Eliminating disagreements

Connor

It had already got dark in Davenport when Connor approached the manor. Despite the late hour, the basement was still illuminated and inwardly he already prepared for standing in front of a reproachful Lillian soon. Actually he had wanted to be back long since, but he had been kept back in the frontier from time to time. Often because of himself. He enjoyed the time he spent in the forests and when he wasn´t seriously occupied, he sometimes forgot the time and so it had been the same today, too. Normally he didn´t find it wrong and didn´t regret it, but today Connor was really sorry. It was Lillian´s birthday and as always for such occasions, she had certainly invested much time and effort in the dinner. It was the only special thing on such days, because they never celebrated. The custom of birthdays was foreign to Connor, he couldn´t even determine his own. But he found that it was a wonderful thought to think of the day someone was born and to honour them. Especially when it was about people who were enriching his own life. Caleb was his protégé and the first person he could pass on his knowledge to. Connor loved to think of the day of Emily´s birth anyway and if Lillian hadn´t been born, she wouldn´t have stepped into his life and given him his daughter. He didn´t need a special day in the year to honour her, but still it would have been important to him to attend to dinner today and this time he could understand if Lillian was reproaching him for his absence.

But when Connor entered the house, there was the biting smell of burned flesh tickling his nose at first. Had Lillian scorched the food? He smirked. She really was still a bit clumsy in some things in the household. But when he took a few steps into the hallway and passed the dining room, Connor paused. There on the floor kneeled Lillian, her back turned to him, a water bucket next to her and scrubbing the wooden floorboards with a brush like mad. Some spots next to her were glistening of wetness already, as if she had already cleaned them, too. Connor slowly took a step closer because he didn´t know if she had noticed his entrance and cleared his throat. Lillian stopped and looked over her shoulder, before she turned her head away again to straighten up her torso and to throw the brush into the water bucket with a loud splash. Although he had only got a short glance on her face, Connor had seen that Lillian was crying. He doubted that he was the reason for it and an unpleasant feeling spread inside of him.
"What happened?", he asked, stepped even closer to her and finally kneeled down next to her on the floor. Lillian´s lips were tightly pressed together and she was sitting there as stiff as a poker, while silent tears were running down her pale cheeks. Now Connor also saw the black spots on the wooden floor which Lillian had tried to remove. They looked like burn marks.
"Ray was here", she whispered and confirmed all the dark premonitions Connor had for months now. Lillian´s brother came here to kidnap her and Emily while he wasn´t home. He should have known that they had been too careless over the last weeks.
"What has he done?", he asked tensely and let his gaze roam over her body, searching for the smallest signs of injuries. But it seemed like Lillian was unharmed, but she didn´t look at him for a second. With a shaky voice she began to tell him what had happened during his absence, but stopped, after she had told him how her brother had attacked Caleb with glowing ash and threatened him with a knife so that Lillian came with him. How she had outwitted him, knocked him down and threatened him with a knife on her own. It had been brave of her and she had protected Caleb with it, but obviously Lillian herself wasn´t convinced that she had done the right thing. She hadn´t told him yet, how the confrontation had ended.
"It is my fault that he got away", she finally said quietly. "I had the knife at his neck and he said that I could only get rid of him when I kill him. I had the chance, but...I did nothing."
She said it like a child that had to confess misconduct to an adult. She had lowered her head and her shoulders had slumped forward. It looked like she was actually expecting Connor to be angry with her. He also saw it in her eyes, when she finally looked at him. Her gaze was apologizing.
"I could have ended it. I could have banished him from our life at last and we wouldn´t need to worry about him anymore. But I hesitated and now he could run away again and we lost him."
"That is nonsense. You are neither to blame for what happened, nor for what will happen."
When Lillian lightly shook her head about his words, Connor put his free hand under her chin and made her look at him. He felt how she winced when she noticed his serious gaze.
"I cannot and I will not reproach you for not being able to kill your own brother. I do understand it."
Basically he was glad that she hadn´t done it. Of course she would have made sure that Ray wasn´t a threat anymore, but as far as Connor knew her, Lillian would have reproached herself even more than she did now. She just wasn´t made for ending a human life and nothing was wrong about that.

