Broken Soldier ~ Assassin's Creed 4

Chapter Two

I tapped my fingers on my desk. My mathematics lesson had been dragging on for quite a while and my tutor had left for a little while. He had given me some sums to complete on my own but I wasn't in the mood to do them. Instead, I gazed out of the window. My sisters were playing in the garden. They would not start lessons for another few years. That angered me slightly because I wanted to play and I wanted to be carefree. But no, I was stuck with old Mr. Fables and his smelly breath for four hours each day.

My stomach rumbled. I was so hungry. Edith had forgotten to wake me up and so I was too late to have breakfast. In all fairness, she had tried to persuade father to let me have some fruit or bread, which he declined. I had just a small beaker of water on the desk which I had all but finished. It just wasn't quite food.

Mr. Fables stepped back into the room.

"Lisa, dear, have you finished your sums?" I hid my distaste for the shortened version of my name that he used everyday and had finished the sums. Just as he was opening the door, I jotted down the answers. The sums were easy and took me just a few moments. "Very good." His rotten breath flew into my face and I scrunched up my nose. "Now, can you try these?" I did as he asked, quickly too. A mere minute, in fact. He had been timing me on the clock. "A mere minute! You are incredibly smart, Miss. Lisa." I shuddered. I hated being called that and I think he knew. "I will just check these... Yes, they look correct. Well done, I can tell you have been practising." I smiled. "Now, your father wanted to speak with you in his study." I got up and headed downstairs. Father's study door was open so I stepped in.

"Elisa, sit." His tone of voice was harsh. I heeded that as a warning and sat quickly. "It's about the Kenways." He leaned forward, his hands on the desk and his face inches from mine. "They are not good people, child. You need to understand that."

"I do understand that, father. I didn't trust them from the start." Even just lying about it made me feel as if I was betraying them.

"Did you see their son Edward?" I shook my head. "Positive?"

"Yes, father." I reached down to touch the soldier in my coin purse. Still there.

"Alright..." He sighed. "I plan to take a trip back there to buy some more produce. By myself. However, I wish for you to come as well. To learn about business." I nodded. It had been two years since I had seen Edward and I had heard that he had grown up so much, or so my mother said. "We leave tomorrow. Be ready."

My eyes opened as Edith woke me. I got out of bed, ate some breakfast, and then had my hair washed and combed. I wore a dress which clung tightly to my form. However, I did manage to loosen it slightly. Edith had picked out a pair of leather mules for me to wear. I smiled at myself in the mirror. Mother had told me that I was growing to be a young lady myself and that she was impressed. I didn't quite see it myself, I was just getting taller and my hair was just getting longer. My mother, however, was just growing more and more beautiful. She seemed to look younger all the time. A natural beauty. She had red hair, like me, only hers was much curlier and was pinned in a high bun. She wore a smile around anyone she met, another beautiful thing about her. She shared my views on the Kenways and couldn't care less either way. I liked them and she wasn't going to try and stop that.

Father called for me and I dashed to meet him. He gave a little smile, one I hadn't seen in so long, and lead me to the carriage. One thing I had noticed about father during his weekly visits with the Kenways was that he was definitely growing to like them. However, his pride was too much for him to admit that and so he kept to slandering their name. He was nicer too. He allowed me to speak a little more freely, though still didn't know of my encounter with Edward. It was a shame that father couldn't just be civil with the Kenways and just tell everyone that he could bare them.