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Kink Meme - Assassin's Creed pt. 5

Assassin's Creed Kink Meme pt.5
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Not my favorite chapter (so this is what it feels like to write fanfic while sleepy and drunk), but felt it needed to be written. Hopefully, it'll move a bit quicker soon.

Master of the House

Chapter 20 - A Second Opinion

Unbeknownst to all other members of the household, Connor awaited Doctor White’s arrival just as eagerly, though with far fewer outlets of expression, as Clipper did. At times when Clipper would hold his hand and whisper of the news the doctor had written for him in the letter, he would feel his heartbeat quicken and almost felt as if he could stir. And, at night, when Charles had finished with him, he concentrated on his memories of spying on Myriam to help Norris woo her, of breaking up the fight between Godfrey and Terry, and of rallying the Homesteaders in defense of Ellen from her boorish husband.

Just knowing that they were confirmed to be alive and well, and that Charles hadn’t lied to him almost a year ago...well, that made it easier to endure his husband and his neverending lusts.

And so he listened to Clipper’s reading of the letter and of his recruit’s secret hopes and dreams when they were alone together. And Connor felt...peaceful, for once.

Clipper was here now, beside him. And Doctor White would soon be here as well. He’d bring news of everyone, of Corrine and Ellen and Myriam and Norris and everyone. And Connor could finally begin to feel whole again, as if the past year hadn’t happened.

Connor couldn’t wait to see Doctor White again.

-----

Charles watched the doctor carefully as the man first stepped into the room housing his wife. He still wasn’t sure he trusted the man, despite his honesty and courage (as well as subtlety) in the answering of his earlier questions.

Although Charles had had his agents collect as much information about the Homestead residents so long ago when he was planning his ambush, he had to admit he could not find much on the doctor so trusted by his wife’s circle of friends. All Charles could find was that he had a tarnished reputation (though he did verify that it was a fraudulent report initiated by angry Redcoats), that he helped in the birth of the child of two of the other Homesteaders, and that he seemed to preferred spending the bulk of his time with those who had the need of his services but not necessarily the money for them. And that he was an Omega.

A puzzle, this Doctor White, a relatively unknown puzzle. His wife seemed to collect such puzzles, soft Alphas, willful Omegas, dangerous old Assassins, and Charles had even heard tell of a guard turkey.

Of course, Charles had immediately demoted the man who brought back that piece of news for drinking on the job. He would not suffer fools who indulged so much that they hallucinated turkeys dressed as Assassins that were capable of beating back an entire pack of wolves who had accidentally wandered too near the mansion.

Really, did the Templar recruits think him gullible?

Charles shook his head and went back to watching the man, the enigma, this...Doctor White.

He had slowly, deferentially approached the bed and the body upon it.

“Oh Connor...”

The doctor reached out towards the blankly staring form, hands almost shaking. Charles could see him visibly calm himself before pressing two fingers gently against his wife’s throat to feel for his pulse.

Moments passed by in silence, then he laid hands on Connor’s covers.

“Do I have your permission to examine him closer?”

Charles was surprised to hear the man acknowledge his authority. It was...gratifying that someone should understand his place within this house and seek his approval, and Charles readily gave it. Doctor White then turned back towards his patient and, to Charles’s further surprise, spoke directly to Connor.

“Pardon me, Connor, but I must draw these back to examine you.” Thus speaking, he carefully swept the heavy blankets aside, leaving Connor covered in nothing but a thin long white nightshirt.

Perhaps it was the doctor’s almost reverent touch, perhaps it was the fact that he knew Doctor White was a widower who had lost his own mate, who had been a female Omega of all things, years before he met Connor. But for once, he did not feel threatened by the man’s proximity to his wife.

At the sight of Connor’s body, outlined as he was by the thin shift, the doctor shook his head sadly.

“Much too thin,” he muttered. He then set about testing the limberness of Connor’s limbs and checking the whites of his eyes.

“How long has he been this way?” he asked Charles, eyes still focused on his patient.

“Several months now. Ever since he lost our first child...”

Doctor White frowned.

“I am sorry for the loss.”

Charles grunted.

“It is a long time to be in this condition. How have you sustained him?”

Charles remembered those solitary meals and grimaced.

“The servants have been spooning broth into him twice a day. He can still swallow, but it is never enough. I fear him wasting away.”

The doctor nodded, then laid a gentle hand on the buttons that closed the nightshirt.

“May I?” he asked, fingers ready to undo the buttons at Connor’s chest and belly.

Charles pursed his lips but nodded reluctantly. He was not happy about sharing his wife’s nakedness, even if it wasn’t full nakedness, with other people, but he admitted the need for the doctor to examine him fully.

“Forgive me, Connor,” Doctor White murmured before placing his hands on Charles’s wife.