But although he had hoped to calm Lillian with his voice, she still appeared tensed and nervous. Her gaze moved from him, back to the burn mark on the floor. They must come from Ray´s devious attack on Caleb.
"How is the boy?", Connor asked quietly.
"He has burns on his face and neck. Dr. White wants to keep him for the night, if the pain should become worse." Lillian´s voice trembled and Connor already expected her to burst into tears again. He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her with him when he stood up.
"You should go to bed. You are exhausted", he said, but when he wanted to lead her into the hallway, Lillian vigorously shook her head.
"I can´t sleep now. I still have to clean up. The stains need to be removed and the vegetables I wanted to cook are still in the kitchen and I have to dispose the burnt roast, too."
Her gaze had nervously moved through the dining room and to the kitchen, but Connor wrapped an arm around her waist and pushed her towards the hallway.
"That has time until tomorrow", he tried to calm her and he was relieved when she finally let him lead her to the staircase without resistance. They just wanted to go upstairs when the front door opened and Connor had pushed himself in front of Lillian in an instant and had pulled out his tomahawk. He had thought that Jarvis had returned for some reason, but the assassin was surprised when he saw the face of Olivia. Her gaze moved back and forth between him and his weapon, which he pushed back into the belt on his hips.
"How is Noir?" It was Lillian, who talked to Olivia. So had the woman been here before?
"Quite good. I´ve stitched the wound, nothing is broken. She is dazed, but I think la belleza negra will be fine again."
"Good." Lillian looked at Connor and made a vague gesture towards Olivia. "She appeared when Ray was here. He fled in an instant and she ran after him."
"And where is he?", Connor asked immediately but Olivia shook her head.
"Lost him in the forest", she murmured and her gaze shortly flitted to Lillian, who was still standing on the staircase behind Connor. "Ratonhnhaké:ton, could I talk to you? Alone?"
Connor frowned. He hated such beginnings of conversations, because they often didn´t mean something good. But still he looked over his shoulder to Lillian, who had pursed her lips and had knitted her eyebrows. Obviously she didn´t like Olivia´s request either.
"Go upstairs. I will come right after you."
Lillian gave him a long look, before she nodded silently and not very enthusiastically and disappeared upstairs. Connor waited until he heard the door to the bedroom close behind her, before he stepped to Olivia and looked at her expectantly and without saying a word. For the first time since he knew her, the young woman appeared to be troubled and nervous and in turn, it didn´t made him become relaxed either. When he almost thought he had to ask her to speak, Olivia did it hesitantly and almost sheepishly.
"I told Lillian that I lost Ray in the forest, so that she isn´t even more worried." Connor raised an eyebrow, but Olivia kept talking. "I almost got him. He stopped all of the sudden, but when he called out to me that I should tell you something, I thought it would be better if you take care of him."
Connor snorted irritated. He had grown tired of Jarvis' games long since and Olivia should have put an end to it while she´d had the chance. She must wish Jarvis' death, too after all, after he had almost killed her. No matter what he wanted to tell him, Connor could go without it.
"So what are you supposed to tell me?", he asked nevertheless, but with a reproachful expression. Olivia hesitated for a moment.
"That...well...he said I should tell you that he´s waiting for you in the mine near the homestead´s borders. He wants you to come by dawn so that you can finally...get rid of your...disagreements."
Connor´s eyes narrowed. This request could only be a trap and furthermore he didn´t like the thought that it obviously had been so easy for Olivia to forget her thoughts of revenge. Right now she didn´t appeare like the tough woman he had met.
"Why did you think that it would be better when I take care of him?", Connor asked and as if it was a confirmation of his distrust, Olivia became nervous again.
"I...let´s say I have...some personal inhibitions. But you will do it and I want Ray to disappear. Forever. If you want me to, I will come with you. As support."
"It was certainly a trick of Jarvis so that we do not get him. While I go to the mine, he will flee."
This time Olivia shook her head vigorously. "Ray is a devious bastard, but he´s keeping his word. It´s a matter of honour for him."
There was a break while Connor scrutinized Olivia. He wasn´t sure if he could trust her. Maybe she had always been honest in the past, but that she was hiding something about Jarvis was obvious. But although she was nervous, she still had appeared honest when she had told him about Ray´s message. Maybe she had no bad ulterior motives but Connor didn´t doubt that Jarvis had no reason to ask him to come to the mine. He wouldn´t want to hold a polite conversation and Connor was sure that some sort of trap was expecting him. But he had to dare it. It was clutching at any straw, but what had he left, when he had no other trace to Lillian´s brother?
"Well then", Connor murmured and looked at Olivia. "Where do you want to go now?"
"To the inn. I have a room there", was the answer which only made Connor nod. He waited until Olivia had left before he went upstairs. Actually he just wanted to look after Lillian, before he went to the mine. He didn´t want to give Ray the triumph of being able to ask him around like he wanted to, but he didn´t want Lillian to stay behind clueless about his whereabouts either.

