Hello!

A/N: Got some time to publish another chapter! :)

! Spoiler Alert ! Disclaimer: All characters (except Annora and Marie) belong to Ubisoft, as do the cover images.

Haytham must tell Ann of her fate...

Enjoy! ^^

XXVIII

'Man seeks dominion over all that he encounters.'

May 1782

"Master Kenway," the older man greeted as everyone was leaving the usual meeting in the Headquarters.

"Grand Master," Haytham replied and bowed his head. Before Haytham realised it, beside them stood the one man he never knew he'd see again after their rough encounter only months before.

"I'm glad you are here to join us today Master Cormac, your expedition was a great success and you were able to recover the precursor box as you have told me," the old man said as the Irish Assassin-turned-Templar smiled, nodding.

"Yes, I visited Master Kenway in the Winter to pass this message on, but was sent away."

"I apologise, there were matters that required my attention."

"Like your Mistress I suppose," the Grand Master said before letting out an almost sarcastic laugh. "How is she these days? Married yet?"

"I would appreciate it, with all due respect, if you didn't disrespect her in such a way. She is a remarkable woman if you only gave her a chance."

"I will, once she becomes a Templar."

"You have a Mistress Kenway?" Shay asked, interrupting them both, Haytham looking towards him, agitated that he had to be the one to find out. They were once good friends, but Haytham feared any man that could possibly attempt to take Ann away from him. Shay was one of those men. He was skilled, influential, clever and had a lot to say about freedom, a talk Ann would certainly like to hear. But he was still reckless, even after all those years.

"It's been a few months Master Kenway," the Grand Master resumed the conversation, letting Shay's question fly by unanswered. "Will she become a Templar or not?"

"I've been teaching her the necessary skills, I've given her the knowledge, she asked me a few times why I've been doing so, and only last week had I told her that I want her to be a Templar. She refused, and I said I'll give her more time."

"There is no time. Did you not present her with the other options? Did you not tell her the whole story?"

"No, she wouldn't take it as lightly as you do, Grand Master."

"Shay," the old man said, the youngest Templar immediately looking towards them, "I betroth you to Anne Collet, starting later this month you will court her and you will marry her soon after."

"What?" Haytham countered, shouting. "You can't decide this Grand Master, you are not her family nor her guardian, you have no right."

"With all due respect Grand Master," Shay cut in quickly, his voice slightly shaky with surprise and reluctance, his accent as heavy as ever, "I haven't even met the girl, I can't marry her just like that."

"Since she lives in a Manor that belongs to me, and is fed and clothed using the Order's funds, she is my responsibility and so I decide who she marries. Master Cormac, it is your responsibility as a valued member of our Order to accept this, just like it is for you Master Kenway. You will become Grand Master the day she marries Cormac, remember this."

"These conditions are ruthless, I am to marry her," Haytham countered.

"Have you proposed such a possibility to her?" The old man asked.

"No, not yet, I-."

"Then it does not matter."

"She will marry me and me only, she will love no other man," Haytham shouted after the already departing Grand Master.

"Love means nothing in our world Kenway," he replied, waving his hand around in a farewell gesture as he left both men.

"What the hell?" Shay burst out, "what is the meaning of this?"

"I can't choose between the Order and her, I've been part of the Order since I remember, there is no other life that I know of. But she… She is my life. I love her."

"She must become a Templar, only then will the Grand Master cancel this circus act!"

"She won't listen to me, I don't know what to do, I can't force her to live like us, she can't kill Shay, do you understand? She won't kill."

"So what? You'll just let me marry her? Is that really love?" Shay asked and shook his head, disappointed with the man he once called a Mentor, and began to trod away, his head hanging low as he couldn't bare the confusion at the sudden turn of events.

Haytham stood there, completely broken. He couldn't face her anymore, for how would he tell her that she was supposed to marry a Templar she didn't even know? How would he tell her that even though she means the world to him, they can't be together like he promised? He couldn't force her to become a Templar, to kill, even if for a righteous cause. Both either way would break her, more so than Charles ever could, more so than her Father's death or his involvement in it. It would be the point were she would lose it. All because of him.

Later that day…

"Haytham?" Ann asked as the man entered the Manor, his usual expression gone, replaced by such a serious look she could have sworn he had just returned from a funeral instead of a meeting. "Where have you been all day, I was so worried…"

"Ann, Ann I'm so sorry. You must forgive me. I made a mistake by bringing you here, it was wrong of me. All this, everything, I admit, it's all my fault."

"What? How can you say that, Haytham, calm down, what's happened?"

"The Templar Grand Master has betrothed you to another Templar in our Order."