Unlike Matthew, who tended to be rougher and more efficient as a whole, this doctor was more gentle as he massaged Connor’s chest, carefully testing the breast tissue.

Without a word, he opened Connor’s nightgown a little more, gently feeling around his belly.

“He is definitely pregnant, but the pregnancy is young yet. He will likely need far more nutrients than you are currently providing with only broth. Try to see if you can add eggs or salmon into his diet. Dark green vegetables and fruits should also be encouraged, if possible. Ground it up with a bit of sugar and ginger and it would make a rather tasty dessert.”

Charles lifted an eyebrow in surprise, but made a note to ask Mary to speak with the cook.

Then he eyed the man in speculation. He was...knowledgeable, Charles was surprised to note. Perhaps he would retain his services after all.

Just as he was about to propose another visit, the doctor suddenly stiffened.

“W-what is this?”

Charles leaned over his shoulder to look, Clipper right behind him...and saw a dark bruise on Connor’s hip, just barely visible from the opening of his nightshirt.

Charles turned red. Clipper turned white.

“Perhaps I was a bit...overhasty in my passions last night.”

Doctor White clenched his hands.

“You mean to tell me that you treat him with such violence when...”

“No!” Charles was scandalized. “I merely take what a husband is entailed to.”

“A husband who takes what he is entailed to when his wife lies insensate is not a good husband!”

Charles bristled.

“You dare?”

“Yes, I dare.” Doctor White snapped. “I dare not only because he is my friend, but because he is my patient. I do not know about who else you may have watching his bedside, but I, sir, am honor-bound to do the best by my patients, no matter who they are or what they think they are entitled to hear.”

Charles looked at him, stunned. He briefly noticed James’s Omega doing the same, eyes all wide and...and proud...

Damn.

Charles did not want to hear this.

“You do not mean to suggest that it would be dangerous for the child, or for him, that I engage in such activities. They have not harmed anyone when done right and I am—“

He blushed.

“—I am gentle with my wife. I do not treat him roughly.”

The doctor, he noticed, did not looked very convinced. Though, with the large hand-shaped bruise on his wife’s hips, he had to admit that he did not make a very strong case.

“I cannot say, for certain, whether this activity endangers them,” Doctor White admitted.

And Charles breathed a sigh of relief.

“But there is much of this world that we people have not yet discovered and do not understand. We are trying and reaching for that understanding, but it eludes us, and we must leave to future generations to pave that path.”

Doctor White turned fully to him.

“The man that I saw steal a bride away from his intended groom that day in the church did not think about the cracks that appeared in the community from the removal of one of its most valued members in a most cruel and devastating way. That we eventually healed and were able to go on with our lives despite the disruption is less a measure of your thoughtfulness but more of our own endurance and ability.”

Charles frowned.

“You did not care for us, for who were we to you? But who is to say you are not making the same mistake again? But that this time, it will be parts of your wife and child that suffer from it?”

Silence.

Charles licked his lips in contemplation, then...

“Safe return to your home. I shall think on what you said.”

With a grave bow, Charles backed out of the room.

This was an amazing chapter! There's just so much that I love, like Doctor White /HUUUUUGS/ finally handles Connor like he's a human being unlike Matthew (who I guess is going to remain as Connor's doctor), Charles being told off (must have been a slap in the face. Kind of reminds me of when Connor sassed back at Haytham in the game. Templar leaders aren't used to being put in their places), and of course now Charles knows about the Turkey Assassin ... when I read this, it took me a long time to stop laughing before I could finish the rest of the chapter.

Anyway, Charles' coronation should be coming up soon, right? That should be interesting, since the public will want to know more about his personal life and his wife's condition.

Thank you! //blush//

I really wanted to contrast the two doctors in their methods, but wasn't sure I made the contrast all that great. I'm glad it worked. :)

But yes, I couldn't help myself with the turkey assassin, not after you wrote that wonderful little bit of crack. :D Poor Templar grunt though...to be reprimanded and demoted because he only told the truth...

The public will have difficulty accessing Charles (think massive throngs of people and all). But during the mingle with the representatives afterwards, there might be a couple of comments. :)

Looking back at all the grammar errors last chapter...//cringe//

And this is why writing something while drunk is not a good idea...

This is more of a filler chapter, but the looked for confrontation happens soon.

Master of the House

Chapter 21 - Determination

Clipper did not see much of Lee over the following week. The man had locked himself within his office and had even arranged for his dinners and suppers to be brought to him. He did not even come out to play with his dogs after dinner, as was his habit.

The servants and Mary in particular were all quite worried about their master. The behavior was apparently unusual for him, and he was a man who seldom broke his routines.

For their sake, Clipper felt a bit sorry about the situation, but as for the man himself, well...Clipper would be the first to point out that he had brought it on himself, what with the way he had used Clipper’s mentor so.

