Author's Final Note

To anyone still hanging around for this:

I am extremely grateful for the time you've spent following this little project of mine. It's been a real challenge keeping the story going – all the research and rewrites have kept me very busy for the better part of a decade. I've learned a lot, and developed my skill as both writer and researcher. There's a new appreciation for history that comes from trying to understand it well enough to play around with what's known.

Unfortunately, as my life has gone on, it has also become increasingly difficult to dedicate the time necessary to work on an Assassin's Creed story – at least, the way I want to. I'm working a very full-time job, as well as handling multiple side projects. Despite all the groundwork I've laid and guides I prepared, I can no longer devote time and energy to such an intensive piece of work.

Thus, Assassin's Creed: Age of Kings has come to an end. The story of Robert Ludlum and his guild taking on Henry VIII was an ambitious one – too ambitious for one man to take on in what little spare time he can muster. I am glad to have taken it on, and sad to admit that it simply proved too much.

However, for those who wanted to see what lay in store, I have included a synopsis below. There is also one final update to be posted: the final scene of the story, which I wrote shortly after the prologue. Also, I am only retiring this story. My other ongoing work, Aquamarine, will continue, as it is far less demanding.

Thanks for the ride.

James Connelly's injuries delay Robert Ludlum's departure for the continent until the Assassins have hunted down the remaining French mercenaries. Using a list from Hector Barnes, the Assassins discover that the men who attacked Connelly and Watson work for Charles Brandon, who is securing the countryside in preparation for Henry's greater move. Ludlum prepares plans to take on Brandon, but is convinced that they are not workable unless help arrives from the continental guilds. Ludlum departs for Germany, having received word of Assassin reinforcements en route to London. He leaves the recovered Connelly in command of the guild. The Assassins also give up on springing John Fisher from the Tower, burdened as they are against Henry's shadowy allies. Fisher is executed on 22 June 1535, with Charles Watson in attendance.

Ludlum carefully tracks Cop's influence, strategically eliminating key figures in small towns across Germany and the Netherlands. He is eventually able to trace Cop's confederates to Münster, which has been under the control of Anabapist leaders since early 1534. He finds it besieged by the expelled bishop Franz von Waldeck, and is able to convince him to allow Ludlum an opportunity to infiltrate the city and weed out the insurgents. With Ludlum's help, the Anabaptist militants are thrown into disarray and defeated, its leaders being captured. Ludlum requests von Waldeck's permission to interrogate the captured men – Jan van Leiden, Bernhard Knipperdolling, and Bernhard Krechting – and determine whether Cop had laid any other plans for recruitment. When he is satisfied that he has rooted out the last of Cop's influence, Ludlum leaves the men to von Waldeck. They are tortured and executed publicly in January of 1536. By this time, Ludlum is on his way back to England.

Meanwhile, the London Guild has continued working to undermine Henry's power, carefully eliminating agents before they can leave London. Thomas Cromwell realizes there must be a double agent at court. Eventually Anne comes under suspicion and is arrested on 2 May 1536, along with four of her groomsmen. The Assassins plan a rescue, but Anne herself convinces them that she is too heavily guarded even for them. She extracts a promise from Annette Ludlum to spirit Elizabeth out of London, and is executed the next morning. Four Assassins are present at the ceremony, but they do not move, knowing Henry laid too strong a trap.

After a brief period of mourning and regrouping, the Assassins redouble their efforts, but have begun acting out of revenge rather than any kind of noble intentions. Jane Seymour, for instance, is poisoned once Annette learns she was complicit in identifying Anne's treachery. In 1538, the Assassins launch an assault on Whitehall to kill Henry and end his reign.

They split up once inside the palace itself. Robert Ludlum finds Hector Barnes chained in the cellars and learns that he was tortured into revealing both his ties to the Assassins and their apparent drive for vengeance. Henry had left Whitehall days earlier, anticipating the attack.

Upstairs, Charles Watson arrives at Henry's bedchamber. He throws open the doors and is met with a hail of gunfire. He uses the last of his strength to kill the ambushers, but dies just as James Connelly arrives to help him. The Assassins escape with Watson's body, but little else. Robert Ludlum enters a deep depression, realizing that their mission to stop Henry's power grab has failed.

The next decade sees the Assassins vengefully hunt down Henry's remaining supporters. Thomas Boleyn is murdered by Annette Ludlum in 1539. Thomas Cromwell is framed, arrested, and executed in 1540. Others follow, including the aged Charles Brandon, whom Emilie deSanti murders at his home in 1545.

Robert Ludlum himself infiltrates Whitehall once more in 1547, poisoning Henry VIII. As the king lies dying on the floor, Ludlum reveals himself and tells him that he is no longer killing him in the name of any greater good but vengeance. Henry replies that his supporters will never let it be known that the Assassins succeeded, but Ludlum says it is irrelevant so long as the Templars know. Ludlum disappears just as men arrive to check on Henry. The king's last words – "Monks! Monks!" – are a hallucinated cry, blending the dark forms of the Assassins with the silhouettes of the monks he drove out.

The Assassin largely ignore England's power struggles through the next decade, doing little more than watch as Henry's issue battle for the throne. Eventually they interfere to ensure Mary I is forced to declare Elizabeth her heir, and kill the sitting queen to make way for Anne Boleyn's daughter.

Of the original conspirators, only Thomas Cranmer remains…