Harriet glared at the tall but thin object standing next to her. It laid there stupidly on the wall and was visible from everywhere around the small room. She felt like someone was standing there judging her every action, reminding her of her mistakes. It made her feel uncomfortable and angry. Feeling spiteful, Harriet grabbed hold of the object and pushed it like a cat would a glass of water on the edge of a table. The object crashed down on the ground.
"Stupid crutch." she murmured.
The previous evening, Machiavelli came to give her the crutch. The twat forced her to use it while walking to make sure her injury 'wouldn't get any worse'. Pffft! She knew how to take care of herself! She didn't need a stupid crutch!
The reason Harriet hated the crutch so much was because it served as a reminder that she had been grounded. Not like a misbehaving child who needed to be punished, but like a faulty aeroplane. She was grounded to make sure her injury wouldn't endanger herself or others while she was on the field. After all, it is hard to concentrate on a mission when your injured teammate can't give her one-hundred percent. Thus, she had been grounded while she recovered.
It had been a week since Harriet was injured – though it had felt more like a month for her. In that week, she had barely been able to walk off the bed. After spending three months learning magic and a month running freely around Rome and accomplishing missions, a week in bed was incredibly boring and frustrating. She did receive visitors – mostly Anna and Valentino – but it did not stop her from feeling bored. Only Ezio managed to make her completely forget about her injury or her boredom when he visited. The problem was that he did not show up often, being busy running the Brotherhood with Machiavelli.
Since Rome went on lockdown a week before, the entire city guard had been looking after the Naked Witch. The lockdown only ended a few hours after she returned to Tiber Island injured, hours they used to either look for her or put wanted posters of her everywhere. When the Assassins were released back in town, they quickly removed the majority of posters. Harriet had not understood why it mattered at first. But, as Machiavelli told her, the less posters there were, the less people would think about her and the easier it would for her to be forgotten.
Tired of her boredom, Harriet decided to walk around Headquarters. Anything was better than laying down in bed alone in silence. When she made to raise on her feet, she hissed as pain flared on her right side. "Ouch!" she exclaimed, falling back in the bed. Despite knowing the answer, it did not stop her from asking "Why does it hurt so much?"
Apparently, not only had the crossbow bolt severely injured her hip, but running around and climbing stuff with it only made it worse. It was why Luigi Moretti, the man in charge of Harriet's recovery, estimated it would take a few months at the very minimum for her to heal completely
Harriet tried again. This time, she bent down and grabbed the stupid crutch first before using it to slowly raise on her feet. She let out a small cheer when she succeeded. Slowly, she walked toward the door and exited her room.
"Harriet? What are you doing walking around?" asked a voice once she struggled her way down to the main room. She turned to look to her left where a man in Assassin robes stood. He had dark hair tied in a pony-tail and brown eyes. She groaned. It was Luigi.
Before he joined the Brotherhood, Luigi had been a young doctor. But, he had not supported the Borgia rule and the guards forced him to stop working as a doctor. When he was recruited to the Assassin cause, he became the doctor the other Assassins would consult when they were injured. And that included Harriet herself.
His personality reminded her of Snape, just without any of his arsehole-ness or his other horrible traits. Calm, quiet, stern and a presence that would make anyone obey him. Well, anyone but a Harriet on bed rest.
"Can't I?" she asked stubbornly. Luigi frowned.
"Well, you can." he said. "But, you would heal faster if you stayed in bed for another week or two."
Harriet shrugged. She did not believe it would make a difference and she was too bored to consider otherwise. "Where are Ezio and Machiavelli?" she asked. If she was going to stay on Tiber Island for the next two to three months recovering, she at least wanted to do something useful for the Brotherhood. One of them surely would be able to give her something to do. Anything to alleviate the boredom.
"They left earlier this morning for the Castel Sant'Angelo." Luigi answered.
"Why?" she asked, curious.
"I do not know." the part-time doctor said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well, at least I hope they brought backup." she said. The papal castle was very well guarded, after all.
"Says you?" asked Luigi with an eyebrow raised.
"Yes – yes. I know. It was a bad idea." Harriet said, rolling her green eyes. "Don't need to be reminded."
"You should go back to bed." he advised.
"Seriously? I've just come out of my room!" she protested.