Still, he was worried for Doctor White. Lee was powerful now. He had massive popular support amongst the people after the Continental Army had turned back the Loyalists. He would likely be in some position of power in the new government for his role. ...and Doctor White had stood up to him and uttered opinions that man might have taken offensive.

Clipper hoped the good doctor would come to no harm.

He had certain done Clipper’s dear mentor much good. With their excursions outside with the dogs and the extra nutrients from the foods that the good doctor had suggested, Connor’s color had improved. He was no longer so pale that, if it weren’t for particular features, one would take him for a white man.

He was still too thin by half, but Clipper supposed that part of that weight loss was due to the loss of muscle. He still retained some as the servants made sure to strengthen his limbs daily, but much of his old body was gone, lost to this illness that plagued him.

Briefly, Clipper wondered if he would be allowed to write to Doctor White for suggestions to further improve Connor’s condition for he didn’t think that Lee would agree to have him back again. And certainly not as Connor’s attending physician.

Clipper’s eyes strayed to the feather that he had been absentmindedly twirling back and forth.

Faulkner was such a good man, despite his tendency to indulge in heavy drink.

“It’s a signal,” he whispered to Connor, carefully closing one of Connor’s hand over the feather.

“It’s Yusuf’s. Faulkner wants to smuggle us out. To take us away from here, once you wake. They’re brave, your crew.”

He smiled, remembering their bawdy songs and good spirits.

“Good seamen, all of them. And they’ll do anything for you, sir. They still follow you.”

Staring at the feather, he gently rubbed Connor’s hand.

“It would be nice to leave,” he whispered. “I would miss James, miss knowing that there is at least one good man, here in the ranks of our enemies. He has been good to me, and it hurts to think that I would repay that with betrayal. I worry about what would happen to him if I were to disappear, if he would be blamed. If they would punish him for it.”

Then his face hardened.

“But I would leave in a heartbeat for you, sir. What Lee has done...I can’t forgive him sir. I can’t forgive him for what he’s done to you. To you and Achilles and everyone else. It wasn’t right. And it isn’t right how he continues to treat you. Him or Davies.”

His voice darkened in remembered disgust. At Lee. At Davies.

“Lee is gone today. The servants were whispering about an event of some sort. I think that Davies must have gone too, because he didn’t come by today. I do not know what it is about.”

Then he sighed.

“I will follow you sir. Faulkner and the crew too. When you wake and make your decision, I will follow it, whatever it will be. Just...”

He smiled sadly.

“I miss you so much, sir.”

-----

Charles waved in front of the cheering crowds, a pleasant smile plastered on his face. In reality he was feeling anything but, his mind still fixed upon the words that wretched Doctor White had said to him last.

The implication that he would bring harm to his family for the sake of lust...

He desired Connor. What was wrong with that? The man was his wife, pledged him even if it was forced.

And while he had loathed the boy in the beginning, as he watched him swell during those early months with his child...

What Alpha wouldn’t come to feel for the mother of his child, enemies though they may be? What Alpha could resist the siren call of his wife’s body, sweetly swollen as it was with his seed?

And his wife, he admitted, was quite an alluring specimen. To have Master Kenway’s Omega son as his wife...

He eyes were automatically drawn to the figure swathed in dark blues.

Elegant, refined, dignified...and doing his best to avoid Charles.

Charles swallowed painfully, even as the crowd roared their approval as the ceremonies ended. King of the new country while many of his Templar brothers were ascending seats of power in the new Congress. Master Kenway was amongst them, but even now, as the entire country celebrated their victory and Charles’s crowning, he still held himself apart.

Charles tried to meet his eye, but Master Kenway, senator of New York, paid him no heed, instead making light conversation with the senator of Pennsylvania and the senator of Massachusetts, both lower ranking Templars who sought entrance into the Inner Circle.

“’e still avoidin’ ya?”

Charles fought against an automatic scowl.

“Edwards,” he glanced at the irritating guard. “I suppose you’re on guard duty.”

The man shrugged.

“I reckon s’a big day for ya today, sir. But ya ain’t look so ‘appy. Missus not satisfyin’ yer appetite or big boss givin’ ya the cold shoulder? Ken give ya some pointers for the missus if ya know what I mean.”

Charles bristled.

That drunken lout. Oh, he was Thomas Hickey all over again. Why they always had to have a few of those in the order he did not know.

He stalked towards the man and yanked him close, careful not to breathe in the strong whiff of ale and rum on his breath.

“Edwards, let me remind you that if you letch over my wife like you did last time, then not only will you never get that raise you wanted, but I shall make sure that all the...lovely Omegas...you enjoy so much will know exactly how many beds you’ve been intimately acquainted with in a single month.”

Edwards gulped.

