You were now in your kitchen preparing a pot of tea for your expected company as Haytham went on his way to go fetch his secondhand man.
You decided to boil up a pot of some slightly narcotic herbs to dull your guest's senses a bit, so perhaps he may not take notice of anything you forgot to hide.
You weren't certain it would have any effect on him since he could very well be resistant to such things as you were, but still it didn't hurt to take precautions.
Then with a sudden knocking you left the kitchen and made for the door, supressing a slight shiver of anxiety. Then you took hold of the knob and opened the door, greeted by another surprisingly handsome face.
Honestly most Templars you crossed paths with were often fat or bulky looking pigs with perverted smiles painted on their crooked faces, so what was up with this men. Is this the pretty boy squad or something?
"Are ye the lass Master Kenway sent me for?" The man asked, looking towards you with a tinge of suspicion in his eyes.
"Yes, that would be me. I'm sorry, I insisted that I was fine on my own, but I'm afraid my will was not strong enough against Mr. Kenway," you explain with a laugh.
Your guest was unamused, so much for being a cheerful fellow.
"Well anyway, please come in, I hate to you leave you out there any longer," you said, stepping aside to let the man in. He nodded as he walked in past you, and so with that you closed the door behind him and mentally prepared yourself for whatever might happen from here on out.
"Please take a seat, I have some tea at the ready if you'd like," you offered.
"Sure," the man grumbled as he settled down into the wooden chair.
"Oh by the way, I feel awful for not introducing myself, I'm (Y/n) (L/n), sir," you introduced yourself with a slight bow as you handed the man a steaming cup.
"Shay Cormac, thank you, miss," he replied taking it into his hand.
With that you settled down across from him with your own cup in hand, taking a sip.
"So, Mr. Cormac, what exactly brings you men here? You don't exactly look like our typical merchant traders."
"Right you are, we're on the lookout for a runaway man, though I'm afraid I can not disclose further than that," Shay said.
"I see, do you do this often?"
You asked.
Shay just hummed in a questioning manner, waiting for you to futher elaborate.
"You know, sailing around, hunting down dangerous men, living the thrilling life out on the frontier."
At that Shay finally gave some rise and laughed a short bit. "I suppose it has become more consistent as of late. You seem to have quite the adventurous mind to see it in such a light for a little lass like you."
"Hey now, I've gone on quite a few adventures myself for the little lass I am," you replied with a scoff.
"Oh, have you now? And just what might those so called adventures entail?" Shay sassed, sounding strangely tipsy?
"You really want to know huh? Fine, I'll tell you," you replied, sounding equally tipsy, getting up from your seat you rested one foot upon it's surface.
"Back when I was on my 9th year of age I had gained a name for myself amongst the people of New England as the Red Mouse," you continued. Warning lights were going off in your head, but you were beginning to lose all impulse control.
Before you went on however, Shay seemed startled at what you had said.
"Wait a minute now. That can't have been you, she was supposed to be a rumor, a child's tale to get a laugh out of people at the pub!" He shouted, sounding somewhat shocked and amused all together.
"No that was me, after rebelling against my family I stuck to the streets, achieving never before seen feats."
And with that you two went on entertaining one another, swapping tales, dancing, laughing, singing, until all went black.
You had without a doubt made the wrong tea.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
With the chirps of nearby birds you gathered some conscious back, soon squinting your eyes at the harsh morning sun.
You found yourself sitting in the rocking chair beside the guest bed, wearing Shay's coat, while the man in question was found laying on the bedside, not quite conscious either
"Oh dear," you grumbled.
Then without hesitance you turned around and closed your eyes. "Looks like a problem for later."
Falling back asleep you ignored the situation at hand until you felt a tap on your shoulder.
"Ey lass you should be getting up now," Shay said as the smell of cooked eggs wafted through the air.
Your eyes slowly drifted over to him, then to the plate in his hand, not fully seeing either just yet.
"I made breakfast, hope you don't mind my using your food and kitchen," he continued.
