Months late, I know. I'm sacrificing a regular release to make sure this is quality work (unlike Ubisoft in recent times, although they're changing it up this year). As you can see, this chapter's massive. Next chapter should be short, though, so I hope to release it within four weeks.
I'm having trouble with the horizontal lines, so where there's supposed to be a break, you'll find 3 centered periods.
...
Part I, Chapter 7
Caroline didn't mind giving up her inheritance for the scruffy but charming Edward Kenway. On the other hand, along with the strawberry-blonde bombshell, Edward fantasized about a mansion surrounded by the paragon of English gardens. In his mind he thumbed the wool of tailored coats and the silk of curtains.
Eventually, with time multiplying doubt, Caroline began to wonder if it was not her noble deed of rescuing Edward from a fight, but rather her noble background that enticed him in the summer of 1711. Realizing her mistake in marrying the insatiable man, she receded back into the higher class. Caroline wouldn't help her husband realize his potential if she could.
Just before stepping into the waiting carriage packed with her belongings, Caroline looked back at the Kenway cottage, where Edward's mother and father stood just behind the threshold of the front door. They stared emptily at her, a daughter they had hoped to one day have but never did. She couldn't hold their gaze, and instead looked at the front door as she mustered a slight smile to the well-meaning parents of a lost man. Later, she'd wish that she gave them each a hug and a generous bag of coins upon leaving.
A slightly older Edward could not help but compare the two great loves of his life. The former had been from a higher class, as he had wished, but the latter didn't appear to him to belong in any class.
Being aristocracy brought with it all sorts of troubles, he would much later discover. Little did he realize all the fun he had among the common people...
...
"I've a treat fer ye in Havana. Be there by the end o' June if ye want in," she winked, and unsheathed her sword.
June 1717
It took far longer to reach Havana than necessary, according to Edward's mental clock. Despite thinking over his potential activities with Mary countless times, it only occurred to him while walking past the unique colors of the Spanish-styled houses that they had never agreed on a specific location to meet in the city. But, knowing Kidd and her almost criminal-like network of assassins (well, with a name like "Assassins," you'd imagine they were criminals), she would be able to find him in time.
Sure enough, a man dressed like a monk, with simple dark robes and a hood, locked gazes with him as he passed by, and he joined him in his walk and murmured, "Señor Kenway, yes? Kidd has been awaiting your arrival. He said you can find him in a building by the harbourmaster of the south beach. Use your talent to locate it once you are in the area."
"I'm no Kenway."
The man remained silent. Soon, he began deviating from alongside Edward.
"Ah, mate, I'm merely having a little fun," he smirked a bit and struck his shoulder playfully, bringing the hooded man back next to him.
"Oye," the Assassin muttered, "I know not why Kidd stands with you. I'm just glad I wasn't dispatched after you those years ago- I had just joined the group then, you see."
Now Edward remained mostly silent, giving only a perfunctory snort.
They walked a few uncomfortable seconds more, before the hooded man spoke, "I will go now, señor. Goodbye." He walked away.
He could help me locate this building Mary's in, Edward thought, but shrugged it off and mounted nearby crates graced with white linen, beginning his rooftop journey south.
Not feeling quite as bitter as he reached the sand, he first located the harbourmaster. There was only one in the area that he sometimes visited to make purchases.
Alright. Then the lad said to use my talent to locate the building. But which talent?,he pondered, tongue-in-cheek, as he focused his eagle vision. He was getting a strong signal from…
There. A building next to the harbourmaster, as promised. But Mary herself wasn't in there. He couldn't feel her presence. However, he could sense a note nailed right onto a worn pillar on the patio that did have her trace.
It appears I noticed you sooner than you noticed me.
You like games, aye? Come play.
Find the next note around where you as Walpole met our enemy.
If you're quick enough, you might catch me.
Go. Edward dashed westward, towards the governor's manor. She's challenging me, is she?
Shite, there were bloody Spanish guards covering every square meter, it seemed. They were on the rooftops, in the shrubbery, within the manor, everywhere. And where would he find this note? His eagle vision only reached so far, and would all these guards cause interference with Mary's presence?
They had expanded their security after his breach as Walpole. But the Templars no longer had the mansion since Torres retired, right? Then again, as he had been informed, the Templars controlled plenty of organizations out of the public eye.
He really wished he could pose as Duncan Walpole again, just once more, and enter through the front gate with another "Buenos días," to save himself time and to perhaps find Mary, who wasn't in the vicinity, as far as eagle vision indicated.
But, lamentably, he was forced to wander along the walls of the manor, walking with the crowds, searching for a potential entry point. He settled for some unguarded scaffolding leading to the estate gardens, which were on higher land. He didn't perceive any guards up there, only shrubbery, and he didn't think anyone would watch him as he climbed up to the not-so-restricted area. After doing just that, he was immersed in philodendrons and ferns. Even with the guards observing nearly every angle and corner of the manor inside and out, he was cloaked.
However, there wasn't shrubbery everywhere, and to get around, he would have to be exposed. A diversion was needed. So, when an unfortunate guard roamed too close, he struck.
It wasn't a kill. Only knocking out the chap was necessary. And he needn't drag the entire body out of sight. Just… he shifted the man's buckled shoe out, that amount of limp leg visible was sufficient.
Edward then produced a whistle so powerful and piercing that perhaps it became heritable. The other guards turned their heads like does in a meadow and began to investigate cautiously. The pirate went further into the bushes, around to where the guards came from, being careful not to make noise or move too abruptly.
Jaysus, Mary, he cursed at the searching he was obliged to do for a bloody piece of paper, and Joseph too.
Looked back at the scene he created, in which the guards played fools, he thought, this is a rather satisfying challenge, though. This was his go-to trick in these situations for a reason.
He knew there were bound to be some guards that weren't bright enough to question what would happen if everyone in the area inspected the commotion. And there it was: an opening. Nearly every guard left to investigate. Edward snuck deeper into the shrubbery, searching for traces of Mary's presence while nearing the pavilion where he once looked at an important map with Torres, Du Casse, and Rogers. He also recalled pickpocketing the three Templars. The pavilion was a point of interest and it was worth investigating, so he timed his entry with the leaving of the guard passing by the structure.
Sure enough, he sensed scribbles on a note held down by a familiar Templar ring. Scribbles belonging to Mary. He sold that ritzy, useless ring ages ago, so how did it get around back to here? In any case, he read the note:
Good!
Go next to Havana's guard.
Don't like this game? Fret not, I've better ones to play.
Edward reduced his concentration on eagle vision as he thought of where to go next, She could be referring to the barracks here on the governor's estate. No, it wouldn't be that simple. Does she mean a person? Am I to look for a specific soldier? Jaysus, I don't know. Mary's into these riddles., and I'm not sure why she thinks I'm suitable for them too.
A guard… No, not a person- there would be no one specific guard we'd both be familiar with. Guard…ian angel? What the hell am I thinking. Well… they protect you, aye? Guard, like defense… Protection… Something- somewhere, perhaps- that protects and defends the city of Havana. Like a fort? The fort where I left behind Bonnet's sugar. He nodded. But there's another fort in Havana, isn't there?
