AC Syndicate: Isolated Files [OS]

Promise Of Hope [Alternative]

[Continuation of the short story Reception]

After a few seconds of reflection, Jacob decided to climb over the railing. He spotted where Victoria was — now alone — and leapt over, out of sight, into the shadows of the night and the sleeping trees. With his feet on the ground, on the grass cut the day before, Jacob straightened up and slipped through the crowd after removing his hood. The Assassin controlled his breathing and looked around as he shoved aside the guests in his way. His sixth sense allowed him to find the brunette among the bourgeois.

He followed Victoria through the mundane crowd back into the Cameron mansion. The poor thing was getting cold outside despite the proximity of the good people around her. The bride didn't really know where to go, she felt so lost even though she knew her in-laws' mansion well. She had so many memories here, some good and some not so pleasant. At first she looked for Thomas, to reassure herself, to have a familiar and more sincere face than the guests — obviously Sophie March was the exception. But she couldn't find him, so she just wandered among the guests. A few people called out to her to point out that some things were missing, or to congratulate her on the wedding and the beautiful reception. She always answered them with a smile, playing it fast and loose so as to avoid lingering with her interlocutors.

As she retraced her steps, she almost collided head-on with a young brunette with hazel eyes, whose scar drew a simple vertical line through his beard from the hollow of his left cheek. Above his right eyebrow, he had another one similar to the one on his jaw. When she recognised him, the young bride was at first surprised to see him, both by his presence and by the proximity of their faces, although he was only a few centimetres taller than her. She could hardly believe that he was really there. Her mouth barely opened to pronounce his name, but no sound came out of her throat. But she repeated and managed to articulate, not without stuttering:

"J-Jacob..."

"Good evening," he replied with a small smile. "You look... great..."

Victoria interrupted him, telling him with her index finger to be quiet. She looked around, removing her finger from her mouth, and looked again at the infiltrator.

"Let's move elsewhere, it's better to avoid prying eyes and ears. Follow me. I know where we can be alone."

Jacob nodded to tell her to go ahead so that he could follow in her footsteps. The two brunettes secluded themselves in the library of the manor. To lighten the situation a bit, as the brunette closed the door behind her, her eyes scanning the room one last time to make sure she hadn't been seen, Jacob joked:

"Of all the places you could take me, it had to be in a library."

Thomas's wife took a few steps closer to her lover and jumped on his neck, tears of joy and relief welling up in her eyes. She was so happy to see him tonight that she hugged him as she snuggled up to him.

"I thought you'd never come."

Jacob was surprised by this outpouring of love. Although he had suspected it, he had not expected such physical contact, far too intimate for etiquette and now for a woman who was already married. He did not immediately wrap his arms around Victoria's body. Then he returned the embrace, burying his nose in her neck. He inhaled the delicate scent, although it was difficult to perceive.

"Since the beginning of this day, I have been with you, Victoria. In thought, in my presence at the church, at this reception..."

Jacob's voice began to tremble, struggling to contain his emotions. All day he had kept himself from snapping, from running Thomas's throat through the edge of his blade. Victoria was touched by her lover's words, but also by the fact that he had been there, wherever she was. He had been there in the shadows, witnessing her condemnation of this business marriage, the pain she was experiencing. The reunion embrace became a consolation embrace.