Now or Never
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Assassin's Creed related it belongs to Ubisoft
A thanks to Onesmartcookie78 for being the beta for NoN, now enjoy the story!
Chapter Four:
"Look, my lips are moving, sound is coming out of my mouth, and I feel fine!"
"Your lip is bleeding, and your neck bruising."
"Yet here I am alive."
Sam looked up as Connor and Anna strolled in. "Connor, Anna, I'd like you two to meet some like-minded friends."
"Do you have anything to clean Anna's lip?" Connor asked.
Anna shook her head, "One busted lip and he's acting as if I'm dying, but if you do have something to help clean up my lip I would appreciate it."
Sam chuckled as he handed Connor a clean rag. "The owner of this fine establishment, William Molieux and the manager and chef of his newest venture, Stephane Chapheau."
Anna snatched the rag from Connor only to have it ripped out of her grasp. "You can't see where the blood is."
"Ah, Connor and I just had a ball with some Redcoats enforcing some taxmen outside my home." Stephane explained with a nod to Connor.
"The collectors grow bolder and more forceful. Something we must address, Samuel." William stressed, looking at Sam.
"Then let us raise a banner," Sam answered, "something to let the people know that they are not alone. The docks are an angry place of late, protesters picketing the latest shipments of British tea. The eyes of the city are upon that stage."
"So you have a stage," Anna mused, "all you need now is a script and actors."
"A Bostonian without his tea is a dangerous beast." Stephane said, taking the rag back from Connor watching with amusement as he grabbed Anna's hand and pulled it away from her lip.
"William Johnson is smuggling the tea off the ships – one of his men tried to sell me this," William set a small pouch on the bar. "A sample of what I refused, but it's from those ships – no mistaking the stamp. He's charging a king's ransom, must be he's making a mint off those who buy it."
"Where is he now?" Connor inquired as Anna picked up the tea bag and studied the seal on the bag.
"I've never met the man." William confessed.
"May I ask why you seek him, Connor?" Sam asked.
"He intends to purchase the land upon which my village stands without the consent of my people." Connor explained.
"So he uses the money he gets from selling the already overpriced tea to illegally buy land?" Anna questioned, closing the pouch of tea and set it back onto the bar.
"Without a doubt." Sam agreed.
"I always knew tea was a part of evil." Anna commented with a thoughtful look on her face.
"A tax enforced on tea grants a boon to smugglers." Sam continued, "I'll wager the same men who levy the taxes are selling the tea. A stage requires a spectacle and I may know the play."
"We should see if we can find any tea crates in transit," Anna looked at Connor, "make sure that they aren't delivered."
"And those maudits tax collectors are still at it. They could use a lesson or two, eh?" Stephane suggested as the two assassins began leaving.
"Connor, Anna, head to the docks and see to the destruction of the tea. If you two should need us, return here." Sam ordered.
Anna was closing the door when she heard something fall behind her. Turning around, Anna raised an eyebrow as Connor continued to walk away with a simple: "Pardon me."
The man turned to look at Connor crying out, "Aw, come on, mate."
Anna cleared her throat, holding up a pouch of the stolen tea bags, "This tea isn't legal, is it?" Watching amusedly as the man before her paled and took off. Anna shook her head and dropped the small bag, "So, I'll take care of the tea deliveries and you'll take care of the tax collectors for Stephane. After that we can head to the docks and take care of the crates there."
Connor nodded and walked down the street leaving Anna standing in the middle of the road. Anna sighed and shook her head before walking down another street. Men, she thought with amusement.
"Hey miss, do you have any change?"
Anna didn't know if she should scream, break down, or bash her head against the nearest wall. Somehow she managed to get surrounded by kids giggling and heckling her. The bashing was starting to sound better and better. Soldiers were beginning to take notice the noise making Anna nervous.
Spotting another man carrying a box of illegal tea, Anna glanced down at the four children dancing around her asking for money, an idea forming in her mind. "Hey kids, I will give you five pounds if you make that man drop his crate and not get caught."
Kid free and twenty pounds, lighter Anna watched the kids mess with the man until dropping the box of tea. The kids disappeared into the crowd before the man could grab any of them. "Hmm, possible assassins perhaps?" Anna mused as she walked away from the scene with a smirk. Turning a corner, Anna slowed down, the hair on the back of her neck standing up. Looking around, Anna couldn't find anything out of place.