Looking back at the note, he found that the words were gone! What in hell…! Edward focused his eagle vision again, and the words reappeared. Upon seeing them, he smirked. Mary's quite something.
He decided to check out the forts, first the one in which he left behind Bonnet's beloved sugar. So he put on the ring and ran the rooftops to Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta, disregarding the yelling rooftop guards more than he usually did. At the fort, he found the note easily- actually, it was on a barrel outside the front entrance- though it was out of sight of the guards inside. It was held down by a rock and read:
You are a darling, Captain Kenway.
Rise to where eagles soar and angels float, almost reaching the sun-lit heavens.
This was much easier to figure out: climb to some spot. Havana boasted many places of spectacular altitudes. There was this fort, the governor's estate, the churches… Hmm.
Heaven and angels? Definitely a church. Which one, though? Edward decided on the tallest one, but again met a dilemma: which church was tallest? There was the one by that warehouse, and there was the one by the harbor, where he searched for the tavern with Bonnet a few years back. If not those, then he'd keep going up every church he spotted.
This is quite the effort to meet up with Mary when she could just greet me on the docks, he thought, but I must admit this has some entertainment value. Also, I love how these notes are at landmarks, rather than 'in the bush by the green building with the slanting roof.' She could make things more difficult.
Getting to the top of the church by the warehouse required more carefully-executed upward leaps than did the average building in Havana. Where angles float and eagles soar, Mary? Concentrating, he found no trace of anything that could be hers.
She probably meant the other church! He looked over to the direction of the other church and spotted its bell tower, but he couldn't tell which building was higher. To add to his frustrations, it seemed that that other church was closer to the fort. Edward hadn't chosen the right place, to his dismay. The church is pale yellow. Like the sun, which she mentioned in the note. Drag me to hell, that wouldn't have taken much more thinking.
He got back on the right track by returning to the ground then running over to the pale yellow church and climbing its walls.
He first looked down over the ledge two steps to the side, three steps from death. Then, looking towards the horizon, he found that the view was rather spectacular. One could see the Jackdaw, the governor's estate, the other isles far beyond-! Ah, there were eagles soaring! One of the birds glided into Edward's view, a few meters away. Were there more? Tilting his head back and swiveling his body around, his eyes focused on the glinting cross and he forgot about the birds. A slip of paper pierced by the top of the cross made his eyes widen despite the brightness of the cerulean sky that had caused him to squint. *
How did she figure I'd be able to scale the edifice- or find this at all? He asked himself as he balanced himself about the cross. But I suppose I am succeeding.
I want to see your dive.
His eyes widened. From up on the cross and as she's watching from God knows where- no doubt evaluating my fall? Mary just saw my dive if she is truly watching, so this note was placed a while ago. He peered down and inwardly scoffed, afterwards folding the paper and pocketing it. Then he hurdled over the edge of the spire onto the lower ledge a couple meters under. On that level was the usual overhang, for some reason now sprinkled with seeds that birds liked to peck at.
As a man with only too much experience leaping from high places into conveniently-placed wagons of hay and piles of leaves below (he never really realized how much he should be thanking lady luck that he hadn't had any noticeable injuries from those falls), it was strange how the wagon appeared farther down and less cushiony than usual from where he was perched on the ledge. Edward swallowed drily as he crouched up from his position and rushed forward. He felt a rush nearly as great as the first times he leapt from such a height, his arms now extended to his full wingspan. He briefly joined the birds in flight around him before making his descent, flipping himself over to land facing up.
Then he swung himself over and out of the wagon, his peripheral vision picking up a familiar face and familiar gold clothing.
"Ten out'a ten, Kenway!" Mary smiled mischievously, leaning against the wagon, "Would've been extra from the cross, but eh! Ye've now satisfied my need to watch ye runnin' 'bout," using her elbow, she pushed herself away from the side of the wagon and supporting herself fully on her booted legs, "I'm glad to see ye, mate."
"It's about bloody time, Kidd," he brushed off the last of the hay as the the few people who were awed and curious at watching his leap disbanded, "But why the frolic? It seems too trite for your liking."
"An' to 'at I say that I'm not so solemn e'ery minute o' the day. C'mon- less drink b'fore more games. Makes 'em twice as fun," she started towards the tavern on a route Edward took two years earlier with Stede Bonnet, "Though I do have a reason fer this note business. T'was s'pposed to make ye feel good 'bout yerself- not in a prideful manner, as yer 'customed to- but so ye no'ice yer capabilities," her gaze stayed on the road ahead. I've faith you'll notice.
Edward, behind her, simply nodded, and Mary wasn't certain if he was processing what she said or simply wasn't listening. Either way, while they passed by all sorts of fascinating and exotically-dressed people, buildings of bright hues left and right, and the azure Caribbean sky above, Edward's eyes remained intent on his fellow pirate as he asked, "So you watched everything from afar, aye?"
She seemed to think awhile before answering, "Aye. Problem?"
"I just wish to know what ya thought of my performance."
"Oh! Splendid! Though I wonder 'ow we'd fare 'gainst one 'nother, like in a race," she briefly looked back, a smile growing, "Ah! 'Ow 'bout we do so later, after sunset?"
"Aye, after drinks!" he replied thirstily. He recalled another matter he wanted to ask her, and reached out to tap her arm, "Oi- how'd ya know I was around before ya posted that first message?"
"I saw Jackie's black flag, simple as 'at," she regarded his 'of course!' expression with amusement, "But I kept me distance from ye since the start. Didn't want ye sensin' me."
"Right. So I suppose ya didn't post every note? I would've sensed ya then."
"Aye! Good thinkin'. A mate from the Order aided me- did the fieldwork under me command. A favor o' sorts."
Edward smirked slightly, "Hah! And I suppose by 'Order' ya refer to yours and not… the other?" He wasn't so sure if he was permitted to speak the titles aloud.
"Aye, aye. I've yet to encounter an… agreeable member o' theirs," Mary answered.
Edward nodded and made a mental note to keep "Assassin" and "Templar" out of his public vocabulary. "And how did you write the messages so that the words went unseen?"
"Ye ne'er noticed so b'fore now? E'en when acceptin' our orders to finish off somebody?" Edward sensed her concentrating her eagle vision, perhaps making sure corrupt ears wouldn't hear this information. She lowered her voice to nearly murmuring, "The ink ye see is in truth blood- mah blood, so that ye detect some'n o' mine with yer talent, aye? I dipped the blood-soaked, cloth-like paper in a chemical we manufactured. 'Em chemicals rid o' the red, yet keep the glow only those with our extra sense can detect. So don't be awed at me fer the disappearin' trick; the credit goes to 'em who produce our chems."
Edward raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Jaysus, ya've got people on that work?"
"Not all those in the Order work in eliminatin' or healin' or leadin'. We're all to work behind the scenes, but some, e'en more so. Now, this is a secret o' ours, so keep it vaulted."
"Right. So ya cut yourself just for this, Kidd?"
"Aye. I do so whene'er I'm out o' disguise, ye might recall," she replied before looking slyly at her blonde friend, "Oi, why don't ye try wearin' rouge yerself? Ah, more ideas fer the future! Less do so sometime! Applyin' rouge an' more products on ye… that'd be an experience," she smirked at his frown, "Eh, for now 'at black stuff ye smudge on yer eyes suffices."
