They knelt by the wall surveying the house across the way. "There it is. That's the one he mentioned in his letter. Good thing it wasn't the townhouse as it burned down the night he died." Connor over at him. "Did he die in the fire?" Haytham shook his head. "No. He was killed first. It took three of them but they got the job done. They might not have had I not been there distracting him. He was focused on me." He sighed. "It's something no child should have to see. At least I was there to hold her hand when Carolyn saw her father die." He turned to Conner and might have said more had Conner not pointed to movement by the gate. "There's the guard." He looked up and saw the man in question talking to a woman who handed him a package and stood on her toes to kiss him lightly before turning back to the street. Haytham tracked her progress. "Once she's out of hearing range we'll get behind him and take him out before heading to the house." Connor drew a sharp breath. "Can't we just get around him?" His eyes watched the woman's progress, slow but not surprisingly as she came close enough he could see her walking with one hand on the bulging form under her dress. "Surely we need not kill him." Haytham shook his head. "In somethings you should not hesitate. This is her life we're talking about. Would you risk him raising the alarm before we find it?" Connor nodded to the woman. "And leave her child without a father just to be safe? Carolyn would not want it." Haytham shook his head and headed for the street. "Carolyn is not here to know."

Connor moved out to follow his father but froze as he heard a surprised gasp from up the street. "Connor?! Is that you? What are you doing here?" The woman hurried up to him eagerly, searching his face and smiling in surprised recognition. Haytham turned to look at him curiously and Connor had to study her face twice before blinking in surprise. "Bethany? You made it! And look at you!" She laughed and pressed a hand to her stomach. "They certainly wouldn't take me at the brothel now." Haytham's eyebrows jumped and Connor flushed at the heat of his glare. "But you're safe with your family now, right?" She blushed. "Yes, my family is nearby, but I've remarried actually. My husband is a guard. I just brought him his dinner. You must meet him. I've told him all about you." Connor swallowed. "You truly told him of me? I would have thought you wouldn't want to speak of it." She smiled sadly. "No, he knows. There can be no lies in a marriage for it to work. I met him on the crossing. His wife had died and he had a small child who needs a mother. He does not hold my past against me and he's very kind." Haytham's eyes narrowed. "It's not yours, is it?" Connor shook his head. "I didn't touch her. She was a widow and had no other options. I merely helped her get passage back home."

Connor looked at her seriously. "Bethany, I need his help. Do you think he would be willing to let us in the house? I swear we are looking for nothing belonging to the current owners. This was my grandfather's house and we're looking for something he hid here." Her eyes went wide. "I do not know. But we can ask. He takes his job very seriously." His hands grabbed her shoulders. "We must get inside. Someone has my wife. I need the information from this house to get her back." Her eyes went wide and his gaze fell to her waist. "She is carrying my child. I have to save her." She swallowed and nodded. "Come. I will ask him." She drew him and Haytham to the gate and introduced him to her husband, a serious middle aged man still in good physical shape. He eyed Connor curiously and then broke into a grin, offering him his hand. "I hardly believed you existed let alone expected to be able to thank you for helping her." He sent her on her way home to his daughter and watched her go before turning to Connor. "And you truly didn't touch her? She said you hadn't but I wasn't sure if she was just embarrassed." Connor shook his head aware of Haytham's measuring glare. "No, I couldn't. She did not belong there." The man looked at him. "She said she reminded you of your wife. I had assumed she died." Connor looked grim. "No, not yet at least. And she need not if we can save her. I mean what I said about us taking nothing belonging to the current owner. They need not even know we were here." The man looked thoughtful. "Would you object if I came and watched? You're honorable. I know that. But watching this house is my duty and I cannot risk my job lightly. I'll have another mouth to feed within the month." Haytham nodded. "Lock the gate and you may come with us."

