Chapter 542: A Nation That Kept Moving (Patreon)

Kenway Keep — Philadelphia — The Holy Commonwealth of Pennmere

"Well…"

Kassandra remained leaning against the bedroom door for several seconds, mentally sorting several days of reports into an order that would prevent the conversation from becoming a three-hour march through every memorandum Jonathan had placed on her desk.

Alaric finished fastening the cuffs of his clean black shirt before glancing toward her.

"That sounded ominous."

"It depends on which part you want first."

"The part where nothing exploded."

"I already told you nothing exploded."

"Then Pennmere survived my absence. Excellent administration."

Kassandra's eyes narrowed slightly. "You have been gone for several days during a continental war."

"And everything still exists."

"Yes."

Alaric smiled. "That really is good news."

Kassandra watched him for a moment before pushing away from the door.

It would have been easy to begin with Spain, because military reports naturally drew attention during wartime. It would have been easier still to hand him the files and make him read them himself.

Instead, she walked back toward the adjoining study.

"Come."

Alaric raised a brow but followed anyway. "I'm beginning to notice you give me a lot of orders inside my own house."

"I am beginning to notice that you require them."

"That sounds unhealthy."

"You married a Spartan."

"Technically, you married me."

"Oh?" Kassandra looked over her shoulder. "Keep talking."

Alaric wisely smiled without answering.

They returned to the office where the original stack of reports waited. A servant had quietly retrieved the papers Kassandra scattered earlier and placed them back upon the desk, although the order was not quite the same.

Kassandra noticed immediately and just sighed.

"Come on," Alaric pulled out a chair. "Sit."

She stared at him.

He gestured politely.

"You have been working."

"So have you, apparently."

"That is debatable."

Kassandra's gaze dropped meaningfully toward the discarded direction of their bedroom, where his destroyed uniform still waited.

Alaric reconsidered and nodded his head. "Fair."

They then sat before Kassandra pulled the largest group of reports toward herself.

"First, William."

Alaric leaned back.

"Alive?"

"Unfortunately for you."

"Unfortunately for me?" His eyebrow rose. "That sounded personal."

"It will make sense later."

She opened the first report.

"William has practically buried himself in the civilian administration of the war. If you thought he was busy before Spain decided to become suicidal, you should see him now."

Alaric's expression became more attentive.

Kassandra continued, "He has governors reporting directly to him from the frontier regions, treasury officials requesting emergency allocations, refugee offices moving displaced families away from contested territory, Celestial Bank administrators maintaining liquidity, quartermasters demanding everything from gunpowder to replacement boots, and agricultural administrators trying to make sure military purchasing does not distort civilian food prices."

Alaric rested one ankle over the opposite knee.

"He's personally overseeing all of that?"

"Not personally performing every task. He would be dead within a week."

"William would attempt it."

"He nearly is."

Kassandra picked up another memorandum.

"He has been forcing the different departments to communicate instead of behaving like separate kingdoms. Regional governments send projected requirements before military movements are approved. Treasury officials are tracking wartime expenditure by district. The Celestial Banks have been extending controlled credit to manufacturers producing for the army while preventing people from using the war as an excuse to invent shortages."

Alaric nodded slowly.

That was precisely what he had wanted Pennmere's civilian government to become.

Not an extension of himself, but a machine capable of noticing problems before they required him.

Kassandra tapped one particular report.

"And William has become almost obsessive about requisitions."

Alaric's eyes sharpened. "How bad?"

"Not bad. That is the point."

She slid the paper toward him.

"The army has authority to purchase food, livestock, wagons, horses, timber, and other supplies in operating regions, but William made it clear that wartime necessity does not mean soldiers can simply take whatever they want from civilians."

While listening, Alaric read several lines.

There were receipts, fixed emergency purchase rates, local magistrate review, compensation mechanisms, and penalties for unauthorized seizure.

Kassandra watched his expression.

"He apparently used the phrase 'war does not convert theft into government policy' during one meeting."