He scoffed playfully, "Everyone does it…"
Mary's own lined eyes softened as she chuckled.
...
After drinks, and avoiding tavern fights, Edward let Mary go on with her itinerary. Though, whether or not she was sure what her plans were was doubtful…
"Oii," she grabbed Edward's shoulder with more grip than he was used to as they walked though the exit of the tavern, "Less prank 'em Temps, mate, eh?" She held out what Edward recognized as a contract from the Assassins' pigeon cages.
I suppose she is somewhat aware of her plans for today, he fondly observed. He thought he had been thirsty, and he thought he was the type to be quickly influenced by the presence or absence of alcohol. Then again, she had been gulping down pint after pint back at the tavern. To be honest, he was a little curious about her bladder capacity. But he nodded cordially at her proposal, "Would be a pleasure, Kidd. How so?"
"Mm, we'll jus' arrive an' we'll go from there. More surprises, hooray. C'mon," she grabbed again just above his elbow and pulled him towards wherever the hell they were going. Edward, intrigued, went along with it.
It didn't take them long to find the place, filled with a considerable crowd of Spanish soldiers, and a good amount of them Templar, Edward assumed. Those on the rooftop couldn't spot the soon-to-be troublemakers behind a pillar on the structure across the thoroughfare.
"Gimme yer pipe," Mary requested.
"For smoking? For darts…?" Edward's right hand went to his belt for the first item, his left to his back for the latter.
"Hah! Yer smokin' one o' course so we steart a heart-to-'eart when they spot the risin' puffs an' look down to meet our glazed, smilin' faces. No, the one fer darts, mate."
Edward grabbed the blowpipe and handed it back to her, its previous owner, as the corners of his lips curled up a tad. He didn't think she could get much more sarcastic than she usually was. (Oh, what rum could do.) I think I'd take pleasure in seeing her and Thatch battle against one another with words as opposed to swords.
"Ah! There's a guard havin' a siesta, without the aid o' our darts. See?" Mary nodded towards where, Edward supposed, a guard was napping, "I wonder what'd occur if we were to shoot 'im."
He spotted him in a shaded area on a balcony. "I've never tried that. What would happen?"
She shot the snoring fellow, and he jerked up quickly, a natural reaction to get away from whatever disturbed him. But he got no more than five blinks awake before flopping onto the ground again, going to sleep in a position far less graceful than the one he was in previously.
"Hmm," Mary hummed, mildly amused but barely satisfied, "Yer not much fun."
They creeped around on the rooftops to the other side of the building in search of a situation to royally muck up, and a situation they did find.
In a secluded area around the exterior of the building was a soldier leaning coolly against a column. Edward imagined he was doing that in hopes it would increase his appeal to the lady he was talking to. She, meanwhile, was facing away from him as they conversed and kept starting to speak while he was still speaking, indicating to Edward that she wasn't interested. She probably wanted to leave as soon as possible.
The guards in this building are rather slothful, Edward was entertained by this.
"Ohohoh, this'll be more excitin'." Mary shot.
The woman slumped, and the guard caught her limp body.
Edward raised his eyebrows, "Ya shot the lass? Wicked of ya, Kidd. I like it."
The guard propped her up against the wall, and looked around hastily for what caused this. He glanced through the windows of the building, and walked briskly around nearby bushes while waving a sword through the vegetation.
Seeing no one and nothing out of the ordinary besides what just occurred, and seeing no one in the vicinity, he went back to her body. He took her and carried her to the shrubbery. Using eagle vision, the two pirates saw that he was reaching up the skirt of her dress.
"I'm bein' wicked, ye say, Kenway?" Mary fished through her pockets for another sleep dart.
"Aye, that ain't so great of him," Edward agreed. He could have accomplished that while she was alert! Rather than actively using his charms to seduce her, he waits for an opportunity to take advantage of her? Indolence if I've ever seen it.
Mary made the guard unconscious, and they waited. In a minute the woman woke up to find the guard's hands at her feet. Her expression of horror and disgust was priceless, and she screamed and kicked the still-sleeping guard away. She then got up and dashed out of the area, her hands pulling up her skirt to keep it from hindering her escape.
The two pranksters laughed unabashedly, as no one was around to notice them. But then two more fellows in yellow arrived at the scene, and as they noticed the peculiarity of their unconscious comrade and went over to him, Edward had an idea.
He whispered, "Oi, Kidd. Hand me the blowpipe."
Mary tilted her head towards Edward and looked at him crossly, playfully annoyed, "Ye know, whate'er 'appened to 'Jim?' Call me Jim."
"Alright, Jimmy," he smiled crookedly, "Blowpipe, please."
He swiftly loaded the weapon with a berserk dart and shot the resting guard.
"Ah, I see what ye did. A large dose o' drugs, 'at is."
The guard didn't wake immediately, as Edward expected. The other two squatted and poked at him, causing him to twitch. They looked at each other, not simply confused but a little scared. Then, as if shot by lightning, the lying-down soldier grunted and spasmed awake. He slid himself on the ground away from his associates, making scratching sounds as he scraped the pebbles beneath him. Meanwhile the two guards rose from squatting and approached him, speaking in Spanish that grew into shouting when he got up as well.
Those two soldiers should have known what to expect. The frantic guard unsheathed his sword in what probably to him was self-defense. Although he had a smaller physique than his two burly colleagues, he mutilated them by swiftly unsheathing his sword and slashing them down. They didn't have the chance to yell for backup.
Blood flowed from the throat of the first guard cut, and, stunned and unable to shout, he reached for his neck. Meanwhile, the drugged guard ripped apart the other guard by swinging his sword desperately at him, as if he was blind. Although, it wasn't as if he was seeing using reason, anyhow.
One bloodied guard fell, then another, neither having put up much of a fight.
Sword in hand, the mad guard twisted his head around wildly in search for more victims. Edward and Mary kept their heads sticking up over the parapet in order to see well, but they remained like statues.
The air was tinted with a metallic odor from the blood, and the drugged guard dropped his weapon and reached up towards his head. Gripping his hair, the guard pulled out small but certainly painful clumps of hair. He opened his mouth wide, as if he was about to shout, but all that came out were gurgling noises. Then a clear, pale yellow and slightly bubbly liquid cascaded down his chin and neck into his clothing. The substance turned red.
Not long after, the soldier began to cough wheezingly and leaned forward desperately like he wanted to walk. Catching a glimpse of his eyes, the pirates saw that they were quite bloodshot. He slumped onto the ground then, landing on his sword. Another wheeze, and he lay still.
"So that's what happens," Edward commented, a bit unsatisfied since it wasn't so different than simply shooting the guy with only a berserk dart, "It might actually be helpful to use on yourself in a scuffle, if it didn't kill ya at the end."
Mary smirked towards him before shifting her attention to her hand, "Aw. Last dart," she held out a lone blue projectile.
"I can craft plenty more. I've bones from hunting."
"Swell!," she grinned, "Just 'ow many more can ye make?"
"Pshh… Well over fifty?"
Mary cocked her head, "Ye've o'er fifty animal bones 'andy? Where do ye e'en store 'em?"