“R-right, sir. I’ll just be carin’ on, then.”

“A bit harsh there, aren’t you, Charles?”

Charles turned and sighed.

“Are you enjoying the festivities, James?”

The man stood before him, tired smile on his face, a glass of wine in his hand.

“We both know there is more work to be had in this than actual enjoyment.” He took a sip of the ruby liquid. “You’re lucky that Congress decided to cordon off the crowning inside the gates of the courtyard. All the people are screaming out there and would trample you to death in their haste to greet you.”

Charles grimaced.

“Oh come on, Charles,” James chuckled. “It is their support that won you that crown. You are much beloved by the people for your role in their emancipation from England, and this is their gratitude.”

Charles did not look any happier.

“It is not their love that I seek.”

“Speaking of,” James looked down at his wine briefly. “How is Connor? And how is my—, how is Clipper?”

Charles looked at him, surprised.

“He is well, but...my dear James, it has only been a single week. Surely you do not miss him already? You clearly did not make much use of him.”

James looked ruefully at him for that.

“That was unkind of you, Charles. And for your information, we both enjoy each other immensely. In both the affairs between husband and wife and that of other matters. His conversation, I’m sure you know by now, is splendid, and his observational skills second to none.”

Charles wasn’t quite sure why, but he could feel himself growing irritated. James’s relationship was...perplexing. And why didn’t the man just write many letters, if that was the case. A quick courier could...

Ah. He had forgotten. James had not the means.

“I will allow him a stipend for letters, if it helps.” It was an apology, of sorts. Mary had reported that Connor seemed to be getting better, and he supposed he owed it to James’s Omega.

“Thank you Charles.” Then James seemed to hesitate. Quickly, he glanced at where Master Kenway had been speaking with the other senators.

“You’d best hurry, Charles,” he whispered. “He’s planning to leave before you officially greet all of Congress. You can catch him near the backdoor.”

For one moment, Charles stood stunned. Master Kenway was going to leave? Going to defy all official protocol and slip out before he could greet each senator just to avoid him?

He felt angry all of a sudden. He didn’t deserve this. He had been loyal and faithful and, if he were responsible for the loss of the child and Connor’s current state, then he wasn’t the only one.

That Master Kenway would still blame him so, to the point of trying to slip out before he could speak to him at his coronation ceremony...

Charles wasn’t going to let him.

Quickly, he turned to James.

“Thank you.”

And then rushed off to stop Master Kenway before he could leave. He would not let the man avoid him this time.

ooooh the suspense!

I <3 Clipper's dedication to Connor, that he would leave his new life with James and endure a life on the run from the Templars if it could mean saving his mentor ;_; So many FEELS here.

Also loving Charles' torment at his own celebration, and he could care less about the adoring masses but only wants Haytham and Connor's affections. Edwards really is Hickey all over again, and James - the only decent Templar of the new Inner Circle, again Clipper is lucky to have him and not Charles, Davies, or Edwards (if he's inn the IC don't know). YES Haytham finally appears, can't wait to read how that confrontation turns out.

Hehe. :) Edwards isn't IC (blegh, he's total not IC material, but as long as he has his Omegas and drink...)

Working on the Haytham confrontation...

Still love possessive Charles and his threats if he letched over "his wife" again. And yes, the confrontation! /rubs hands eagerly/

I can't wait to read the next part of Shattered! :)

btw, confrontation is up. Hope it doesn't fail expectations!

Hope this isn't too melodramatic. Enjoy! :)

Master of the House

Chapter 22 - Grandmaster Haytham Kenway

As it turned out, one minute later and he would have missed the man. He caught Master Kenway right before the man could slip out through the back.

“Ma-mister Kenway,” Charles stumbled over the man’s title, aware of the civilians about.

The man stiffened, elegant navy-swathed form still for one moment before he turned perfunctorily on his heels.

“Your Majesty.” He bowed. His form was perfect for greeting a king. It was polite. Dignified. Distant.

As if they did not know each other. As if they hadn’t toppled their enemies, both their enemies, together. As if they weren’t mentor and student, Grandmaster and Grandmaster-to-be.

Charles frowned.

“Will you not stay for the senator’s introduction?” Will he not stay and greet Charles again? Wish him kind regards on his new office and accept them in return? Congratulate Charles on obtaining the crown?

But those words went unspoken. Charles did not yet have the nerve.

“I fear there are pressing matters to attend to.” His mentor’s eyes were cold, their steel gray fixed on a point at Charles’s shoulder, as if he were talking to someone behind Charles.

He wouldn’t even look Charles in the eye.

“More important than officially presenting yourself to your king? Than showing the massive throngs outside that their government is united and stable in this uncertain time?”

Master Kenway inclined his head slightly, brusquely.

