IX.
A Spell of Ill Luck

Two weeks later, Mary left Havana, but not in the way she expected. She was once again a guest upon The Jackdaw, her own crew on holiday with orders to meet her in Tulum in two months' time. She stood by Edward at the wheel while he shouted orders at his crew. He had just added more cannons to his ship and had the some metal plates added to the hull to make her harder to pierce. Of course Edward liked to pick fights with bigger ships and in order to come out on top, he needed a stronger ship. She couldn't see him giving up his beloved Jackdaw though.

They were sailing for a small island which also housed a planation. She promised him the spoils of the plantation's warehouse this time in exchange for help. He had helped her slay the Templars in Havana easily and she was happy to see him acting so openly for the Assassins. Perhaps it would help convince the Assassins of his…well at least convince them that he wasn't a Templar. She remembered – months ago now – when they had sat around and discussed what to do with him.

Some time ago – Late 1716

Mary looked at the Assassins in front of her. Ah Tabai and others who had been in the Order for years now. While Ah Tabai was the Mentor, these others were trusted advisors. Most of them were too old to participate in combat anymore and mainly were there to support the youths that could go out and fight. There were four of them and with Ah Tabai, who though could fight, rarely did anything but combat training anymore, that made five. A few of the youths were there, including Mary herself. All of them, excluding Mary, were about to lose their tempers.

"How could this happen? How could we be betrayed?" hissed one.

"That rotten English slime!" Another growled. "We trusted him!"

More vulgar comments followed but Mary let them roll off her back. She stood with her arms crossed and her lips pressed together, listening to the words shared in the room. Ah Tabai stood and raised his hands and everyone's conversations died down. Mary looked up at him, wondering what he would say.

"We lost many in Havana but we were able to identify the man who did this. A man who is impersonating our fallen 'brother'" A few more murmurs rose up. "We were able to figure out his name; Edward Kenway."

Mary had been the one to spill his name. She had known him from his description right away, well that and the fact that he wore the traitor's robes. He had been but a jack tar when she had first seen him. He worked under Edward Thatch back then; seemed that Thatch had taken a liking to Kenway and had been training him to be a proper pirate. She didn't know what old Thatch saw in the scrawny youth but she hadn't said a thing to him about it. Still, Kenway probably could turn himself into something great – if he applied himself. She had seen him in the traitor's robes though and he looked like a dandy in them. They didn't suit him at all. She had watched him slay the Templar Du Casse though and he done well enough at it. He had potential. He also…well she was keeping some of her cards hidden for a reason.

"We have decided that we want this man dead. He is a Templar and he has sold us out to the Templars." Ah Tabai went on. Wait, dead? Why would they kill him? He wasn't really a Templar, they must realize that right? Ah Tabai sighed. "I will be sending my best Assassins to kill him."

"Wait" She said, pushing to the front of the crowd. "You can't kill him"

"He killed us in Havana." Ah Tabai's voice was hard. "He is a Templar. You know what that means, Mary"

"No." Mary shook her head. "I gave you his name so we could have him watched. Not so you could have him killed. He has some raw talent, if we turn him to our side…"

"How many Templars turn to the Assassins?" Roared one of the Elders. He was a man who had lost his twin brother to the Templars many years ago. "Why would you think we could even turn him to our side? He is a Templar! He dies!"

"He's not a Templar! Edward Kenway is a bloody lot of things, but I really can't see him throwing his lot in with the Templars!" She roared back. She didn't know him well, so why was he defending him? Something told her that she should. It was an instinct. "Mentor! Please! Listen to me! We cannot kill him! There's….there's something about him."

"Mary I understand that you know him but…" He was hesitant, as was the crowd.

"I'll take the blame if he is a Templar!" She suddenly shouted. "If he be a Templar, I'll take the blame for any lives he claims! I take responsibility for Kenway!"

Everyone else went silent. She was invoking a tradition that was very old and not often used. She was saying that if Kenway were to be a traitor, she would also pay the price of his sins. If he were to be killed, she would be the one to kill him, even if it meant forfeiting her own life. She knew the risks, but she could not allow them just to kill Edward. There was no other way she could think of that would protect him, but she trusted that he was no Templar. Not Edward, who only saw gold and women.

"Mary think of what you're saying" Ah Tabai's voice was calm but his body was tense.

"I have. None of you will listen to me otherwise, so I take responsibility. If he is a Templar, I'll kill him. If he's not, then we let him live" She felt her heart hammering in his chest. The next bit she had to say was going to make some people angry, but she had to do it anyway. If he just stumbled in without them knowing, they'd kill him. "I invited him here, to learn the truth."

A chorus of "What"s and "Traitor"s rang through the meeting. She kept her back straight and her chin high. A circle cleared about her as the other Assassins fought to step away from one who they thought might be betraying them.

"Why?" Only one word came from Ah Tabai's lips.

"He saw the Sage in Havana. He can help us. And I can prove he is a man who is worth keeping alive." She kept her voice calm. "He'll see the truth here"

There was silence for a long moment and Mary though perhaps that Ah Tabai was going to be sour with her. Instead he sighed.