"Then sit down somewhere." he said calmly. "You don't need to undo a week of progress simply because you are bored."
Harriet huffed. "Fine, I will." she said.
"Thank you." he returned patiently.
As she sat down at the bench of a table, the front door of headquarters opened and a man and woman entered the room – the man helping the woman stand. She immediately recognized the man under the brown hood and the orange clothes as La Volpe, having seen him a few times since she became an Assassin. She knew he was both a member of the Brotherhood and the leader of the Thieves' guilt. He also served as the Italian Assassins' spy master. However, the woman with him was not familiar to her at all.
The woman had red hair and green eyes. At first glance, her appearance reminded her of the face of Harriet's own mother but, when she looked closer, she saw a face that looked more icy and fierce than Lily Potter's own. The woman was also awfully thin, reminding her of someone who had not eaten a lot in a long time. Combined with the clothes she wore – which were nothing more than dirty bedclothes – and the fact she looked exhausted and held her hip in pain painted a grim picture.
Harriet was not the only one who spotted the woman's condition. Luigi immediately went to help La Volpe. They led the woman toward the green doctor's stand and sat her down on a chair. Luigi then threw himself to work while La Volpe began questioning the woman.
"Countess?" he asked as Luigi gave her a drink of water. "How did you come here? Where did you come from?"
"Castel Sant'Angelo." the woman answered. "And Ezio saved me."
"Ezio? Why is he not with you?" he asked sharply.
She answered after taking a sip of water. "He stayed behind at the bridge facing the castle to fight off the guards chasing us and give me a chance to escape."
"Alone?" Harriet blurted, entering the conversation. The woman turned to look at her. She started at the younger woman in the eyes, making Harriet feel like she was being x-rayed. Then to her confusion, she smiled knowingly, like she had figured out something.
"Yes, alone." she answered.
"But, isn't it too dangerous?" Harriet asked. She remembered how quickly she had been disarmed by the captain's guards. While Ezio was much better than her, he would also end-up facing more experienced guards. They didn't just place anyone to guard the residence of the Pope and his family, after all.
"You will find that Ezio is not your regular Assassin." La Volpe said. "He has decades of experience under his belt and fought many more battles than any one of us combined – except perhaps Bartolomeo."
"I hope Machiavelli is there to help him." she murmured to herself. La Volpe heard her, though.
"Machiavelli?" he repeated. Harriet noticed suspicion creep in the man's eyes.
It was Luigi who answered. "Messrs. Auditore and Machiavelli left together earlier this morning for the castle."
La Volpe turned to the Countess. "Was Machiavelli with you?" She shook her head.
"I only saw Ezio." she said. La Volpe nodded and began pacing around the room, murmuring to himself.
A few minutes later, the doors of headquarters where opened again. Looking up, Harriet noticed with relief that Ezio had arrived home uninjured. "Ezio...!" both she and the Countess sighed in relief, Harriet beating the other woman to the punch by a fraction of second.
"Where is Machiavelli?" Ezio asked to the Countess.
"I did not see him." she answered.
"What do you mean?" the Assassin asked, frowning. "I thought he would bring you here."
"I brought the Countess here." said La Volpe, walking toward them. Before he could add anything else, someone else entered the building. It was Machiavelli.
"Caterina." he greeted to the Countess.
"Care to tell us where you have been?" asked La Volpe with some accusation. Harriet suddenly remembered what Ezio told her. La Volpe believed Machiavelli was a traitor working for the Borgia.
Machiavelli noticed the accusation as well if the expression on his face meant anything. He looked confused. He sounded just as much when he answered. "Looking for Ezio." he said. Then, looking at said man, he asked "What of Cesare and Rodrigo? Are they dead?"
Harriet held a small breath at the question. That's why Ezio and Machiavelli went to Castel Sant'Angelo? To kill the Borgias and free Rome from the two men in its charge? Had Ezio succeeded? Where they dead? Unfortunately, she did not receive the answer she hoped for.
"No. Cesare left the castle before I could get close to him. Rodrigo was somewhere else entirely." he said, sounding disappointed.
Machiavelli frowned. "That is odd. The Pope is usually at the castle." he said.
"Very odd indeed." said La Volpe, glancing at Machiavelli suspiciously.
"What a waste." the short-haired man exclaimed. Then, realizing what he'd just said, looked at the Countess and added "No offence."
