This was supposed to be a more action-packed chapter, then I realized that just jumping into the action coming off of a drawn out character introduction was not entirely a good move. I prefer to build things up, so the story doesn't feel choppy and unplanned.
Another thing I would like to point out is that I know I may not totally have Arno as the focal point character right now and that is because I'm still trying to get into his head. I've been in Ezio's so long that it's easy for me to write him and just pop back into his mind on a whim. With Arno, I feel it's a bit different because what we were given in the main game is not what I call an entirely fleshed out character. I will say the Arno we have in the DLC is what I really wanted along with the character we were given before he became an assassin (you know the charming, witty, could go toe to toe with a young Ezio, man) but yeah, lack of supporting characters will do that to a main character. Again, I want to point out that this is NOT a rewrite or a novelization. The events I'm putting into this story are basically side missions that aren't in the game.
Okay long soap box authors note over. Please enjoy!
The room was quiet except for the sound of the clock ticking in the corner and the tapping of Eva's nails on the table as she waited for Arno to speak. When he had asked to speak with her up in the library, she was expecting him to speak, but he had not done so. Instead he seemed to be gathering his thoughts on whatever subject he wished to talk to her about. Arno had followed her up the stairs closely which made her uncomfortable and even now just sitting feet across from him had an effect on her. Eva did not know if she could ever trust him like she did Raphael, but she was not willing to try either.
She avoided his eyes as much as possible knowing that the slightest eye contact from her could give him the impression that she could be won over. Eva was not going to give him that satisfaction or give him hope that there could be something of a relationship between them. However, Arno seemed to be aware of this and that was one thing she gave him credit for. She sighed as he took in a breath before speaking to her.
"We started off on the wrong foot." Not the words she was expecting from him, but at least he was attempting to apologize. She raised an eyebrow at his words considering that she had expected him to say something along the lines of 'what do I need to do'.
"On that we can agree." Eva responded to him as she sat with her hands in her lap. "Let's make this simple and pretend we don't exist to one another." She told Arno and he gave her a confused look before tapping his hand on the table.
"That is not what I was going to suggest." He said and she shrugged in indifference.
"Then what were you going to suggest that is better than my suggestion?" She was always going to play the lady in the situation.
"Starting over?" He asked quizzically and she pursed her lips in thought for a moment before standing up. She went over to his side with a polite smile, one that he had not seen on her face before.
"Evangeline Gouze." She curtsied to him before giving him a wicked smile and leaving him there in confusion. "Now we are acquainted, Monsieur Dorian." Eva said in a loud voice as she left the library with the green dress swaying behind her.
"Merde, that is not what I meant." He bolted out of his chair and went after her. "Evangeline, wait!" He yelled out as he left the library himself only to find her standing by the stairs with a curious expression on her face as to why she needed to wait. "That was not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean, Monsieur?" She put her hand on the railing. He was a lot taller than she was, but that did not matter.
"What I meant was, maybe we could at least find common ground." The assassin was doing his best to appeal to her in a way that she may take him up on his offer, but there was no way. Eva was far too proud of herself to give in that easily. Instead of making it easy for him, she decided she was going to make him work harder than anyone had before. She smirked.
"Alright." She looked around thinking of something to say. "Do you like Chocolate?" It was a yes or no question, but it seemed to take Arno by surprise as he was not entirely sure how to answer. Her trap had been laid and now all he needed to do was spring it.
"Yes?" It came out of Arno's mouth more as a question than an answer to which she could manipulate him.
"There, we have something in common." She put forth another smile before proceeding down the stairs in triumph.
"What just happened?" Now Arno knew he was playing an entirely different game to what he had known before with Elise. "Francois did say the women of Paris were a lot like roses." They were beautiful, but they also had thorns.
Though, he had to admit that when Eva smiled, it was forced. Her dark eyes betrayed her smile and sometimes he could see a tinge of fear in them, like she was waiting for him to hurt her. Those were the things Arno observed about the young woman he was slowly starting to admire even though she seemed to despise him. Arno knew he was not totally at fault and he did try to make amends, but she was obviously not going to make it easy for him at all. Now it felt like he was back at square one with Evangeline. Although, he could count her attitude towards him earlier as some degree of success, but only a little.
The young assassin decided it was best just to continue on about his day instead of thinking about the dark-haired woman who completely vexed him. Evangeline Gouze was the least of his problems, even if she was a pain in his side from time to time. Taking that as it was, he went down the stairs after she disappeared from his sight, thinking it better to avoid her for the rest of the day. That was fine of course, since he was leaving for Saint Germain that night.
In the cafe, Raphael and Francois stood watching an interesting altercation going on between a man and two young ladies. From where the two assassins stood, they could clearly hear the smooth words coming from the older man who seemed to be half drunk already. What he was saying and what he was doing were two completely different things as he stood at the corner near the booths. The two young ladies seemed to be slightly uncomfortable with the older gentleman trying to solicit favors from them, but he was clearly getting nowhere as the young blond girl slapped him across the face.