"Mary, you are a stubborn one" he looked at the other Assassins then back at her. "Let us test him when he gets here. You are to wait for him by the Temple and if he can reach it…" He nodded to himself. "No one is to kill him though." There were many grumbles in the crowd but they seemed to accept their Mentor's words. Eyes glared towards Mary but she ignored them.

She knew Edward would never know what she had just done for him, but she had taken a huge risk in his name. Luckily it had worked in her favor. Not everyone was so lucky she supposed, but she would have to be careful. She had set some Assassins against her with her siding with Edward. Hopefully they'd see soon that he was no Templar…

September 1717

Edward had the ship bombarded.

It cracked and broke under his crew's steady assault. They had to hurry for a nasty storm was closing in on them. The clouds were already dark, the sea already quickening and the winds already huffing. Mary stood at the ready, her hands already on the rope, knees bent to push off and swing onto the other ship. The men were ready with the boarding hooks, some swinging them in anticipation of sinking them into their neighbor. Edward pulled the Jack a little closer and there! The men sunk their hooks into the other ship and began to tug it closer. Heave-ho!

Mary and several other men made the swing over. She landed on the deck with a roll and drew her sword as she came up into a crouch. She slashed a man from hip to shoulder and then strode across the deck as if she had all the time in the world. She drew her pistol and shot, hitting another man in the throat. Her blade in a third man's sternum had him down. She looked for her target. She took her time because Edward and her had no bet for this one. She was free to kill the man in her own time. Edward and his men were just a diversion.

Once again, her hunt led her down to below the deck. Once again, she slaughtered the men opposing her until she found her Templar, cowering behind several guards. She knew Edward joined her. She didn't really understand how she knew, she just did. Her sword was coated in blood and it dripped off it. She looked at the Templar, at his guards and saw how some of them quaked in fear.

"Kill them! Kill them, lads!" The Templar roared and they charged, swords raised, yelling like demons. Mary didn't need to yell and neither did Edward. The two of them stepped into the fight easily enough. Mary was faster than Edward, but he was stronger than her and while she could take down three men with three quick jabs, he took down two with his sword, stabbing it straight through both their chests. Together they fought and soon only the Templar remained.

He was a little older than herself, she would guess. She walked towards him, her sword dripping new blood. "Guards! Guards!" There were none to come. Mary had already killed them. "Please…I'll give you anything, just spare me!" From threats to whimpering.

"There's nothing you can give me." Mary's voice was apathetic. She didn't feel for Templars – she would not feel for them.

"Whoa, wait, Jim" Edward cautioned. "He might have something I want."

She couldn't believe him. They had taken that plantation and he had gotten the whole benefit from that. He had gotten rum and sugar and some straight up cash from that adventure. Now he wanted more? Did his greed know no end?

"No way, Kenway!" She snapped him. "He dies!" She lurched forward but she over shot and hit the wall, hard. She pulled herself up and cursed. She realized she hadn't overshot at all; no, the whole ship had lurched and sent her flying into the wall. That would be a nice new bruise for her shoulder because of it too.

"Shit" Edward's curse reached her ears and she saw him looking out the hatch. "Shit!" He cursed even louder.

"What?"

"I can't see The Jackdaw!" He cursed again. She hurried over and peeked out at the raging water. It was raining and…

"Bloody hell"

A water devil was heading straight for them. She heard footsteps fleeing and saw the Templar running out of the room and she started after him but the ship lurched again, wood groaning. Mary lost her foot and went tumbling to the ground. Edward pulled her up and together they stumbled along. They had lost track of the Templar and she cursed her ill luck. Where had that bastard gone?

She knew they had bigger problems than her prey escaping. The Jackdaw might have come unattached to the ship they were on because of the storm. Even if there wasn't a storm, this was bad news. They were stranded on a broken ship with no useable riggings. They couldn't steer it, at least not well. They had no sails that could fly, not at least in the way that the wind might catch them. They were stuck, they were marooned without a way to return to any port. They would float aimlessly. This was made worse by the storm which tossed and turned the broken ship as if it were nothing more than a broken toy.

The wind was screaming outside the ship and Mary knew the water devil was coming. They had to find the Templar again! Where the bloody hell had he gotten to? Mary nearly twisted her ankle because of the ships lurching and had to stop, leaning against the wall, reaching towards her ankle. Edward ran into her and nearly sent her to the ground. She turned back to curse at him, but the wind screamed, louder than ever. She heard the sound of the ship breaking apart as the water devil bit into it.

The ship lurched again, nearly sideways and then suddenly to the other side, sending everything slamming towards it, including the two of them. She felt Edward grab onto her, holding onto her waist tightly. She didn't struggle, realizing that he was trying to protect her body with his. While that was noble, it could get him killed. Despite that, she held on too as there was nothing to hold onto but Edward. She thought he called her name. They both crashed into the wall and Mary blacked out.

A/N: Due to the bad weather that will soon be upon my area, I figured it'd be best if I got a another chapter out while I could. Hope you enjoyed.