The three men headed to the house, Haytham moving his way surely through the rooms until they reached his father's old study and library. Connor looked around curiously. "Where do you think he hid the map?" Haytham took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He reopened them gasping and turned in the room. "Do you see this, Connor?" Connor looked around and closed his eyes, opening them again when he was ready to see the items nobody else seemed to note. He gasped and studied the walls, markings glowing with an eerie light. "You see this too?" Haytham grinned at him and pointed to a particular marking. "This is a land mark off the coast north of Kingston. And there's the rocks! He didn't hide a map here. This is the map." He scrambled now to pull loose a piece of paper, marking the drawings down carefully." Once Connor reviewed it and agreed it was complete he stowed it away carefully, blinking to clear his vision. The room was suddenly darker and he turned to grab the hand of the guard who stood there watching them curiously. "Thank you. We have it. Take good care of her, alright?" The man was confused but shook his hand back gratefully. "Good luck. I hope yours is alright." Connor's hands rested lightly on the bag now holding his hope to save his wife. "I hope so too." Haytham was already headed to the door. "Back to the docks. They should be restocked and we'll sail immediately."

They pulled back into port in Kingston in the early evening and Connor's breath caught. Outside the walls of the fort near the edge of the pier a gallows had been constructed. He glanced up at her window and breathed a sigh of relief to see the light still shining through the bars. They put into the dock and Haytham gestured for four of the crew to gather the heavy chest and bring it with them. Before very long they were sitting before the governor's desk. He opened the chest and gaped at the treasure inside. He nodded to two of his guards. "Take this away and tally it. There will be a 10% finders' fee for Haytham and his son. Make sure word gets out that the treasure was found. Maybe they'll stop tearing up the island looking for it now."

Connor's nails bit into his palms. "I don't want the money. I want my wife back. That was the agreement!" Governor Roberts nodded. "And you shall have her back. But you deserve a reward as well. And a reward you don't even know that you need." Haytham's eyes narrowed. "And what would that be?" Roberts grinned at them. "Why trust!" Haytham grimaced and Connor looked between them confused. "I don't understand." "Do you trust your wife?" Connor nodded. "Yes." "Why?" He shook his head. "Because she is Carolyn. It isn't her nature to be dishonest." Roberts smile evaporated. "Precisely. Yet she has lied to all of us." Haytham stood. "She had good reason to." Roberts sighed. "Perhaps. Or perhaps she did it to suit her own needs. My wife and son believe she is genuinely what she seems but I did not get to this position by trusting someone because they seem harmless. I mean to have proof of her intentions."

Connor looked at him. "How? You said if we brought back the treasure you would let us take her and go." Roberts nodded. "And you shall. Tomorrow. First she will be tested. Tonight my son will ask her to betray you to save herself." Haytham gaped at him. "You involved your son in this?" Roberts shook his head. "I merely told him that I would agree to hang Connor in her place if she would marry him. He would do what he could to save her. He's rather naïve still but she seems to prefer them that way." His eyes rested on Connor. "You will say nothing of this to her. Tomorrow she will be given the option anew of which of you shall die. You have my oath if she goes to the gallows willingly she shall be spared." Connor looked horrified. "But if she were really given the choice I would want her to choose me." Roberts nodded. "And if she truly loves you as my wife claims she does then she will not."

Connor looked thoughtful. "Tomorrow… but the sentence was delayed." Roberts looked up in surprise. "Did no one tell you? She delivered 4 days ago. You have a son!" Connor jumped to his feet. "I want to see them!" Roberts nodded at Haytham. "And you shall. Tomorrow morning. And not a word of this to anyone."

