“Aye, and I’m close. I’ve heard The Sage is sailing out of Kingston on a ship called the Princess.”

Mary had stood and was beginning to walk away, headed for the port. “Put your ambition to better use, Kenway. Find The Sage with us.”

The Assassins she meant, of course. There was silence when I thought about them.

“I’ve no stomach for you and your mystics . . . Mary. I want a taste of the good life. An easy life.”

She shook her head and began to walk away. Over her shoulder she said, “No one honest has an easy life, Edward. It’s aching for one that causes the most pain.”

• • •

If the Princess was sailing out of Kingston, then that was where I needed to be.

And my God, Kingston was beautiful. It had grown from a refugee camp into the largest town in Jamaica, which isn’t to say it was an especially large town, just the largest in Jamaica, the buildings new yet rickety-looking, overlooked by hills populated by beautiful greenery and caressed by a cool sea-breeze that rolled off Port Royal and took some of the sting out of a blistering sun—just some of it, mind. I loved it. In Kingston, I’d look around and wonder if Nassau could have been this way, if we’d stuck at it. If we hadn’t allowed ourselves to be so easily corrupted.

The sea was the clearest blue and it seemed to glitter and hold aloft the ships that were anchored in the bay. For a moment, as I gasped at the beauty of the sea and was reminded of the treasures it held, I thought of Bristol. How I’d stood on the harbour there and looked out to the ocean, dreaming of riches and adventure. The adventure I’d found. The riches? Well, the Jackdaw hadn’t lain completely dormant during my time on Providencia. They’d taken some prizes. Added to what I already had in my coffers, I wasn’t rich, exactly, but neither was I poor. Perhaps I was finally a man of means.

But if I could just find The Observatory.

(Greed, you see, my sweet, is the undoing of many a man.)

Tethered at the quay were row-boats, dandies and yawls, but it wasn’t those I was interested in. I stopped and held a spyglass to my eye, scanning the horizon for signs of a slaver—the Princess—stopping to relish the glorious sight of the Jackdaw, then continued. Citizens and traders bustled past, all wares for sale. Soldiers too. Spaniards, with their blue tunics and tricorns, muskets over their shoulders. A pair of them passed, looking bored and gossiping.

“What’s all this fuss about here? Everyone’s got sticks shoved well up their arse today.”

“Aye, we’re on alert because of some visiting Spaniard. Toreador or Torres or something.”

So he was here. Him and Rogers. Did they know about The Sage on the Princess too?

Then something struck me as very interesting indeed, when I overheard a soldier say, “Do you know what I heard? Governor Rogers and Captain Hornigold are part of a secret society. A secret order made up of Frenchies and Spaniards and Italians and even some Turks.”

Templars, I was thinking, even as I caught sight of Ade beckoning to me. He stood with a sweaty, nervous-looking sailor, who was introduced as working for the Royal Africa Company. A jack-tar persuaded to talk with a surreptitious dagger in his ribs.

“Tell him what you told me,” said Ade.

The sailor looked uncomfortable. As you would, I suppose. “I haven’t seen the Princess for eight weeks or more,” he said. “Meaning she may soon be back.”

We let him go and I mulled over the news. The Princess wasn’t here . . . yet. We could stay, I decided. Bring the men ashore, make sure they behaved themselves, try not to attract too much attention . . .

Adewalé pulled me to one side. “I grow tired of chasing these fantasies of yours, Edward. As does the crew.”

That’s all I need. Unrest in the bloody crew.

“Hang in there, man,” I reassured him, “we’re getting close.”

Meanwhile, I had an idea. Find Rogers and Benjamin . . .

• • •

By sticking close to the harbour I found them, and began tailing them, remembering what I’d been taught by Mary. Staying out of sight and using the Sense to listen to their conversation.

“Have you alerted the men?” Woodes Rogers was saying. “We’re short on time.”

“Aye,” replied Hornigold, “there’ll be two soldiers waiting for us at the crossroads.”

“Very good.”

Ah, bodyguards. Now where might they be lurking?

Not wanting to be taken by surprise, I glanced around. But by then Hornigold was speaking again. “If you don’t mind me asking, sir. What’s the meaning behind these blood samples we’re taking?”

“Torres tells me that blood is required for The Observatory to properly function.”

“How do you mean, sir?”

“If one wishes to use The Observatory to, say . . . spy on King George, then one would require a drop of the king’s blood to do so. In other words, a small sample of blood gives us access to a man’s everyday life.”

Mumbo jumbo. I paid it little mind at the time, but I’d regret that later.

“Does Torres mean to spy on me, then?” Benjamin was saying. “For I have just given him a sample of my own blood.”

“As have I, Captain Hornigold. As will all Templars. As a measure of insurance.”

“And trust, I reckon.”

“Yes, but fear not. Torres has shipped our samples to a Templar base in Rio de Janeiro. We will not be The Observatory’s first subjects, I assure you.”

“Aye, sir. I suppose it’s a small price to pay for what the Templars have given me in return.”

“Precisely . . .”

“And what can we do for you?” a voice asked.

And that was when I met the two bodyguards they were talking about.

FORTY-NINE

Let’s call them brute number one and brute number two. Brute number one was left-handed but wanted me to think he’d lead with his right. Brute number two was not quite as combat proficient. Too relaxed. Thought I’d be easily beaten.

“Now where would you be going?” said number one. “Because my friend and I have been watching you, and you’ll have to forgive me for saying but it looks awfully like you’re following Mr. Rogers and Mr. Hornigold and listening in on their conversation . . .”

The Mr. Rogers and Mr. Hornigold in question were oblivious to the work their guards were doing on their behalf. That was good. What wasn’t quite so good was that they were moving off, and I still had much to learn.