1738

-/-

"You're an assassin," Haytham informed Jenny over breakfast one day.

She gave him a careful look across the table, chewing slowly to save herself from saying something stupid. In the end, she decided on- "Yes."

"Oh."

"But you knew that already," Jenny said. "I told you months ago."

"I know," Haytham said. "But I've been thinking about it. Assassins killed dad. They-"

Jenny laughed (and she knew instantly it was the wrong thing to do because Haytham stiffened and frowned). "Sorry," she said. "It's not really funny, only… it was templars that killed dad. Not assassins."

"But they told me…" Haytham trailed off, obviously confused.

"Why would assassins kill him?" Jenny asked. "Dad was one of them."

Her brother sat there with a look on his face like he was trying to realign his whole world view in light of this new information. Then, after a while, he said, "Tell me how you became one of them."

"What, an assassin?"

"Yes."

-/-

1725

-/-

Jenny cornered Desmond on the morning of the wedding (or, as she had come to think of it in her mind, The Wedding). She was already angry, because the dress she was supposed to wear was huge and bright and lacy, and because she hadn't had a chance for breakfast before being forced into the monstrosity. Seeing Desmond was just the final straw.

She waited until the two of them were alone, and practically manhandled him into an out of the way room, where they wouldn't be spotted by any of the guests staying at the house- Tessa's family, mostly. Jenny was the only family Edward had anymore, and obviously she was there already. Still, parts of the house were still empty, and there was no one around when Jenny crossed her arms over her chest and gave Desmond the angriest glare she could manage.

"What?" he demanded.

"What do you mean, 'what'?" Jenny snapped. "You disappear for almost six months, and when you come back you're all…" she waved a hand vaguely, trying to think of a way to describe what had happened to Desmond. He was just different, that was all. Confident, maybe, and he looked like he'd been in a fistfight or two, recently.

"It's nothing," Desmond said. "Your dad wanted me to do something, so I-"

"Do what?" Jenny asked. "Where did you go?"

"I can't tell you," Desmond said, but he didn't sound very certain, and Jenny was absolutely sick of having secrets kept from her.

"Can't, or won't?" she asked. "We used to keep secrets from other people, remember? When we weren't supposed to even see each other, we'd sneak out and spend the whole day running around Swansea-"

Desmond frowned. "It wasn't my idea," he said, and his voice was half a whine as he said it.

"Come on, Des," Jenny said. "Just tell me!"

And although he hesitated for a moment, he did exactly that. The story came out in an ambling, aimless way, because Desmond had a habit of jumping ahead to the exciting parts, then going back to explain how it all made sense. Eventually, though, Jenny had all the details. Edward's time with the assassins, and his recent recruitment of Desmond. "That's where you've been all this time?" she asked. "With these assassins?"

"In Scotland," Desmond said. "Later this month I'm leaving for France."

"You're leaving again?" Jenny asked, and it was a real effort to keep her disappointment out of her voice and off her face.

Desmond nodded, and at least he didn't look too happy about it, either. "There are assassins all over Europe," he said. "All over the world. I'm supposed to be learning from them."

"That's stupid," Jenny said. "If my dad's one of them, why doesn't he just teach you? Then you wouldn't have to leave all the time."

"I don't think he wants you to know about all this," Desmond said.

"So he thinks I need someone else to protect me?" Jenny snorted. "I'm going to talk to him. As soon as the wedding's over."

"What are you going to say?"

"That he can do your training himself," Jenny said. "And mine, too. Then we'll both know how to fight, and you won't have to leave."

"I don't want to leave," Desmond said.

"Then don't go," Jenny said. "Everyone else here is boring, Desmond. It's awful when you're gone."

He turned a really impressive shade of red, and didn't say anything at all.

-/-

Actually, it was over a week before Jenny had a chance to talk to Edward. He wasn't avoiding her, but after the wedding he and Tessa went away for a few nights, to be alone and enjoy being married. Jenny had a vague idea of what that meant, thanks to a couple of stableboys a few years older than her, and she wanted nothing to do with stuff like that.

She gave it a couple of days after that before she confronted Edward with what Desmond had told her. They were alone at the time, having breakfast at the wooden table in the kitchen, at half past five in the morning. Jenny had always been an early riser, and her father had a habit of staying up all night and going to bed with the sunrise.

Jenny loved the mornings when they were the only ones awake, and they raided cupboards and cabinets until they find something edible. It was something just the two of them had to share together, and Jenny let Edward get comfortable before putting down her food on the table and giving him a glare.

"What?" he asked. "What did I do this time?"

He was very obviously teasing her, and Jenny was not in the mood to be teased. "That's not funny," she said. "I want to know why you told Desmond everything, but you never told me anything."

"Jenny-"

"And why you're acting like you need to teach him to protect me, when you could just as easily teach me to protect myself."

"You don't know-"

"If it's because I'm a girl, then that's just stupid," Jenny went on. She knew that if she gave him a chance to talk, she'd lose her nerve and would never be able to start talking again. "Because I could kick his butt anyway."

He laughed at her.

"What?" Jenny demanded. "What's so funny about that?"

"Nothing," Edward said. "You're absolutely right. You're as capable as Desmond is of doing this- but you're my daughter, and all I want to do is keep you safe."

"That's stupid," Jenny said again. "How is relying on other people going to be safer than being able to protect myself?" She shook her head. "I want to learn everything, and I want you to teach me. Us. Desmond too, I mean. It has to be easier to stay here than to go running all over Europe."

Edward wasn't laughing anymore- instead, he was giving her a serious, considering look that made her feel like he could see right through her. "Alright then," he said, and Jenny very nearly let her jaw drop. She hadn't expected him to actually agree, with her, not in a million years.

"You may regret this, one day," Edward said.

But Jenny was ten years old, and she had no way of knowing what would come later. Even if she had known, she would not have understood. So she simply smiled, and thanked her father, and counted herself the winner in that particular battle.