Carolyn held her son and walked to the window, glancing down to confirm that the construction was finished. They had begun work early that morning and the noise had woken her. Jonathan stood behind her, his eyes pleading. "He says he will spare you. I know when you made the choice you thought you might not survive the birth but you have. Surely now that you've held your son you will not give him up so easily. He's letting you choose again. Stay here. I will help you raise him." She looked down at the infant in her arms and saw Connor's gentle eyes staring back at her. "And you would have me kill his father so I might live?" She shook her head. "Connor will take care of him." Jonathan turned to her, his eyes frantic. "He's an Assassin, Carolyn. And he's lied to you before about quitting. What will become of your child?" She sighed. "The stakes are greater this time. And Haytham will be there to help him." She turned to him, her eyes sympathetic but her voice firm. "You will not change my mind on this. I think it's best you go. If tonight is to be my last night with my son I would prefer to spend it alone." He walked unsteadily to the door. "It's still not too late. If you change your mind let someone know." Once the door was rebarred she walked to the desk, tucking the baby up against her and reaching for a paper and pen.

The next morning Haytham and Connor stood side by side before the gallows, their expressions as if carved from identical stone. A large crowd gathered and pressed behind them but they stood apart near the base of the scaffolding. The doors opened and a guard appeared escorting Carolyn blinking into the sun light. She clutched a bundle to her chest and had a bag hanging from her shoulder. Her eyes lighted on Connor and went wide then hard and determined. He felt Haytham's hand on his shoulder steading him and nodded. The guard brought her directly to him and she stood before him, unable to meet his eyes. He reached out his arms to her and she handed him the baby, touching his hands briefly to position them to support the baby's head. "Take care of him for me." Her voice strained and she bent over to kiss the child's dark curly hair. She turned to Haytham and handed him the bag. "I've made him some clothes. There's a letter for when he's older." Connor glanced down into the dark eyes of his son, who yawned oblivious to the situation around him. When he looked up the guard's hand on her elbow had already pulled her away from them and her eyes fell on the gallows. Reaching the bottom of the stairs her hands were bound behind her. The guard steadied her as she climbed the stairs slowly and carefully trying not to trip on her skirts.

She reached the top and stood facing the crowd, her face expressionless and eyes dead. He could see her lips moving silently. Governor Roberts appeared and climbed the stairs to stand behind her. He leaned over and whispered to her but she flinched and shook her head. He gestured for a guard to step forward and move her into position pulling a bag over her head. Again he spoke to her, his words too quiet to hear. Connor could not remove his eyes from the scene before him but he questioned Haytham "He will keep his bargain, won't he?" Haytham swallowed. "I believe so." Roberts turned to the crowd. "The woman who stands before is convicted of treason. Justice has long been denied but today it will be served." He could see her breath drawing quicker now as if her body struggled to fit years of life into the next few moments. Roberts turned to Carolyn. "Do you have any last requests? Anything left to say?" Not trusting her voice she shook her head. Finally she offered a soft "Be done with it. I'm ready." Roberts considered her and spoke loudly to the crowd. "Very well then. In consideration of her husband's recent service to the state the sentence has been commuted. She will be remanded into his custody." She swayed on her feet and fell to her knees, her hands still bound behind her. Connor handed the baby to Haytham and ran up the steps. He pulled the bag from her face and reached behind her slicing the chords that held her wrists. She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed. He glared at Roberts who looked at him calmly. "And now you know." Scooping her up carefully he carried her down the stairs to meet Haytham. She scrambled from his arms and took the baby back, holding him to her chest.

Haytham looked at the scene around them, the crowd confused but wild with the turn of events. Connor frowned. "So this was all a show? I'm sick of this town. We're sailing. " Margaret appeared behind them. "Surely it can wait. If nothing else you would want your things." Haytham looked up at his window and the one next to it, now barred. "A few of them maybe but she's not going back in that room." He turned to Connor. "Take her aboard the ship. I'll gather our belongings and have them brought down. Where do we go?" Connor looked at Carolyn. "I suppose you'd probably rather not return to Davenport or anywhere else in the colonies… How about New Orleans? I met a girl from there once. The Assassins and Templars both are mostly done there. The Templars are gone entirely and she is the last Assassin. " Carolyn clutched the child to her. "I don't care as long as both of you are there." She looked down at the child. "Make that all three of you."

Author's note: What would have happened if Carolyn had gone to bed in Chapter 16? Read on to find out.