After dealing with the remaining Templars in Nassau, the Kenway cousins returned to England to settle a few final scores. When they docked they were greeted by the Scott's family maid Rose who informed them on recent events. As it happened the Scotts, Hagues and Cobleighs were not doing as well as they use to. The relentless attacks on their ships by Captain Caedus and the Red Ribbon Reavers, had left all three families financially drained. This forced them to sell their remaining assets to stay in business. Though ironically, they believed that Edward was the one responsible for their misfortune which was reinforced upon learning that he has been a pirate. They attempted several times to burn down the Kenway farm again but were stopped by MacDirk mercenaries assigned to guard the farm.
The Pox that took Caroline had come from her own father who arrogantly declared that she didn't need one. Upon learning the depth of Emmett's role in his own daughter's death, their thirst for revenge increased. For David, simply killing them would not suffice. he would make them suffer, just as they made Edward and Caroline suffer all these years. Once they learned that Edward was coming home, the four men rightfully feared for their safety and tried to go into hiding. But Rose gave up Emmett's location to avenge her dead mistress.
Instead of confronting them directly David devised a trap for the templars. Edward's crew attacked the warehouse they were hiding in forcing them to flee. In desperation, their templar allies pulled some strings in hopes of defusing the situation. By this time Edward and his men had chased their quarry all the way to the dock where they were hiding in a ship called Charlotte, named for Matthew Hague's wife. As Edward prepared to burn the ship down with his enemies inside a stranger arrived at the docks with a platoon of soldiers. As Edward prepared for a fight prepared to fight, the leader raised his hand.
"Stay your blades good sir," he said calmly, "I don't mean to fight you."
"Yet you surround us with armed men." Edward pointed out.
"Surely you wouldn't begrudge a man of my stature a little protection," The stranger replied, "after all I've seen what you can do."
"And who are you?" Edward demanded.
The stranger nodded and put a hand on his chest, "I am Robert Wallpole. I am the First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons."
"Walpole?" Edward asked, now eyeing the lord more wearily. "I killed a Walpole back in the Caribbean."
"You did," Robert granted, "and for that I am forever thankful."
Edward cocked an eyebrow, "I had no idea you held your kinsman to such a low regard Chancellor?"
Robert frowned, "Duncan disgraced himself and brought shame to our family with his own actions. Believe me, my house and the world are well rid of him."
"Then what can a humble commoner do for a High Lord of Parliament," Edward asked sardonically. "I doubt you came all this way just to thank us."
"You presume correct," Robert replied. "I understand you intend to go after the ones that wronged you. On behalf of my associates, I came to avoid further acts of barbarism."
Edward's eyes flared but were prevented from taking any action due to the armed guards. "No," Edward said defiantly, "Emmett need to pay for his role in my wife's death, and the rest are guilty of the misery they caused my parents. A debt is owed, and I have a promise to keep. Besides, if we don't deal with them now, they will come after us. Like my grandfather always told me, leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe."
"I will see that they answer for their crimes," he assured them, "just as I will see to it that no harm comes to you or your family."
Edward scoffed, "I wonder how many times that promise was made and broken. I'm sure that your fellow Templars made similar promises, to all their associates. Alfred Hamilton, Laureano Torres, Woodes Rodgers. yet in the end they all fell to either pirates or assassins. Why should I believe, you will fare any better."
"Well for one I'm not a Templar," Robert replied. "I often act as a mediator between the two parties." He folded his hands together, "this is what I offer you Edward, you and your crew, will be given full pardons and property here in England, the colonies, or the west indies, wherever you wish." He scratched his head, "see Edward, what I'm offering you is to not only wipe the slate clean and give you a fresh start, but I'm also offering you the chance to give you and your daughter a better life, a life with the last of her family and one of prestige. What do you say?"
Edward sighed and after a moment he relented, "I accept your offer, but I have a few conditions of my own."
Robert frowned, "name them."
Edward held out two fingers, "first, the Guthrie Consortium is given full recognition as a legitimate business. Most of them are former pirates who are simply trying to get an honest living now. Second, I want pardons for Eleanor Guthrie, Anne Bonny and their business partners as well.
Robert nodded and accepted Edward's terms, and an agreement was arranged. Unfortunately for him, while Edward Kenway had promised not to go after them, David Kenway had made no such promise. Two days later, Emmett Scott, Audrey Hague, Matthew Hague and Seth Cobleigh were seized by David's own crew from their own homes and brought to Black Island. Theiur homes were destroyed with bodies dressed like them to make it seem that assassins killed then and destroyed the homes to hide the evidence. He set up some men as 'witnesses' who all reported that they had seen men dressed as assassins entering the houses. They also reported that they boarded a ship that matched the description of the Charlotte, leaving port.
