward the bed; I did not dare to look at him.
"Gentleman," his voice was cold and emotionless; I could tell that his face showed nothing but a stone expression. "Leave us, I and Mr. Cormac need to have a little talk." He said making me jolt in panic, yet I held myself still and waited for the trio to exit. The door closed behind the doctor that walked out last after giving me a pitiful look.
"Shay..." I heard Haytham's voice and slowly lifted my head up as I felt him sit near me on the bed.