The port was busy and they took inventory but took the ledgers back to his rooms to work the figures. She sat at the table yawning as she double checked the sums, her head drooping. "You can leave that for tomorrow, you know." Haytham commented from his own records he was reviewing. "No. I want to get this done tonight." She tried to focus her eyes and gripped the pen tightly. The next time he looked up from his papers the pen was down and her head cushioned on the book. He laughed and moved the bottle carefully away from her hand and closed it. "Come on, time to go to bed." He reached down and picked her up opening the door to the hall with one hand. He was grateful nobody saw them as he carried her down the hall to her own room and fumbled with the door. He repositioned her and tried for the latch again, feeling her arms wrap around his neck sleepily. She nuzzled into his neck as he got the door open at last. Closing it with a foot he carried her to the bed. "Connor…" she murmured and clung to him tightly. He froze and looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms. He placed her on the bed and her hands gripped at his jacket, tugging him towards her. Disentangling her fingers from the cloth he tucked her under the blanket as she began to sob in her sleep.
He glanced around the room but she did not wake. He searched the book case and desk but did not find what he was looking for until he quietly opened her trunk. Down at the bottom wrapped in a piece of cloth he found the book and pulled it out. He turned to the opening and ran his finger up the familiar family tree. "Carolyn Blair Kenway married to Connor Kenway March 10th 1782" He drew a sharp breath and turned his attention to the sleeping woman. "Why did you not tell me the truth?" He shook his head and replaced the book in the trunk and found a small pouch containing her father's ring. He pocketed it and left the room quietly.
The next morning Carolyn knocked on Haytham's door early. He let her in and she hurried to the table and picked up the books. "I'm so sorry. I'll try to finish them up before we start today." He nodded. "You were in no condition to do them last night though. You mustn't push yourself too hard." She laughed. "I don't even remember walking to my room." He smiled at her. "You didn't. It wasn't the first time I've put you to bed." She flushed slightly. "I'm not a child anymore. You should have woken me up." He grimaced and rubbed his back. "No, you're certainly not. But it was nice to pretend for a moment." He turned suddenly serious. "Actually I'm not going to be doing inventories today. I want you to do them without me." She looked up. "Alone, why?" "I'm going to be making a short trip. I do sometimes. And I trust you to hold down the port in my place. I've already had a word with the captain of the guard. He's to provide you a suitable escort for the heavy lifting, someone good with numbers. You can handle it. I trust you. I'll be back in about a week. Don't let them run over you. You're representing us all." She nodded and clutched the books to her chest. "I'd better go finish yesterday's work then. You'll be sailing from the port, right? I'll see you before you go?" He smiled and walked her to the door. "Of course. I expect the acting port master to see me off."
Haytham stood on the bow and waived to Carolyn where she stood on the dock watching him sail next to a very earnest young man holding a stack of papers. When the city was fading off in the distance he turned and signaled the captain to change course. He didn't dare sail directly to Davenport. There was too great a chance the Aquila would be in port. Instead he sailed up the coast and had them drop him near the shore and continued the rest of the way on foot. As luck would have it Connor was not at home and the lock took him little time to pick. He wandered in the house. There were numerous subtle changes that he saw Carolyn's hand in. He stopped to consider a painting hanging in the hall but headed quickly to his target and down the stairs. He paused before the table his eye going immediately to his lost blade. He picked it up and strapped it on before he noted the smaller silver dagger lying in its shadow. "She was here." His heart pounded to see something associated with her sitting among the relics of his long dead friends and associates. He stuck the dagger in his belt and looked around, trying to find some sign of how recently Connor had been there and how soon he would be back. His eyes fell on the wall, 3 portraits with dates but a new portrait hanging that was still unmarked. Haytham's eyes narrowed and he ran for the door.
Connor slipped in to the warehouse spotting his target sitting at a desk, illuminated in the dark room. He approached him quietly blade at the ready. No sooner than he stepped into the circle of light than the man turned around and addressed him casually. "Ah Connor. It appears rumors of your death have been entirely unfounded." He rested casually on the edge of the desk. "What are you doing here? Where is Jacob Miller?" Connor's blade was at the ready. "Don't you worry about him. He's long gone. We have more important things to talk about." He held out the dagger. "Does the name Carolyn Blair mean anything to you?" Connor turned and began to walk to the door. "Not anymore." A group of men appeared in the darkness, one swinging a heavy stick over his head, knocking Connor to his knees. Haytham walked over, looking down on Connor as he struggled to maintain consciousness and the men carefully bound his arms and removed his weapons. "Wrong answer, I'm afraid."