He recognized her silhouette when he entered the bedroom, sitting upright in the bed and obviously tugging at the blanket she had wrapped around her legs. When Connor closed the door behind himself, she paused in her action and asked so quietly that he almost didn´t understand it: "Will you go?"
He didn´t need to ask what she was talking about. She had listened to Olivia and him and probably he should have expected it. But he didn´t want to reproach her for it.
"I have to. Maybe I only have this chance. But I will not wait until morning but will go now." Connor went around the bed to her side and sat down on the edge. Inwardly he was already preparing the right words to calm Lillian when she spoke out against his plan. But the contradiction didn´t come. Instead, Lillian got on her knees, moved closer to Connor and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her open curls tickled his cheek when she buried her face in his shoulder and he felt her still tear stained cheeks on his neck. But she wasn´t crying anymore.
"Please be careful", she whispered. "It´s enough that someone was hurt today. Ray is capable of everything and I don´t want him to take you away from me like he did with my parents."
Connor already knew that this was her greatest fear. She was more afraid of what her brother could do to him, Caleb or Emily than of what he could do to her. Because basically she didn´t need to be afraid of him. But Connor doubted that Jarvis would keep his word not to hurt her physically in the long run. A reason more for the assassin, to eliminate him as soon as possible because he didn´t want to lose her either.
"It will be over", Connor said quietly and wrapped his arms around Lillian to pull her against him. He just held her while she clung to him, as if she never wanted to let go of him. But when Connor finally pulled away from the embrace, she didn´t contradict. She just put her hands tenderly on his cheeks when he kissed her forehead and allowed him to stand up and leave.

The iron mine was on the outskirts of the homestead, close to the bank of one of the river´s branches. It was in the forest but they had created a clearing around it to ease the transportation of the ores. Until now Norris had been the only one working here and Connor was glad that he was in Boston with his family for businesses. So he wouldn´t appear here all of the sudden and probably get in danger, although it was deep in the night right now. Connor had approached the clearing through the branches of the trees and was now sitting in a crutch, his eyes checking the clearing and the mine´s entrance. The sky was entirely clouded and only sometimes, the cold moonlight managed it to make its way through the small gaps between the clouds. Most of the time it was dark and Connor had to rely on his own sharpened sense of vision while he made a plan of how he could enter the mine. From his position he could see the contours of the entrance and the path to it was without any covering. So Jarvis could already see him before he had even reached the mine. As far as he knew it, it didn´t have another entrance. So he only had this way left.
Connor jumped off the tree, landed on the soft forest ground with a muffled noise and directly hid in the thicket. The wall of bushes and long grass led along the clearing and ended close to the water. At first he circled the clearing and left the thicket when he couldn´t be seen from the mine anymore. As quickly and silently as possible, Connor waded through the knee-deep water of the tributary, before he hurried to the rock face the mine had been hit in. He had no places to hide anymore until he reached the mine, but the darkness was useful for him. Slowly he sneaked along the rock face, closer to the entrance. The chance that Jarvis had noticed him yet was small, but it was there and so Connor had to stay careful because he hadn´t seen his enemy either until now. It was still possible that Jarvis wasn´t here and still Connor stopped close to the entrance, pressed himself against the cold rock and took one of the smoke bombs and the tinderbox out of their pouch. Skilled he ignited the fuse and threw the bomb into the tunnel. He could hear its muffled impact and the likewise muffled explosion, together with the familiar hissing of the smoke flowing out of the case. That was the moment for Connor to pull away from the rock and storm into the mine, the tomahawk firmly in his hand, the hidden blade slid out and ready to fight.