“Yes. Please accept my apologies and—“

“—Wait.“

He couldn’t leave. Not yet. Not after so short a time. They hadn’t seen each other for months and...

And Charles missed him. Missed his wise advice. Missed their strategizing together and working to make the Order more secure, stronger. Missed him.

Desperately, before the man could bow out, Charles reached for his sleeve, clutching at the blue material and...

Master Kenway jerked away.

Charles hand froze in midair, devoid of the stiff fabric he had been expecting.

Master Kenway moved away.

As if Charles were some sort of contagion or disease or...

He didn’t have the right.

He didn’t have the right.

“You cannot blame me for it, sir,” Charles whispered softly.

“You gave me your approval and chose me yourself to be your son’s husband. If I am to blame for what has happened since, then you are no less guilty.”

His voice trembled with the force of his passion as he glared angrily at the man he had considered a most beloved mentor. At the man he dreamed about in his most secret of dreams.

Haytham remained silent.

Charles felt hot and leashed, like a caged tiger.

“Is it because you think that I didn’t mourn? Or that I didn’t care that the boy died? He was my son, Haytham! He was mine, of my flesh and blood. Or perhaps this silence is because of Connor? Of your Omega child?”

Haytham did not react, merely continued staring at Charles shoulder. Charles wasn’t even sure if he was listening.

It made him all the angrier.

“The child had been lost immediately, but Connor convalesced for days. We thought we would lose him too for that entire week. There was so much blood, and Matthew had to resuscitate him twice when he stopped breathing. You never came. Not once when we thought we would lose him. Did you know about it?”

Then he chuckled, half madly.

Of course he knew. He was Haytham bloody Kenway, Grandmaster of the American rite. He had spies everywhere.

“You didn’t come to visit. You must have known. He’s been unconscious for five months, and you didn’t even call upon us once in that time...”

Haytham remained still and silent, and Charles snarled at him.

“You don’t care, do you.” It wasn’t a question.

“You don’t care that your grandson died, that your son is a living doll for all intents and purposes. Or that I was barely fit for my responsibilities when it all happened because I had just lost my son and almost my wife.”

Those infernal gray eyes still stared at the space behind Charles.

“Damn you, sir.” He felt sobs choke his throat and, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed James ushering out all the remaining senators, preserving his privacy in his moment of weakness.

At least he had one friend left out of this mess.

“Damn you sir for not bloody caring at all. You don’t care about me, you don’t care about your son or grandson, you don’t even really care about the Order—“

And Haytham snapped.

He slammed his hands against the wall, on either side of Charles and loomed over him, eyes spitting like gray fire.

“Listen to me, Charles, and listen to me carefully.” He leaned menacingly close to Charles. “Do not ever accuse me of not caring about the Order. Everything I have done, everything I have sacrificed, I have done so for the Order.”

“And do not think,” the man’s voice dropped down to a dangerous whisper, and Charles wondered if this was what his enemies saw before he killed them. “Do not think that I could not care for my son, for my son or for the child he carried and does so again.”

The air was heavy and silent.

For a moment neither spoke.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Haytham—Master Kenway disentangled himself and released Charles from the wall.

He put some distance between them and bowed again. Gentlemanly and professionally as always.

He turned to leave.

“Then why didn’t you ever visit?” Charles whispered.

He couldn’t help that one, last question.

The powerful form stilled for a minute. Just one, long minute. Charles began to think that he would simply walk out.

But then, “I blame myself for failing my grandson, for failing my son.”

He turned, and sad gray eyes stared into Charles’s own for the first time in over five months.

“And for failing you.”

Then he swept away, slipping out the door.

Charles’s heart was still beating frantically as the door closed.

-----

Far away, in Charles’s manor house far into the outskirts of Boston, Clipper dropped the figurines he had been wrapping Connor’s hand around in shock.

The maids and man-servants came running at his frantic cries as he clutched at his mentor’s hand and sobbed.

Connor, his dear beloved mentor...had moved.

/SQUUUUUEEAL/ The confrontation with Haytham was perfect, I really REALLY felt for Charles here and all that anguish he felt for losing the baby and nearly losing Connor. I also thought you captured Haytham perfectly, especially when he snapped at Charles and then quickly reigned in his emotions. That's so Haytham. Really hope he comes to visit (wonder how he would react to meeting Clipper) especially now that Connor is moving! OMG That ending!

So now Charles is King of America, I wonder if that puts a huge dent in the whole Aquila crew to the rescue plan, since they would all be charged with treason against the King for kidnapping the ~~Queen~~ King's Omega.

Oh, the Aquila would all eagerly be outlaws for 'kidnapping' the Queen. You know they will. :) <3 Aquila

What's a little manhunt, eh? //wink//

But yay! Glad you liked. I thought about making Haytham talk more, but I figured that the silence worked better. Charles ended up doing most of the raging, and he just struck me as more emotional than Haytham, who tended to bottle everything up.