"This garb has these contraptions known to common man as pockets, Jim."
She looked skeptically at the apparent abyss that was his coat pocket, and shrugged as Edward fashioned darts out of the bones.
A sleep dart crafted, Mary searched for another situation worth causing mischief in. After the remaining guards completed one circuit around the building, raising fairly little concern at the sight of the slaughter, she found one.
"'Ere we go," she whispered, blowpipe raised like a clarinet. As a guard was walking by, she turned the weapon up fully and shot. Edward saw the guard get squashed by another guard falling from above.
He chuckled freely, none of the Spanish soldiers able to hear him as the crushed guard yelled and shoved the sleeping guard away from on top of him.
After seeing that his coworker was unconscious, the crushed guard rubbed a part of his back that now ached and went inside the building. He emerged some long seconds later with a pail of water. He splashed the sleeping guard, and he woke up after a few moments. They spoke angrily to one another.
"What did they say?" Edward asked his partner in crime.
"Eh, some'n like unconscious an' not rememberin' an' all," Mary began to slur again. "If ye'd be so good to 'old this," she wiggled out of her coat and handed it to him. Then she untied her bandana and tied it around her wrist instead. The string that held up her hair came off next. Lastly, she flicked out a hidden blade, pressed it against the tip of her thumb, and smeared the blood over her lips. The hair tie served as a bandage for the small wound.
Edward watched the process with amusement, "Not going to remove," he paused and stared at the tattoo she began exposing, "whatever constricts your chest?"
"I ain't wearin' constrictors," Mary looked at him with an eyebrow raised, puzzled.
"Oh!" Shite, that's an insult ain't it… "Oh…" This is when his charm manifests, when it shines most brightly (as a light becomes a saving godsend at night). Usually. But not now, God save him.
After all, he had never wanted to impress a crossdressing woman before.
"Christ, Edward!" she snickered, "If only I 'eld a lookin' glass right now- yer face!" she laughed out loud, "I'm meddlin' with yer mind now, mate!"
Edward scoffed, relieved, "Jaysus!" An eye for an eye, eh? He thought back to the Assassin who "welcomed" him to Havana hours earlier. "Ya know- you're the most dutiful of men at times. Then ya pull off something like this," he smiled.
"C'mon, man. Thought yer the entertainin' charismatic type 'mongst our mates, while I was the 'dutiful' an' 'serious' one o' few words. Seems we often reverse 'em roles on our trysts, eh? In any case, I won't remove 'em now. Too much to lug about on yer part."
Thinking about her comment, he found that it was true: he brought life to parties while Mary remained at the perimeter. But whenever it was just the two of them alone, Mary would be carefree and he would be more withdrawn and modest than usual. It was as if they adjusted their personalities to what the other was like. She's fancied me for a while, hasn't she? That made him feel very delighted, and he smiled without concerning himself about what he would answer were he asked why he held that expression. He could even sing, if he had more mugs of rum to blame it on. Mary matched his grin, and he responded with further glee, "Awright. Why go as a lass now?"
"See 'at guard?" she pointed down towards a man in yellow uniform. He seemed to be protecting something behind him, in a recess in the building. "I'ma use the Spanish language 'gainst 'im."
Edward was impressed at the idea. It could go well, depending on what exactly occurred. "Hmm! Just what will ya tell him?"
"I'ma tell 'im- um, uh," she thought with haste, "I'ma tell 'im the Spaniards ain't got nothin' 'gainst the Brits. Some'n like 'at. Jus' watch, mate, an' use 'at extra sense o' yers once we get out o' sight."
Does this involve me having to escape? he considered asking but decided he'll see for himself once the mischief began. She descended the side of the building to a street out of sight of the guard, and went up to him. He eyed her forbiddingly but with some degree of curiosity.
Edward heard Mary say something to the guards in a soft voice, though he couldn't understand the words she spoke. She was also putting her weight on one leg, the other going away from her, which was a pose she never made. Is she reducing her height? The Spaniard responded to her in an unbelieving tone.
Then she responded… invitingly? The guard sounded hesitant in his response, still. She then took his arm and led him into the recess in the building, where it was shady and out of view of anyone passing by. Oh, so she's getting out of sight with him. Aye, I can't see them with my regular eyesight. He focused his eagle vision, and… What in hell? The guard was wrapping his arm around her back, and he-
God, he was about to kiss her?!
Edward felt something dark and bitter consume his mind. What the hell did they talk about? He should be the one to do that, not some bloody Spaniard they've never seen in their lives!
Before their lips met, she broke the embrace and shouted something mocking at the guard, laughing wickedly while at it. Edward could hear her voice more clearly, and it was quite deeper than how she was speaking earlier. She also stretched to her full height. The guard backed away quickly, stunned. He appeared thoroughly flummoxed.
Mary then spun around and dashed away. She approached a busy street, and she reached for something she was hiding in the red sash around her waist. Edward had a good idea what that was; she had used it on him when he was after her, for being after Laurens Prins. After setting off the smoke bombs, she plowed into a busy street and passed the crowds to go around a corner and snake around the grid of buildings. Then she used a lift to swiftly get to the roof. Meanwhile the angry guard had wheezed upon running into the smoke, and searched confusedly in the streets and among the crowds for her, without success.
Soon Edward found Mary was joining him in his hiding spot up on the corner of the roof. "What sort of caper did ya pull off, mate?" he asked more sternly than he intended to.
"Actually, I beckoned 'im with effeminate charm, tellin' 'im I'm English but British men don't do it fer me while Spaniards do." she crouched and sat down, leaning her back against the parapet, "Said I was lookin' fer a good time now, if he'd oblige. Then at the right moment I made meself a lad, an' tha' rattled 'im!" she laughed hard.
He grinned slyly, "Ya little witch! Come here!" and he pulled her towards him by her arm and gripped her shoulders with one arm and her waist with his other.
They fell onto their sides, "Oi! What in 'ell!" Mary was taken by surprise but didn't resist.
"Aw, consider how I feel, mate. I've never gotten to hold ya, but some stranger does? Injustice!" underneath her, he snug his chin on her left shoulder. It was nice being close to her.
"Fine, fine, Edward," she chuckled and squeezed him back gladly. She pressed one of her outstretched legs against his. "Yer free an' easy attitude's contagious," she said.
He made a satisfied sound and thought aloud, "Particularly with drinks, right?"
"Is this what it's like bein' ye?"
"Somewhat. I don't cross-dress, though, and I can't speak Spanish."
"Quite a pity, actually, ye ain't comprehendin' of it. With yer charm, man, ye'd come up with much more comical diversions on the spot. go' to plan it all out b'fore."
"How about ya teach me then?" he grinned at her.
"Claro que sí. O' course. Sometime. Per'aps teach me a bi' o' Welsh in return, eh?" she pat him on the shoulder. Then, getting an idea, she exclaimed, "Oi Edward, less go right in where the action is!" and she got up and rushed over to the main building of the place mentioned in the assassination contract. There, a few guards still remained, unaware of what had been going on since they were patrolling the areas away from where he and Mary had messed with.