"None taken." the redhead answered.
"With Cesare gone to Urbino, our options are limited." Ezio said.
"I thought we intended to strike now?" Machiavelli asked.
"That would be reckless and impossible." said the Countess. "Cesare is at the head of a massive army in Romagna. You would never reach him."
"She's right." said Harriet, entering the conversation. Using her crutch, she raised on her feet to stand along with the other Assassins. "Going after the man while he's on a military campaign would be pointless. Instead, we should use the respite to build up the Brotherhood."
"Harriet is also right." said Ezio. "Since we've come to Rome, we only recruited nine people to our cause. And, we've done pretty well so far. We already eroded some of the Borgia's influence on the city. But, it is not enough. We need greater numbers if we really want a chance. Finding more men and women willing to fight for our cause will help us achieve our goal."
"I believe it is the way forward." said La Volpe, glancing at Ezio and Harriet. "But, Cesare is still a problem. As long as he is on his military campaign, he is out of our reach. He could stay out of Rome for years."
"Then bring him back here." said Harriet like it was obvious.
"And how you would go at that?" asked Machiavelli, genuinely curious. "We can't simply forge a letter and order him home. He would never fall for it."
"We don't have to ask him kindly. We have to force him home. An army need supplies and money to run properly. Without one or both, Cesare will have to cancel his campaign and come back to Rome to deal with the problem."
Ezio looked at her proudly. "That is an excellent idea." he said, making her blush. "Without money, the army will go back home. And, cutting off his source of fund will allow us to cut off one of his supporters as well." He turned to look at La Volpe. "Do you or your spies know where Cesare get his money?"
"I know Agostinio Chigi is the Pope's money-lender. But, Cesare does business with someone else. As for who it is, I have no idea."
"Can your spies look into it?" La Volpe nodded. "Thank you. I will go visit Claudia. Hopefully, her courtesans will find something about the money-lender once they are on the lookout." Ezio said. "As for the meantime, we follow Harriet's first idea and continue building our own forces. We need to recruit more Assassins. La Volpe, contact Bartolomeo and see if he can lend us a few of his mercenaries willing to instruct our own." he said. La Volpe nodded again.
Ezio then turned toward Harriet. "Once you are fully recovered, you will be in charge of finding us more recruits – seeing as you did a good job so far." Harriet nodded as well. "Until then, Machiavelli and I will take charge of recruiting." Machiavelli nodded. "And Luigi – take care of her." he said, nodding toward the Countess. Luigi nodded. Ezio turned heel and walked toward the exit, telling Machiavelli to follow him. He briefly stopped in front of Harriet and said "You should go rest." She tried to protest but his firm look shut her up.
Sighing, Harriet slowly walked back toward her room as all the other Assassins went to do their assigned tasks.
Following the meeting, Ezio went to La Rosa In Fiore to visit his sister Claudia. Both were much closer than they had been in years thanks to Harriet's subtle intervention. Ezio asked for Claudia and her courtesans' help to find information about Cesare's money lender. Then, he and Machiavelli began working on recruitment.
It took a month for Harriet to be able to walk without the crutch. And, even then, she walked slowly and painfully. During that month, the Assassins subtly worked to bring Harriet and the Naked Witch back into anonymity.
At the beginning of the year 1501, Caterina Sforza left the care of the Assassins and departed Rome to find her family. A few days later, Harriet managed to drag Ezio to her villa in the north of Rome. She was pilfering through Margherita's barrels for magical remedies to heal her injury when Ezio told her something shocking.
"You took care of the war machines alone? But I wanted to help you!" Harriet pouted. She wanted to see these machines. If she was right, they were based on designs the people in her time believed Leonardo had only theorized, not actually built! Things like the tank and the weird bat-like glider. She wanted to see them but now they were destroyed thanks to the chuckling prat sitting on her old bed.
"I would have brought you with me, but..." he trailed off, waving toward her hip.
"Yeah – I know." she sighed. "Thankfully, I should have something to help me... here!" she suddenly exclaimed. She took out a small vial and showed it to Ezio. Ezio, of course, had no idea what it was, something he noted aloud.
"What is it?" he asked.