While Alaric was still going over the papers, he also listened before he smiled. "That sounds like William."

"He has inspectors following supply columns."

"Good."

"Quartermasters hate it."

"Even better."

Kassandra almost smiled.

"Pennmerian soldiers are still being paid on schedule. Food shipments have remained reliable. Ammunition reserves are high enough that the generals have not yet requested rationing. Medical supplies are being moved closer to the front, and the field hospitals are apparently functioning better than some permanent hospitals in Europe."

Alaric lowered the report.

"And the civilians?"

"Stable."

The answer came quickly enough to surprise him.

"More than stable, actually," Kassandra reached for another collection of papers before she opened the first commercial report. "Trade continues. Some routes have shifted because of the war, but internal commerce has barely slowed. The Pennmerian Dollar remains strong, the banks are operating normally, and factories have been expanding shifts rather than closing."

"Inflation?"

"Present in a few war-sensitive commodities, but nothing remotely catastrophic. William and the Treasury have been watching it closely."

"Alright, and what about food?"

"Plentiful."

"Across the Commonwealth?"

"There are local shortages near active fighting, obviously, but those are distribution problems rather than an actual lack of food."

Kassandra turned another page.

"The agricultural districts are producing enough that military purchasing has not materially threatened civilian supply. The family's farm systems and the distribution network are doing exactly what you designed them to do."

Listening to that, Alaric leaned back farther.

Outside the windows, Philadelphia moved through an ordinary morning.

Carriages crossed the streets, ships entered the Delaware, markets opened, and children walked toward schools.

It would have been easy to forget that Pennmerian soldiers were fighting and dying hundreds or thousands of miles away.

"…"

Kassandra noticed where he was looking. "It gets stranger."

Alaric returned his attention to her. "Huh?"

"Crime."

"What about it?" He raised a brow.

"It is falling."

"That's usually preferable."

"I mean dramatically," Kassandra replied as she searched through a thinner report.

"Philadelphia has become so safe that serious robberies are beginning to get individual attention from administrators because there are not enough of them to disappear into ordinary statistics anymore."

Alaric blinked with raised brows.

Kassandra continued, "Violent street crime is down across most major cities. Armed robbery is becoming uncommon. Some districts are reporting weeks without a serious assault."

"During a war."

"Yes."

"That is unusual… like really unusual."

"People have work, and the operatives stationed around aren't incompetent."

Alaric nodded.

That explained part of it.

Factories were hiring.

Shipyards were hiring.

The army was hiring.

Supply networks required clerks, teamsters, dockworkers, carpenters, smiths, surgeons, nurses, bakers, farmers, warehouse laborers, and hundreds of other professions that benefited from wartime expenditure without necessarily becoming soldiers.

Kassandra added, "Enlistment is high enough that recruiters have begun turning away men from certain industries because the government needs them more in factories or farms than carrying muskets."

"Huh…" Alaric smiled faintly. "That is a good problem."

"It is," Kassandra closed the civilian reports… then her expression changed.

Alaric noticed and understood that, "That was the comfortable part."

"Yes."

She pulled the military casualty records toward herself.

Seeing this, humor disappeared from him.

Kassandra did not soften her voice. "The war… it has spread."

Alaric leaned forward. "How far?"

"Far beyond the Caribbean."

She unfolded a large campaign map across the desk.

Lines had been drawn along the southern and southwestern edges of Pennmerian-controlled territory where Spanish colonial possessions and strategic corridors still touched the Commonwealth's expanding sphere. Additional markings covered island approaches, Gulf routes, fortified colonial settlements, and several regions where neither side possessed completely secure control.

Kassandra placed one finger upon the frontier.

"We now have Pennmerian and Spanish armies facing each other openly across multiple land sectors."

Alaric followed the markings she pointed at. "How large?"

"Large enough that no one can pretend this is a collection of raids anymore."

She pointed toward the first marked area.

"Musket engagements nearly every day. Artillery exchanges across fortified positions. Cavalry patrols probing supply roads. Spanish raiding parties crossing at night. Pennmerian light infantry hitting their depots in return."