But yes, he will visit. Not sure when. Not sure how, but he will. :D

..oh damn, just noticed the formatting again. >.< Why do I always forget to close tags? ;_;

happened to me to, wish dreamwidth had a wysiwyg editor

Yeah, the silence definitely worked, especially when he couldn't look Charles in the eye. Both Haytham and Charles are in an odd/interesting place because they pretty much have all they wanted: the elimination of the Assassins (this is their second purge together) and a free and independent new country under Templar rule... and yet they're far from satisfied over their guilt at what happened to Connor and the unborn child.

To have what you want, but not really what you want. Although, given what they did to achieve this, pretty much just desserts and all. They must suffer...!

Ahem.

//whistles innocently//

:D

I love the comments as much as the story, ahah.

*stories. Because I love them all.

Not really satisfied with this chapter, but running low on time today.

Timeskip coming soon.

Master of the House

Chapter 23 - Charles

Charles returned to a manor full of anxious motion. Mary ran about, directing her maids to fetch her warm compresses and smelling salts. Ronald and his man-servants were busy throwing open all the windows and fanning in the fresh air from outside.

The entire place seemed a foreign mess, and Charles stood staring as servant after servant ran past him, carrying wet towels and arms full of little glass bottles.

He was completely unnoticed by his own household.

What in blazes was going on?

He grabbed one of the maids running past him with yet another wet towel. The girl blinked owlishly up at him.

“What has happened? What is the meaning of this?”

She stared at him, incomprehension swiftly changing to horrified recognition.

“M-master Lee! It’s-it’s Mister Lee, he’s—“

Connor.

The child.

His legs began moving before he could even understand that he was moving, running, fear choking through him as he remembered five months ago. Of what had happened last time.

Not again. He was not ready to lose another child. Or his wife.

He sprinted off in the direction of his wife’s quarters, cutting the servant girl off in mid-sentence.

He darted up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Not his child. Not Connor. Not so soon. Not when his wife had been fine right before Charles had left for the coronation ceremony!

His heart pounded in his chest, unused to such exertion. He remembered the blood that had soaked his wife’s trousers five months ago, and his heart raced quicker, faster. He remembered the way Connor had slumped there, unmoving, eyes staring blankly up at him before...

He tore up the stairs and ran down the hall, towards Connor’s quarters.

The breath had left his body. Matthew had shouted frantically at him to move and pushed him aside to thrust down on his wife’s chest as he placed his own mouth on his and heaved.

His lungs burned, his breath came quickly. If he had time to calm down and think, he would have been surprised at his actions, he thought. If he had the ability to think of anything but of...

Matthew had pealed back the trousers, and his wife’s thighs were stained rusty red and...

He burst through the door, pushed past the servants, sprinted to the bedroom—

He stopped.

He stared.

James’s Omega sat by Connor’s side, holding a smelling salt under his nose. A servant girl kept a warm compress on his head and another chafed and rubbed at his hand.

The window was open. Birds sang in the distance.

Charles stared.

There was no blood, no sobbing, no screaming.

...where were the blood, sobbing and screaming?

He was confused.

“Master Lee!” Mary came up behind him.

He turned towards her in bewilderment.

“Master Lee, it’s a miracle!”

He blinked at her stupidly.

“Mister Lee moved yesterday. Of his own power. Mister Collins was there to see it, and when he told us, we tried everything we could think to...”

The words fell away from him as if he were far away.

For a moment, he couldn’t comprehend it. He didn’t understand...moved?

His breath froze in his chest, and he looked from Mary to Connor, back to Mary.

Then...

Hope slowly blossomed in his chest, and his knees felt weak. Could it-could it be true? After five months...

Mary smiled, tears in her eyes.

“He’s improving, sir. He’s really improving.”

Improving.

Connor was still gone from them, then.

He felt the tentative hope turn to lead in his chest. He swallowed, thickly.

“But sir,” Mary continued, noticing the growing frown on his face. “If he’s moving again, it means it won’t be long now. He’ll return to you soon.”

Charles thought back to Connor, as he’d known him, both as his wife and as his enemy. He thought of that independent, rebellious Omega and the way he’d slowly withered once Charles had caught him. He thought back to Master Kenway and James and James’s Omega and that doctor who insisted he stay away from his own wife.

Return to him? Charles wasn’t sure about that.

Swiftly, he crossed the room to his wife’s bed and stood looking down at him as James’s Omega and the servant girls continued to fuss over him.

He picked up one still-too-thin hand and held it up to his cheek, ignoring the startled shock from Clipper and the servants girls.

Connor lay there, in his bed still, pale and thin and vulnerable, eyes still staring blankly out the window.