"These are a few potions that will help my body heal more rapidly. And this-" She showed a small bowl with an orange paste inside. "Is a salve Margherita specifically invented for injuries such as mine. A bit of it and the muscle and skin tissues will fusion together rapidly! It work – well, it work like magic." she explained with a grin.
"That's... amazing." said Ezio, amazed. "That would have come handy whenever I suffered injuries in the past."
"Well, if it ever come to be the case, I will have some." Harriet said, trying not to think about Ezio injured like she had been. "Only hiccup is that I have to rub some on my injury every day until it's fully healed. If I miss a day, the injury will stop healing and return to the state it was before applying the salve."
"I see." said Ezio. Harriet felt a sudden sense of dread when she saw his eyes suddenly spark up mischievously. "Will you need help?"
"For what?" she asked carefully, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Applying the orange paste on your hip." he said with a small grin. "I was always told my touch was quite soft."
Harriet choked on her own saliva. Ezio was offering to rub the salve on her hip? She would need to wear nothing but underwear to offer him a good enough view of the injury! She suddenly felt her face burn as she imagined she and Ezio alone as he–
She took a deep breath, clearing the image out of her head. "I– I think I c–can handle it m-myself." she stammered embarrassingly.
"If you say so." Ezio said, smirking. He raised on his feet and walked to the door, though not before adding "Know that my offer will always be open."
Harriet felt herself unsuspectingly shiver at his words. She shook her head and took a deep breath before following him out.
With the potions and salve now in her grasp, Harriet's recovering improved tremendously. Despite how much her heart wanted her to, she never accepted Ezio's offer to rub salve on her wound. She did not know how she would react if she ended-up in such a sensual situation with the man she loved.
Because yes, Harriet had come to the realization she was utterly in love with Ezio Auditore da Firenze. It took her by surprise when the realization hit – not that she understood why. In hindsight, it was obvious both she and Ezio had a thing for one another. Hell, Ezio was not exactly subtle in his flirting. Yet, it had shocked her. If it wasn't for reservations she held as a time traveller, Harriet would already have kissed him.
It took another few weeks for Harriet to fully recover from her injury. The salve and potions worked wonders, healing her twice – if not thrice as fast as she normally have otherwise. Once she was pronounced clear by Luigi, she jumped at the chance to make herself useful by going outside and finding recruits. By the time the summer began, Harriet managed to bring fifteen recruits to the Brotherhood. Along with the ten people Ezio and Machiavelli recruited, the number of Assassins in Rome increased to thirty-nine, which was a lot.
It was a few days in the month of May when Harriet was summoned by Ezio and Machiavelli. "Ah, Harriet, there you are." said the latter one when he noticed her enter the room.
"What's going on?" she asked, curious.
"We have a mission for you." said Machiavelli. "A few days ago, we received an important letter from Basilius Sterling, the Mentor of the English Brotherhood of the Assassins. They are currently short on manpower and asked if they could borrow a recruit or two to help one of their experienced Assassins take down a target."
"As you are an Englishwoman," continued Ezio. "And because you once expressed your desire to visit England for personal reasons, we offer you the chance to take on that mission for a free trip to your homeland."
"Really? I – Thank you! I accept the mission." Harriet immediately said. She had been waiting for such an opportunity for almost a year! She would finally be able to visit Hogwarts, talk to its current Headmaster and learn how she ended-up in the past and why!
"Thank you." said Machiavelli.
"How will I get there?" Harriet asked.
"By ship." the short-haired man answered. "The trip to England should take around one month – maybe more depending on the sailing conditions. The ship will leave port in Naples in five days and sail to London, making stops in between to other ports along the Mediterranean and the French and Spanish coasts."
Harriet did some quick mental calculations. Imagining it took a month and a half to sail to England, then it was likely it would take close to the same amount of time to come back to Rome. And, if she counted the time she expected to spend in Britain helping the Brotherhood and research her own problem, it would mean she could spent up to four months away from Rome, only to return in Autumn.
"How long does it take to travel to Naples?" she asked.
"On foot? It should take you a few days." Ezio answered.
That did not leave her much time. "Then I guess I better leave soon."
And so she did. Harriet departed Rome the following morning after packing enough supplies for the trip. As she was travelling on foot, it took her three days to reach the town of Naples, walking from sunrise to sunset. When the night fell, she would stop and put up a small tent before eating and resting. Harriet found the travel incredibly boring. While she loved seeing the Italian countryside outside of the city walls of Rome, it quickly lost its appeal as the hours went by. She was incredibly relieved when she arrived at Naples.