"That will be fifty livres." Raphael said holding out his hand to Francois who reluctantly reached into the lapels of his grey coat and fished out a single gold Marc. "Merci." The other assassins said as the other put the coin into his hand. "Pleasure doing business with you, Mon amie." There was a smirk on the Spaniard's face that had Francois slightly miffed.
"I thought for sure she was going to run away." The debonair assassin crossed his arms as Arno came up behind them.
"What are you two going on about?" The younger assassin said putting his hands on each of their shoulders before seeing the older man causing trouble across the floor from them. "Oh no, not again." Arno said upon realizing who it was.
"Do you know that man, Arno?" Francois asked.
"Unfortunately." Arno said. "That is Monsieur Beauregard." He was clearly not pleased but Raphael's attention was more on the blond woman the old man was harassing. "I threw him out last week because he came in drunk and decided it was pleasing to harass one of our patrons." Arno told the two other assassins as he walked forward.
"And who are the lovely ladies he is insulting this time?" Francois asked with his eyes also on the beautiful blond. "She is enchanting."
"That is Claire Dubois and her younger sister Fleur." Evangeline's voice came from behind the three men who turned to look at her for a moment. "They are my friends so do not get any ideas, Francois." She eyed the grey clad assassin before motioning to Arno to deal with the old man.
The three of them watched as Arno strode over to the old man and intercepted him from doing more damage to the very discontented young women. The blond quickly grabbed her younger sister and pulled her over to the other corner as Arno grabbed the older man by his shirt collar to drag him out of the front door. Who knew that the young man could be so protective over the establishment as he threw the man on the street with a warning that if he returned there would be consequences?
"Does the man have anything better to do? It's only ten o'clock in the morning and he is already drunk." Eva said as she stood next to Raphael who was still looking at the beautiful Claire in the corner as she worked to calm her brown-haired sister down. "Excuse me, I must go see to Claire and Fleur." She said before moving over to the two young women.
"Someone is definitely enchanted, and for once it is not me." Francois noticed the stare that the Spaniard had. "There is a first time for everything." He clapped a hand on the other man's shoulder bringing him out of the trance he was in.
"What?" There was a chuckle from the man next to Raphael as he was suddenly aware that he had been staring at Mademoiselle Claire.
"Blond hair, blue eyes, an enchanting smile..." Francois patted the other man's shoulder. "It's enough to make any man go mad." There seemed to be pity in the assassin's voice. "Ah, the women of Paris." There was a dreamy look in Francois' eyes as Arno walked up after having taken care of the situation from earlier. "So different from Versailles, am I right Arno? It's better than Orleans."
"They are certainly harder to get along with than the women of Versailles." Given the experience with Evangeline earlier, Arno could definitely agree to Francois' statement. He crossed his arms as he looked around the room. "Aren't you from Orleans?"
"Unfortunately." The oldest of the three said as Raphael laughed. "Nothing there but old and ugly scullery maids."
"And your mother was one of them." Arno joked with a straight face. Raphael stopped laughing when he saw the dead look on Francois' face.
"My mother was a pretty woman." The older assassin took offense to Arno's gest, but he put it aside when Jean walked in from the back of the house. "Looks like our ride is here, gentlemen."
"Finally." Raphael said as the burly man known as Jean-Pierre Seaux walked in with a rough smile on his face. He seemed to be very pleased with himself on acquiring a wagon and team of horses for their journey to Saint Germain.
"The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can relax." Jean said with a smile. That was easy for him to say as he did not have other pressing matters to deal with other than Arceneaux. Arno still had work to do that involved finding de la Serre's killer. The four assassins looked at each other before disembarking from the cafe to start on the next part of their mission.
Evangeline did not even notice that the assassins left the cafe while she was talking with Claire and Fleur. She sat across from the two young women in the booth next to the bar with a cup of hot tea that had been imported from England days ago. She listened to Fleur go on about the latest trend in fashion according to the Queen and how the newest fade was to wear anything with stripes. While Eva was not opposed to the eighteen-year old's blabbering about dresses, she could also tell that Claire was trying to politely indicate she was just as tired of it. The blond simply moved her cup of coffee in front of her with a polite smile upon her face, but her eye contact went directly to Eva as she pleaded for some interjection.
"I'm sure that stripes are setting a trend, but I do believe it will not last as long as you believe it will." Eva said taking her tea in hand and sipping it slowly before setting it down again. "With the conflict between the people of France and the Monarchy, I am not sure how long the Queen's fashions will be popular." Fleur's face fell at the fact and Eva almost felt bad for knocking the girl down about her passion, but she never held anything back when it came to honesty.
"Try to understand Fleur, we as wealthy young ladies cannot possibly continue to ignore the plight of the common people by our flaunting of fashion." Claire reminded her sister in her soft voice. "That is why Paris is in a state of revolt now and we must do our best to keep that in mind."
"That cannot be true." Fleur being the naive young woman she was did not understand the true extent of the politics involved, or the circumstances. "Papa said this will all be over by the end of the year." Claire and Eva looked at one another knowing that Monsieur Dubois was more into politics than he was into seeing the real state of the matter. The blond turned to her sister and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm afraid that isn't true, Fleur." She tried to make the younger girl understand. "With the war outside of Paris, the people are not doing as well as we had hoped in the way of providing for their families. Plus, with the indulgences of the crown, the people are upset and rightfully so." Eva watched as the younger girl's face fell upon realizing that her father was misconstrued about the current affairs of France, as many of the wealthy were. All that mattered to them was their wealth.