When Robert learned about this, he was greatly upset that the very thing he had strived to prevent happened anyway. But what disturbed him even more was that the infamous pirate was so bold as to abduct people right under the crown's nose. His first instinct was to blame Edward for it, but unfortunately, he had an alibi. At the time of the incident, he and his crew were getting into a drunken fight at a tavern along with his cousin David. Still, at the Templars insistence he investigated the matter further but could not find any link between the Edward and the deaths of the four men. When he questioned David, he pointed out that even though Edward agreed to not go after them, Robert had not extended the agreement to the rest of the assassin brotherhood as a whole. Seeing as they were templars, Assassins were known to act rashly and kill any that they can find especially under an ineffective leader, a fact that the Templars agreed to. Thanks to his respectable standing within the community, David was able to convince Robert of his cousin's innocence, so Robert agreed to carry out the deal he made the agreement he made with Edward but warned him against taking any action against Woodes Rodgers.
Once they arrived at Black Island the four abducted men were imprisoned in a dungeon. The dungeon had no bed and a single toilet in the corner. It was so dark, and light came so seldom that the light that did appear would hurt their eyes. Rats crawled all over and bit them whenever they slept. The dungeon must have been just above sea level since when the tide rose, the water flooded the cell up to their ankles. The food served was cups of freshwater, salted beef as hard as wood, biscuits crawling with maggots and stinky, slimy fish. At first, they had refused but after hunger gnawed at them for days, they gobbled it all down and hoped for more.
After what seemed like ages, their captors finally came to visit them. Edward and David came to them in their pirate attire with David also wearing his mask, and torches in their hand."The four men looked at them fearfully. By this time, their hair and growing beards started to crawl with lice, fleas and worms and the air stank of grime and mold.
"Why are we here?" Emmett demanded, "what do you want of us?"
"Vengeance," one said.
"Justice," the other added.
"Retribution."
"Debts long overdue."
Edward knelt down and brought the torchlight to his face, "don't you? Have you truly forgotten me after all these years."
Emmett squinted his eyes before they widened in shock as Edward face became clear, "YOU!" He snarled.
Edward smirked, "so you DO remember me. But you also remember my wife? WHAT YOU DID TO HER?"
"She killed herself with the choices she made," Emmett countered. "One of them was marrying you."
"Like the plague you are, you spread your sickness to your own family and got your own daughter killed." David said.
"I don't even know who you are."
"But do you know the promise I made to you," David asked, what would happen if any harm befell her, Jennifer or the Kenways." Emmett looked to David as he took off the mask, revealing his face. The four men looked in horror as the recognized that younger Kenway.
David chuckled, "I will not have it said that I don't keep my word."
"Why don't you just kill us and be done with it," Matthew spat.
David shook his head, never accept death when suffering is owed, and you owe us a great deal of suffering, for not only causing the death of a woman too good for this wormy earth, but robbing Jennifer of a loving mother."
"The Templars will come for us," Seth declared, "and then we will make you pay for this."
Edward laughed, "as far as your order is concerned you four are dead, and nobody looks for dead people."
'Your powerful friends couldn't stop me from destroying your ships," David added, 'nor could they prevent me from destroying your business."
"THAT WAS YOU?" Audrey gasped. "You're the one that ruined our lives." David nodded, "I warned you that your powerful friends would not save you, now you are mine. Your names will disappear, your legacy will disappear, soon all memory of you will disappear. All at the hands of two paupers."
"You have destroyed our lives" Emmet started, "Ruined us, humiliated us, tortured us. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?"
"Your will," David replied, "only when you have surrendered to despair. Only then will you have my permission to die. Until them you will remain here, for the rest of your days. Should you refuse to eat food will be forced down your throat. That should give you plenty of time to think on your sins and contemplate the choices you made."
With that the two men left the room with Edward turning to them one final time and spitting on Emmett's face. "This is for Caroline you son of a bitch." He said as he slammed the doors shut leaving his enemies in darkness once more.
After accepting Walpole's deal, David invited Edward and Jennifer back to Nassau to begin new lives and Edward could even join the Consortium. Edward declined as he wanted to give Jennifer the best life possible. He also wanted to help the British assassins in their struggle with the Templars. He in turn offered a place for David among the Brotherhood. But David refused since not only did he not believe in the Assassin's creed or methods, but he also felt that any more association with the Assassins would put a target on their backs for the Templars. With the last of their enemies dead, the Kenways parted ways with David returning to Nassau and Edward settling down in England with his daughter. Where he became the leader of the British Assassins. As the Jackdaw was an infamous pirate ship, Edward donated it to the Assassins who made it their Flagship.
When David returned to Nassau, the first thing he did was propose to Anne Bonny, which she happily accepted. With her son and Mary's daughter to consider Anne had take a break from pirating and dedicated most of her time to being a mother. David used his wealth to buy a mansion that overlooked the bayou of the plantations She had named her son Joshua after her friend's former lover and Mary's daughter she named after her mother, so they were christened Joshua and Mary Kenway. David and Anne's union soon gave her another son named Gideon.
He wasn't the only pirate tying the knot as among Flint's crew, Billy Bones started a relationship with Abigail Ashe, and John Silver married Maddy, the daughter of the Maroon Queen. Flint's relationship with Eleanor Guthrie was beginning to bear fruit with Eleanor bearing her first child, a boy Flint named Nathaniel.
