please let me know what you think, silence is deafening.

listen to Treasure Island by Brighten for this chapter.

- G

The diving mission had set into action a chain of events that Liete watched with a stillness she didn't quite feel.

Edward had narrowly escaped drowning within the underwater reef formation, and when he'd come from below to Blackbeard's bell rather than his own, whispers of witchcraft had followed more so than ever.

Blackbeard had done nothing to aid in squashing the murmurs, in fact he'd done the opposite as he'd growled about in a show, lighting rolls of hemp tucked into his hat, hair and beard. It had been an act of showman ship, to scare others and it had done just that.

As they'd sailed away from the wreck off Florida, Liete had done so with a pit in her stomach.

Just as they'd headed back to Nassau, a passing pirate had whispered in Kenway's ear of a man residing in a manor in some other plantation along the coast near Havana orchestrating supplies, just a day or so south west of where they were now.

Kenway had seemed instantly interested, and as he'd set course towards the plantation with the goal to raid supplies for their pirate republic, he'd made the decision to let Liete in on the Assassins' & Templars.

He'd told her as they'd lain together under thick woven blankets as a way to begin his story, that he'd decided instantly to take the fort because he'd seen there had been a contract out for a man's life stationed in that fort.

A contract from the Assassins.

Liete was quiet all the while, her Death nestled into his bed an arm around her should, as he then told her of Walpole & his meeting with the Torres man that had named her.

When he came to the moment of Mary's reveal he watched her closely, hoping to see astonishment within her. Instead he'd been treated with a small laugh as she'd moved to rest her chin on his chest, one of her hands tracing the serpents attacking a brig on the left of his pectorals.

"Explains more than it doesn't. She'd walked with a boulder on her shoulders from the very moment I'd seen her on the island after Cat Island. I knew it would come out sooner rather than later."

He'd chuckled as he should have known Liete would see through anyone's disguise with those eyes of her.

As he continued, unsure how to put her own story into explanation, he slowly spoke of Ah Tabai, of Everything is Permitted, Nothing is True. Of Prinz, and the sage.

Of the Templars, and of her brother.

At the mention of Peter Beckford Jr., Liete stretched out similar to a cat before sitting up to gather her legs to her chest.

Kenway spoke of the deal that the Templars had enacted for Peter, and of her imprisonment.

She'd not spoken for any of it, until she asked with eyes snapping, the silver going back and forth like a slingshot.

"In all this, did the man say where Peter is now?"

Kenway shook his head, as he reached with one hand to smooth against her back, just to have a line of connection between them.

"All that was said, was the line of industry continued with the Templars' aiding in the expansion."

With that, she nodded, and moved to lay back down once more.

This lasted well into the next two days, and even as he'd went to raid the plantation & kill the Templar, she'd barely moved a muscle.

Liete seemed to withdraw into herself, and the usual vision of her at his bow was replaced by a sour Drew who paced his ship in agitation and Gerald at the base of his bed head bowed.

He'd made quick work of the plantation and its master, and as they'd taken off to head back towards Nassau, It had found him nestled next to Liete, even in the quiet moments.

She spoke to him softly, something that unnerved him more than anything else. Her auburn hair almost seemed thin and ashen, as she laid out facing towards him, his blankets wrapped around her.

She spoke of her childhood, as if him telling her of the tragedy of her circumstance had brought her back to when she'd been innocent of her name.

He'd never thought to find himself missing the confident insanity that made up most of their interactions before this, and yet he felt on edge more than ever at her sudden change.

He convinced himself that upon their arrival to Nassau, she'd snap out of the issue that he felt he'd caused with his unveiling of the harmful facts of her own flesh and blood.

Come early morning nearly two weeks later, just as they'd rounded north of Salt Key Bank close to Nassau, a call came from above. The Benjamin, Hornigold's ship, was spotted on the horizon under repair.

A weight settled into Kenway's chest as he brought the Jackdaw alongside the Benjamin to find a large amount of damage being fussed over by the sailors who had begun to patch what they could. Kenway made the call to pull the forsheaths, slowing to near a complete stop as he found the captain, a smoking pipe in hand as he passed wood down to a sailor who worked at a particular nasty cannon shot slung over the side of the deck.

"What the hells happened here? Were you attacked?" Hornigold looked up as Edward spoke, his expression angry and tired.