"Even if it were true, I'm sure that our friends will do everything they can to change the outcome of this situation France is in." Eva said referring to the Assassins that dwelt in the city and the ones out fighting the wars. She took another sip of tea and smiled at Fleur. "That aside, how is your book coming along?"
"It could be better." Claire gave Eva a frustrated look. "Some girls would rather write about princes and fairytales while I write about the realistic endeavors of a woman in the times. Is it not too much to ask that we are treated fairly, if not equally to men?" Clearly the blond was passionate about what she wrote about. "My mother is unhappy in her marriage because it was arranged, so why cannot more marriages be based on love and equality?"
"Don't let Papa hear that, Claire." Fleur spoke up. "He may brand you an idealist."
"It is not idealist to want equality between men and women, Fleur." The dark-haired woman said as she smiled at the girl's misunderstanding. "In some societies, women are equal to men and they both share the same burdens regardless of their sex. Instead of letting that discord hinder them, they simply do not care about being man or woman, just that they can work together in harmony to accomplish something." She knew from experience that a regard for equality was a necessity within the ranks of her extended family in the Brotherhood. Her own mother was one of them. Eva smiled as she saw Fleur trying to grasp what she was saying while Claire looked as though she could embrace her.
"Character should always be held in higher regard than whether a person is male or female." Claire added to her friend's words and Eva nodded with a smile. "I think you have given me something to think on, my dear." The blond gave her friend a smile that reached her eyes in happiness that the stupor she was in was now something to not be concerned with anymore.
"I'm happy I could be of some use." Eva said before drinking her tea.
The four assassins found themselves standing on the opposite bank from the island in the middle of the Seine. The darkness concealed the men as they watched Arceneaux's men move back and forth from the wagons loaded with gunpowder to the large building that they were using as a store. The building itself had been built over the ruins of a fortress used to keep the Norman invaders out of Paris in the 8th and 9th century, now it was just an empty building. If Francois could somehow get to the roof of the building, he could provide cover while Arno and Raphael took care of the peons below. The trick was getting across the river.
This time of year the river was higher than usual due to the rainfall the country had been getting, which made the current faster. Swimming across was not an option, however access to a boat was not an option either. The choice they had was to take the only bridge on and off the island, which was guarded by four men on each end. Arceneaux was clearly expecting some opposition from someone and the chances of him having been informed of a potential threat were high. Arno kept that in mind as he had been the one to intercept the informant days ago, but that did not buy him secrecy. Anyone in a crowd could be an informant if it served their interests and people were desperate to procure coin no matter the consequences.
"I somehow thought this was going to be a lot easier than this." Francois said looking at the bridge and the four men standing with rifles in their hands at the beginning. Arno shook his head and put his hand on the older man's shoulder.
"And that is why we do not let you make the plans, Francois." The young man had a smirk on his face as he walked towards the bridge with Raphael offering a salute before following.
"See you on the other side, Gentlemen." The two young assassins disappeared into the trees out of sight.
"That little shit." Jean said with a chuckle as he watched Arno and Raphael take matters into their own hands after clearly having a plan already. "It's a wonder Arno hasn't gotten himself killed yet."
"It's a wonder The Council let him join in the first place." Francois said pulling a rifle out of the wagon and cocking it in case he had to clear a path for the two younger assassins. "There is nothing more dangerous than an individualist in the eyes of the Masters." As he sighted in his rifle, he contemplated the real nature of his mission concerning the young assassin while Jean seemed to understand. "Mirabeau on the other hand, was never good at following orders himself."
"What makes us any different?" The younger man asked as he watched Francoise aim at no particular target across the river. "Aren't all assassins considered individualists?"
"In the days of Ezio Auditore, yes, but now it's almost the opposite." There was a lot of hand holding going on within the Brotherhood. No mission could be done without going to the Council for permission first, even if the case was time sensitive. "I admire that man's contribution to the Assassins and the fact that he was known to be the greatest charmer of women." He waited for a moment before firing his rifle at an unseen target that had been standing near the bridge on the island. Jean had not known the guard was there until he fell into the water.
"Nice shot." Jean said as Francois handed him the now empty rifle and pulled another one from the cart.
"Can't have anyone running off to sound the alarm." The debonair said as he cocked the rifle back and aimed at another. He was really impressed by the fact that the sound of the gun firing did not seem to alert anyone on the island. "I wished they made these things quieter." He said taking aim at a guard running along the shore after the first guard fell in the water and fired.
"Let's get moving." Francois nodded before putting the newly emptied rifle back in the wagon as Jean stepped up in the driver's seat and grabbed the reins. "Arno and Raphael should have the bridge cleared by now." Jean said before clucking to the two horses pulling the cart.
"Knowing them, the whole island should be cleared." Francois smirked as he hopped in the back of the wagon as it moved off to the bridge.