Her finger moved.

"Here, the Spanish attempted to take a bridge controlling one of our primary logistics routes. They failed."

Another position.

"Here, one of our regiments spent most of a day under artillery fire before reinforcements arrived."

Another.

"Here, Pennmerian cavalry caught a Spanish column before it reached defensive works."

Alaric's eyes tracked everything. "That means the scale is increasing."

"Yes," Kassandra's finger stopped over several new markings written in a different ink. "And France is no longer pretending very convincingly."

"Oh," Alaric looked at her. "What did they do?"

"Weapons first."

She began counting against the map.

"French muskets. French artillery pieces. Powder. Money. Engineers. Officers officially described as advisers."

Alaric's mouth tightened.

"And now?"

"French formations…" The room became quieter as Kassandra met his eyes. "Actual French soldiers are fighting beside Spanish troops."

"Uniformed?"

"Yes."

"Organized units?"

"Yes."

"Under French officers?"

"In several engagements."

"Hmm…" Alaric leaned back. "So France is at war with us."

"Versailles has not declared one."

"I didn't ask what Versailles printed on paper."

Kassandra's mouth curved without humor. "That is more or less what our generals said."

She slid another report toward him.

"Pennmerian soldiers have killed French soldiers in direct combat. French troops have killed Pennmerian soldiers. Whatever diplomatic wording France chooses, that is the reality on the ground."

Alaric read, his eyes slowing at the casualty section.

Kassandra did not look away. "We are winning… mostly."

He glanced up. "How mostly?"

"Enough that the overall campaign remains favorable."

She leaned forward.

"Our logistics are better. Our artillery coordination is better. Our field medicine is considerably better. Our units communicate faster. Ammunition arrives more reliably. Replacement equipment arrives before damaged regiments become useless. Officers have access to information that Spanish commanders sometimes receive days too late."

Kassandra tapped another paper.

"And our soldiers are simply better trained on average."

"But…?"

"But none of that makes bullets harmless."

Alaric's gaze returned to the casualty reports.

Names.

Regiments.

Killed.

Wounded.

Missing.

Returned to duty.

Invalided home.

The numbers were not catastrophic by continental-war standards, but that did not make them small.

Kassandra allowed him to read for several moments before explaining further. "We are losing fewer men than Spain in most engagements."

Alaric's eyes remained on the page. "That doesn't bring ours back."

"No."

There was no sentimentality in her answer.

Only agreement.

Kassandra had spent much of her life around war. She understood too well the difference between strategic victory and what that victory looked like to the family of someone whose name appeared beneath killed in action.

She pulled another chair closer to the desk. "I have been thinking about Vanguard."

Alaric looked up.

"How much Vanguard?"

"A lot more than we currently have on the land front."

He said nothing.

Kassandra explained.

"Not as a replacement for the army."

"I know you better than that."

"Then you already understand what I'm considering," She placed both palms against the map. "If a Pennmerian regiment is ordered to take a fortified ridge protected by artillery, ordinary soldiers may spend hundreds of lives reaching those guns."

Her eyes sharpened.

"Or twenty Vanguard operatives can reach the position first and destroy the battery."

Alaric remained attentive.

"If a French-Spanish formation establishes a command center behind reinforced defenses, Vanguard can break it before the conventional attack begins. If one of our regiments is surrounded, Vanguard can punch a corridor through the encirclement. If a bridge has to be seized intact, they can take it before enemy engineers destroy it."

Kassandra's finger moved between the sectors.

"Forts. Artillery positions. Command posts. Supply headquarters. Bridges. Surrounded units. Concentrated enemy formations."

She looked at him.

"Those are the jobs I want Vanguard doing."

Alaric considered the doctrine.

It wasn't occupation, and definitely not a replacement for conventional soldiers.

It was something like force multiplication.