"Other way around, It were Blackbeard who'd struck first. Opened fire on a British man o' war the pillack."

"What in god's name for?" Kenway was in no way shocked at this turn of events. They'd left Thatch in a mindset he'd not seen the man in before. One of frustration and desperation. It occurred to Kenway, that his old mentor did not like to fail, and as Nassau declined it truly had sunk into his psyche. He felt responsible.

"Still searching for medicines. But hes gone barmey if you ask me."

Edward raised his hand to stop the man's anger, gripping the wheel with the other hand in concern.

"I'll bring him home."

"Leave him man, he's heaped this trouble on himself." Hornigold's word's put an anger in Edward's heart as he turned from the older man, a man who'd he'd looked up to for so long whose face he could barely recognized, gripping the wheel.

Ade to his right bellowed to his men who once again released the for sails as well as the top sails to pick up speed quickly as they raced forward where other wrecks could be seen within the mist and fog rolling in.

The quiet that settled over them all was thick as they passed wood and wreckage left and right, the ghosts of other ships most likely scouring for the perpetrator far off in the fog as Kenway guided the ship with an expert eye.

"Captain, there's a wreck yonder, looks recent."

A gun boat burned just to the left of them and as they passed by some of the men mumbled prayers for the few dead that could be seen in the water.

"I see it. Let's hope Thatch hasn't come to the same end."

As they continued forward, dodging the English schooners and gun boats looking for the black flag of the Queen Anne's Revenge, a dogs bark made him flick his eyes down for just a moment as Liete emerged from the captain's quarters.

Her hair was braided down and tossed over her shoulder, she wore a simple blue cotton mantua style gown, loose as she'd taken to omitting stays, and she moved slowly as she looked out into the fog. It gave him a breath of calm even as his anxiety ramped up with the urgency of finding his old captain, to see her coming out of whatever haze she'd been in as she locked herself away in there.

"Another bit of wreckage captain. Looks grim" Ade had no time to pay attention to the women, as he kept his mind to the ocean, finding another schooner split in half sinking slowly into the grey depths below.

"Aye, keep your eyes peeled."

It was quiet within the fog, so each time Kenway or Ade spoke, it almost sounded like a fog horn. Liete listened to the men from within the quarters and couldn't stay within any longer.

She'd known something like this was going to happen. As she'd taken her time to let Edward's revelation sink into her skin, the unspoken warning it also gave that she'd not escaped her name sake and could very well still be their mark at any time, she'd calmed herself.

She'd let the anxiety and worry that had taken root in her the past month bleed from her, and forced her mind to empty. She'd professed to Thatch her devotion to Kenway & with it came the realization that she was afraid.

The moment they'd met on Cat Island, she'd been at ease with her death. She'd only asked for Julle's safety and once she'd received it, had been content to never worry for another soul again.

With devotion, came loss.

She'd thought she'd lost her family, her life before out of some natural turn of events. Her brother had meant her to die, not to become some lost ghost on an island halfway across the world. She'd not thought of him since she'd gone & to have this nearly faceless man be brought up once more nearly at the same time as she'd had to face her first attachment to something since she'd been home was… overwhelming.

Could she survive a second loss, was the center of what she contemplated in the quiet moments aboard the ship.

Her appetite had still not returned with the lack of rancid food aboard, and so she'd simply laid in calm for several days.

It came to her that this sentiment may have been the root but not the fruit of it.

As she'd heard the commotion and quiet that followed of Thatch's actions, she couldn't stay inside any longer. She quieted as the reality that not only Kenway was in her mind to worry for. She had no passion for the man, but she cared for Teach as well.

Mad Liete, alone & feral, no longer so.

"Blast, this is getting well out of hand." Growled Kenway as he angled the Jackdaw hard left as a stiff wind blew against the full sails hard. The Jackdaw tilted sharply but everyone including Liete he was momentarily proud to see easily handled the transition and stayed upright.

"A few crates of medicine should not be so hard to come by." Ade's voice was barking but it did little to hide the tremor that had run through. He was spooked.

"That ain't my meaning, Thatch and Hornigold and this pointless feud of theirs. Can't you feel it?"

"I do, aye. But both men have their hearts in a good place. They both want the best for the people of Nassau." Edward felt the worry he'd carried for the past few days spark like a fire, feeling foolish for just a moment at trying to push the men to help with protection when they could hardly protect themselves.

"But is that the best course? Saving a city that ain't worth much? We aren't men made to govern, we take and spend and live heartily where ever we go."

"What solution would you propose?" Another gust of wind caught the sails, as Edward pulled hard starboard once more aiming away from a few landmass areas, towards a small island in the fog.

"The answer is wealth and power, not politics. If we found the observatory, we'd see enough money to buy the whole of England, or it might be that we lord above those and make them feel like peasants themselves." If he'd found the Observatory, no one would ever look down on him again. Never leave him again.

"That's large talk Captain, but is it your crew you sail for or yourself?" Ever a type of sage himself, Adewale read him like a book.

"I mean the best for these men Ade, I do. It just don't sit well. I'm sick of running errands, and not living my life." The revelation inside himself was shaking as they both quieted, focusing to the sea trying to find Thatch and his ship.

To live his life… what was he doing all this time if not that? What was he doing with Liete then, the Jackdaw? Was he not living, would he leave all this behind, her behind when he began to live if he wasn't now?

As he turned the wheel towards a silhouette of sails in the gloom, Liete had taken a seat at the bottom of the portside stairwell up to the helm. She held one hand to a single railing as Gerald leaned against her legs with his back. The dog stood alert, looking almost human like as he watched their surroundings.

Gerald for a moment leaned back a little hard turning his head to give Liete a small lick to her face drawing a smile that was sweet even as it shook a little.

Kenway took mark, as her skin looked almost glowing with the lack of sun she'd had in the past week or so, before forcing himself to focus once more in the search for Queen Anne's Revenge.

Looking closer to the silhouette as it became clearer as the now afternoon sun burning away at the gloom, a distinct flag of black with a devil horned skeleton stabbing a heart and hardened himself as the last of the fog fell away to show the frigate stilled at the coast of the island. What looked to be a small war raging on land beside her.

"Ade, see there."

"The Queen Anne's Revenge, She's in a bad way." Adewale clenched his hands against the railing, as Liete put a hand to Gerald breathing calmly as her eyes lit, erupting in waves.

As Kenway looked on, drawing closer to the island, he recognized Blackbeard with his dark visage and feathered hat.

"There's no time for a vote, Thatch is out numbered." He meant to run along side the Queen Anne & aid in her escape but as he watched, Blackbeard abandoned his post on ship to engage the crew of a brig that had run aground further off.

"The crew will understand. Hold the quarters lad, were sailing into hell." , The rest of Blackbeard's men were dropping like flies as the British men fought for all they were worth. It was clear the tide that the battle was turning as Blackbeard nearly disappeared in the swinging of arms and battle cries.

"Thatch is overwhelmed, I'm going ashore." Kenway released the wheel rushing down the portside steps and as he passed Liete reached out with a hand to grasp her own for a single moment without looking to her before vaulting over the edge of the Jackdaw to the shallow water below as Ade's words followed him.

"I'll keep the Jackdaw circling."

Liete stood then as Ade pulled the Jackdaw alongside the frigate slowly, as the battle raged before her very eyes.

As she stood, watching the chaos evolve as Kenway threw smoke bombs to try and confuse the British as he fought to change the tide for the pirates, she didn't just feel Gerald leaning against her legs once more. Drew now stood to her side, a hand on the middle of her back, to steady her.

A quickening came to her then, as she watched in anticipation to her Death.

As the screams and cries of dying men filled the Caribbean, Liete shivered with the now common sound, watching as the last of the British died, Kenway standing victorious along Thatch, both looking unharmed.

Suddenly through the last dying fog bank, a man o' war flying a British flag burst through to the north of the Island, and with a bellow that even she could hear, Blackbeard ran full force back towards his own ship.

Kenway followed behind, rushing onto the deck of the Frigate before suddenly taking the helm of the Queen Anne's Revenge.

The large ship opened sail in what seemed like mere moments, and lumbered forward towards the Man o' War that had clearly spotted their intent almost the moment it had begun to move.

As it engaged the monster on the waves, the battle was a quick one. Although the man o' war was giant & clearly a force to be reckoned with concern to its broadsides, Kenway had helmed the ship superbly. Circling at quick pace, he ordered the delivery of hard shot before swinging the ship at such an angle the man o' wars broadside missed nearly each time.