"Your coat-!" Edward grunted as he pulled it out from underneath him. He then hid it inside one of the crates next to him. He then maneuvered across the rope-wire, hopped onto the ground with minimal noise, and sneaked inside the shrubbery where she was. They were in a court: in the middle of the property and surrounded by the building at all sides. Though, one could get back to the streets by using an archway.
"Craft me some darts, Edward," she requested.
From inside the shrubbery they blew sleeping darts at every soldier who came across the court. When guards walked in to see the sight and walked over to investigate, they went down too. It was a marvelous cause-and-effect relationship of investigating the scene only to join the others in their slumber because they got close enough to be shot.
In total, they put seven guards to sleep all in the same area.
The pirates snickered ever so quietly before a Havana citizen scurried into the area from the streets and searched the sleeping guards for coin.
It took effort to further stifle their bursting laughter, but they shared the humor through mutual pats on the arm that didn't rustle the shrubbery too much.
A guard the fool hadn't spotted yelled at him while approaching the scene, and the thief gave chase. The guard matched his pace not three seconds later, and Edward amusedly snorted at the mischief. Unfortunately, the thief did not have the escaping talents Edward, Mary, and the other Assassins were skilled at, and the guard tackled him among a distressed crowd. He retrieved the money and kicked the man for his apparent disruption of peace, a public display of what happens to those who had no regard for authority.
The thief pulled himself up, and he raised his arms in defense when the guard yelled at him. Then he staggered into the crowd, becoming obscure in both vision and notoriety.
"Fight back, mate," Edward murmured.
Back to roaming around the Templar-infested building, the guard put the pouch of money alongside his own on his belt. He passed the still-sleeping guards but didn't redistribute the coins among his colleagues.
"Ah, scandalous!" commented Mary, entertained more than bothered, to Edward's surprise. "'Ere comes another. Less see 'ow he behaves…"
The approaching guard's stopped in his tracks at seeing the group of his dozing coworkers. He turned and looked around curiously, tilting his head at angles that would have caused Edward's neck to crack. Then he looked at the bush the two pirates were in.
One of them- Edward wasn't sure if it was him or Mary- inhaled not quite inaudibly in suspense at that, then the guard ceased looking around and crouched down.
He lay on his back and joined his workmates in napping on the job.
Mary and Edward snickered and slapped each other playfully, jostling the leaves a little more now. This was a first!
"¡Intrusos!"
The two pranksters looked behind to find a Spanish soldier pulling back some branches of shrubbery to reveal them.
"Shiteshiteshite!" Edward jumped up and shoved the man away, the brambles slapping him from the guard letting go, though that wasn't a huge concern right now. He pulled Mary up by her arm and they made for the exit while the guard got to his feet.
"¡Cógelos!"
He didn't need to be fluent in Spanish to know to run. They dashed out an archway, around a corner, then up some crates onto the rooftops. Mary peeked behind her and was frustrated to spot a few guards hot on their trail. She briefly looked upwards on the roof she and Edward hoped to clamber up onto, and saw more rushing in their direction.
"Aw 'ell, Edward!" she jumped for wires that ran across roofs of buildings and pulled herself up, "Less split up!"
"What- no!" especially since you're still a bit sloshed, he climbed up the rest of the building via wall ledges then ran across the same wires to catch up to her.
Edward ended up running into a fight between her and two guards. And Mary was… she was only using her hidden blades?
Shite! He saw that she had no swords along her waist. Actually, forget shite- this was the result of consuming spicy paella with spoiled milk and a helping of sand from the bottom of the sea! He's seen her in a fight, and he's seen her when she's drunk, but not simultaneously. Diplomatically put, she was at a disadvantage, and with more behind him joining the fun… Edward held his own against perhaps five opponents, but he wasn't confident in his skills to protect not just himself against a group but an ally as well.
He unsheathed his swords and turned around to face the incoming soldiers- three of them for now.
They attacked like they were angry: a sign of inexperience. Edward caught two of them trying to go for a flanking attack, but parried the earlier soldier so that he stumbled towards his friend. The other soldier gave his colleague a considerable gash on his arm, and Edward had minimal trouble finishing off the two stupefied men with a stab and a disarm to one guard, and a parry and a stab to the other. Amateurs!
He quickly checked back on Mary before the third Spanish guard could attack, and did so in time to see the now-disarmed soldier she was fighting land a hit and yell, "¿Piensa usted que puede ganar contra un hombre, puta?" **
Though she was knocked back by an unarmed guard, the other guard she was against now lay motionless, and this one still fighting needed to acquire a weapon. Impressive!
Really impressive, actually.
Still wondering how she accomplished that, he turned back to face this next soldier, who ended up being a one-hit kill. But more guards crossed the wires. He saw that one had lost balance and lay still on the ground below, to the horror of Havana denizens who probably wanted no drama in their afternoon shopping.
Preoccupied with three of the men in yellow (actually, this flock attacked one at a time, the dimwits), Edward heard a screech behind him- the kind that metal made when it breaks. The sound a sword makes when it becomes dead and useless.
Then he heard glass breaking. He was tempted to shift his focus completely from these guards to her, he was so curious what was going on.
But a guard swung his sword down on him in an attempt to pin him down, producing a spectacular clash with Edward's own swords. Edward pushed him away, before the others could have their chance to spear him in the back. Then- Mary practically pounced on the guy like she was on higher ground, and she drove the shards of a broken bottle into his neck.
What in hell?! Edward was startled.
She withdrew the bottle almost completely, so that a little was still lodged in the wound, and she drew it across his throat. It occurred in less than a second, but the animalistic nature of the act left Edward mesmerized. If he didn't snap out of his reverie just then, the injury he would have gotten from the next attacking Spanish soldier would have been much more than a blood-letting cut.
While dueling this scoundrel, Edward noticed a bent and badly-chipped hidden blade on the ground. Perhaps that was what made that noise earlier. They reminded him of how Duncan Walpole's turned out. Then he got to thinking he didn't want Mary meeting the same fate as Walpole, whom she once called brother.
The next thing he knew, the blade end of a sword was sticking straight out of the Spanish soldier. he was fighting Edward's expression, though he himself wasn't aware of it, took on that of the soldier, with less of the despair and more of the shock. The sword disappeared and was replaced with a growing dark red shape.
Before the man collapsed, Mary behind him grabbed his pistol and shot the third guard Edward was fighting. It seemed he was too afraid to fight but hesitant to leave. His loss. Then Mary, alerted by the shouting of the next and hopefully last wave of guards approaching, shot the incoming soldiers with aim that no one intoxicated should have managed.
At this point, she was so effective a killing machine that Edward let her take the rest of them. There were two left, but she had run out of bullets. So she threw the pistol at them, causing the guard in front to lose balance and almost fall before hanging by the wires by his fingers. While the soldier behind him made it across, Mary took out what her fingers could next grab: the broken bottle.
She deflected this guard's blow with the sword and drove the bottle into the side of his neck, like she did with that other foe. Almost at the same time, she kneed him below the belt in order to get him on his knees before he could attempt to strike her again. He did get down and let go of his weapon in the process. With a blow to the side of his head using the hilt of her sword, he was down.
The second guard went down too, quite literally, after a kick to the chest. Luckily, no bystanders below were physically harmed by his fall, as the streets were mostly empty now.
Edward looked down around him, and saw that he almost couldn't see the roof there was so much blood. They both had a few cuts, but neither of them were shot or were bleeding profusely.
He turned to her to see how she was doing, his unease apparent only to perceptive eyes. Mary was breathing heavily as she stood slightly hunched, the Spanish guards' blood having stained her shirt. Edward imagined that if she had been wearing her gold coat, she would have matched the soldiers' uniforms. She almost had as much blood on her as they themselves did, though her red spatters certainly boasted more variety in where they came from.
Mary dropped the bottle and sat on the parapet, and he saw just how much she was panting.
After a few seconds of collecting themselves, he spoke, "Ya recovered with the aid of a broken bottle, aye? I've forgotten to do something like that in a fight. Ya alright?"
"Aye, I'm fine" she claimed, though she shut her eyes tight and shook her head. The head-shaking probably made her feel ill, Edward thought, when she covered her forehead with her palm and combed back the hair sticking to her forehead with her fingers. She then said, "Sorry. Ye didn't need to know I could be…"
"What? So ferocious? That-!"
"I really shouldn't fight while pissed- mostly in the sense o' 'angry,' but also in the sense o' 'squiffy.'"
Edward scoffed, "That was incredible! No need to be ashamed."
She only scoffed back and gazed at the mess of yellow and red, "'At blowpipe I gifted ye in Tulum was quiet an' effective. This-" she stood up delicately to keep her balance, "This is simple an' effective, I guess." She licked at her teeth and spit out some blood.
"That I see," he turned his gaze down towards the corpses.
Mary sighed, "I should swap me garb fer unsoiled ones," she took part of the bottom of her blouse with both her hands and studied the stretched, bloody material, "Where's me coat?"
"In a crate back there."
Mary nodded remorsefully, the memory of removing the coat and leaving it behind surfacing, "Less go reclaim it. 'Ats me best-loved coat." She regarded the slaughtered soldiers somberly for a moment, then turned back.
Never had Edward seen her this unwell and so disappointed with herself. He imagined that her head hurt and that she felt dispirited far more than she let on, "Awright, but don't chide yourself over this, mate. You're far deadlier than I am like this."
"Is 'at a good thing?"
Well… He was at a loss for words before he shot back, "Well, ya call yourself an assassin."
She looked at him blankly, and Edward began to anticipate a punch- or something worse, considering what she just did to the soldiers. He had slighted her cause, and he knew how seriously she took her cause.
Mary simply curved a corner of her lips upward, "Fair point. An' I'm a pirate. Don't either o' us ferget 'at. 'Em who come after us should know what to expect, aye?"
"That's the spirit. And it ain't like these lads were saints, Ki- Jim," Edward clapped her on the back and remembered she wasn't in disguise, "Mary."
She then reached over to tousle his apparently gorgeous blonde locks, and he lamented not rubbing in some chemicals in it to more thoroughly wash and tidy it.
The two of them stepped over the bodies and headed back to the building where they had pranked the guards. Then they sought out the crate on the roof where Edward insisted he'd left it, but even with eagle vision concentrated, the pirates were unsuccessful in finding the gold coat.
"Yer posi'ive ye left it 'round 'ere?" Mary asked anxiously.
"Aye."
"Flames of 'ell! It ain't the same without 'at coat," she looked at something in the distance, thinking.
Edward grunted a cursory sympathy, and he stood there as she thought.
At last, she sighed and commented, more to herself than to Edward, "It'll be a while till me tailor fashions 'nother. But I'll go on without it. I've others, anyway, though they're o' lesser quali'y. Less return to 'at shack by the beach b'fore the law pries too 'ard 'bout our stained garments."
They headed south, crossing a rope-wire back to the corner where the bodies lay.
"Still 'ere," Mary said, plainly.
"Not going anywhere soon, at least not by their own will."
"Hah!" she smiled, though painfully, at the dead Spaniards, "Who does pick 'em up ye think? They don't jus' rot out 'ere. Not in a large town." She crouched down and shut the lids of one soldier.
"How am I to know who picks them up?"
Mary went on, "Would it be some good Samaritan? People-ea'ers? The government? The Templars? Though, the government an' the Templars are in bed with one 'nother."
Edward brought his hand up and examined the Templar ring on his finger, "How did ya get the ring around to here, Mary?"
"Ah, 'at ring at the second note?" she looked up at him from her crouch, "I found it at a shop- it may not e'en be the same 'at made our order go after ye."
Edward, eyebrows raised from contemplating her words as he twisted the ring around his finger, nodded.
Mary chuckled, looking elsewhere, "It cost me ten bloody reales! 'At's 'ow priceless it is!" she got up, "Give it 'ere."
Upon receiving the ring, she examined the insignia on it, "Ye won't miss it if I leave it 'ere as a memento for these gents?"
"By all means," he motioned to the bodies. So she tossed the ring into the sea of bodies, and neither of them missed it.
They looked at each other satisfied, and noticing once more how attractive Edward was, Mary looked away and smirked.
"Oi. Look," she nodded towards something in the distance.
Edward turned his head in that direction and took in the sun at a spectacular angle. At this time of day, one could look upwards in an arch and watch the sky transition from a orange to a pink to a purplish blue.
He felt something pleasant and simply said, "Aye." When last have I felt so content at something so ordinary?
"Nice, mm? I prefer sunrises, though."
"Hmm," he felt some criticism from that statement, but he imagined the blue hues transitioning into warmer shades at dawn, and replied "Ya know, I might agree with ya."
Mary nodded, "I had fun today. Now I be'er make sense of 'ow ye think," she looked away from the sunset, And you know that I can be like that, she thought dejectedly. "This was an experiment as well, in a sense."
"Experiment? Ever the scientist aren't ya, Mary." Edward didn't entirely like the sound of that. Was he simply a plaything? And regarding the Assassins- was she figuring out how an "enemy" like him thinks, so that she could report back to the order? Should he inquire about it at all? On the latter he settled on no.
"Well, I don't mean it so gravely like," she stared at the some nothingness below in search of the best words, "I merely wanted to know more 'bout ye, an' this is 'ow I learn."
"Ah, I see." That's understandable. Doesn't everyone learn differently. "I got to assuming I was a plaything."
"We're each other's playthin's," she smiled at him, the sun emphasizing the slight green in her eyes, "I don't know. In what way would ye put it? Yer a master with words. I ain't."
To that, Edward laughed aloud, "Jaysus, do ya not see how I sometimes stumble with words around ya?"
"Like when ye disclosed yer affection fer me?"
"Oi, how about we not discuss that part of it," he shook his head, though he grinned, "Shite, did I actually do that so inelegantly?"
"No, no! Well, ye did, aye, but truth be told, I liked it! I didn't know ye could be like 'at. I s'ppose I'm special," Mary chuckled warmly.
That response was enough to make him laugh along easily with her, and look back on the faux pas on his social record fondly rather than with shame.
"Okay, Kenway. 'Ow's one more game sound?"
"I'm keen. But your head. Are ya feeling fine?"
She raised an eyebrow, "Aye. The rum's gone through nearly completely. Me head's fine. Nothin' to trouble either o' us."
There was still a hint of concern in his nod, "How's it go?"
