The Road You Tread [Assassin's Creed III]

She was in trouble, and she knew it. She had known it the instant the two men had walked through the door of her little apothecary.

She had been in the midst of scrubbing the counter, using an old rusty knife to get rid of the more persistent stains adorning the darkened wood, when suddenly the door banged open. Starteled, she had looked up to see a huge man walk in, followed by another one of similar stature. They must have been working at the docks for their arms were strong and their hands showed the typical signs of rope burns and all the other hard work the dockworkers had to do, such as carriing heavy luggage.

She could identify these signs because she had tended to such injuries more often than not, her apothecary being located close to the busy docks of Boston.

The door slammed shut and she squinted her eyes at the first man. She didn't like the look on his face, not at all. His green eyes looking at her from his broad rough face held something to them that made a shiver run down her spine.

She tensed up and looked at the intruders warily. The taller one, with the green eyes - a redhead, she absently noticed - took a step forward and nodded at her.

"'evening, Ma'am", he almost barked. His companion only nodded, his crudely cut black hair dangling around his thin face. He had pointed features, reminding her of the rats she sometimes saw in the dirty streets.

Carefully, she inclined her head, her fingers tightening around the hilt of the blunt cleaning knife.

"God evening, Gentlemen." Shit, her voice quivered. Trying to sound as calm as possible, she continued.

"How can I help you?"

The redhead shot her a quick glance, then turned towards the many shelves adorning the walls of the small rooms.

"Cut my finger 'n some goddamn splinter 'is mornin'. Hoped you could give me something t'ease the pain. Can you?"

Exhaling slowly, she tried to calm herself. This didn't sound as bad as she had feared. Forcing a little smile on her lips, though it was somewhat strained, she put the knife down and walked around the counter towards one of the shelves opposite from where the man was standing.

"Sure", she said, quickly scanning the boards for the thing she was searching for. "This place isn't called an apothecary for nothing."

Finally, her eyes landed on a huge jar she had placed there only days before and she knew contained ointment that would prevent infection and speed up the healing. It was standing on the topboard, so she raised on her tiptoes and reached up.

But when her fingers finally touched the cool glass, suddenly two armes wrapped around her waist.

"Feisty lil thing, ain't we?", the redheads voice whispered in her ear. She flinched, a tiny gasp escaping her mouth when she was whirled around.

'I was right about them', was the only thing she could think of when the man pushed her backwards into the counter and pressed up against her.

Her eyes flashed towards the blackhaired man now leaning against the shopdoor, arms folded over his chest, eying his nails casually. It was only when she realised there was no help to be expected from him that panic began to well up in her.

She tried to shove at the redhead, to push him back, but he only laughed, his muscular frame towering over her.

Still laughing, he put his hands on her hips and bent down.

"Let's have a lil fun now, huh, pretty one?"

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply.