When Anne finally woke up, she found herself tied to a chair in a dank cellar. The room was rather big, but most of the space was taken up by barrels. A small window allowed a couple of sunbeams to venture in. Anne groaned. Her head hurt as if it might explode. There was a new scratch on her left arm that burnt like fire. Anne tried to wriggle her hands free to examine it, but they were tied behind her back with a tight rope. "Look who is waking up." James Prisby stepped out of the shadows. Anne wanted to curse at him, to mock him, tell him defiantly how she was not afraid of him, but a strange sickness washed over her. Anne swallowed down bile. "Hm." Prisby walked around her. "The poison is working already. You´ll be dead by tomorrow." Anne´s bravado vanished like smoke in the wind. "What did you give me, you devil?" Prisby chuckled. It made Anne´s hair stand on end. "Oh, I didn´t. To be honest, I would have killed you instantly. Rose has other plans. And in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter if the reaper takes you a couple of hours later." Rose. Anne took a couple of breaths to calm herself. If she panicked now, she was as good as death. "Wouldn´t have thought you were the type of man who takes orders from a woman." Anne observed. Prisby didn´t take the bait. "A small favour to our newest member." He waited to see Anne´s reaction and wasn´t disappointed. Anne wasn´t sure if it was the poison or fear, but she began to shake. "How long has she been working for you?" "We got to her right after your blind moor did. And apparently ours was the better offer." Anne wrecked her brain for something to say. She needed to keep Prisby talking. If he believed himself secure enough, he might reveal his full plan. Then she would have to find a way to free herself and stop it. If the poison didn´t kill her first, that was. Or Prisby. Or Rose. Rose. She hadn´t seen that one coming, not one bit. It was only a small consolation that Omar, who was usually so circumspect, had been taken in as well. Anne looked at Prisby. He radiated confidence and power unlike anyone she had ever met before. "Now what? Are you going to torture me like Father James? Or are you just going to sit back and enjoy watching me die?" Anne wanted to slap herself. She sounded like a scared kid. "No." Prisby seemed to relish her fear. "I have bigger fish to fry. Rose will deal with you when she returns. With you, your lover and those counterfeiting machines. Yes…" Prisby answered the question she hadn´t asked. "Rose is laying the trap for your Omar. He will come for you. And when he does, we will rectify what my men failed to do yesterday. Maybe she´ll manage to kill Newton, too. The fool should have stayed with his books and left us to our own devices. All that sniffing around to ferret out fake coins… He never had a chance, poor idiot." Prisby shook his head and sighed theatrically. Anne stared at him. Omar was right. They framed Newton. What could she do? She had to get out of here quickly. The poison started to cloud her mind. She could feel her limbs growing more heavy by the minute. What sort of poison was that? There was at least one thing she could be certain of. "You won´t get Omar. He is too smart for you." Prisby chuckled. "Ah, yes. He is a clever one, your sweetheart. But he is mad about you. According to Rose, at least. You are lucky that he is blind. If I had to choose between you and the lovely Miss Galloway…" He didn´t end the sentence walked to the door. "I do have one last question, though." Prisby turned around. "Why are you women so crazy about that wog? The whole affair could have gone differently – and quite a bit less bloody, I might add. But Rose…" Prisby laughed softly."I might as well tell you. She and Chaloner, they plan to blow up the Tower with these beauties." He gave one of the barrels a firm slap. "Explosives." Anne´s heart raced. Oh God, they are mad. Prisby nodded. "That´s how Rose wants to end the whole thing. You, her, Omar." He gave her a last, long look. "I am almost sorry that it ends this way." And with that, he was gone. Okay, focus. Think. Think… Think…
But it was too late. She could feel herself drift away.
