"A third letter? What letters?" Isabella called out the letters, the talk out of releasing and whatnot. It all made no sense to her, but it seemed normal for Edward.
"I see. Is this one in English or Italian? If it is English. Say it out loud. Isabella, Focus on gathering all the medical supplies. The men must be arriving soon."
Nolan seemed cautious to say anything at first, but Edward gave him a look of confidence and nodded, and Nolan read it aloud.
"Reach the back of the warehouse and have a peaceful exchange of words. The captives will be free if you meet this condition. Isabella or Edward Kenway, any one of them can be the candidate for this. I think you consider it carefully as Thomas and Jonas are both in my hands now."
"..."
Silence tucks within them. Isabella was the most surprised, it showed on her face, and she felt more disconnected from the situation. Edward realised Isabella's struggle and revealed the information.
"The assassins have taken many thieves and Thomas's entire group captive and Jonas too now, they are under the assassins's wishes."
"..." Isabella" 's eyes grew slightly sad at the words as Thomas wasn't the best person she had met, but she sympathised with him for how he looked vulnerable when they first met.
Jonas could go and die in a ditch somewhere.
"First, one person came out to me with this message that there were captives. When the second one came from running from the gate when we racing her, his letter told me if it was closed..."
"It told me to knock at the door politely to open it, and this was the third one. The assassins are calling me out to the field, and I don't know what sort of trap is this now."
Edward did not include the offer in the first letter and what happened to the person who brought it. Nolan, who stood beside Edward, voiced his words.
"We should not join them, and they crossed their allies. We have no reason to trust them. We don't know their faces and neither their intention. You should not leave."
"..." Edward felt a bit conflicted in his mind. There were unlimited possibilities, and he wanted to give away his life so easily.
Isabella showed agreement with the words, but then she evaluated them carefully. She reflected on the details told by Henry, she thought of Arthur. She tried to imagine himself thinking and the architect of this building's actions carefully placed on each other, she thought of her suitcase once again, and there was the answer.
"Edward, call all men back and tell them to eat from the food armoury and you too. Eat and get rest then, you should go to the warehouse."
"?!" Nolan and Edward were surprised, and Isabella's response went over their heads. It was clear to Edward that Isabella knew something he didn't, he would not argue for elaborations but to convince Nolan, it was another thing...
"I had time to get information from Henry, and he was planning this with the assassins. He told me that the assassins were the ones who exploded the bridge and gate to the sea, not a Britannia soldier or a thief, and the assassin wanted to send a message by that and also... I don't think that matters. Edward, they don't desire control or power, they are here to send a message."
Edward and Nolan looked at each other, and Nolan issued the command that they were being called back and bringing food ration out of the food armoury. Edward and Isabella got the bread while Isabella tended to Edwad's wound, and she tied a clean cloth to Edward's leg and got him to go while she talked to other thieves about medical equipment.
Edward was concerned about her knife stab and fatigue, but Isabella said she would be fine. Edward carefully watched her and ate his bread while people rushed into the barracks.
A few minutes later, he was ready to leave and he nodded Isabella goodbye as he moved out of the building into the rain and called from the outside. He looked in the direction of the warehouse and began moving.
Men guarding the barracks gave him a nod, and there was security for an unforeseen attack. He moved towards the warehouse and saw the wooden bridge beside him was entirely blown to bits. It was a clear long-term plan, he realised. Hundreds of men had died, and the water following would be red in the morning and filled with corpses and guns.
He passed the last few men on the security, and they tried to stop him, but he sent them back saying there was a confidential meeting ahead and the thieves deluded heads believed that.
Edward came closer to the warehouse. Large enough to tell small ships and cargo. One of the walls coincides with the city walls while the other sides were thicker than the thief's den but the door was not that well made, to think Edward could move it with a bit of force.
Edward saw the inside of the structure and saw that the building was with torches and lanterns from all sides, and he witnessed proper lighting for the first time in the chaotic night. The cargo was in its place, and there were no small ships or boats to see, it seemed no explosion ever occurred near this place but there was. Every man had seen or heard the large blast in this warehouse but, he could not see the effect like when he experienced it first-hand.
"Edward?! Hello."
"!!!" Edward heard a weak voice call him out it came from behind the black blocks of cargo. Edward began walking forward, he did not bring any guns only his dagger for the combat.
He crossed the cargo block and reached where the voice came from, he picked an earpiece from the ground and began talking on the radio. He had long forgotten that Ethereo did not have radio devices but it was not that they did not exist. It was clear how the communication and strategy of the assassin was so effective.
"Hello, Is it Arthur?"
"No. It is Raya. The girl you tried to kill a few hours ago. Remember."
"Of course. What better time to talk to you? After, it all started before everything went down to hell. I agree that you won but there are other things I am here. I hope you remember your words."
"Sure, The thief and soldiers are free from the captive except your good fried Thomas, Arthur was a bit angry when you rejected his offer, didn't send the thief back and used the flare not how he instructed. That ought to be justified."
"You are getting off your words here. Free all the captives as per the letter. I won't play any of your games until he gets freed."
"You only have that he is still captive from me. I could've lied to you, Edward. You forget that I have power over you in this situation, elder assassin."
"The same advantage you thought you had when I forced you into the corner in that hospital. You are alive because of your allies and I need to keep my allies alive."
"Tch..."
"I need to talk to Arthur, Raya. Let's keep your history aside. Morning is coming soon, you need to get out of here. So let us finish our business here."
Raya sighed, and she knew Edward was telling the truth, and she hated it but it was true.
"Go out of the warehouse, and go to the southern edge of the warehouse. There will be a toilet booth, go inside and wait. Make sure that no one sees you."
Edward kept the earpiece down and climbed up the black cargo in front of him. There were the windows on the other side. He climbed up and exited the building on the corner. He grabbed the walls of the warehouse and slowly climbed down to the ground. He reached the ground and searched the toilet.
The wall tower came to shape with a door at its front. Edward entered the tower and stood in front of the toilet and soon the noise of gears grinding came to his ears. He felt the building or at least the toilet moving to the other side.
"What is this ?!" Surprise and confusion came side by side, how was this built? How did the assassin know about this? He never learned something like this in years of assassin training even as a top disciple.
"You should come out now." A voice called out to Edward from the other side of the door and he opened the door.
On the other side of the door, there was a room, a well-lit one. A long table with chairs was placed in both directions and on the very end of the table sat a man eating bread and beef with a cup of coffee which leaked steam.
"Hello, Arthur."
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