A small group of Crest-enhanced operatives could perform the portion of a battle that ordinarily produced the highest casualties, leaving Pennmere's conventional army to exploit the breach, hold territory, process prisoners, secure roads, and conduct the larger campaign.

"How many?"

"I have not decided."

"Because?"

"Because Vanguard has other responsibilities," Kassandra reached for another file. "Reuben, Thulani, Shakoka, and the other commanders have kept the organization divided."

She listed the assignments as she turned the pages.

"Strategic reserve. Domestic protection. Naval response. Intelligence. Counter-Isu contingencies. Rapid deployment forces."

Alaric nodded.

"Pieces of Eden?"

"No confirmed battlefield deployment."

"Custodians?"

"Nothing confirmed."

"Other Isu-derived weapons?"

"Nothing yet…" Kassandra's tone hardened. "But enough of our intelligence people believe Spain or France may eventually become desperate enough to use something that I refuse to strip those units from reserve."

"Good."

"That means if we massively reinforce the land war, we either shift personnel from other assignments or accelerate training for newer Vanguard operatives."

Alaric's eyes moved toward the files belonging to Oldgate and Avery.

Kassandra followed his gaze.

"Exactly."

She closed that subject for now and reached for naval reports. "The sea war has changed too."

Alaric gave her a knowing look.

"Changed in the way sailors use that word?"

"In the way commanders use it when they have stopped being patient."

"That sounds healthier."

Kassandra opened the first report. "Conventional Pennmerian squadrons are coordinating directly with Vanguard fleets now."

She pointed toward two names.

The Wraithling and Liberty's Wrath.

"The doctrine has become considerably more aggressive. Instead of individual ships operating independently around Vanguard vessels, entire squadrons are being built around containment."

"Containment?"

"Surround the enemy formation. Cut off retreat. Disable or destroy the command ship first. Collapse coordination. Then finish the rest before they can scatter."

"That's efficient," Alaric nodded appreciatively. "And the prizes?"

"Fewer."

That made him look at her.

Kassandra's expression remained hard. "We are no longer risking forty Pennmerian sailors to capture a damaged Spanish frigate worth less than the men required to escort it home."

"Reasonable," The blonde nodded his head.

"Enemy warships actively attacking Pennmere are being sunk…"

"Hmm…" Alaric's eyes returned to the report.

Kassandra continued, "Especially ships associated with attacks against civilian commerce, settlements, hospitals, or scorched-earth operations."

Then, her voice became colder.

"We tried capturing vessels early because prizes are useful and surrender should be encouraged. That remains true where practical," She said as she tapped the page.

"But if a squadron attacks civilian shipping, burns settlements, or starts shelling medical facilities, the captains are no longer being instructed to preserve the ships."

"What are they instructed to do?"

"Destroy them."

There was no ambiguity, so Alaric gave a slow nod agreement. "Good."

Kassandra watched him. "You agree…"

"Yeah," Alaric replied. "If an enemy chooses to attack military targets, we treat them as soldiers. If they deliberately target civilians or hospitals, I lose interest in preserving their property."

"Exactly," She turned another report around. "In several engagements, enemy ships attempted to disengage after realizing they were facing a Vanguard-supported squadron. Pennmerian vessels cut off their retreat and sank most of them."

"Casualties?"

"Ours are low relative to theirs, but not zero."

Again, she did not disguise the fact, and Alaric appreciated that.

Kassandra leaned back. "…And then there is Edward."

Alaric's expression immediately changed. "Which disaster?"

"An extraordinarily useful one."

"That narrows it down less than you think."

"Hey now," Kassandra almost laughed. "Edward Kenway's pirates are becoming one of the best irregular assets we have."

"Sure," Alaric rested his elbow against the chair. "And I assume Edward is enjoying himself."

"Far too much," She picked up an intelligence packet. "He has become our bridge into every dirty little network the formal government cannot enter without announcing itself."

Kassandra began listing them.

"Smugglers. Dockworkers. Tavern owners. Privateers. Corrupt customs officials. Disgruntled sailors. Colonial merchants who hate Madrid. Spanish officers with gambling debts. Harbor clerks who enjoy money more than loyalty."