He had been like this for five long months. He didn’t look any different to Charles; he didn’t feel any different to Charles.

Was he really improving?

Gently, Charles ran one finger along those elegant cheekbones that his wife had inherited from his father. He trailed that finger down to those soft, sensual lips. Master Kenway’s lips.

And even if he were improving, was he ever truly Charles’s?

He stayed like that, staring at his wife, staring at the man he had captured and caged and wanted to make his own.

He wondered if Master Kenway weren’t the only one who failed.

The moment passed. He left his hand drop from Connor’s still face.

Charles turned to face James’s Omega. “You may inform Doctor White that he is to be my wife’s primary attending physician. I will expect him every Thursday, and...“

He was tired.

He wanted Connor to wake. He wanted a son to teach and follow in his footsteps. He wanted Master Kenway to visit him again.

He didn’t want to think about the mess his life had become.

“...and I will abide by his recommendations.”

Before the Omega had a chance to say a word, before Mary had time to gasp in shock, Charles stood and left the room.

He was tired.

Wow, just WOW - Charles is finally changing for the better! Which means he's just going to have to give himself his own nightly visits via hand-job (and fantasize about having Connor while he's awake and possibly willing). Also wondering about Matthew, think he - being a doctor - would have known that brother wasn't going to help Connor or the baby, and purposely let Connor wither away in order to keep the cash flow running.

I meant broth not brother

Re: Master of the House - part 25

(Anonymous) - 2013-02-24 00:59 (UTC) - Expand

:) Charles is tired. He wants things to be right again, and he just came back from coronation, being reminded of his loss via Haytham, and confrontation with Haytham. So he's tired and sick of fighting and feeling guilty and everything else. So yep, he's going to be giving himself some hand-jobs from now on. :D It's really the least he could do given that he caused the situation in the first place.

Matthew doesn't care so much about Connor, but he did have incentive for the baby to be healthy (babies always need checkups and stuff). So did he fight for Connor as hard as he could have? Not a chance. But it also wasn't intentional sabotage, more ignoring things he didn't think important and worth his time.

The medical community had some...interesting beliefs...during that time period.

Master of the House

Interlude II

The air turned cold. The leaves bloomed brilliant reds and oranges and golds and then blanketed the world in a bright multi-hued carpet. Three beautiful new puppies joined Charles’s pack, and he rewarded their exhausted mother with the finest treats he could buy.

One little puppy he weaned and gifted to James. The others he kept, rejoicing in the softness of their puppy-fur and in their trust as they leaned into his careful hands.

At night, Charles would steal away to his wife’s chambers. He neither laid with his wife nor shared his bed. Instead, he would sit by the bedside and gently rub his wife’s softly swelling belly, feeling his child growing within.

Connor did not wake.

Soon, the world found itself a white blanket of snow. Branches stood silent and forlorn as trees mourned the loss of their leaves and all the life they held fled for warmer climates.

James wrote back that the girl-Pomeranian was doing well and was an active, inquisitive pup. He brought the little pup, swaddled in warm blankets, with him when he called upon Charles. Clipper was delighted and heartened by his visits, and Charles looked on as the couple played with the puppy.

At night, he had begun to speak to his wife, as if the Omega were awake. He would speak of how Master Kenway still would not call and of the Pomeranian pup that James and Clipper seemed taken with. He would speak of his duties as King and of the impending debts that needed to be discharged to the former Continental Army and of how Matthew was upset at him for removing him from his wife’s care.

After he finished speaking, he would lay his head upon his wife’s swollen belly and feel his child kick. He would remark on how strong and beautiful their child would be.

Connor did not wake.

Soon, the snow began to melt, and although the world stayed cold, life slowly began to return. Charles’s two new pups were energetic little pups, and they much enjoyed their visit from their sister when James would drop by with the pup in tow.

Charles consulted with Doctor White and through the doctor’s recommendation, invited Lance to build a crib and playroom for his child. He placed the clothes from Ellen into a tiny trunk he had Lance make and laid a small wooden sword he had kept from his own days as a boy on top of it. He would give the toy to his child when it was time.

He sat holding his wife’s hand each night by his bedside, speaking of days gone past and plans for the future. He spoke of regrets and triumphs and opportunities wasted.

And he would leave with a chaste kiss on his wife’s brow.

He kept his word. He did not force his wife.

Connor woke.

Charles was really sweet in this interlude and the end O_O Connor woke? Connor woke??? Don't leave me hanging like that anon! My heart can't take it!

Re: Master of the House - part 26

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Re: Master of the House - part 26

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Re: Master of the House - part 26

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Re: Master of the House - part 26

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Re: Master of the House - part 26

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Re: Master of the House - part 26

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Master of the House

Chapter 24 - Awakening

Five months after the coronation, Charles heard the click-clack of horse hooves outside his door. He froze at the brief look out his window, even as the servants began whispering to themselves excitedly.