The new life also provided Edward with an opportunity he didn't have before, a chance to start a family. That is when he met Tessa Stephenson-Oakley, the daughter of a wealthy landowner. In repetition of his past experience, despite her father's wishes they would marry and have a son named Haytham.
With the new life provided for him by Robert Walpole, Edward built a successful commercial enterprise which he used to travel the world searching for more First Civilization Artifacts. With the new life provided for him by Robert Walpole, Edward built a successful commercial enterprise which he used to travel the world searching for more First Civilization Artifacts. The ship he used for his ventures was a repainted Charlotte which he renamed the Caroline. Every so often Edward would ask David for help and the Kenways often looked for artifacts together. With David plundering ships along the way.
One artifact that he kept hidden from even his own brotherhood was his discovery of a Shroud of Eden. To ensure nobody could find it, he locked it in a box made by the first civilization and hid the box in the Tower of London for Safekeeping. He then hid the key to the box in St. Paul's Cathedral. Unknown to Edward, David later stole it from its hiding place and replacing it with an old quilt. This would not be the last tine David would go behind Edward's back.
Ever since learning about the Grand Temple from Bartholomew Roberts, Edward spend much of his time trying to learn as much as he could and kept a journal to make note of everything he discovered. Edward never told anyone about the contents of his journal, not his fellow assassins and not his children. Only David knew the contents and with Edward's permission made a copy of the journal.
Jennifer's relationship with her father was never the best due to the nine years separation. She insisted on keeping her mother's surname since the name of Kenway was still stained thanks to Edward's reputation. Evan now e was barely around thanks to his new duties as an assassin. Things only got worse when he denied her requests to be trained as an assassin.
On the other hand, her relationship with her 'Uncle' David was far warmer. Despite his years as a pirate, David did make an effort to visit them at least once a year to check on them and even made sure to give Jennifer presents on her birthday. Though she knew he wasn't her father's brother, she still called him uncle out of affection. As she grew older, she often confided in him her insecurities and woes. Unlike her father, David proved to be more open to the idea of training her.
While Edward was on his adventures, David would come by and train her in secret once she turned 12. Under her uncle's tutelage, Jennifer learned how to shoot and use daggers. David's college Inigo Montoya even took her on as a fencing apprentice. Over the years Jennifer became exposed to David's ideology and beliefs. This went on for four years until Edward learned about what his cousin was doing and the two bickered heavily about training Jennifer.
"Jennifer has a chance at a decent life," Edward insisted, "I will not have that ruined by her becoming an assassin. Becoming...like me."
David rolled his eyes, "any chance of her living a normal life ended the moment you decided to become an assassin. The Templars know who you are and will stop at nothing to get to you through her."
''So, what then, do you want me to quit?"
David shook his head, "it's too late for that. Look, I agree that she shouldn't become an assassin, but that doesn't mean she should be denied the ability to defend herself against those that wish her harm. You won't always be around to protect him, so she needs to be prepared."
Though he didn't like it, Edward reluctantly agreed, and David was now allowed to train Jennifer openly. David ended up meeting his cousin's property manager Reginald Birch. But the two men developed an intense hatred for one another. Edward even planned to marry birch to his daughter, something both Jennifer and David were firmly against. David even warned Edward, "if that weasel touches Jennifer, I'm going to be touching him." Reginald was however able to get close to Edward's son Haytham.
In 1735, things took a fatal turn Jennifer found out that Reginald Birch was a Templar, she immediately informed her father. Edward sent Jennifer to David before confronting Birch. When Jennifer told her uncle what was happening, David immediately took action by having Jennifer take his own copy of the journal to a safehouse before going to his cousin's house to retrieve Edward's journal. By the time he got there, mercenaries had broken into the manor killing several of the servants and were now fighting Edward. Despite being unarmed, Edward was able to put up a fierce fight killing two of his attackers. By the time David arrived, Edward had been killed. David easily killed the remaining mercenaries. But could not find either Haytham or the journal.
With the manor on fire, he then went to his own estate to find it being ransacked. Heavily outnumbered, David responded by lighting the stores of gunpowder under the house. He then made a commotion to make sure he was seen before heading back to the powder room. The resulting explosion killed most of the looters and helped David fake his own death. With England no longer safe and knowing that the Templars would be looking for her. David and Jennifer fled England with the journal and took refuge in Nassau. Here Jennifer became acquainted with Eleanor Guthrie, who remembering her father's services to her took Jennifer in as a companion.
Birch was pleased with the deaths of the Kenways, but when he opened the journal, he discovered that many of the pages had been cut out. It turned out David had removed certain pages detailing important parts about the Temple while he was copying the journal. Birch incorrectly determined that Jennifer had the pages and dedicated a huge amount of time and resources to finding her. Unknown to the Templars, among this information was the type of key needed to open it. This left gaping holes in the Templars investigation and ensured that they would not find the temple anytime soon, and even if they did, they would be unable to open it. This would set the Templars back for generations to come.