You just hummed, repositioning yourself in the rocking chair, and weakly reached out your arms from Shay's large ol' coat.
He would be lying if he didn't think it looked slightly cute and somewhat pitiful, but despite that thought he passed you the plate and walked off to go get his. He soon came back with his own then and sat on the bedside, watching you slowly take a bite with a distant gaze in your eyes.
"I'm guessing that wasn't your regular cup o' tea last night, was it?" He then piped up, follow by him shoving a fork full of eggs into his mouth.
You shook your head sluggishly, feeling a tad dizzy still. "No, most certainly not, I must have accidentally grabbed that mixture I got as a gift a few days."
Shay just gave a small chuckle at that, nearly choking on his eggs in the process. "I'd be careful if I was receiving gifts like that, mixtures that strong could be deadly to the average human."
It was true, who knows what would've happened if two regular citizens drank stuff like this. Even with your tolerance you were suffering a horrible headache and a dizzying lack of balance.
"Yes, I suppose I shall have to be more attentive so as to not go mixing up the labels again," You said, finishing up your last bite of biscuit.
"That you will," Shay said. "Though, if you happen to have the ingredients written down I wouldn't mind taking the recipe for myself."
"Oh? Looking to make your job a tad easier, or is this more for personal uses?" You asked with a brow raised.
"Well, let's just say some of the masters look down upon my taste in drink sometimes,"
At that you snorted "Really? Those pi-" you coughed, "-most people of that profession would kill for a drink if it called for it, or even vice versa."
Shay cast you a look of suspicion. "You know, you seem to hold quite an open and knowledgeable air for such subjects compared to most common folk."
"Yes well, I told you last night, remember? I was the red mouse. I worked around and delt with a lot of people such as yourself, Mr. Cormac," you countered.
He clicked his tongue, "Right! I forgot that. You really weren't pulling my leg there were you?"
You nodded, giving a hum.
"If it's like you say, then how did you end up all the way out here on this lone mountain? It's no easy trip to make from New England, I'd know since I made it myself," Shay asked, setting his plate.
"Ah"
"I guess," you trailed off for a second to find the right way to word this inconspicuously.
"I guess I was just needing a break from the fast pace of life there. There was always so much work to do no matter who you were, big decisions to make, constant battles."
"I- I had a few personal losses I suffered as well, and I couldn't continue with the way things were. So I ran, I ran away then found this place, and it was perfect. I sometimes think it was my sister's last gift to me; bringing me here safely."
You could see a look of deep understanding in his eyes as you spoke, perhaps- perhaps not all of the templars were such wretched people. Though you hated to admit it, you knew for every division of peoples there were those that gave their division a good name, and those that gave it a bad one.
"I know very well of what you speak. Back in Boston I had a team of sorts that were like family to me. We ran together for a great deal of time, but they changed into something I could no longer recognize."
He gave pause. "I have yet to find my peace. Once this hunt is over I am to return to my original course and finish this battle of mine."
Something about the story seemed strange. This group he was talking about it couldn't be the Templars could it? You weren't aware of there being a particular group stationed at Boston, perhaps a few stragglers but no more than that.
There weren't really any guilds that you could think of either, except for maybe...
No that couldn't be it.
"You have my condolences, I hope you are able to find some closure in the near future." You said, trying not to leave an awkward silence.
Shay merely smiled with a bitter tone to his face. You then gathered the plates and made for the kitchen, Shay watching you from behind. Observing how his bulky coat dramatically shifted it's weight with every step you took.
He then realized something, your footsteps were completely silent, even on the creaky wooden floors. The only thing that indicated movement was the crinkling of his leather coat.
He took note of the way you walked, and was surprised to find it nearly matched that of the assassins. Of course everyone still had their own strut suited to their own body, but everyone was trained to hold their weight in the same way with the assassins.
Perhaps you just happened to adopt the same technique naturally in your own time since you were after all the red mouse. One of the stealthiest thieves in New England.
Shay then looked further up to see your face, your eyes held a more prevalent caution in them, your mouth shaped into a thin frown.