He watched as the familiar carriage came to a stop before his home. With a preternatural calm, he laid down his book, made his way down the stairs to the parlor and stepped out of his manor.

He stood still and watched as the driver opened the door and the elegantly dressed man inside climbed out, familiar tricorn hat in his hand and clothed in his usual navy cloak and a heavy coat.

Haytham Kenway had finally called upon him.

“Master Kenway.”

“Charles.”

Former mentor and student stood looking at each other, faces unreadable. Neither spoke, both content to take the measure of the other in silence.

Then, “it is good to see you again, Charles.”

And Charles smiled and waved him in.

-----

“How goes Connor’s pregnancy?”

It was a question Charles had been expecting.

“Doctor White assures me that Connor is doing well.”

But that did not mean he was not still worried, especially as his wife still lay in his state.

Master Kenway nodded, relieved and unsurprised. Charles briefly wondered if the man’s spies had already uncovered this information.

“And Connor himself?

Charles frowned.

“Still asleep.”

Master Kenway stopped, looking regretful. “It has been near a year since he has been lost, hasn’t it?”

Charles nodded.

“11 months now. The child is nearly born, but he does not yet wake. I begin to wonder if he ever will.”

Haytham looked somber at this, as well as he might.

Would Connor remain like Talia in Basile’s tale? Removed from the world until his child was born and the poisoned flax removed from his finger?

But then hadn’t Charles removed himself from his body?

“And you, my friend. How are you doing?”

Whereas once, Charles would have raged and begged to know how Master Kenway would stay away, he simply smiled at this.

He had learned a measure of patience from his days of keeping himself from his wife. From watching him sleep and feeling the child, but never touching him as he yearned to, never embracing him as a husband does a wife.

“I am King. The Order is strong. If fates are willing, I will have an heir. What else do I need?”

Master Kenway looked up the stairs, to a room where a man just beginning to become dear to Charles’s heart lay.

“What indeed.”

They climbed the staircase in silence.

-----

Master Kenway looked curiously at the painting in Charles’s office, paying special attention to where a small blot of ink had stained into the canvas.

“I don’t recall this being in this particular shape, Charles.”

Charles colored upon seeing the stain, remembering a rage-filled morning where he lamented his mentor’s seeming desertion.

“An accident, I believe.”

The man raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

“Is that so?”

But he spoke no more about it.

“Charles, I am stepping down.”

It took Charles a moment to comprehend what he had heard, though his reaction upon doing so was not what the other man had been expecting.

“I do not think that is a good idea just yet, sir.”

The man started, clearly surprised by the reply.

“I am likely to be a new father soon, sir. Although I will perform my duties, both to the Order and to the nation, to the best of my abilities, I will not shirk my responsibilities as a father. I will not abandon my child for my duties.”

As someone else once did, went unsaid.

Master Kenway shifted.

“Do you mean to give the position to another? You know the rest of the Inner Circle is too new and untried for such an important standing.”

Oh yes, he knew. Even James, who he admired for the temperance of his temper and his natural charisma was relatively untried in Templar affairs, having only obtained his high seat a little over a year and a half ago.

“I mean, Master Kenway, that you should hold the position for another couple of years.”

The man shook his head solemnly.

“I am getting old, Charles. It is time to hand the title and responsibilities over to my successor.”

“You have years in you yet, sir. And you have given so much to the Order, sacrificed everything for it.” Including his son. “You should lead us to the end.”

Master Kenway did not look as if he agreed, but before he could try different arguments, Mary broke into the room.

“M-master Lee,” she panted. “Mister K-kenway. Forgive me for interrupting, but,” she heaved a few times, desperately trying to catch her breath. “Mister Lee is back!”

-----

The two men raced to Connor’s room, heart pounding, thoughts whirling.

How? Why? Is he well? Now?

They passed a startled Ronald on their way and burst through the door to Connor’s chambers to find...

Connor.

With a soft smile on his lips and hugging Clipper. Soothing the other Omega who was sobbing at his chest.

Connor.

Who was pale and wan and thin still, but up and about and awake for far, far too long.

Connor.

Whose smile faded upon catching sight of Charles and of his father and whispered something to Clipper that encouraged the other Omega to leave.

Although it seemed to take a few tries as his friend obviously did not want to leave him, newly awakened and weakened as he undoubtedly was.

Connor.

Who sat on the bed still, one hand gently cradling the child growing within his body. Who watched them both with eagle eyes and neither smiled nor frowned nor attacked them. Who seemed utterly unlike the rash and naïve boy he had been before he had been captured and fettered.

Connor.

Whose first words in over a year was, “hello husband, father. I believe we have a few things to discuss.”