September 26th, 1862

Boston, Massachusetts

Home of the Shaws

Margaret found the party to be surprisingly ripe for information.

There were a lot of military men in attendance, most of whom were allies of the Assassins or held information that was easily taken from them with just a bit of alcohol. And as soon as she entered, most of them were swarming to her like moths to a flame. Her Aunt Cordelia had left her to do her thing while she attempted to butter up those whose money and continual funding helped her continue her work in Maryland.

Margaret was chatting to a Colonel, a non-member of the Assassins and trying to glean information about some troop movements, when she realized that her throat was dry. She excused herself and made her way through the crowd towards the punch bowl. The woman heard some of the women chatting softly to their female friends about a Robert Gould Shaw, the fact that a man like him was still unmarried and how unlawful that was and should be.

The name didn't mean anything to her, but she filed it away as someone who could possibly be useful, seeing how he was a Union Colonel.

To her surprise, Margaret spotted her aunt chatting up a man in a fine suit. The two were laughing like old friends, which was weird because the man was probably in mid-twenties. Aunt Cordelia glanced her way, the smile brightening up as Margaret approached closer, dragging the man with her.

"Oh! Margaret, my dear." The older woman encircled her arm around Margaret's shoulder as she gestured to the dark-skinned man. "Thomas, this is my niece Margaret. Margaret, this is the son of a long-time associate of mine, Thomas Searles."

"It's a pleasure." Margaret said with a bow of her head.

"Your Aunt has told me quite a bit about you." The man, Thomas, said.

Margaret was able to school her expression, though her eyes did flicker over her dear old aunt. She read the expression on the older woman's face, breathing a small sigh of relief that the woman hadn't brought a civilian gentleman into the Assassin life. She listened closely to her aunt as she finished.

"I met Thomas's father years ago when he was in Maryland. He was the one who appointed me matron of the new bureau there. How is your father by the way?"

"Doing quite alright, Ms. Everts. He's recently given up his duties as head of the bureau here for the time being." Thomas turned towards Margaret. "Are you going to take up your Aunt's position?"

"Oh no. I'm afraid I'm not one to sit behind a desk and teach, not that it isn't important work." Margaret said. "Though I do believe my brother, Henry, has plans to do such a thing when this dreadful conflict is over."

"Hmmm."

Margaret inwardly winced, but she nodded as she turned the subject to a more sedate topic, "The Shaw's home is so lovely."

"Have you met them yet?"

"I have." Margaret lied. "Though I have not had the pleasure to meet their son."

"Well, once Robert comes down, I'll have to introduce you." Someone on the other side of the room caught his attention. "If you'll excuse me."

Margaret watched as Thomas elbowed his way through the crowd before turning towards her aunt. She took a long look at the disproving glare that Cordelia Abigail Everts II was sending her.

"What?"

"You're not going to drag Captain Shaw into the war."

"Newsflash, Auntie dearest, he's already in a war." Margaret hissed. "The Assassins need a high-ranking man that will be able to get better information on troop movements and battle plans that our lower ranking allies can't get."

"I don't care. You will leave Captain Shaw out of this. That's an order."

"You can't pull rank over me, Auntie. You never even had a rank to pull." Her eyes slashed toward the staircase, where a man was coming down. Margaret's breath caught in her throat as she recognized him as the man her brother saved at Antietam. She pulled her gaze away as she tried to process everything. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I've got some information to find."

Margaret peeled away from her aunt as she moved through the crowd. She spotted Governor Roberts speaking with Mr. Shaw. She placed herself where she could hear every word said in the parlor without being spotted.

"I don't think that would be a wise idea." She heard Governor Roberts say. "There would be no way that anyone would support this."

"Lincoln wants to appease the abolitionists and this is the only way. Get more support and more troops for the army." Mr. Shaw said. Margaret watched the party move on around her, sipping carefully at her punch. A blonde man in a haphazardly pressed uniform, a man that looked strangely familiar, eyed her from the end of the room while he sipped on his glass of champagne. Playing along, she sent her eyelashes fluttering, taking a dainty little sip before adverting her eyes.

Meanwhile, Mr. Shaw had reached the bottom of the stairs and was fully mingling with the guests. Though there was a sense about him that he wasn't really here, mentally probably.

That is until Thomas called his name. Margaret watched the two interact with the air of childhood friends seeing each other for the first time in years. It gave the woman watching them an ache. Lionel was something of a childhood friend, though the two started to see each other as more when Margaret was thirteen and Lionel sixteen.

They were already adults when they fell in love, but the man had been infatuated with her as she had been infatuated with him from the very start.

The thought of her husband brought her mind to the last letter her husband had received before Margaret left for Sharpsburg. He had been ordered to report to a drafting station, so that he could start his training.

As a soldier in the Union Army…

Aisling was watching her children, something that Margaret would've had words about if Mentor Kellan hadn't summoned her to the battlefield.

Margaret took a longer, deeper drink of her punch, savoring the alcohol on her lips.

Though, she wished there was whiskey in the drink instead of champagne.

"-body wants to meet you." Margaret was pulled out of her thoug2hts as she watched Mrs. Shaw pull her son behind him. She listened to the conversation that was being held in the parlor.

And she couldn't believe her ears.

An all-black regiment?

Interesting…

She listened and when she heard that the Shaw boy would be in charge of the regiment as the colonel, she saw an interesting opportunity.

One that she figured that her brother would agree to.

Margaret moved amongst the crowd, figuring the sooner she'd put her plan into action, the better. She made sure that her aunt knew where she was going- back to the townhouse they were using while in Boston- where she swiftly wrote to her brother, letting him know what she had in mind.

Of course, she coded it and after some thought, made another copy, signing the outward envelope with a different name. It was one of many that she had used many times when undercover.

No telling if the Templars would intercept the letter.

If one didn't get through, the other would.

After the letter was passed along to the mail carrier, Margaret quickly changed into her robes. If everything went smoothly, then the Fifty-Fourth Massachusetts would be in the employment of the Assassins.