Embracing The Light (Arno Dorian x OC), an Assassin's Creed Fanfiction

Chapter 25 : Willkommen !

Saturday, 14th of March 1795

It had been ten days since Rosalie and Arno had left for Vienna and their trip was only ending today. The duo was entering the capital city for the first time, sitting at the front seat of their carriage. They had arrived just in time since the sun was starting to set. Arno was focused on the road while Rosalie was observing the streets and people walking around. The atmosphere felt much different from Paris : the buildings looked fancier, with frescoes and columns and eventually golden ornaments. Also, the Austrian ladies assumed much more their rococo style by wearing large lacy skirts and extravagant makeup and wigs.
"I have heard that Vienna had the best music in the world." Rosalie broke the silence. "I wonder if that is accurate."
"It is." Arno affirmed.
The young woman glanced at him. "You sounded quite sure of yourself."
"This is not the first time I'm coming here." he explained. "I visited this city once, when I was a teenager." He then felt lost in his memories when he thought back about that time in Vienna, when he was fourteen years old. Monsieur De La Serre had brought him and Élise to an opera composed by a young but talented Austrian musician. Arno only remembered that the opera was in German, since it was the very first and only time they had heard opera entirely sang in this language. It had sounded so awkward to them that, as soon as the show had started, Élise and Arno could not help but burst into laughter. Monsieur De La Serre warned them several times but, before the first act even finished, they had not choice but to leave the theater. The old man furiously grounded both of the children that night Arno will never forget.
"Why are you smiling ?" Rosalie asked, imitating the man.
Arno came back to reality and blankly stared back at the woman sitting next to him. "Comment (What) ?"
"You were smiling."
"Was I ?" he then kept a straight face.
Rosalie's smirk vanished as well while she slightly nodded. An awkward silence started to grow between them until the woman decided to quickly end it. "Where are we going now ?"
"We need a place to stay. I'm trying to spot an inn around here."
Hopefully, it was not so hard for the duo to find one. A couple of minutes later, they had stopped in front of a modest but busy flat with a sign on which they could read the word « Gasthof ».
"Here we are." he said as he went down from the carriage.
"How do you know this is an inn ?" Rosalie asked as she followed him.
"Because it is written." he playfully smiled as he opened the carriage's door to take out the suitcases.
The woman crossed her arms on her chest with a smirk on her face. "You know how to read German ?"
"Nein (No). But since I came here before, I remember a couple of words, including this one." Arno then got out of the fiacre and handed to Rosalie her suitcase. Then, the two of them led towards the entry of the inn, carrying their stuff at the same time.
Arno pushed the door and, as soon as they walked inside, the first thing that they had spotted was a counter behind of which a brown-haired woman in her late 40s was standing. She had a severe look on her face as she was speaking to one of the female workers. She did not look quite rich, but her dress was much fancier than Rosalie's and it looked like she had tried to cover up the wrinkles on her face with makeup, in vain.
Once the woman noticed the two newcomers, she relaxed and her red lips curved into a not very sincere smile.
"Ah, Willkommen (Welcome) !" she exclaimed with too much enthusiasm.
As they were approaching, Rosalie could not help but stare with astonishment into the innkeeper's plunging neckline, showing off maybe a little too much of her large breast. She then tried to bring her attention elsewhere before the woman noticed anything.
Meanwhile, Arno responded with a polite smile. "Bonsoir (Good evening). We would like a room for two." The two of them then let their stuff on the ground temporarily.
When the innkeeper understood that Arno and Rosalie were French, she continued with a strong accent. "Bien sûr (Of course). One of our rooms luckily opened up today. We have cleaned it up from the bottom to the top and it is now available. Right, Constance ?" she then slightly elbowed the young maid standing next to her.
"Oui (Yes)." the maid said with a smile which Rosalie and Arno returned.
"For how long ?" the innkeeper then asked to the man.
"Heu... We do not quite know actually." he glanced at Rosalie. "At least a couple of weeks, I'd say."
"Oh you know, as long as you pay, the longer you stay the better !" the woman then laughed heartily and both Arno and Rosalie were amused by her attitude. She then grabbed a book from the shelf behind her and put in on the counter, she grabbed a pen and added. "May I have your names ?"