"Miss Connolly."
Anna gasped in pain as she was shoved into a brick wall, an arm shoved against her windpipe. Haytham's glare froze the blood in Anna's veins. "Who are you?" Haytham demanded, "You can't be a Connolly – they have no idea that the church is run by the Templars, so, I ask again who are you?"
Anna pulled at Haytham's arm and rasped: "You are such a fool, Haytham. My family knows the church is Templar controlled, has known since they are trying to pin murder on the entire Connolly family." She choked out a laugh, "and by the time you get a letter to them, it will be too late: the church will exposed and the Templars will be chased out of Dublin."
A dogs sudden barking was enough of a distraction for Anna to sucker punch Haytham across his jaw. She ran out of the alley and down the street, not knowing if Haytham was chasing her and not really caring. She was more interested in getting away from the area.
Skidding to a stop, Anna ducked into another alley before the soldiers could really see her. Halfway down the alley, Anna stopped to a lean against the wall, gasping for breath. Something clattered behind her making her spin around, Haytham was at the opening, ready to fire his flintlock. Ducking at the last second, Anna felt the ball fly over her head, jumping up she took off once again.
Muscles burning, Anna pushed herself harder trying to create distance between herself and Haytham. Hiding in alleys wasn't going to work, so she decided to take to the rooftops. Jumping up, Anna grabbed onto a store sign and pulled herself up. Leaping from roof to roof Anna kept a steady pace, avoiding guarded rooftops when she saw a red coat. Looking over her shoulder, Anna saw Haytham right behind her and gaining ground.
The smell of the sea was getting stronger as Anna ran towards the docks. Without hesitation, she leapt off the roof and dived into the water. Emerging underneath a pier, Anna gasped for breath as she struggled out of her now useless quiver and bow. Carefully, Anna peaked out and spied Haytham's back to her, moving back under the pier, Anna took a deep breath and dove under the water and swam away from the man.
Burning lip and sore body, Anna pulled herself out of the water. Further down from where Anna had pulled herself out of the water, she heard the sound of something exploding and saw a plume of smoke rising up, figuring that Connor went ahead and destroyed the crates. Shaking the excess water off, Anna made her way back to the tavern.
"Anna, you're soaking wet." Connor turned around seeing Anna standing a few feet away from him, William, and Stephane.
"Yup," Anna popped the 'p', "I decided to take a swim because it was either that or taking a bullet to the head."
"Why are you wet?" Connor pushed.
"Like I said, I took a swim." Anna sighed, "I assume Connor took care of the tax collectors and I stopped the tea deliveries so what happens now?"
"We wait for the signal." William answered.
"What signal?" Connor questioned.
"This meeting can do nothing further to save the country."
"That one."
"Gentlemen, Anna…are you alright you're soaking wet." Sam observed the small puddle that formed around the eighteen year old.
"I swear, any of you ask me if I'm alright one more time, I'll slap you over your head." Anna growled eyeing William and Stephane, daring them to ask the question.
"Shall we be off?" Sam asked quickly changing the topic away from the irritated girl.
"No."
Anna looked at Connor questionably. Earlier today he was eager to go after William Johnson, now he didn't want to go through with it.
"What's the matter?" Sam inquired.
"I have spent today drawn from one bit of madness to another with nothing to show for it," Connor snapped, getting angrier by each spoken word, "before I go any further, I would like to know exactly what it is you intend."
"Of course," Sam slowly answered, glancing at Anna who was just as confused as he was, "First, we make our way to Nathaniel Bradlee's house to fetch the rest of our little group. Then it's on to Griffin's Wharf, where we board the ships and dump the tea, simple as that."
"Except after what happened today," Anna stepped in before Connor could bite the man's head off, "there are going to be extra guards around the ships that are carrying the tea. Also, how are we sure that this is going to stop Johnson's tea smuggling ring?"
"Without the tea, Johnson won't have anything to sell," William explained, "and no tea means no money, which means that Connor's people wouldn't have to give up their land."
"Cheer up, Connor – for tonight we are all victors," Sam stated, "the Sons of Liberty get to send a message to England and you two rob William Johnson of his financing. Your village will be saved."
"I've got an idea: why don't you lead the way?" Anna raised an eyebrow before glancing at Connor, "That should keep us out of any further trouble, am I right?"
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