The assassin ran through the smoke that was protecting him from being attacked and also was giving him the chance to check the environment for his opponent. With the eagle vision he tried to detect Jarvis' aura in the darkness, but everything stayed black. He could neither hear a coughing or another sound that was telling him that Jarvis had been surprised by the bomb. When the smoke had already vanished, Connor was still standing in middle of the tunnel and listened into the darkness. In his thoughts he went through what he knew about the mine. The only tunnel was two or three metres wide and four metres high. It led hundreds of metres into the rock but had no branches and went straight forward. Somehow it was an advantage because there were no places to hide for Jarvis. But Connor´s advantage could be his enemy´s advantage, too. His weapons still ready, Connor sneaked with agilely steps through the tunnel, his ears pricked and searching for movements in the darkness. Through the eagle vision, everything seemed to be much darker than it really was. But if Jarvis was here, his aura would shine like a torch and would reveal him without him even noticing it. Every fibre in Connor´s body was tensed and still the assassin and warrior was entirely calm. He was focused on this situation with the aim to find Jarvis and to eliminate him. He wouldn´t leave this mine until this had either happened or he could tell without doubt that Jarvis wasn´t here. Step by step Connor made his way through the tunnel, deeper and deeper into the darkness that wasn´t enlightened by torches anywhere. He could take it as a clue for Jarvis' absence, but he didn´t and he really didn´t want to rely on it. And he was right to do so.

When the tunnel turned lightly, Connor saw it. A blazing red light, only a few metres away. He recognized Jarvis' cape and face. He was tensed because unlike Connor, Jarvis had no clue where his enemy was. He only had his hearing and the small explosion by the entrance surely hadn´t escaped his notice. A bitter smile appeared on Connor´s lips. That wouldn´t help Jarvis now. It would be over for him before he would even know what was happening. Slowly Connor sneaked to Jarvis, but he didn´t come far when he heard a hiss and light flared up next to Jarvis. Now the environment through the eagle vision looked strangely distorted and Connor blinked to see normally again. Jarvis, who was holding a torch in his hand, froze when he noticed him. He appeared to be seriously appalled, but this expression made room for a cold smile.
"You´re here already. How rude, I wasn´t prepared yet. Furthermore it´s quite dark in here, don´t you think? We can hardly see each other while talking." A rustling sounded and in a rather knee-jerk reaction, Connor caught the torch Jarvis had thrown to him. He hung his own into a mounting in the tunnel´s wall and looked at Connor expectantly.
"Come on, ignite it. One isn´t enough."
Connor frowned irritated. He had wanted to avoid such games, but if this "conversation" was supposed to end in a fight, he wanted to risk it. He turned the torch in his hand and finally ignited it, as he found it not to be manipulated. With the shining torch in his hand, he went to the wall and put it into another mounting. Then he turned around to Jarvis, whose disfigured face twisted into a smug smile.
"I´m glad that you followed my invitation. It´s time to eliminate our disagreements, don´t you think?"
"When you are talking about yourself, you are right", Connor replied coldly and earned a mocking laugh.
"So primitive. Like I have expected it. You´re the typical patriot. Opening your fat mouth and waving around with your blade without taking care of the people who are dying of your steel. I know exactly why I want to erase you from Lillian´s life."
"In this case, we have something in common." Connor straightened up to his full size, when he met Jarvis' angry gaze after these words. He recognized this insane sparkle in the unharmed eye which had been there already, before Jarvis had lost his temper. Before he had held Emily out of the window and had provoked Connor like that. This memory alone was stoking Connor´s own anger and he met this gaze unmoved. Jarvis growled and slowly pulled a short sword with a broad blade out of its sheath. A dagger found its way into his other hand. Connor let the hidden blade slide out, too, additionally to the tomahawk. Both men kept looking in one another´s eyes.
"I´m not here to talk to you because you stupid idiots are not able to hold conversations." Jarvis prepared himself for an attack and lifted his weapons. "I´m only here to kill you at last, so that my little sister sees that I was right about everything."
With these words, Jarvis crossed the few metres between them and cold steel met cold steel.