Arno and Rosalie then looked at each other for a moment. They had to not divulge their identities to anybody. So, they had to use fake names like the Templars did. Arno started. "Monsieur Charles... Victor." he then glanced at Rosalie. "And..."
"Madame (Mrs.) Anne Victor." she finished with a little smile.
"Herr und Frau (Mr. and Mrs.) Victor..." the innkeeper repeated as she wrote down the names. "Perfect ! I only need you to pay for tonight and you are ready to go."
Arno took out his purse to pay and, once he did, the innkeeper handed the key of the room to the man. "It will be upstairs, the very first room in front of you."
"Merci (Thanks)." they both said before they led towards the upper floor while they were carrying their suitcases and other stuff. They could hear cracking sounds under their feet as they were climbing up the wooden stairs.
"We are lucky that they knew how to speak french." Rosalie said from behind.
"A lot of french royalists who fled the Revolution must have come here." Arno explained. "I suppose local people have been exposed to French a lot because of that."
Once they reached the right door, Arno unlocked it with his key. He then let Rosalie walk inside first. The room was big enough for two people and had two windows providing a view of the main street. It was very old-fashioned and reminded the woman of their secret apartment in Paris. She noticed an empty wardrobe behind a tiled screen at a corner and an old desk on the opposite. Then, on the other side of the room, there was only one double sized bed with two nightstands at each side.
"There's only one bed." Rosalie remarked.
After Arno closed the door behind him, he analyzed the room and noticed what the woman mentioned. With a surprised look on his face, he said. "Oh, maybe we should ask for another room..."
"I don't think they have any other room that is available." Rosalie replied. "The innkeeper said that this one just opened up today."
Even though they were in a relationship for now a month and a half, Arno and Rosalie had never shared a bed together. They just never had the occasion to do so and they had not planned to sleep next to each other for the first time in this place.
"I suppose we have no choice then." Arno then sighed and slightly smiled.
"I think so too." Rosalie imitated him shyly. She then lied her suitcase on the ground to open it and took out a nightgown. She went behind the folding screen to change her clothes while Arno was unpacking his stuff. The man hid the long and mysterious rectangular brown box under the bed and put next to it the suitcase inside of which they had all of their supplies. He then stood back on his feet and took off his clothes to wear more comfortable ones.
Once he wore his shirt and pants, Rosalie came out from behind the screen wearing only her nightgown. She had let her long dark hair fall alongside her back and her arms.
While she was leading towards the bed, she yawned. "All I need now is a good sleep."
Arno glanced at her and smiled. Rosalie then lifted the blanket and lied down on her side, keeping her back turned at Arno who was now sitting on the desk, grabbing a notebook and a pencil and writing something down.
The woman turned her head to look at him. "What are you doing ?" she asked.
Arno glanced at her. "I'm keeping a record of our activities in Vienna."
"And what are you writing now ?"
"The day and time of our arrival and where we are staying." he smiled.
"Couldn't you do this tomorrow and rest a little ?"
"I'm not very tired."
Rosalie then blankly stared at him. "Are you even human ?" She had earned a chuckle from Arno. "Well, if you won't sleep, could you at least close the curtains for me please ?"
"Of course." the man said then got on his feet to lead towards the door but, when he was about to draw the curtains, he noticed a human silhouette standing on the other side of the street. They seemed like they were staring at Arno who frowned. A few seconds after, they walked away and disappeared from the man's field of vision.
Arno remained confused as he closed the curtains and finally sighed. "We may have underrated the Templars' power around here." But he got no reaction from the woman. "Rose ?" he then called her.
When he approached the bed to look at her, he realized that she had instantly fallen asleep due to her extreme fatigue. Arno then slightly smiled while he tidied up her blanket properly to cover up her shoulders and moved away a hair that was cutting her peaceful face in half.
Arno then backed towards his desk and wrote down as soon as he sat while his candle was weakly enlightening the room.

