Chapter 5:1

1775, June 17th

17th June, 1775 – …having troubles sleeping onboard this bloody ship but my orders were clear; I'm not allowed to return to land until it sinks or my life is in danger. Like either of those options will come true! I can't even write a single word before the captain fires another round of cannonballs, the blast threatening to shatter my teeth, and I'm seriously considering sleeping at the top of the mast. Not only would I finally be free from the smell of gunpowder, I might actually have some peace at last.

"Arm the cannons! Hold fire... Shoot!"

I sighed as the deck of the ship rumbled under me and my pen slipped once again. A long, ugly line marked the page and I decided to give up.

"Ahoy, captain! Our forces have collided with the rebels; shall I cease fire?"

The navigating officer ran past me and gave me a quick nod of acknowledgment. I gave him a little smile and rose to my feet, brushing off dirt from my backside. The sky was grey with heavy clouds and smoke trailing its way from Charlestown, a neighborhood in Boston. I had the day before warned my aunt – if the sizable amount of soldiers on Bunker Hill and the large ships at distance from bay wasn't obvious enough – to stay away from trouble and remain inside. Her apartment was in central Boston, just a couple of blocks away from the battle and I would not let her foolishness lure her out into danger. In fact, I even thought about contacting Alex in New York or talk to his mother who was back into the store next to where Auntie and I lived, but my pride got the better of me and the letter I had written to him was thrown into the fire. I could simply not forgive him for his betrayal nor pretend like nothing had happened. Neither of us were people of such and the silence between us continued.

"Sir?"

"No, keep firing; I can't have the rest of Putnam's forces thinking we're out of ammunition. We'll have to take this risk, as well as the damage of the city."

The captain – his name: William Somerset – of the ship wasn't truly a captain of rank; he was just an officer with more wit than courage, rising above his subordinates with the help of money and his family name, as his father was Henry Somerset and the fifth Duke of Beaufort. He was probably the youngest soldier I had seen, still not twenty years old and was rather handsome had it not been for his gruesomely proud demeanor. I didn't like him and the dislike was mutual. He had been trusted with my true identity and had therefore at times insulted me in subtle ways. But I didn't protest against Mr. Pitcairn's decision, knowing that he only wanted my best. I could remember it like yesterday when he had helped me up on a horse and fallen back from Concord. I assured him that there was no need for such necessities but he had insisted on it, explaining that even though I had succeeded with my mission, the battle was lost. He continued to address me with my first name and slowly gained my trust. Mr. Pitcairn wasn't like the late Mr. Johnson, caring only for money and comfort, but actually tended to his wounded soldiers and was a genuinely humble man. I came to like him and after discovering our common passion for writing journals, I confessed to him my failure with delivering the letter untouched. The old Templar seemed to understand me and comforted me with the thought that if now Alex was such a good person as I had described him to be… he wouldn't take advantage of me, but instead apologize for his wrongdoing before long.

"Captain, are you sure…? Many good men – would it be ours or theirs – might die."

The officer nodded and gazed towards the bombarded city.

"Yes, regress to your position."

The subordinate hesitated before answering, obviously wanting to object the officer's orders but bowed and turned away. As he passed me for the second time, he shot me a quick glance before continuing walking down to the gundecks.

Ah, what should I do? I sighed and put my belongings into a bag, making sure that none of my notes would slip out. Life must be hard on the ocean, knowing that there's nothing but the safety of one's crew and ship. Though very exciting at times, I must admit. A pirate must be the freest man in the world… maybe in another lifetime I would've become one.

"Fire!"

I grimaced as another round shot off into the distance and approached the gunwale, placing my elbows on the hardened wood towards the other side of where the cannons were shooting. I saw the open sea in front of me and cherished the view of dark water reaching all the way to the horizon. It would've been so peaceful had I been here without the sound of death and war behind me… together with someone… maybe—.

I interrupted the train of thought with a brusque shake of my head. Alex is a finished chapter, already gone and forgotten. I'll have no more to do with him.

As I sighed heavily and stared into the endless water surrounding me, something white suddenly caught onto my attention. I didn't know what to believe when he swam around the stern of the ship and nimbly sprung out of the water, hitching onto the ship's hull. He was completely soaked except for his hood – which miraculously had stayed dry somehow – and it was covering his face, preventing me from seeing him and him from seeing me… but it was not like I knew many people that looked like him.

Will fate ever let me avoid that man?

I could still remember his arms around me, his strong reassuring grip around my body and him so close to me. I still despised him to the point of hate, but there was something so… alluring with him that I couldn't stay away.

"Hey," I said and smiled when his body twitched in surprise. "Sneaky, aren't we."

I quickly erased whatever emotion I was showing in my face and as his eyes finally found mine, I was sure to look expressionless.

"Ah, I guess I failed," he replied and climbed up to me. I watched him in awe as his hands found places to grip where I saw the wood to be flat, and he almost magically reached to where I stood.

"What are you doing here?" I asked and realized that I was sounding polite. "This is not a place for murderers like you," I added with a harsh undertone.

He glanced over the gunwale and I guessed that he was counting the number of soldiers on board. There was none on the upper deck presently and he seemed satisfied with the fact.

"I have to do this," he answered and turned to me with creasing eyebrows. "But what are you doing here? You're a child."

"I'm sixteen," I corrected him and frowned. "And I've never actually been a child."

