Charles realized he had woken up right in the middle of a conversation.
“I have nothing to say to you, father. You have violated my trust—“
“What trust?” Master Kenway seemed uncharacteristically angry. “You only began to trust us after we found Church again. Do not claim the moral high ground on my keeping a single detail from you—“
“Detail?” Those amber-brown eyes flashed. “I do not count keeping the identity of the man who ordered my village’s destruction a mere detail!”
Master Kenway scoffed. “It was because I knew you would act thus and think upon us suspiciously.”
“And do I not have cause? If you would hide something like this from me...”
Master Kenway pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Postponing the delivery of said intelligence is hardly the same as hiding something. We could not afford to be suspicious of each other while on a mission. It would have endangered all of our lives!”
“That was not your decision to make!”
“It is my intel. Of course it is my decision to make.”
Charles closed his eyes again.
That was not the way to gain Connor’s understanding. He knew his wife well enough now to know that.
There was silence for a moment before...
“I have asked you this earlier, and I ask you this now. Leave my ship.”
Charles’s eyes suddenly snapped open. Leave the ship? Was Connor planning on stranding them?
“Not until you see sense—“
“You have no choice,” Connor eerily repeated the phantom woman’s words. “We are docked where we should be. I desire you to leave.”
Charles watched as Master Kenway pursed his lips.
“Connor,” his mentor began, “it is hardly helpful for our alliance for you to drop us off in such a state and with Charles in the state he is in—“
“I did not indicate him. You must leave.”
That struck both Charles and his mentor speechless.
Connor continued. “During this trip, you have offered little beyond insults and interfered where you ought not have. You actively concealed information pertinent to me from me and ordered Charles to do the same.”
Charles blinked. What?
Master Kenway’s eyes slid over to him, and his mentor gave a minute shake of the head.
“I must ask you to leave. Please.”
Master Kenway stood for a moment longer before turning on his heel and storming out.
Charles lay in his sickbed, unable to believe what he’d just witnessed.
Master Kenway had given him an excuse? Master Kenway had transferred some of the anger his wife justifiably felt to himself?
“I will not drive you off. Not in the condition you are in. But know this, I am reconsidering this alliance between us.”
Charles gulped.
“I—“
Connor held up a hand.
“I do not know if I can trust you to give me relevant and vital information. I understand that you withheld your belief in the commander’s involvement—“
Belief? So Connor did not believe him.
“—based on my father’s orders—“
And Charles was continuously surprised by that. He silently vowed to thank his mentor when he caught up with him again.
“—but keeping this secret when you knew how important it was to me...I cannot know if you will do this again in the future. I cannot know if you will let my father dictate your own common sense.”
Charles’s ears burned at the rebuke. But it was an unfair judgment. It was unfair because of what his wife believed had happened, and it was unfair even if what he described had happened.
“I’m sorry, but it was because of my own prerogative that I did not tell you sooner.”
Connor was silent at this, but his eyes told Charles everything he needed to know.
He had never seen someone look more hurt and betrayed.
“My father said,” Connor began, his voice a whisper.
“Master Kenway is wrong. I imagine he wished to protect me, and I am grateful to him for it. But you are right about one thing: this is no time for more secrets.”
With difficulty, Charles raised him from the bed and caught his wife’s hands in his own.
“I was concerned about how you’d take it. I know you care for Washington, I know you love him.”
And here, his wife’s eyes grew large and round.
“So I kept his involvement a secret because I did not know how to tell you.”
Connor pulled his hands away and rubbed them uneasily.
“You seemed to have no trouble announcing it as you did.”
Charles lowered his head in shame.
“And there is no excuse for that. I was jealous for the high opinion you always seemed to give Washington. The thought of him gaining your confidence so easily when you had despised me for years. And he guilty of the crime you accused me of!”
His voice softened with guilt.
“I lost control. I do that a lot. I did it 12 years ago—“
“When you came upon me in the forest,” Connor muttered.
“Yes.” Charles sounded miserable. “I do it on almost a daily basis with Washington’s continuing idiocy. And now I—“
He hesitated.
“I am sorry for the pain I caused you.”
Connor began pacing.
“I still do not understand why you would feel the need to keep this from me. And why my father would feel the need to protect you from my judgment of you.”
His wife paused in his pacing and whirled around to face him.
“What do you possibly have to gain from this? What does my father possibly have to gain from this? All these lies...”
“I like you.”
Those amber-brown eyes looked at him in confusion at first, then widened as their owner began to comprehend his meaning.
Charles took a step forward and grasped a hold of his wife’s shoulders. His expression was earnest, almost begging.
“I like you, and I did not know how to tell you without hurting you. I did not know how to tell you such that you would believe me.”
Charles took a deep breath. “You were so blinded by your regard for Washington, and I cherished this new lack of animosity that you held towards me so much that I could not bear to jeopardize it.”
He looked away towards the door that his mentor had so recently walked out of.
“Master Kenway knew of my—regard—for you. I believe he wished to help me, misguided thought it may be.”
“You do not approve?”
The tone was suspicious, doubting.
Charles tried not to let it sting him too much.
“I know that I was wrong. I know that Master Kenway is wrong. And I regret that. I let my own personal insecurities get the better of me, and they ended up threatening my ability to be near you.”
