They reached the house and were greeted by Betty and Jake. The siblings' faces were happy but turned upside down once Connor and Emilia got into view. "Didn't go well I assume?" Jake asked as the two teens moved past them. Emilia humped in response, rubbing her forehead with the blanket.
"The both of you look like you've gone swimming!" Betty exclaimed, "What in the world happened?"
"Just that." Emilia grumbled yanking off her wet outer wear.
Jake and Betty turned to Connor for answers. "Blackwell knew about the ambush. He knocked Emilia into the water from what I heard and I saved her from drowning." Their faces wore shocked expressions.
"Thank you, by the way." Emilia said tossing her wet outerwear into the nearest laundry basket.
"You are welcome." Connor replied.
Betty walked towards Emilia, "Would you like me to sort out your wound?" she offered.
"No, I -I need some time to think, I'll do it myself." Emilia mumbled before marching upstairs to her bedroom.
"I should make sure she is ok." and with that Connor hurried after her.
Emilia slammed her door closed, shouting about how Blackwell knew about the ambush. Connor hesitantly reached for the door handle and slowly turned it. He opened the door a crack and peered in. Emilia yelled out in frustration as ripped off her pistols and threw them against the wall. The clattering to the floor made her feel a tiny bit better, so she did it again. She teared off her weapons, pushed anything not tied down to the floor. Connor could tell she was doing her best not to swear. Her head continued bleeding.
"Who told him?! Who knew?!" She was shouting angrily. "Damn it! Who did it?!" She shoved the contents of the table onto the floor and let out a loud angered groan. "Wasn't Tom, wasn't Jake or Betty, nor was it Patrick or Philippe! It wasn't me or Connor!" She made an angry noise again and the meticulous book case was the next target, ruined in seconds with its contents propelled onto the floor. The loose papers from the books littered the carpet. "Who, damnit?!" she shouted.
Connor opened the door fully. "Emilia-" he said hesitantly.
Emilia pivoted on her toes and grabbed her dagger. She threw not noticing Connor standing there. It imbedded itself in the wall next to his head. "Connor!" She exclaimed, face red in either anger or embarrassment. "Get out!"
"You cannot blame yourself-"
"I'm not blaming myself," she said loudly, "I just need to know how it happened!"
Connor stepped back a little from her, "You must calm yourself. We will fix this."
"Everything went so smoothly! I should have known something bad was going to happen!" Emilia verbalised.
"Calm down, Emilia." Connor warned.
"How can I calm down? He's out there doing God knows what and I'm here wasting..." Emilia paused. She locked eyes with Connor and the redness in her face faded, "We need to find him. Now."
"Yes, but have you calmed?"
Emilia sighed and ran a hand through her damp hair, "I will." She sat on the bed with a sigh.
"Let me help with your head." Connor said. He disappeared to get water and bandages and quickly returned. He patched up her bleeding wound. "Are you calm yet?"
Emilia sighed, "I'll focus the rest of my rage to getting him."
"Then take him out for good. Don't bother interrogating him." The adolescents' heads snapped to the now open door. A pale, still sickly looking Tom leaned against the doorway holding something in his hands. Tom held up a finger to stop Emilia from shouting that he should be in bed. "I don't know who could have told him about the plan but we can't dwell on that." He pushed himself away from the wall long enough to unwrap what he was holding.
"Tom..." Emilia started, staring at his hands.
"Take Halon's rapier." Tom said. He handed her the silver bladed weapon. The hilt was bronze in colour with flakes of gold. Once again Tom leaned on the door frame for support. "It suits your style of fighting better. Initially I was going to award it to you once you had finished but seeing as you need some encouragement I thought now would be a better time as any."
Emilia stared at the sword in her hand. Connor studied the rapier. This looked more suited for her height just as Tom had said and would help her fight better than her clunky cutlass. "Thank you, Tom." Emilia finally said.
Tom nodded, "It's no problem." He pushed off from the door and turned to his room. "Dry off; get changed into something else or whatever you need to do. While you do that I need to see if my birds have any news." He entered his room and closed the door.
"Birds?" Connor asked.
"His eyes and ears of the city." Emilia replied fixed on her rapier. "Like orphans are mine." He nodded. Emilia breathed out, "Halon's rapier... I feel so honoured."
"You have earned it," Connor uttered, "and let us find Blackwell so you can use it on him."
Emilia's face lit up, "Yes, let's." She glanced at Connor. "I don't know about you but I'm going to wear something dryer."
"I will be fine. I shall sit in front of the fire."
"Ok, I'll see you downstairs." Connor inclined his head at her and left.
Connor sat in front of blazing fire drying off his clothes. He felt a lot better as he warmed. The cold water didn't do him any favours, he felt a little ill and lethargic but the warmer he got the better he seemed. He heard the door push open a little and he turned his head to it. It was Betty.
"How is Mille?" She asked peering around the door.
"She will be fine. I understand her being angry but I admit she rested too much on the plan going well."
Betty nodded, "Yes, I guess so." She paused. "What's troubling you, Connor?"
"It is nothing. Do not concern yourself."
"Okay." Betty said. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything."
"Thank you." and with that Betty left. Something was troubling him. Someone had definitely told Blackwell about the plan and he wasn't sure who. All the reasons Emilia gave were plausible but until he knew for sure who did it, he couldn't trust anyone other than Emilia and Tom.
"Hello Connor." Emilia snapped him from this thoughts, walked into the room and sat next to him on the floor. She was now wearing dark clothes, her trousers were tucked into her boots. "Are you warm enough yet?"
"Yes," he replied, "I am thoroughly warm."
"Tom has found something." Connor looked at her. "Someone has spotted Blackwell in Fort Monmouth in the Frontier."
"We will need horses."
Emilia smiled. "Then let's not waste anymore time."
They jumped to their feet and gathered their weapons. Luckily in her rage Emilia's weapons weren't damaged and still able to work fine. They met at the stables and tacked their horses. "Good luck!" Tom called from his bedroom window.
"Thank you!" Emilia called. They spurred on their horses and galloped away. Hopefully this would be the last time chasing Blackwell across country.