"Simple: he who gets to the south beach first-" she bit at her tinted lip, "or she who gets there first- wins. But ye can't come back down to the ground till ye reach the coast," she paused to think, "We need a particular place to meet, aye?" more thinking, "…How's 'at south-mos' tower-like structure of 'at high wall surroundin' Havana? Ya go' tha'?"
It took him a few second to mentally locate the structure, and he nodded, "What's at stake?"
She momentarily gawked, "This could be done jus' fer fun, but, at yer insistence, we could throw in a few 'undred reales."
"Awright. How's five?"
"A bold amount, mate. I like it," she said confidently.
"Settled, then," Edward nodded, "Ready?"
"As ev-," she looked around where they were, "Actually, ye see 'ow there's this wire goin' across the roofs 'ere, and there's another goin' across o'er there? 'Ow 'bout we each start from the ends of one? Yer pick on which."
"I'll take this one," he walked over to the rope-wire more east, closer to the docks, leaving the other to Mary.
"Aight then. On 'go,' we'll begin," she yelled in his direction with a glint in her eye, before she looked to the south. She then stepped her right foot forward to lean her hands on her knee, "3… 2…"
Edward rolled his shoulders back and bounced from one foot to the other in preparation.
"1…" her heart rate was already up with excitement, "Go!"
She ended up back where they were not two minutes ago. "Adiós, Edward!" She hopped down from the tiled rooftops and ran to the side, out of sight.
Isn't that against the- "Cheater!" Edward shouted in her direction, a smile lingering on his face.
After jumping over a few gaps where roads stretched below, Edward passed a familiar church bell tower. 'Ello, Bonnet, he thought as he pat the yellow stone briefly while sprinting. He soon reached the roof of the tavern.
There, Mary reappeared at his right, "It ain't cheatin' if ye don't touch the dirt!" Edward turned his head as she got from to his left side, and caught a glimpse of her hopping onto a tree branch to scuttle along it.
Edward turned right slightly so that he began to run west, since there was no easy way to cross a wide street in front of him. He kept sprinting past tile after tile, yet found Mary running into his path again.
Briefly locking gazes with one another, they pirates laughed in short bursts, taking quick breaths in between: after all this running, neither of them was really ahead of the other!
"At this rate I'm considering going on the ground to give us some distance!" he joked.
"Hahah," Mary chuckled faintly, and jumped onto another tree branch to their left, going south now.
Edward saw that if he kept going west, he would be getting farther from the meeting point rather than nearer to it. He needed to start heading south soon. As he neared the next gap he would need to cross if he were to keep going straight, he saw on his left that the area, a market of sorts, was nearly all open space.
Going straight would mean continuing west too long, going right would mean going north, and turning and heading back would mean following Mary and losing the race. That left the market as the best option, but the only way across the area involved his boots meeting dirt. He seriously considered going down to get to the church on the other side, where he was likely to have an easy path to the beach.
He went for it. He went down, first landing on the balustrade of a lower floor.
Racing's fun. Racing against Kidd's fun. It'd be more fun to win.
He felt the passersby's eyes on him as he stepped onto the top of a shop. They were likely also commenting on his bloodstained clothes, but right now, that didn't matter. Getting across the market did.
Once he crossed the gap, he ascended the side of the church. From the roof he could clearly see the water and surrounding islands. All he had to do was traverse one hut, speed along a fence, and fling himself off an overturned, dilapidated boat, and he'd be bathing in sand.
So he climbed onto some crates, ran across a thankfully sturdy clothesline, and stepped onto the roof of this last hut. Jumping down and running along the fence surrounding the hut's small farm, he was vaguely reminded of his days among the sheep on his parents' farm, a typical Welsh lad. It almost disgusted him to think about it.
From the fence to the weather-beaten rowboat, Edward rolled onto the sand, and stood up to continue walking briskly towards the water. He relished the way his boots sank into the sand.
He didn't see Mary around. He got there first!
He delightedly reduced his speed to catch his breath- but was tackled by someone hiding in the shrubbery.
Then he screeched.
They grunted as they both hit the sand, rolling downhill two or three times before stopping.
If Mary didn't know better, she would have thought a child was being kidnapped off in the distance, or perhaps a woman being assaulted, and she would have used eagle vision to better locate the chaos. Instead, she lifted herself off her stomach and got on her side, next to Edward on his back, and gaped at him most bewilderedly.
Then she roared in laughter.
"What," she gasped, "the fuck was 'at?"
Edward attempted to suppress his laughter, which resulted in sputters. He was flush from both running and the humiliation from shrieking, and he yelled, "Ya didn't bloody hear shite, mate. Jaysus!" He pushed her shoulder so that she rolled onto her back, causing her to laugh even harder.
"Sorry to say, Kenway," a couple gasps from laughing, "but I believe the whole o' Havana heard ye."
Grinning and shaking his head, Edward lifted himself and pat off the sand from his garb. He offered a hand to his toppled friend, still grasping her sides, which she took and used to haul herself up.
Both pirates stumbled, regaining balance and composure. They held onto each other to still themselves, and their facial muscles began to relax, but, with a mutual coquettish look reminding them both of their antics today, their composure faltered and they began to snicker once more.
"We're such juveniles," Mary grinned and pushed Edward away.
"Hah! And here I presumed it was merely you who's the adolescent among pirates, James Kidd."
"An' 'ow old're ye, precisely? No more'n twenty-five? Yer barely full-grown!"
"I'll tell you if ya tell me first your age," he crossed his arms, tilted his head back, and smirked, a gesture familiar to his eyes.
"Twenty-seven," she said simply, parroting his posture.
"Ah!" he nodded, She's older than me, then. By three years? "Then I'm twenty-four." He mentally confirmed the arithmetic, 1693… 1717… 1716? No, it is 1717. Aye- 24, then. "So you're three years older." He nodded slowly this time, an easy smile on his face, having nothing more to say to that.
Mary smirked and nodded back, uncrossing her arms. Her hazel eyes wandered downward slightly, to his own smirk, and back again up to his eyes. Edward's own eyes, ever accustomed to reading body language, searched hers back for approval.
And approval he found. Mary leaned forward, her painted lips parted and her lined eyes lidded. His eyes involuntarily widened a little before he angled his head, leaned forward, and closed them.
Their lips connecting, he picked up the flavor of her makeshift lipstick and Jaysus was it alluring.
Eventually they parted, but their fingers remained entangled in each other's hair while Mary's other hand grasped Edward's shoulder. Edward's other hand slid down to her neck.
"Less 'ave a time aboard yers," she murmured, the waves on the beach almost washing out the words.
He shifted his gaze from one of her eyes (were they more brown or green now?) to the other, and back again. He certainly felt an impulse to indeed bring her to the captain's cabin on the Jackdaw and have a most memorable night, but he ultimately decided on something that surprised even himself.
"Or we could defer for a more spectacular setting," he raised an eyebrow.
"Whu-" dismayed, she backed her head slightly and dropped her hand from his shoulder.
"Ya pulled this off last time, might ya remember?" he shrugged lightheartedly.
Mary's expression turned almost angry and she removed herself from the embrace. She narrowed her eyes, and Edward prepared himself for the worst when one corner of her lips lifted uneasily, "Yer declinin' an opportunity o' pleasure an' indulgence?" they studied each other, "Ye bastard."