Once they were well out to sea Haytham untied Connor though he did not return his weapons and took the expedient approach of having all the rest of the crew but him go unarmed. He watched Connor pace the ship. "I do not have time for this. Where are you taking me and why?" Haytham surveyed the ocean. "I think it's time we had a little family reunion. I have to say I'm terribly disappointed in you." Connor 's tone was mocking and cold. "I'm sorry terribly sorry. What disappointed you more? The fact that I caught your little spy or that it took me so long?" Haytham pushed from the railing of the ship. "I thought you were honorable. Decent. I'm sorry to say I was mistaken." Connor looked at him sideways. "I hardly think you're in any position to judge me." Haytham laid his hand briefly on Connor's arm. "I want you to learn from my mistakes." Connor brushed his hand off and moved away. "Yes, I think we all know I was a mistake. One I won't be repeating myself." Haytham studied him curiously and shook his head. "I admit I'm a little confused. I'm not sure what is true these days." Connor laughed. "She's good at that. She lied to me for almost a year and I had no clue." Haytham shook his head and turned to walk to the prow of the ship. He considered Connor over his shoulder. "You were not the mistake, Connor. My mistake was letting Zio go." He hesitated. "But I cannot personally recommend having someone show up decades later to tell you that the woman you loved and the mother of your child is dead."
Two nights later they were pulling near the port, the dock well lit. Haytham stood on the deck with Connor and pointed to a stack of crates on the dock. "I will meet you there. You'll need to go over the side of the ship in the dark and swim. I'll distract the guards. They'll be expecting me." Connor did not move. "Why should I?" Haytham sighed. "Listen, boy. I'm sneaking you into a Templar fort and my home. This is dangerous for us both but it needs to be done. I can't walk you past the guards here. I need you here quietly. This crew is loyal to me but there're too many people in the fort. Now cooperate and I can get you back out before dawn and on your way back." Connor looked around the dock. "You're sneaking me into a Templar fort unarmed. If you wanted to kill me you had plenty of opportunities. " Haytham shook his head. "I don't want you dead. I want the truth." Connor sighed and dove in the water. Haytham made his way past the guards and to the edge of the dock. Connor pulled himself silently from the water and Haytham breathed a sigh of relief. "Follow me." He led the way to a stretch of wall obscured in shadow. He pointed to a large balcony on one of the towers. "See that balcony. Not that, but the second window to the left of it is our target. You go first. Do not try anything."
Connor sighed and began to climb with Haytham right below him. He reached the window and climbed in, moving aside to allow Haytham access to the dark room. He waited for his eyesight to acclimate to the darkness but Haytham walked surely into the shadows. Shortly he had lit a candle and carried it over to the bed in the corner. Haytham put a hand out and shook the figure in the bed. Carolyn looked up groggily at him. "Haytham!" She smiled sleepily. "You're back." Haytham gestured for Connor to come forward but he clung to the shadows. Haytham's voice was serious. "Carolyn. I've brought someone with me. Connor is alive."
She looked into the darkness and saw his outline standing there, his hood pulled low covering his eyes. Her eyes went wide and she clutched the blanket to her chest, shrinking down in the bed. "Ratonhnhaké:ton?" He nodded seriously. "Carolyn." She shook her head and turned to Haytham once more. "No, he's not. It's an easy mistake to make, I made it once myself by firelight, but you brought the Assassin. Connor's dead. I killed him. I saw him die when I told him the truth. About me. About us. There's nothing of my husband left in that man." Her voice choked and she turned her head. "Oh Haytham. Why did you bring him? I don't want him here. Make him go." She laid back down and pulled the blanket up over her shoulder but Haytham knelt by the bed and addressed her. "Why did you claim to be a widow?" She gasped and shook her head. "What would you have had me tell people? The truth? That I didn't just marry a man who wasn't a Templar but that I married an Assassin and he left me?" His voice went soft. "He left you? Does he know?" She laughed bitterly. "No. I could not tell him." He rested a hand on her shoulder. "This is not our way. The Templars walk in the light of truth. You must let him know. He has a right." She shook her head. "I was embarrassed. But Haytham you should have asked. Shame or no I would have told you the truth before this. I did not tell him because I do not know." Her voice grew soft. Haytham's confusion was evident. "By the time you got here you said you knew!" She swallowed hard and gripped his hand. "I mean I do not know who the father is." Connor strode out of the shadows. "What are you two talking about?" He towered over her, his hard eyes visible from beneath the peak of his hood. She met his gaze angrily and sat up still clutching the blanket. "It is none of your business. You made that clear to me." Haytham looked between them. "The time has come for the truth, Carolyn. We all deserve it. You no less than the rest of us."