Date : Saturday, 14th of March 1795
Situation : Arrived in Vienna at around eight in the evening. Staying at an inn located on Rennweg Street. Hoping we will remain unnoticed as long as we can.

The Next Morning

It was early when Rosalie opened her eyes. She had had a good night of sleep in a real bed for the first time after being almost two weeks on the road, so she did not want to get up right now. But then, she felt something around her waist and, as she glanced down, she noticed a man's arm. The woman then slightly straightened to look behind her and saw that Arno was lying right behind her back but her sudden movement woke the man who breathed deeply as he started to open his eyes as well.
As she met his brown irises, she whispered. "Sorry..."
Arno then smiled slightly as he closed back his eyelids. Rosalie then lied down on her side and put her hand above his to be closer to him. She could feel his chest right behind her back and his breath carressing her neck.
She then heard him whisper to her ear. "We should get up."
"No..." she responded with a sad tone.
Soon enough, Arno put a quick kiss on her neck before he got on his feet and led towards the desk. Rosalie rolled towards the other side of the bed to stare at him with a smile enlightening her face.
"What are we doing now then ?" she asked.
Arno showed the letter on which the address of the De Lévis' estate was written. "We could start by searching this place, what do you think ?"
"Sounds good." Rosalie replied as she stood up. "But first, I need to eat. I'm starving." the woman grabbed her basket and took out an apple from it. As she bit in the fruit, she led towards the windows but as she was about to open the curtains, Arno held her wrist to stop her.
Rosalie glanced at him with a frown, so he said. "We should keep them closed. You never know."
"Whatever for ?" she asked, confused. "I thought we were already discreet enough."
Arno had an embarrassed expression on his face as he glanced away from the woman who gave him an interrogating look.
"Has something happened ?" she asked in a lower voice.
Arno shook his head. "It's nothing..."
"Well for something that is supposed to be « nothing », it seems to intrigue you a lot."
The man sighed. "I just want to be careful..." After a short pause, he explained. "I think I saw someone stalking us yesterday evening."
Rosalie raised an eyebrow. "You think ?"
Now that he was rethinking about it, Arno was unsure. He felt like his memory was tricking him. "I don't know... I may have seen it wrong."
"Maybe. For I don't quite get how the Templars could have found us so quickly. I mean, we just arrived yesterday and, as far as I'm concerned, they don't know how we look like."
The man sighed to calm himself internally. "I suppose you're right."
An empathetic smile grew on Rosalie's face as she put her apple on her desk and approached him. "Arno..." she softly called him. "I thought you were supposed to be the rational one and I the one who worries about the slightest thing."
The man weakly chuckled and then stared into Rosalie's dark eyes while she put her arms around his neck. He raised his hand to softly tuck her hair behind her ear and look at her face properly as he used his valid hand to hold her waist.
"I know..." he murmured and his smile started to disappear. "But I nearly lost you a month ago, because of my carelessness."
Rosalie became more serious as well. "We both were careless. It wasn't just you."
"Still. I don't want to let anything like this happen again. And I will even be too cautious if I find it necessary."
Rosalie frowned as she started to let go of him. "Arno..."
"What ?!" he said in an upset tone. "Rose, you cannot blame me for not wanting to lose you !"
"And I don't !" she responded to calm him. "Because I don't want to lose you either. But Arno, you will not be able to protect me all the time." she had a sorry look on her face. "We are Assassins, we live the danger. We will put our lives at risk during every single mission and even outside of them. And you being overprotective will not save me if I'm not meant to be saved."
Arno glanced away, not wanting to believe her. But Rosalie cupped his face in her hands to make him look at her. His face softened as he plunged his gaze into her eyes.
She continued with a little smile. "You can't just look after me like a child. We have to work together, help each other out because we are on our own. We have nobody but each other here."
"Not only here." Arno stopped her softly. "You're the only person that I have, Rose."
Rosalie's face relaxed as she noticed a hint of sorrow inside the man's eyes.
While he was caressing her cheek with his thumb and observing every single detail on the woman's face, he added. "I have nobody but you in this entire world. And I don't want to lose you... I can't..."
Rosalie opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, but breathed deeply instead. Then Arno gently pulled her into a hug and Rosalie let him bury his face in the hollow of her neck. The man was holding her by her waist while he closed his eyes. Rosalie was keeping her head above his shoulder and caressing his hair slowly with her valid hand as she let his heat conquer her whole body, and his love overwhelm her heart.