In Pursuit of Happiness 36
Chapter 36 - Truth
“Connor, listen to me—“
Charles realized he had woken up right in the middle of a conversation.
“I have nothing to say to you, father. You have violated my trust—“
“What trust?” Master Kenway seemed uncharacteristically angry. “You only began to trust us after we found Church again. Do not claim the moral high ground on my keeping a single detail from you—“
“Detail?” Those amber-brown eyes flashed. “I do not count keeping the identity of the man who ordered my village’s destruction a mere detail!”
Master Kenway scoffed. “It was because I knew you would act thus and think upon us suspiciously.”
“And do I not have cause? If you would hide something like this from me...”
Master Kenway pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Postponing the delivery of said intelligence is hardly the same as hiding something. We could not afford to be suspicious of each other while on a mission. It would have endangered all of our lives!”
“That was not your decision to make!”
“It is my intel. Of course it is my decision to make.”
Charles closed his eyes again.
That was not the way to gain Connor’s understanding. He knew his wife well enough now to know that.
There was silence for a moment before...
“I have asked you this earlier, and I ask you this now. Leave my ship.”
Charles’s eyes suddenly snapped open. Leave the ship? Was Connor planning on stranding them?
“Not until you see sense—“
“You have no choice,” Connor eerily repeated the phantom woman’s words. “We are docked where we should be. I desire you to leave.”
Charles watched as Master Kenway pursed his lips.
“Connor,” his mentor began, “it is hardly helpful for our alliance for you to drop us off in such a state and with Charles in the state he is in—“
“I did not indicate him. You must leave.”
That struck both Charles and his mentor speechless.
Connor continued. “During this trip, you have offered little beyond insults and interfered where you ought not have. You actively concealed information pertinent to me from me and ordered Charles to do the same.”
Charles blinked. What?
Master Kenway’s eyes slid over to him, and his mentor gave a minute shake of the head.
“I must ask you to leave. Please.”
Master Kenway stood for a moment longer before turning on his heel and storming out.
Charles lay in his sickbed, unable to believe what he’d just witnessed.
Master Kenway had given him an excuse? Master Kenway had transferred some of the anger his wife justifiably felt to himself?
“I will not drive you off. Not in the condition you are in. But know this, I am reconsidering this alliance between us.”
Charles gulped.
“I—“
Connor held up a hand.
“I do not know if I can trust you to give me relevant and vital information. I understand that you withheld your belief in the commander’s involvement—“
Belief? So Connor did not believe him.
“—based on my father’s orders—“
And Charles was continuously surprised by that. He silently vowed to thank his mentor when he caught up with him again.
“—but keeping this secret when you knew how important it was to me...I cannot know if you will do this again in the future. I cannot know if you will let my father dictate your own common sense.”
Charles’s ears burned at the rebuke. But it was an unfair judgment. It was unfair because of what his wife believed had happened, and it was unfair even if what he described had happened.
“I’m sorry, but it was because of my own prerogative that I did not tell you sooner.”
Connor was silent at this, but his eyes told Charles everything he needed to know.
He had never seen someone look more hurt and betrayed.
“My father said,” Connor began, his voice a whisper.
“Master Kenway is wrong. I imagine he wished to protect me, and I am grateful to him for it. But you are right about one thing: this is no time for more secrets.”
With difficulty, Charles raised him from the bed and caught his wife’s hands in his own.
“I was concerned about how you’d take it. I know you care for Washington, I know you love him.”
And here, his wife’s eyes grew large and round.
“So I kept his involvement a secret because I did not know how to tell you.”
Connor pulled his hands away and rubbed them uneasily.
“You seemed to have no trouble announcing it as you did.”
Charles lowered his head in shame.
“And there is no excuse for that. I was jealous for the high opinion you always seemed to give Washington. The thought of him gaining your confidence so easily when you had despised me for years. And he guilty of the crime you accused me of!”
His voice softened with guilt.
“I lost control. I do that a lot. I did it 12 years ago—“
“When you came upon me in the forest,” Connor muttered.
“Yes.” Charles sounded miserable. “I do it on almost a daily basis with Washington’s continuing idiocy. And now I—“
He hesitated.
“I am sorry for the pain I caused you.”
Connor began pacing.
“I still do not understand why you would feel the need to keep this from me. And why my father would feel the need to protect you from my judgment of you.”
His wife paused in his pacing and whirled around to face him.
“What do you possibly have to gain from this? What does my father possibly have to gain from this? All these lies...”
“I like you.”
Those amber-brown eyes looked at him in confusion at first, then widened as their owner began to comprehend his meaning.
Charles took a step forward and grasped a hold of his wife’s shoulders. His expression was earnest, almost begging.
“I like you, and I did not know how to tell you without hurting you. I did not know how to tell you such that you would believe me.”
Charles took a deep breath. “You were so blinded by your regard for Washington, and I cherished this new lack of animosity that you held towards me so much that I could not bear to jeopardize it.”
He looked away towards the door that his mentor had so recently walked out of.
“Master Kenway knew of my—regard—for you. I believe he wished to help me, misguided thought it may be.”
“You do not approve?”
The tone was suspicious, doubting.
Charles tried not to let it sting him too much.
“I know that I was wrong. I know that Master Kenway is wrong. And I regret that. I let my own personal insecurities get the better of me, and they ended up threatening my ability to be near you.”
Charles swallowed.
“I am sorry.”