Harriet found the town of Naples very beautiful – even more so than Rome. For the first time since she arrived in the Renaissance, she wished she could have brought a camera to capture the sights she never wanted to forget.
The night before the ship was due to leave, Harriet sneaked out of the inn she was staying at and used the freerunning skills Ezio taught her to explore the city and see even more of its landmarks. She even made her way to the top of one of the towers of the Castle Nuovo which was towering over the port of the city. Unfortunately, she had a difficult time making her way back to the inn before the end of the night, taking about an hour for her to finally find it amidst the other buildings of Naples.
The morning of the departure, Harriet stowed her Assassin robes in her bag and put on simple clothes that wouldn't make her stand out. Then, the young Assassin made her way to the port where she embarked the Albatros, the ship that would send her to England. Harriet was excited for the trip, having never been on a ship before. She wanted to see the sea fill the horizon, feel the salty air breeze through her hair and see whales jump out of the water. It was something she had often dreamed of when she was younger. She could not wait to experience it for real.
As she quickly learned, reality is often disappointing.
Harriet's mind might love the idea of travelling by sea but her body loathed it. As she quickly discovered, she did not have a sailing foot. Not at all. The early days of the voyage were filled with seasickness and lack of sleep. She barfed whenever the ship hit a rough wave or did any other kind of abrupt motion. It got so bad that even the captain noticed and came to ask her if she happened to be pregnant – explaining how his wife had been just as bad when she had been pregnant with their first child. Embarrassed, she loudly refuted his theory, saying she couldn't be pregnant as she was still a virgin.
As it turned out, shouting that little fact on a ship full of sailors was a bad idea. It seemed learning she was a young virgin woman made many men aboard give themselves the mission to 'pop her cherry'. After hearing about some of their pathetic (and even disgusting) attempts to 'charm' their way to her bed, Harriet had enough and decided to spend the rest of the trip in her tiny cabin.
Thankfully for her, her seasickness finally calmed down in the last week of the voyage, allowing her to finally enjoy her time on the ship. But, in the weeks before, the only respite Harriet got from the seasickness or the ravenous looks sent her way where when the ship docked every few days on a coastal port. She would often be the first passenger out to set foot on solid ground. While the ship would resupply, Harriet would use her free time to explore whichever city she ended-up in and take in some of the sights.
As Machiavelli predicted, the journey to London took six weeks in total. The Albatros arrived in the middle of June. Leaning over the edge of the ship, Harriet took her first view of her birth town during the Renaissance.
To say London looked different to what she remembered would be an understatement. It was tiny! So tiny Harriet believed she could walk the entire length of the city in half an hour! Even more surprising was the fact it was surrounded by walls. Back in her time, most of the London Wall had been lost through time and what remained did not look any better than the Roman ruins in Rome. Yet, here the wall was fully functional and guarding the city from outside invaders.
A building which was not that tall yet felt like a skyscraper next to everything else was the Tower of London. The old castle was situated east of the city where the London Wall reached the River Thames. If she remembered correctly from the history lessons she received at muggle school, the castle was currently used as a part-time royal residence and part-time armoury for the royal family.
"It's beautiful, is it not?" a voice said next to her. Harriet gave a small jump, only now just noticing the presence of the Captain next to her. He was from England just like her, something she discovered early on in the voyage. She had struck a small friendship with the man, something she was more than grateful for as it gave her company while they were at sea. Being a married man devoted to his wife, he was one of - if not the only person aboard the Albatros she trusted would not try to get in her pants.
"Yeah, it is." she said, her eyes full of amazement not looking away from the city.
"You look like its your first time seeing the capital of the English Kingdom." he commented, glancing at her.
"It's not, but... let's just say I haven't been here for quite some time." she explained.
"Ah. You've been living in Italy long, then?"
Harriet gave a small smile. "Something like that."
The captain gave a small tap on the bulwark. "You should go get ready. We will dock in thirty minutes." he said.
"Got it." she nodded.