And yet, it was not enough as the incapacitated ship stilled nearly in flames, and Kenway aimed the ship straight at its side. As it slammed into the larger ship, the men aboard throw ropes and hooks and began to ascend onto the ships deck engaging in the men that were left alive to fight.

As she watched, Kenway released the helm of the ship, and with a brief yell and point from Blackbeard, pulled his swords and ran to the very bow of the Thatch's ship to jump to the deck of the British one.

Ade drew the Jackdaw closer as the immediate danger fell away, but the nearer they drew, the louder the screams of dying men. The smell of blood and gunpowder, that before had made her heart beat and her excitement peak at the very stuff of life, now brought a weakness to her knees and her stomach rolled with no command from herself.

Gerald whined as she leaned on him for support, Drew's hand that had steadied her before, now rubbed at her back roughly as he called her name over and over as if she would be able to answer in this moment.

As she looked up towards the ships, her eyes found Blackbeard quickly and their eyes caught and held for a few breathless moments. With eyes of a hawk, so similar to her own, just like they'd been the moment they'd seen each other the first time as she stood same as now on the deck of the Jackdaw and him on some far off shore. Only this time, no quirk of the eyebrow, no question or inquiry to the coming knowing of each other. He now looked at her with understanding, and the apology that he'd not said to her truthfully. No, he looked to her now with what felt like a goodbye, and with it her stomach rolled once more.

As the contents of her stomach pooled on the deck, water and a bit of stale bread squirreled away, she felt her knees give and for a moment was weightless before an arm caught her about the knees lifting her from the floor, folding her softly into his chest. Gerald gave a deep bark before following behind the man as he stomped to the captains quarters, throwing open the door with one large maw, laying her out on the bed quickly.

He stomped off once more to return with a small bucket of water no larger than a cup and a clean rag, one he dropped into the water and clumsily tried to wring with hands to large.

As her weakness fell away, Liete calmly reached forward gathering the frantic man's hands in her own, as he looked up to her eyes frightened.

Drew was frantic, it had been too much for her. All the men looked at her like something wicked, but Drew had known all along she was a lady. And lady's weren't meant to see fighting like this. She'd watched too many of them, and it had finally been too much.

Drew met her eyes, a frown burying itself into his features as she grimaced herself gathering the rag from his hands before speak with a slight guttural gasp.

"Drew, I need you to clean the deck before anyone takes notice. Do you understand what I am asking?"

Drew nodded slowly, not understanding why she'd ask such a thing, but understanding what she wanted.

"If asked, I ate salted pork that had a bit of green to it."

"But you ain't eaten nothin' but bit o' bread n' fresh fish fer weeks now..?" Liete tightened her grip on his hand once more, speaking slowly as her eyes slid back and forth in a near lull for the man.

"I'm asking you, as my friend Drew. Salted pork with a bit of green, nothing more. Now please go, be quick."

As the man withdrew from the cabin, Liete placed the wet cloth to her neck her breathing once again calmed as her mind turned. Gerald for once jumping his large mass to the bed to cuddle against her side, head like a boulder resting on her shoulder watching her with large chocolate eyes, giving her his warmth in the moment of her need.

Just as Drew had finished clearing the deck at the base of the stairs as only a few men gave him an odd look as he'd thrown a bucket of sea water and shoved any contents to the openings at the bottom of the rails back to the sea, Kenway returned to the deck covered in blood & soot.

Many of the sailors aboard greeted him with cheers, Drew stashed the thread bare mop he'd used to the corner of the Deck just as Kenway passed him by, Drew smiled in a thin line.

Please don't ask me where be Liete & why, his mind whispered frantic. He didn't like lying, no not one bit. He hadn't the heart in him.

Thankfully, his captain moved towards the helm to meet Adewale there, the man glancing at Kenway with a strained look to his face.

"Ade, not happy to see me return?" The joke fell flat as the darker man simply shook his head, grasped the wheel a little tighter as the men aboard moved to release the sheets for full sail without him needing to call it.

Adewale's eyes met Drew's before he quipped to the captain, dragging his eyes away from the giant man to his captain, a look of hesitation within that confused Kenway in the moment.

"Happy returns. I'm thinking happier to head towards land sir. The seas settle ill, I tell you."