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

Chapter 27 : Immortal Beloved

Later

Rosalie and Arno walked inside the inn which, fortunately, was deserted. The woman quickly checked her wound and noticed that it was even more open than earlier. She kept holding it while Arno, at her front, was leading upstairs, unaware of Rosalie's pain.
As soon as they entered the bedroom, Arno led to the desk in order to empty his pockets and get rid of the letters he carried. Meanwhile, Rosalie carefully lied on the bed, starting to feel dizzy. She kept her hand on her injury as she closed her eyes. Her mentor finally turned his head towards her and noticed how pale she looked.
He approached her with concern. "Rose ?" he called her and the woman reopened her eyes. "What is wrong ?"
Her lips were slightly shaking when she opened her eyes to murmure. "My wound..."
Arno's gaze then fell on her wound covered with her hand and he decided to sit on the edge of the bed, next to her. "Let me see."
She then weakly raised her hand and Arno locked his eyes on the injury with a frown.
"You've been losing too much blood !" he exclaimed. "Didn't you say that it was nothing ?"
"I... I suppose it got worse... on our way back." Rosalie weakly said.
Arno felt quite mad at Rosalie for being that careless, but he decided to focus on stopping the bleeding first by taking out a bottle of alcohol and some bandages from one of their bags. He then sighed as he regained his seat next to Rosalie.
"I knew I shouldn't have let you walk around there on your own." he whispered as he soaked a piece of cotton with alcohol.
"It was worth it." Rosalie remarked as she was starting to regain consciousness.
The man then suddenly pressed the soaked cotton on her wound and Rosalie failed to hold back a cry of pain.
"Was it ?" Arno unironically asked.
"Could you be a bit gentle at least ?!" Rosalie then shouted as she straightened up.
"I am being gentle."
"Well I was much more gentle with you last time ! That hurt like..."
"Could you just lay back down and let me finish ?"
Someone knocked the door, making the two of them freeze.
"Excuse me ?" a timid female voice came from the other side and they both guessed that it was Constance, the young woman who was helping the innkeeper. "Could you be a bit more discreet when you have... intimate... relations inside the inn." she hesitantly said.
Rosalie had her mouth open with shock as she was staring at Arno who shut his eyes and sighed, before he responded loud enough for the woman to hear. "Apologies. It won't happen again."
Rosalie then covered her face with her hands, feeling embarrassed and, once they heard the worker walk away from behind the door, Arno rolled his eyes and sighed again while he was covering Rosalie's wound with bandages. "What were you thinking ?" he rhetorically asked in a low voice.
"What do you mean ?"
"I don't know : facing Henriette on your own, not telling me that you were severely wounded..."
"It is not that severe." Rosalie cut him off, thinking that he was overdramatizing the situation. "Besides, splitting up helped me to find those letters that we've collected there and get an interesting conversation with Henriette before she died."
"Before she tried to kill you." Arno corrected her before he took off his hands from her.
Rosalie stared at the man with a questioning look on her face. "Arno... Do you think that I am that weak ?" she asked in a whisper.
The man's face relaxed and he glanced down as he took a deep breath.
"I am not accusing you." she continued. "But I also want you to know that... I am not that barmaid you used to know."
Arno gazed back at her and his anger dissipated, showing a hint of sadness in his eyes.
"That barmaid you saved a countless amount of times, the one who had to be protected because she needed someone helping her to stand on her feet." she added. "After I killed Anne de Marbeuf, I also became someone else, an Assassin. Who walked inside the Conciergerie in order to save your life, who killed Payen and, today, Henriette. That day when I assassinated someone for the first time has changed me for good, and for the better I suppose."
She then slowly sat up, grimacing due to the pain she felt. Arno raised his hands to help her but she stopped him.
"I'm fine." she reassured him. Once she sat properly, she softly looked at Arno.
"I may not need your protection as much as before." Rosalie said with a little smile. "But I still need your support. Not only as my mentor, but also and especially as my friend. I need you to believe in me, Arno."
Arno kept softly staring at her. He then raised his hand to put a bit of Rosalie's hair behind her ear and a smile appeared on both of their faces.
"I believe in you." he then sincerely murmured to her.
Rosalie's smile grew even more. "Merci (Thank you)." she whispered.
The man slightly nodded. "And I apologize. If I have made you feel like you were weak. You clearly are not." he then sighed. "I just... haven't realized how much you have improved since you became an Assassin."
"Well, I've had a good teacher." she chuckled.
Arno imitated her and, after a short time during which they quietly stared at each other with affection, the man broke the silence. "Anyway, why don't you tell more about your conversation with Henriette ? You've said it was « interesting »."
"Right..." Rosalie sighed before she started. "As I have told you earlier, she said that she gave her Apple to her mother as planned."
"So, we are talking about the one who pretends to be Gabrielle de Lévis, or her real mother ?"
"They are the same person. Fake Gabrielle and fake Henriette are apparently mother and daughter in real life as well."
Arno slowly nodded. "So her mother took the Apple outside of Vienna, right ?"
"Indeed."
"That means it could be anywhere in the country... or in the entire world." Arno sighed with a hint of desperation in his voice as he looked down.
A sad look appeared on Rosalie's face, but it quickly vanished when she realized something. "Maybe not." she then said, making Arno glanced at her with a frown. As she glanced back, she started. "Do you remember the name « Mr. Cormac » that Henriette has mentioned back at the estate ?" After Arno nodded, she continued. "It appears that this man is the Grand Master of those Templars. And one of the letters that we have collected inside Henriette's bedroom was signed by him."
The man then straightened up and led towards the desk in order to get the letter she was talking about. As soon as he found it, he read out loud. " « S. P. Cormac »..."
"Does that name ring a bell to you ?" Rosalie asked from behind.
"Non... maybe the Brotherhood knows something but we clearly cannot ask them right now." Arno backed towards Rosalie who was still sitting on the bed.
"Well, whoever he is, he says in this letter that he is going to take that Apple of Eden once he will arrive here, in Vienna." Rosalie explained. "And Henriette told me that he was going to be here by the end of the month."
Arno stared at her. "So, that would mean that Gabrielle kept the Apple in order to hide it until Cormac arrives ?"
"Possibly..." After a pause, she asked. "What is our next step then ?"
Arno thought for a moment before he answered. "The archduke mentioned that he was going to attend an oratorio with Henriette and her mother. They were supposed to meet again there."
"Well, I guess it won't happen." Rosalie shrugged.
Arno then looked at her. "Maybe Henriette won't be there, but Gabrielle might be."
The woman raised an eyebrow. "You think she will go to an oratorio right after losing her daughter ?"
"She may be a mourning mother, but she also is a Templar who certainly has responsibilities too."
Rosalie slowly nodded. "Henriette confessed that some business was going on between the Templars and the archduke. If this meeting at the oratorio is important, Gabrielle may not want to miss it."
"Then we mustn't either." Arno responded with a little grin and Rosalie imitated him.