Rookery ~ Assassin's Creed Syndicate

Chapter Thirty Seven

I had been in France for two weeks before I received a letter back from Jacob. Inside of the envelope were three sheets of paper, all completely filled with sentences. One from Jacob, one from Evie and one from Henry. However, the letter came alongside a parcel. The parcel was brought to my bedroom door by Felix at eleven in the morning. He set it on the ground in front of the door and knocked, in case I was still asleep, and swiftly left to tend to his other duties.

I emerged once I had gotten dressed, and that had taken me up to half past eleven. I took the parcel and retreated once again. The parcel was wrapped heavy-handedly in brown paper and tied off with a few strings. The contents were soft and flexible. I began to peel away the paper, revealing a pair of thick gloves and a black cardigan. I threaded my arms into the sleeves of the cardigan and smothered myself in the warmth. It felt like a big, hot hug. I placed my hands in the pockets and felt the envelope. It was wide and clearly filled too much for the size of it.

Upon opening the envelope, I discovered the three letters. Each one had the name of the person who had written it on the reverse of it. I opened Evie's first, since that was the first one I had seen. Mainly, she was just describing any research they had done in the past two weeks and how close they were to finishing everything with Starrick. Henry's letter was congratulating me on my work. He had received a small amount of the funds we wanted early, in order to pay them back for having me sent to France in the first place. Plus, Martin had been incredibly impressed by the progress he had already made with learning English. He was just simply enjoying my company.

Then, I flipped open Jacob's letter.

Dearest Carina,

I miss you so much. With every passing day, I think of you. Evie and Henry are beginning to grow bored of my constant moping around. I am lonely, to tell you the truth. God... If Evie could see that, she would most likely hit me for being such a sap... Sincerely, I want you to come home. I need you, Evie needs you, the assassins need you, London needs you.

Work is difficult. We lost a member of our workforce when you left, and it is becoming difficult to adjust to the sudden change. Evie and I have been doing a lot of work in freeing children from factories and hunting Templars. I suppose that is what we will continue to do until our funds are secured.

I am so sorry that you were roped into doing it. We could, potentially, have found another woman who spoke French and English, but I suppose you were simply the only person we really knew who fit the bill for the job. We will compensate you for your work, I will see to it. When you do return, I plan to treat you to a nice dinner and perhaps we could eat at the top of Big Ben, like we did that day with those beers.

I miss your stupid, little smirk, your bright eyes, the way you make tea for no reason. I miss and I love you. But I have to go now. I will post this letter in the morning. Right now, Evie and I are supposed to be heading out to another factory, but she lost her throwing knives and won't leave without them. You know how she can be sometimes. In fact, you know how she is all of the time. Always wanting me to tuck my shirt in...

I hope you enjoy the cardigan and gloves. I thought they would be good for if you had a panic attack. They're quite warm and soft, and I heard that comforters can help in most cases. So, since I can't be there to comfort you, think of the cardigan and gloves as replacements.