"Pardon?" She asked, the words slowly getting to her, as sharp as a knife to the heart, "betrothed," she repeated. "Me, to another man."

"I tried to stop him, but he said that since you live in this Manor and are provided for by the Order, you are basically their property."

"Is this a joke of some kind?" She asked, everything sinking in. "But you promised you'd protect me. You promised we'll be together, you… You… I slept with you Haytham! I gave everything to you, and now this is what I get? This is what happens to me?"

"Ann, calm down, we will still be together, you will just be formally married to another Templar so that I can become Grand Master and so that you will gain a name and a place in society, then the Templars will have nothing against our relationship."

"So I'm just a woman to go to bed with? Is this all about you and your craving for power? Just because the Order doesn't accept me, because I'm a complete no-body, you give me away to another man? It's always been about the Templars hasn't it? It's never, ever, been about me and my feelings for you… I can't believe this… I..," at that moment she burst into almost cold, bitter, tears. Then she fell to the floor and cried, the man unable to watch her in such a state. He approached her, kneeling before her, attempting to console her but for the first time she pushed him away. "Don't touch me!" She shouted and then moved away, her eyes vicious, bleached blood red with tears. "This is over! I thought, at least for a moment, that you loved me Haytham! You used me, just like Connor said you would do, but I trusted you nonetheless, and now I have nothing left."

"Ann, no, please don't say all that, everything I said to you, all my feelings, they are true, I never lied to you. You refused to become a Templar, so this is what the Grand Master chose to do. How can I risk losing the only means of protecting you by defying him? This is how I protect you, even if it separates us."

"No! No! No!" She shouted, "I don't want to hear your lies anymore, I can't stand this, I will not marry whoever the hell he is, if it's not you, I'd rather die."

With those words she got up, not even giving him one last look, and rushed to the stairs, running up them with fresh tears building up in her eyes. He ran after her, shouting her name but she not even once turned around or stopped. She ran through the hallway like lightning, finding her room and pushing the door open after struggling with turning the handle, desperate cries escaping her lips. Haytham easily caught up, catching her before she got a chance to cross the threshold. He tied his arms around her waist, but she fought him, wringing around quite violently.

"Let me go!" She screamed, but he didn't comply. He wouldn't give up that easily, he didn't want to lose her. He couldn't, not when she was already his.

"Ann, calm down," he snapped, "we can fix this, just let me tell you the whole story."

"No! I don't want to listen to you anymore, let me go!" She replied, pushing her way out of his grip. He let her go but she didn't face him, too afraid to be tempted to allow him to embrace her and console her with his sweet words and excuses if she looked into his eyes.

"Ann, please, let me explain, give me a chance."

"No, no, Haytham, I can't live like this," she said through tears, "I won't live like this." Then she quickly crossed into the room and shut the door before him, he knocked first, but she wouldn't open, he knew she wouldn't. He then reached out to grab the handle, but found that she had locked the door. "Go Haytham, go to your Templar's, you don't need me anymore, you never needed me."

"Don't say that!" He shouted through the door, his voice more aggressive than he planned it to be, "let me in, please Ann, don't do this."

"Just go Haytham, please stop hurting me like this."

His lips parted then, his eyes gleaming, threatening to cry. He was shocked at how big of an effect all this had on her. Deeply he hoped that it was just an initial phase, that she would be fine by morning, that she needed time to accept it all. But to hear that he was hurting her, that made him feel things he never felt before. He was hurt himself, he was angry, yet again at himself, and he hated the fact that he had no chance to make it all right, to apologise or to explain himself. She must've known it wasn't his fault, but since she reacted in such a way, she must have been blaming both him and herself. Just like he was.

He decided to leave, to give her the time he believed she needed the most at that moment. In all honesty, there was no way of fixing the situation, he wouldn't change her into a Templar, and at the same time the Grand Master would not change his mind. She would be out on the streets if she didn't accept the offer, and there was nothing Haytham could do. Or else he too would go along with her and they would have nothing. It was his only way of securing her future, but she didn't want that, she just wanted him, and such a concept, which lacked power, money or status, could not be comprehended by him, at least not until he got to his own room that evening, alone, and truly understood what it all meant.

She was ready to be a poor woman, a beggar, as long as she had him. That was love - it was something that would lead people anywhere or make people do anything, and at that moment he felt that he had been loving her the wrong way. He believed protection was fortune, a nice house and a good position in the Templar Order, but that was not what actual love was. He hated himself for it, had he only understood before, maybe he wouldn't have relied on the Order for everything, maybe then she wouldn't have left him.

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Till next time!

AssassinSuzy