The clangour echoed from the walls a hundred times, while Connor and Jarvis exchanged blow after blow. They tried to hit the other with their blades, but over and over again they blocked and attacked each other. Soon they had to realize that they were each other´s equal.
"Are you doing this for your hurt redcoat-pride or are you really doing it for Lillian?", Connor asked when their blades were wedged together and they stood in front of each other, the tips of their noses almost touching and their faces twisted in exertion.
"Both", Jarvis answered growling. "My plans may have failed at the moment, but I won´t give up and one day, this nation will be ruled by King George again, like it should be. That´s a flourishing future, not what you´re patriot friends are planning. Everyone will be better under England´s government and so will Lillian. About her..." Jarvis pushed Connor away and their weapons separated under a loud scraping sound. "I will not watch you corrupting her with your thoughts. I can´t recognize her already. Lillian is insecure and easy to confuse. She needs someone who´s giving her strength and no one who´s putting wrong ideas into her head."
A bitter smile appeared on Connor´s face while he blocked another strike from Jarvis' sword with his tomahawk and turned it to the tunnel wall. "I fear you do not know Lillian", he said likewise bitterly. "She changed in all these years in which you haven´t seen each other. But not because I have influenced her. She did it on her own and is not the insecure, manipulable person anymore, you are describing. For a long time already."
Connor grabbed Jarvis' arm in whose hand he was holding the dagger and struck it against the rock wall behind his opponent. The hand opened and the weapon dropped to the ground. Jarvis' got his revenge through a hit with his elbow against Connor´s temple, which made him stumble backwards, but Connor could strike with his own blade and felt how he hit Jarvis' side.

They stood by each wall of the cramped room and seemed to mobilize their strength. They were breathing heavily but they hadn´t lost their will to fight.
"You know nothing", Jarvis uttered between clenched teeth while he pressed a hand on his bleeding side, where Connor´s blade had grazed him. "You and your patriot friends are masters in turning everything to your liking. You are good in excusing and wriggling yourself out. But this is over now."
Jarvis crossed the distance once again and Connor´s arm vibrated under the force of the strike which he had to block with the tomahawk. Jarvis was a good fighter. Strong, fast and skilled, totally different from the redcoats he had used to fight. It became aware to him that they had been lacking of one thing: Of true will. Jarvis wanted to kill him. He wanted to eliminate him because he had an aim and a conviction, not an order. He believed Connor to be evil, almost like Connor believed him to be and they both would fight until the end. It was an unshakable fact.
While Connor only defended himself at first and blocked Jarvis' attacks, he tried to find a gap in the defence of his opponent. If they should meet directly once again, Connor could probably use his hidden blade. He only needed the right opportunity. Connor began to attack him. He let a wave of strikes pouring down on Jarvis, who always blocked him. But at least he had to withdraw to the wall and finally Connor had him where he wanted him to be. With the tomahawk he reined in Jarvis' sword arm while his arm with the blade shot forward. But obviously his opponent had expected it. Jarvis' hand grabbed Connor´s wrist and held it back with all force.
"Do you think I didn´t notice your intention?", Jarvis asked while Connor tried to fight against his grip. Under strained growling and panting the two men fought out this combat of pure strength until something happened that made Connor pause in confusion.
Jarvis' grip around his wrist became almost painfully firm, but at the same time, the rest of his opponent´s body became limp. Connor raised his eyes and looked into an entirely absent-minded face. The mouth was slightly open, the healthy eye widened, as if he had seen something frightening in the darkness behind Connor. Suddenly the eye rolled up, so that Connor could only see the white in it. A tremble ran through Jarvis' body before he slowly began to speak in a strangely sonorous voice.
"Guardian, walk through the gate. Follow corridor after corridor, will get lost in this place. But brave guardian be assured, it´s always right to choose the path of death."