The stone floor of the cellar swayed slightly like a ship in the harbour. Was it the blood in her ears or did she actually hear men screaming? She smelt the salty sea air. The faint smell of gunpowder from the barrels turned into the sharp odour of pistol smoke. Suddenly, Anne´s arms were no longer bound. She held a bloodied rapier, running across the deck of the ship. It was hell. The slaves, hastily freed from their chains, fought like madmen against their captors. The small band of raiders had split up. Omar had gone in search of the captain and his precious ledger. The ledger contained detailed lists of his operations. Anne´s task had been easier. Disable the steering wheel. That little boat wouldn´t leave for the West Indies any time soon. She fought her way into the belly of the ship, to the captain´s cabin. Omar was on the ground, bleeding from several wounds. The captain had collapsed on the floor, most likely dead. Both were surrounded by heavily armed sailors. Anne raced towards them, managing to strike down two. A third one buried his dagger in her neck. Omar threw himself over her to shield her. "Annie…" Anne could feel his body becoming limp. She didn´t have time to process what was happening. The men were upon her, stabbing and kicking, but she didn´t feel them anymore. She clung to Omar´s corpse until the light left her eyes as well.
The sharp slap brought her back to consciousness. Anne gasped for air. "Omar." She looked for her husband´s dead body, but found herself face to face with Rose. What…? "Where am I?" Her breath came ragged, tears were streaming down her face. Rose shook her head in disgust. "I had expected you to conduct yourself in a more dignified manner. Seems like I made the right choice." Anne took a deep breath. Slowly, everything came back to her. It was only 1696, she was still a prisoner of the Templars. She chuckled. "You really had us fooled. I should have expected nothing less from a fine lady. Pretending to care for Omar to throw him off… smart, really." Rose gave her another slap, but afterwards clenched her left hand around her right. Anne took note of that. Rose hadn´t meant to hit her but lost her temper. "Be quiet." she snapped. She seemed extremely uneasy. It wasn´t hard to imagine why, if Prisby had told the truth. Anne tried to keep all anger out of her face. "Rose, look at me." she said urgently. "You don´t need to do this. You can still have a life." Pain surged through her body like fire. "God." Anne clenched her hands around the leg of the chair to steady herself, but a new pain shot through her palm. A nail! One of the nails that held the seat and the legs of the chair together had come undone and stood out. If she was careful, she might just use it on her ties to get them off! Rose shook her head. "A life?" she repeated. "What kind of life would that be? The obedient daughter of Sir Nigel Galloway? The wife of some boring lord who expects me to be pretty and silent? Or the kind of life you have in mind? Following Omar around like a lapdog, doing whatever he wants you to? And if you don´t take your orders from him, there is the Brotherhood. You are as much in a cage as I am, you just won´t see it." Anne rubbed her ties over the nail over and over as cautiously as possible. She needed to hurry, before the poison dragged her into unconsciousness again. Maybe she could provoke Rose enough to make her loose her head and make a mistake. So Anne began to laugh. "Maybe. But you know what? I like my cage. You can be the lone wolf, roaming through the world freely. I am happy to be Omar´s obedient little bitch." If she ever got out of here, she would have to rinse her mouth with strong whiskey to get the taste of those words out. Unpleasant as they were, they worked. Rose turned away in disgust. She pulled a couple of fuses out of her bag. "In that case I have nothing left to say to you. I really thought you were different. Like me. But…" Rose didn´t finish the sentence. She connected the fuses with the barrels. Anne rubbed her hands against the nail furiously. Just a bit more, just a bit… She cut her own skin as often as she cut the rope, but that didn´t matter now. The blood made her hands slippery. With her back still turned, Rose began to talk again. "I expect, Mr. Prisby has told you about our plan?" "Indeed." Anne answered frosty. "Blow up the Tower of London, and us with it. Thus destroying all evidence that Chaloner framed Mr. Newton. There is one more thing I´d like to know, though." Rose turned around to look at her prisoner again. Anne had expected that, but she really wanted an answer to her question. "Would you have done that if Omar had chosen you instead?" "Yes." Rose said after a moment of deliberation. The answer seemed to surprise her just as much as it did Anne. "I´d rather die as a free woman than live as any man´s slave." A third voice came out of the shadows. A dark, silky voice that would have been most welcome to Anne under different circumstances. "Let her go, Rose. This is between you and me." The flush on Rose´s cheeks betrayed her. Whatever she might say, she still cared for Omar. "I knew you would come." For some reason, Omar´s voice pushed Anne over the edge. She panicked. "Omar, run! She wants to blow up the whole place!" Instantly, Rose´s hands were around her throat. "You…" was all she managed to say. Omar was at her side, as quick as lightning, but Anne hardly registered it anymore. She drifted deeper and deeper into oblivion.