His eyes widened as he understood what I meant.

"I see… Maybe you and I have more—"

"Edgar?"

I whipped around and stared right into the eyes of Officer Somerset. He was watching me with a strange expression and approached me with slow steps.

"Who are you talking to?" he asked and gripped his rapier. "Is someone there?"

I quickly shook my head and smiled at him. Please, can I have more misfortune brought upon me? "Sir, no, not what I can see. I was just… rehearsing."

"Rehearsing for what? A play?"

Eh… "No, I…" I took a deep breath before continuing and felt blood rushing to my cheeks. Damn, really Melissa? "I-I was wondering if you… if you might want to—"

A loud explosion knocked me off my feet as the frigate next to ours burst into flames. I squinted with my eyes as I looked into the inferno, the heat emanating from the sinking ship almost blinding me.

"Are you alright? Hey? Can you hear me?"

Officer Somerset's voice was dampened, almost like he was trying to talk through a window, but it was close. Almost like he was…

"Sir?" I was still dazzled by the blast and realized to my horror that he was lying on me. "What happened?"

"The ship blew up," he said, grunting. I restrained myself from replying with something sarcastic and waited for him to continue. Like that wasn't obvious; I'm wondering what in God's name you're doing on me. "I just reacted as soon as I could..."

"Sir?" I repeated as his voice became silent. "Officer Somerset?"

He didn't reply and I suddenly became worried. Did he pass out or something? He's still breathing and I can feel his heartbeat…

"Connor? Are you there?"

I could hear his silent footsteps closing in on me and soon see his face as well. He quickly scanned over Officer Somerset's lifeless body and lifted him away from me, gently placing the soldier with his face downwards the deck. I was just about to ask him why he moved the officer with such care when I saw the large piece of wood, buried into the man's lower back. It had pierced through his thick coat and dark blood trickled out of the wound.

"Oh Lord …" I whispered, realizing that Officer Somerset had sacrificed himself for me. "Why… why did he do that?"

Connor ignored me and I heard him locking the entrance to the lower decks. I turned around and saw him crushing a barrel of rum, pouring out the alcohol through the holes in the hatch. He then threw in a couple of pouches and my guess was that they contained gunpowder.

"You better get off this ship as soon as you can," he said and raised his gaze towards the mainmast. "It's soon going to explode as well."

I didn't know what to reply. Why is he doing this? Instead I bent down next to Officer Somerset and, with a grimace of utter disgust, pulled out the wood from his back and checked his breathing. To my surprise, he was still alive.

"We got to get him some help," I exclaimed and started to pull the officer's arm over my shoulders. "Give me a hand."

"I can't."

I tried to heave Officer Somerset up, but his weight was too much for me and I sank down again.

"You can't just get away with this, It's inhumane and completely—"

"Captain! Can you unlock the hatch?"

I recognized the voice of the navigating officer and stiffened. Should I feint myself dead or answer him truthfully?

"Hello?"

My eyes locked with Connor's before he looked away and headed for the hatch. I couldn't believe my eyes as he buried his sword into the entry, killing the minor officer. The sound of the body limping down the stairs immediately drew attention and I heard surprised yelling and soon, fingers were clawing at the hatch and I saw that swords and muskets had their ways with the iron lock.

"Hurry away," said the Assassin quietly and flung a rope over his shoulders. "I won't ignite the rum until you've gotten away, I promise."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked with a harsh tone and unlaced Officer Somerset's Tarleton helmet, revealing black, curly hair. "You have no reason to help the rebels! You are an Assassin, a brotherhood of—"

"How do you know about the Brotherhood?"

My heart skipped a beat as his brown eyes flashed to mine and an angry expression etched onto his features. The blast of a gun distracted him and I decided to take the risk of pushing Officer Somerset into the water and swim with him back to Boston. I had carefully calculated the plan and realizing that I had no other choice – and that the man in front of me seemed to be more than willing to kill me – I threw my dagger at him, aiming for his heart. To my awe, he easily dodged the knife and it buried into the wall behind him.

"Sirs, shoot at him!" I screamed. "He's killed Officer Somerset and is about to blow us all into smithereens!"

A growl of angry men escaped the closed hatch and more shots were fired towards the Assassin. They were unfortunately in a too bad of an angle to even wish to hit him but if he would try approach me, he would end up in their firing range.

Our eyes met, his hazelnut-colored orbs cold with frustration and anger, and I slowly dragged Officer Somerset to the left side opening – I'm no sailor, don't blame me on larboard and starboard – in the gunwale and hesitated a second before shoving him out of the ship. He hit the water with force and I instantly dived in after him, catching his sinking form and raising his face above water level. Fortunately for me, I had been very attentive whenever Mr. Kenway taught me how to save a man and learnt how to do when saving someone from drowning.

The sea was cold but bearable and even though it had been a while since I last took a swim, I quickly got into rhythm and headed towards the place of the bay where ships were repaired. It would be easy for me to get him to ground level from there and report to Mr. Pitcairn about what had happened with the frigates.

He was armed with a gun but still didn't shoot me, I thought as I gripped my arm around Officer Somerset's waist and swam backwards. He could've thrown his tomahawk at me but he didn't. He had the option to kill me once again but he restrained. I've seen him kill many people without even blinking and still he let me go.

Is it luck that has taken me this far?