Revolution (Book 2 in the Rise Trilogy)

Back in Time, an Interrogation, and a Super Hidden Blade

Back in Time, an Interrogation, and a Super Hidden Blade

A few hours before Charles and Thomas corner Connor and the night before the execution…

Why does my head hurt? Why are my weapons gone? And where the heck am I?!

I try to shift but I am bout to a chair by the scratchy ropes at my wrists and ankles. The room is dark save for the small candle in the center of a table in front of me. my mind runs through all the possibilities on here I could be… oh yeah.

I laugh as I look around the room for any movement again. “Ah, Charles this is a sorry way of keeping me from rescuing Connor…” I open my mouth to say more when a figure suddenly comes into view. He picks up the candle on the table and begins to light the lanterns in the small room. Then I see his face. It's not Charles I see.

“All this time…” he begins. “All this time I thought he was the threat! But, oh no! It was you!" He points an accusing finger at me. "You are the one that ignited the revolution!” he continues to rant at me while pacing the floor. “You are the once who knew about the letter Pitcairn carried. You are the one who knew where Hickey’s hideout was.” He stops pacing and puts his hands on the table and leans over slightly looking at me. “And how in God’s name is my son still alive?” his asks this slowly and gives me a death glare but is pleading for my answer.

I say nothing to Haytham Kenway as I simply smile. “You’d like to know, wouldn’t you?” I challenge with another grin.

Haytham narrows his eyes at me before he stands back and glowers in annoyance and anger. “I will not tolerate this from a child! I want answers.”

“And I want a milkshake,” I scoff. “But you don’t see me complaining.”

He looks like he’s ready to rip my throat out. I see his left hand curl into a fist to unsheathe his hidden blade which he stole from Miko, the Assassin all those years ago. The Assassin symbol is still there with the top of the symbol ripped away.

I grin at him knowing that I have the upper hand even though I am bound to a chair. “Okay, you can cut the big scary Grandmaster Templar act on me. I’m not afraid of you and I know you’re not gonna hurt me.” I pause for a moment. “And I know that you father would be so disappointed in you. And you know it too, don’t you?”

“What would you know about my father?” Haytham snarls placing his hands on the table again as he leans in to hear my every word.

“He was an Assassin, a pirate, Connor’s grandfather, and he was murdered before your very eyes a few days before you tenth birthday. Or so your journal said.” Haytham opens his mouth to say something. But I cut him off. “And your mother…” I trail off. “That poor woman, scarred and broken. How did you quote it in your journal? ‘… she was no longer the mother I knew, I realized. Or was I no longer the son she knew?’ she died twelve years after the attack. And you never go to see the end…” I let my words sink in before I continue. “And I’m so sorry about Jim Holden. I know that-“

“Enough!” Haytham angrily shouts at me. I see a burning passion along with the knowledge of his painful past fill Haytham’s eyes. “Why is it that you know everything like you have seen it before?”

“Well you see, there’s this thing called, the Internet and this other thing called, I’m not normal,” I say with a bit of fierceness and sarcasm in my tone. I begin to sift uncomfortably in the scratchy ropes that bind me. But then I realize, they forgot a weapon. Thank you, father! I say as I inwardly grin feeling the straps of my super hidden blade under the left sleeve of my robes.

“I don’t care for you silly games and smart remarks!” Haytham growls at me. “Now are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?”

“Hmmm… let me think…” I say thoughtfully looking up at the ceiling. “How about neither. So you let me go, I go get Connor, we kill Hickey, and we’ll be on our merry way back home.” During my little disagreement, I have unsheathed the hidden blade and cut the ropes at my wrists. Thankfully, the ropes that were around my wrists were also at my legs and ankles so all the ropes fell away without Haytham noticing.

Haytham raised his unsheathed hidden blade to strike me saying that I chose the hard way.

In slow motion, his blade comes down to strike my face but I rise to my feet and I throw my left arm in front of my face unsheathing my hidden blade. When the blades make contact, it sends another painful jolt though my left shoulder. I grunt in pain ripping my arm away as I stagger backward knocking over my chair as I fall into the wall behind me gripping my shoulder.

“You’re more clever than I previously thought,” Haytham mutters sheathing his blade.

“Then you should know better than this,” I mutter back rubbing my shoulder as I blow blue and orange hair from my face.

He suddenly pulls something from his pocket then holds it out to me. “Where did you get this?”

My hands immediately go to my neck as I fumble around to feel that my small green amulet is no longer there. “You took that off my person?” I ask angrily as I walk towards Haytham. “While I was unconscious?”

“Charles says he say you playing with it at the Continental Congress meeting,” Haytham says holding it by the red cord it hangs on. “It is the exact same one I have.” He pulls a red cord from within his shirt. “How are you doing this? How do you know all these things? How do you know where we are? What we are doing? It is as though you have seen these things many times.” He almost sounds desperate for my answers.

“How about you give it back and I’ll tell you,” I take a few steps forward and reach for the amulet. But Haytham as other ideas.

“How about you give me the answers I want and cut the badass Assassin?” he counteres me and I glare and roll my eyes at him in annoyance.

“Alright, fine,” I say in agreement. “You wanna know the truth?” I put my palms on the end of the table as I lean forward. “I’m from the future.” I come clean and say it.

Haytham is silent. I simply stare with for once, a straight face making sure I get the point across that this is real and I’m serious. He opens his mouth to say something but quickly closes it.

So I decide to elaborate. “And the things I’ve seen, heard, and read…” I bow and shake my head. Then I look up into Haytham’s eyes with a powerful stare from my icy blue eyes. “He’s your son, Haytham. And you want to kill him just because he is an Assassin? What would Edward say?” I leave the questions hanging for a moment hoping to see if he will say something. But he doesn’t. “Your entire life as Templar has been nothing but lies and treachery. You know that too. Your own mentor- Reginald Birch betrayed you and your family. Yet you stay with them as loyal as ever. I don’t want to see history repeat itself. That's why I'm here. That's why I know everything.”

Haytham glares down at me as he says, “It won’t. Because you and Connor won’t be in it...” I see pain in Haytham’s eyes as he raises the gun to me. As if he will regret this moment for the rest of his life. Then I realize that he is fighting with himself on whether or not to kill me.

Then as I’m backed into a wooden wall, I feel another painful throbbing in the back of my head. Then a gun shot. I let the darkness consume me.