She returned to her cabin and grabbed her bag. It was one of the bags she had inherited from Margherita and contained an extension charm, allowing her to pack many things in a small package. It was no bigger than a pouch, allowing her to carry it around her waist without her movements being impended. With it secure around her person, Harriet made her way back to the upper deck and waited for the ship to dock.
Like it had become her habit, Harriet was the first passenger out of the ship, stopping just long enough to share a goodbye with the captain. For the first time since she left Rome, Harriet had put on her Assassin robes, though she kept her hood down. As she walked down the port, she came to a realization that never once crossed her mind.
"Where am I supposed to go?" she asked herself. Ezio and Machiavelli did not give her information on where to find the English Assassins. She was – for all instances and purposes – lost. Or so she thought.
A hand dropped on her shoulder. Reacting instinctively, Harriet jumped away and turned, her Hidden Blade activated and ready to kill.
"Calm down, my friend! Calm down!" exclaimed the man in front of her with a rough but jovial voice. He sounded more amused than frightened. Upon closer inspection, Harriet saw that the man – who looked only a few years older than her – was wearing Assassin robes identical to hers, the one and main difference being that the robes were black and red instead of white and red. And, just like her, the man had his hood down, leaving his entire head visible. He was bald but had a thick brown beard.
She retracted her Hidden Blade, though did not relax her stance. "Who are you?" she asked cautiously. "Are you an Assassin?"
"Master Assassin Jenson Hammond, at your service. But just call me Jenson." he said, bowing to her. "And, unless I was deceived, you are Harriet Potter, Ezio Auditore's protege! Are you?"
"Ezio's protege?" she repeated, shocked.
"Well, we did receive a letter from him a few days ago all the way from Rome to warn us that if any hair of you was hurt, he would come down here personally to hunt us down."
Harriet blushed. She hadn't know Ezio was protective of her – and to such an extent! "I mean – I am Harriet Potter and I guess I am his protege. I just always saw myself as a normal recruit." Well, as normal as you can be when you are a witch, that is.
"Then Ezio's protege, you are!" he said before changing the subject. "Now, I came here for a reason and that reason is to lead you to our main Headquarters in London."
"That's reassuring." she said. "I had no idea where to go." They chuckled together.
"Well, follow and find out!"
Harriet followed Jenson as they made their way out of the port and toward the main city. Not far from the exit of the port, they found a stable where horses could be loaned for easy travel throughout the city.
"I left two of our horses here in the care of the stable's owner when I came here. We shall take them to return to Headquarters. It will make the journey more comfortable." He then looked at her. "You know how to ride, right?" Jenson asked.
"Of course." said Harriet.
"Then take the white horse." he said.
Harriet climbed on her mount. The horse was a white female who looked a lot like a unicorn, just without the horn. Jenson's had a grey coat in a shade that reminded her of thunderstorm. Comfortably settled, they made their way toward the east of the city. As they trotted through a street, a group of children ran in their direction. They all looked between five and eight-year-old. When they noticed Jenson, their faces grew excited. The sight made her smile.
"Hello, children!" Jenson greeted cheerfully, waving at them.
"Hello, Mr. Hammond!" they returned. Then, a boy loudly asked "Who's the gal, Mr. Hammond?"
"That's Miss Harriet Potter!" he answered. "She just arrived from a long voyage from Italy!"
"Awesome!" exclaimed one of the children, a little girl with black hair that reminded Harriet of herself when she was younger. "Did you see the Pope?" she asked her.
Harriet chuckled. "Not personally, but my friend Ezio did." she said.
"Now that the fair lady has answered your question, why don't you continue playing?" said Jenson.
"We want to, but we can't find our hoop!" whined someone, a child with blond hair.
"What do you mean you can't find your hoop?" the man asked, confused.
"Well, Bethany threw it over a building!" the blond boy exclaimed angrily.
With an eyebrow raised, the man turned to a girl with brown curly hair. "Care to explain that, Bethany?"
Bethany fidgeted under the gaze of Jenson. "I didn't mean to!" she whined, looking like she was going to burst in tears at any moment. "I was trying to get a stick out of a tree but it flew over!"
"Where did you loose it?" Harriet asked kindly. "I can seek it for you, if you want."
"Over the tall building there." Bethany said, pointing toward something behind Harriet. She turned and found a two stories high building near a small tree. An eyebrow of her own raised. It didn't reach very high but it was taller than she expected a child to be capable of throwing a hoop on its roof.