Something was off.
"Well, I thank you for staying the night for my sake, and cooking breakfast. I must be off to go and bathe, but if you'd like I could draw hot water for you as well," you said as you came back from the kitchen.
Shay then paused, looking to the side, then back to you, now with a suggestive smile on his face. It took you a second or two but then you corrected yourself.
"In a separate bath of course."
With an amused huff the man got up from the bed and walked towards you, grabbing onto the lapels of his coat. "I appreciate the offer Ms. (L/n)-" he began sliding it of your shoulders slowly "-but I think I shall be taking my leave now, and report to master Kenway."
He was closer to your face now than ever.
"Though I appreciated keeping you company," he spoke softly. And with that the warmth of him and his coat were removed as he walked off to the door, casting you a wink as he fully slipped the coat back on.
Then he was gone and it was now just you in the house as though nothing ever happened. After a good minute had passed you went stumbling over to the nearest wall, resting your weight against it, clutching at your chest.
"Oh my poor heart can't take anymore of this," you whimpered.
"Is this what it's like to be romanced? Or am I going crazy from stress?" Asked yourself. "Perhaps it is both."
With that concluded you went to go draw yourself some hot water. You couldn't help but think back on Shay's story. It didn't seem right, but it sounded like he may have been talking about the assassins back at the small manor in Boston.
You never met anyone there, so if your suspicions were true you still wouldn't be able recognize him to confirm it.
Though you tried to shake everything off your mind for now as you undressed to bathe, but then you found something unusual. You pulled out a hair from between your bosom, but the strange part was that it wasn't yours.
It could be that it was Shay's, but it looked slightly different, though it was hard to tell since it was a single small strand.
You decided to ignore it however and climbed into the bathtub ready to relax and cleanse yourself.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Meanwhile Shay was halfway through town, leaping from tree to roof in typical assassin manner. He still found joy in that aspect of being an assassin, freedom of moving freely across the land, exploring new layouts and structures.
Though unfortunately he couldn't get something off his mind, something that troubled him deeply. Then there he saw Haytham speaking with one of the crew men below.
Leaping down he took a tumble through the grass before raising to his feet. "Master Kenway, I've returned," he called to Haytham.
"Very good," Haytham remarked. "How did everything go?"
"It went well sir, though I have reason to believe that she is with the assassin," Shay said.
"So she's not the assassin herself, what evidence would lead you to believe that?" Haytham asked, now waving off the rest of his men to continue their work.
Shay walked closer to continue on. " Y'see sir, I knew this assassin well actually. He wasn't apart of our group in Boston necessarily, but he did come to train and take on assignments occasionally. His name was Louise Damodar."
"And what might this have to do with Ms. (Y/n)?" Haytham inquired.
"I remember him once mentioning a girl that he worked with, he was wanting to train her, but didn't want to involve her with either the Assassins or Templars. So he asked if he could borrow some supplies or the training grounds when it was vacant."
"I believe Achilles had agreed to his request and lent them the training grounds. A few months later I remembered hearing rumors of the red mouse, who was a street thief, had topped their game." Shay continue on growing closer to the point he was getting at.
"Just last night the lass mentioned being the red mouse in a slip-up that she had. And this morning while I was observing her I noticed her walk was uncannily like that of an assassin. So while it may be a stretch she could very well be the girl that Louis was with."
Haytham remained silent, going over everything in his mind before delivering a reply. "I see, we'll have to keep a close eye on her in that case. I'll have you watch her from a distance, make sure you pay notice to who she contacts. I'll have the other men watch for if she tries to wander off."
"And what of you, master Kenway?" Shay asked.
"I'll find a way to keep her in my company," Haytham replied.
Ya'll I did not expect this to be so bloody long. I was only expecting this to go on for roughly 2 chapters at best, but I'm at 3 now and still have much left. Have I mentioned that the chapters have been anywhere between 2,600-3,000 words long so far?? Because yeah, that's really long and a better consistency than I've managed so far.