Connor stared at Jarvis dumbfounded and his gaze moved to his chest, where a blue light was shining through the shirt. Connor just wanted to reach out his hand for it, when Jarvis returned into consciousness all of the sudden. As if nothing had happened, he pushed the assassin away, who was still so distracted that he stumbled backwards until he felt the rock wall in his back. But still he couldn´t do anything else but to stare at Jarvis. He was totally normal again, even though a malicious grin appeared on his face.
"It seemed like someone didn´t pay attention, doesn´t it?", he asked, pulled out his pistol and grinned at Connor again. But the barrel of his weapon wasn´t trained at Connor but at a spot a few metres next to him. A burning torch, hanging over two powder barrels beside one of the mine props, which was supposed to support the tunnel.
"Thank you so much for this settling conversation. But I think, I have enough of you now. I´ve prepared something nice for you", Jarvis said smugly and shot. Right before the shot, Connor had jumped to the side but he could feel the short heat, coming from the barrels when the torch fell down on them and made their content explode. Connor could only see a thick cloud of smoke at first, but when it vanished and the echo of the explosion had subsided, too, Connor heard the creaking sounds over and next to him. The explosion had damaged the mine prop and a part of the wall. The wood gave in under a loud crack. Connor jumped forward in the last moment, when a part of the tunnel already collapsed behind him. He had to get out of here, before further parts collapsed or even more barrels exploded. The assassin ran, but didn´t come far. From the corner of his eye, he saw how another mine prop gave in and fell into his path. Connor couldn´t head back and neither he had enough time to duck under the mine prop. He caught it in a knee-jerk reaction, braced himself against it with his whole strength and Connor felt a pain flashing through his side, while the rocks were pushing against him from above. He felt like he had to support the whole mountain over him. Staring straight forward he saw that small stones were trickling down on the path to the entrance, too. But the entrance itself was still clear. Connor just wanted to push the mine prop away from himself with his last strength to dive under it, when Jarvis appeared in front of him. He appeared to be relaxed in the face of the collapsing tunnel around him.
"Does it get heavy?", he asked sneeringly and lightly pressed the tip of his sword against Connor´s chest to prevent him from withdrawing. "Fascinating how much strength a man can mobilize when he´s just trying to not get crushed."
"You will be buried as well if you keep staying here", Connor uttered while he felt how his arms got tired. Jarvis laughed spitefully.
"Not if I bid farewell now", he said, but suddenly his eye widened when he looked past Connor into the tunnel. Connor could hear a hiss which he had only heard before when Norris had ignited a line of black powder to do a detonation from the distance. Hadn´t Jarvis planned his trap carefully enough?
Connor had just got to this thought, when another powder barrel exploded behind him and destroyed another mine prop. A strange noise shot past Connor´s ear, connected with a sharp pain in his left shoulder. But his attention was aimed at Jarvis, who had lowered his sword and stared at the arm-long wooden splint in his chest with an almost dumbfounded expression. He stumbled several steps backwards before he collapsed. Connor saw his chance to escape, but the rocks around him finally gave in and it became dark around him.