"That's taller than I expected. You must be very strong to throw it over." she complimented kindly. A smile formed on her face when Bethany blushed.
She jumped down from the back of her horse and made her way to the building, excited children following behind her. She looked at the construction of the building, she found gaps between bricks on one of the corners. She decided to use these gaps as a sort of ladder. As she climbed up, she heard the children behind her let out sounds of surprise and awe. A few even cheered her.
When she arrived on the roof, she found the hoop as expected and showed it to the children. The children let out loud cheers in celebration when they saw it, confirming it was indeed their hoop. She let it fall to the ground where two of the children grabbed it. Then, the group ran away without saying goodbye, chattering happily.
Shaking her head in amusement, Harriet made her way back to the street and climbed back on her mount.
"Well, I guess that should distract them for a few hours." Jenson said with amusement as they began trotting forward.
"These children trusted you a lot." Harriet stated.
"They trust all of us! The Assassins, I mean." he said.
"The whole Brotherhood?" she asked. He nodded. "Why?"
Jenson sighed. Suddenly, the jovial attitude he had been sporting since he first met her evaporated, replaced by exhaustion. "We saved them from a nasty Templar." he said.
"Really? What... what did they do to them?" she asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.
"We aren't completely sure but... the Brotherhood believe the Templar wanted to experiment on them. What the experiment was, I do not know. But, I remember when I first saw them. They were very malnourished and a few looked sick. We got them out as soon as we could."
Harriet felt her mouth dry. Experimenting on children? That was horrible! Disgusting! "I hope you got the bastard." she hissed.
Jenson let out another tired sigh. "That's the thing. He's still alive and out there."
"What?!" she exclaimed.
"It's the reason we called for outside help. We managed to corner him in a small fortified villa not far from here. Unfortunately, the villa is guarded by many soldiers, too much for a single Assassin to handle."
A suspicion formed in her mind. "I remember being told that I would work along with a Master Assassin. Is it you?"
"It is, in fact. Let's just say I have a... personal interest in the case." he said as anger briefly flared in his eyes. Having seen how he interacted with the children, Harriet could guess why he held such anger. "The Brotherhood would have been able to handle the guards easily but we are still dealing with the ramifications of the civil wars." he said.
'The civil wars?' she thought confusingly. It took her a few moments to recall the history lessons from her youth and remember what Jenson was talking about. It came to her like a slap. The Wars of the Roses!
"That's right!" she exclaimed. "They ended a few years ago, didn't it?"
"In '87." he said, nodding. '1487' Harriet completed mentally. "All the wars between '55 and '87 were chaotic. Not just for the citizens but for the Assassins and Templars as well. Both factions supported different belligerents and often switched sides depending on which House was the most favourable to their cause. Then, there were the assassinations and constant attempts to sabotage the other and it's a wonder we haven't sent ourselves to extinction like the Houses of York and Lancaster did." He rubbed his bald head in frustration. "The civil wars were a mess we're still dealing with fourteen years later."
"I can guess why." she said.
They eventually made their way out of the eastern gate of the city just north of the Tower of London. Trotting faster, Jenson led Harriet north to a building between two large trees.
"It's... small." she commented. The size of a modest house, Harriet had a hard time seeing how the English Brotherhood of the Assassins could have enough place to hold their Headquarters there.
"I believe you will find there is much more than meet the eye." he said with a twinkle in his eye. Harriet decided to take him to his word.
After leading the horses to a small stable behind the building, the two Assassins disembarked their steed and landed on their feet. With a wave of the hand, Jenson told Harriet to follow him and led the young woman to the front door of the building. She saw that there was a small eye slot on the upper half of the door, which was closed. Jenson gave four knocks. The eye slot opened.
"Password?" came a whisper from the other side.
"All hail the Kingmaker." said Jenson equally on a whisper. The eye slot was forcefully shut down. The door opened next, revealing another Assassin in robes identical to Jenson's.
"Come in quick!" whispered the Assassin, his face hidden by his hood. The two quickly walked inside and Harriet looked as the Assassin closed the door behind them. "Follow me." he said to Jenson and her. "The Mentor want to speak with our guest from Italy."
"As so he wishes." said Jenson, nodding. The hooded Assassin led the other two toward what appeared to be a small backroom where they found a set of stairs going down. Harriet raised an eyebrow in surprise. She climbed them down, following the other two.