She's truly baffled by this, isn't she? …And isn't she the kind that's usually more willing to give up immediate pleasures for future, superior ones?, Edward was amused by the situation, but he wasn't able to tell if Mary was. "Well, I thought ya might appreciate doing this somewhere more… exclusive and away from any crowd. And may I remind ya that you were a bastard first," he tried to smile.
She looked down at the sand with some strange combination of contemplation and lament, and sighed before she smirked and looked back at the other pirate, "Aight, Edward. What do ye propose?"
He considered the most isolated places in the northern West Indies, "I've a cove in mind."
"Is it nearby?"
"Eh, perhaps a half-day's journey if the seas are stormless and unoccupied by sailors who wish ya harm. No more than a day and a half otherwise. So a day, give or take half. I recommend we be there three days from now."
"Sorry- where, exactly?"
He thought of a way to describe the location or how to get there, then remembered he had a map. He felt around inside on of his pockets and unfolded it, "It's… here. At 565 latitude, 539 longitude according to this map. Have it for now."
Mary took the map and examined the path closer, "Hmm! My thanks, Edward! Ye'll get it back once we meet." As she folded it and held it in her hand since she currently had no pockets, she asked, "How long d'ye reckon ye can stay 'part from yer crew b'fore they get cranky?"
"I'm more concerned about how cranky you might become, Mary," he smiled crookedly at her looking away and smiling guiltily, "But I suppose we'd have a good two nights with the cove all ours."
She nodded in thought and looked back at him, "So Adé'll take the lads to somewhere close but not too close o' course?"
"Aye. If my memory serves me right, we captured a fort just by there, and there's a fisherman's village about the same distance away. I can get Adé to keep the crew occupied for that time, without them being too curious about my activities. I might even be able to convince Adé himself not to pry much," he chuckled.
"An' I'll 'ave me second-in-command do the same. Per'aps we'll arrive an' leave at separate times as well?"
"Ah, clever! Less suspicion that way. Since ya might not be familiar with that place, I'll arrive three nights from now, while ya reach it the day before?"
"Aye. Though it'd be more to me likin' if we were to meet earlier, it seems this scheme'll be discreet an' successful."
"Then I look forward to meeting you in a week's time," he pronounced with a posh accent and finished with a slight ceremonial bow, his left hand going behind him and his right over his chest.
"I as well, fine sir," she gripped the sides of her trousers and attempted to curtsy. Not feeling that that was right, he could tell from the way she scrunched up her face, she held out her hand.
Which Edward gladly took in a sturdy handshake.
Letting go but not wanting to part ways just yet, they simply stood there, their gazes steadfast on one another. It felt like it lasted for both a short and long while before they went after each other again to lock lips.
They both indulged completely in the pleasurable sensation. If Edward had been told years earlier that he would be kissing James Kidd, he would have dismissed it as ridiculous and perhaps even disgusting. But now there was nothing else he would rather be doing. Just as he started considering alternatives to the cove…
Mm! Mary yelped and pulled away. "Christ, I'd b'come addicted if I weren't careful," she murmured and studied his attractive features quickly, her eyes darting from his eyes to his lips and back. Then she clapped his face cordially and stepped back.
"I can't believe we're doin' this. Can we truly fool our quartermasters?"
"I let Adé brieflyen take Jackie and the crew out to a nearby area if we discuss it beforehand. It would be no different this time around."
"Aight," she smiled wistfully, "These next couple days'll be rough, mate."
"'Bu' the wait'll beh werth it,' right?" his imitation of her accent was questionable, but he went with it, "That's something ya'd utter."
Mary chuckled a bit gruffly, and Edward winked at her just as she had done to him after she threatened what now made his trousers feel a little tighter. "Quite," she smirked, and began towards the shack that served as a shelter for the Assassins. The soldiers' blood on her shirt was still visible this late in the evening.
Edward, grinning, watched her for a couple seconds before, too, leaving. He headed in the direction of the Jackdaw, fighting the desire to go back and embrace her again.
...
He didn't step foot on the Jackdaw for a good while.
Instead, he sat on a familiar rooftop, his back against the parapet, clutching a gold coat of thin fabric. Havana was lit gorgeously, and he could hear its citizens going about their ways, conversing in their Spanish that Mary would have fun translating for him.
He would greatly enjoy joining his crew in their festivities, or go about fulfilling Assassin contracts, or perhaps snooping in unguarded chests for some coin (why the chests were out like that he never questioned too much about). But he found it even more invigorating to spend some time just thinking about next week.
He remembered holding one of Caroline's nice blouses she left behind, after she moved out. Since all her clothes were nice, it wasn't so strange that she had forgotten it. Here in Havana, however, thinking about anything from his past made it seem strange. Though he was still legally bound to Caroline, it seemed she was from another life.
The coat he now held was pretty fancy- not something the average pirate would wear, but rather something a captain might have lying around in the cabin. Someone of the higher class wouldn't wear it, oh no. But anyone beneath Mary wouldn't fit in it either. Come to think of it, since she wasn't of the upper class and since she didn't seem to completely suit lower classes (where most pirates would be), where did she fit? ***
Edward felt he himself was of the higher end of the lower class, and climbing. But where did Mary think she belonged?
After returning to the Jackdaw and the festivities, and after speaking to a crewman named Tobias about seeing his family the next time they were in Nassau, Edward finally retired to the captain's cabin. There, he hoped to continue thinking about what would occur the next few days.
His fantasies were put on hold at the sight of five hundred reales on the bed.
Did she cheat at the race too? he tossed her coat next to the money and smiled coyly.
Caroline was what he always wanted in a woman. Mary is what he didn't know he wanted in one.
...
It's Christmas for Kiddway shippers: Edward and Mary on a date in the city (large town?), causing mischief like the scalawags they are.
Is it obvious that I've never gotten drunk before?
I developed a playlist for the fic when I started brainstorming in the summer of 2014. Each song was supposed to fit a scene, and I thought of using Venice Rooftops from AC2 for the race scene, but the song was more fitting for Renaissance Italy than for the pirate-riddled 18th-century Caribbean, go figure. I just want to say they nailed it with the soundtracks of AC2 and 4. Kudos to Kyd and Tyler for hitting the right melodies.
Also, I had the pleasure of seeing High Highs live recently. They are a pretty obscure duo, though some of you might be familiar with their hit "Open Season." Do give them a listen to- their music has been a part of this fic, as I often listen to them to get in the carefree mood of 18th-century pirates and to get a feel of the tropical setting of the Caribbean. I'm really not a music-of-today person, so it means something when I praise their stuff.
* If you climb that church in-game, you'll find that the cross is not one with pointy edges. In other words, I took some creative liberties. I wanted to make the church he climbs that one Havana landmark, but, as you'd learn by looking at the database, that church was not yet completed in the 1710s. "Abstergo" decided to put it in because why not.
** "You think you can win against a man, bitch?"
*** A middle class was not very visible until the industrial revolution in the late 1700s. Wikipedia: "The term "middle class" is first attested in James Bradshaw's 1745 pamphlet Scheme to prevent running Irish Wools to France."