The staircase was surprisingly long and led relatively deep underground. They arrived in a room similar in size to the main room of the Headquarters back in Rome. It appeared to be used in a similar way as well as Harriet found two tables, a few chairs and a green doctor stand among other things. The grey stone walls were rough and made the room look like a square cave. On both walls on the side were a few lanterns lighting up the underground room while two Assassins statues guarded a large wooden door on the other side of the room.
"I must go back up." the hooded Assassin spoke to Jenson. "You know where to go."
"It's not like I never came here." the bald man said sarcastically. Then, to her. "Come on, Harriet." Together, they crossed the room to the other side and reached the large door. Jenson opened it and led Harriet inside, revealing a well-lit corridor leading to an even larger room the size of the Great Hall of Hogwarts. On each side of the corridor were regular-sized doors leading to what Harriet assumed to be regular rooms.
"What's the room at the other end?" she asked, nodding toward it.
"Oh, that's the amphitheatre." he said. "We only use it when the entire Brotherhood meet together."
"I see." she said. She took a look around. "It seem rather empty." she said, comparing to the Headquarters in Rome which was filled with Assassin recruits.
"Most of our Assassins have been deployed on different missions. I believe only two of our members are present today. Other than the entrance guard, the Mentor and us, of course." he added.
They walked near the whole length of the corridor before reaching the second to last door. Jenson opened it, leading Harriet in a small and cozy-looking room. It looked like the office of someone important, something that was immediately confirmed when she spotted a man with grey hair sitting at a desk and writing on a piece of parchment.
"Mentor." said Jenson, grabbing the man's attention. "Miss Harriet Potter has arrived." he announced.
Basilius Sterling, Mentor of the English Brotherhood of the Assassins, looked up to her. He smiled warmly. "Welcome home, Miss Potter." he told her. "I hope the journey has been favourable for you?"
"Thank you, Mentor." she said, giving a small respectful bow. "As for the trip, it wasn't that bad once I got past the seasickness."
"Uncomfortable, as I can assume." he commented. She nodded. "Why don't you sit down? The both of you." he invited, waving at the two chairs facing his desk. The two Assassins followed his words and sat down on the chairs. "Now, Miss Potter, did Jenson tell you of what the mission entailed?"
"Only the basic." she said. "And you can call me Harriet.
"Harriet." he repeated, nodding. "Then, I shall tell you more."
And so he did. Harriet already knew the background story and what the mission was thanks to Jenson, so Sterling focused on the details. And boy, there were a lot of information. Plans, witness testimonies, drawings of the Templar done from memory, etc. The office was full of information, information she was given freely.
To her dismay, Harriet learned what exactly the children she had met earlier went through while in the hands of the Templar – who she learned was named Nelson Afton. Upon hearing the torture the children suffered, Harriet was ready to run out of the Headquarters straight to the fortified villa to kill the Templar. It was a wonder the children were still able to play, laugh and be children after what they were forced through.
The entire meeting took three hours. At the end, Harriet felt her mind was overflowing with information. A small headache began developing.
"Now, I believe this is all the information we have on our target." said Jenson, looking at his Mentor for confirmation. Sterling gave him a nod.
"When will we go kill that son of a bitch?" Harriet asked.
"Whenever we have the best opportunity, which mean we will have to be there everyday to wait for an opening." the Master Assassin said. Harriet nodded.
"Where will I stay in the meantime?"
"We have a few free rooms here. Jenson can lead you to one." answered Sterling.
"Thank you." she said, raising on her feet along with Jenson.
Jenson showed her the way toward another room closer to the exit. He opened the door and let her inside. "This will be your room until your return to Italy." he said. "Just keep it clean. We don't really have time to clean after someone else."
"Got it." she said. It wasn't like she expected to do something else. Making sure the room stayed in order was common curtesy, after all. She turned to Jenson. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. And have a nice stay in England, Harriet." he said, giving a bow. He then left the room, closing the door behind him.
Now alone, Harriet decided to unpack a few essentials. Afterwards, she removed her Assassin robes and changed into lighter clothes. Tired from the journey and the meeting, she decided to go to sleep instead of exploring the city like she originally envisioned. It was always something she could do later.