Hearing this, Alaric smiled. "Edward's natural environment."

"Unfortunately," She opened another page. "Though James Kidd is even better."

Alaric's amusement faded into interest. "How good?"

"Very," Kassandra turned the report toward him.

"Kidd disappears into a port, spends several days talking to people nobody else realizes matter, then returns with the sailing date of a Spanish squadron, the location of an ammunition magazine, the names of officers arguing with each other, and rumors about which colonial settlements are one tax increase away from revolt."

Alaric scanned the intelligence and saw that the detail was impressive. "She's beating the formal network."

"In some regions, yes."

Kassandra continued, "Our intelligence apparatus is better at structured information. Political correspondence. Government movements. Strategic reporting."

She tapped Kidd's report.

"But Kidd hears what sailors are saying before anyone bothers putting it on paper."

"Keep her funded."

"I already did," Kassandra smirked. "Using your money in the bank."

"Nice."

"Benjamin Hornigold has been handling privateers."

Alaric's expression became more thoughtful.

"That could become messy."

"It would have without him."

Kassandra explained, "Hornigold has been identifying captains who can actually be trusted with Pennmerian letters and contracts. He separates the ones who will follow rules from the ones who interpret privateer as permission to become pirates with better stationery."

Alaric laughed. "That distinction is important."

"He has also been buying captains away from Spanish service."

"How?"

"Money. Pardons. Information. Better contracts. Occasionally pointing out that Spain is losing."

"What a persuasive guy..."

"He has a talent," Then Kassandra reached the final name. "Now… Thatch."

Alaric leaned back immediately. "Oh, God."

Kassandra smiled for the first time during the military portion of the briefing. "Blackbeard is having the time of his life."

"I was afraid of that."

"He has turned commerce raiding into theater."

"That sounds exactly like Edward Thatch."

Kassandra nodded.

"He has been striking Spanish supply shipping, appearing in places he should not reasonably be able to reach, allowing survivors to spread stories, and cultivating his reputation so aggressively that it is starting to do part of the work for him."

"How much?"

"We have one report of a Spanish merchant escort surrendering after someone on lookout identified a Pennmerian ship and incorrectly claimed Thatch was nearby."

Alaric stared at her.

"The funny thing is," Kassandra's smile widened. "He was approximately two hundred miles away."

"Ha!" Alaric started laughing. "That is magnificent."

"He thinks so too."

"I assume someone is keeping him under control."

"Several people," Her expression became serious again. "I made the rules explicit to every pirate and privateer under contract."

Alaric waited.

"No neutral shipping."

He nodded.

"No deliberate attacks upon civilians."

Another nod.

"No slave-taking."

His expression hardened approvingly.

"No indiscriminate massacres. No attacking a settlement because someone decided Spanish taxes make everyone inside it an enemy. No pretending a Pennmerian contract grants immunity from Pennmerian law."

"And consequences?"

"Loss of contract at minimum. Arrest where appropriate. Execution if someone commits acts serious enough to warrant it."

Alaric smiled faintly.

"Excellent."

Kassandra moved to another set of documents. "Now Jonathan's brothers."

Alaric groaned theatrically. "What did they break?"

"Nothing."

"That seems suspicious."

"John, Joseph, and Jacob have actually been doing well."

Alaric sat straighter.

"Really?"

"Yes," Kassandra opened their reports. "Their trial period is becoming increasingly pointless."

"That good?"

"Their families are settled. Their children are safe. They are attending schools, receiving training, making friends, and apparently discovering that Pennmere offers opportunities they never imagined having."

She flipped the page.

"The brothers themselves have been training consistently and settling into different roles."

"Any of them talking about leaving?"

"Not seriously."

Alaric's mouth curved. "And Jonathan?"

Kassandra laughed quietly. "Pretending none of this matters to him."

"Of course."

"He somehow knows exactly how each brother's training is going despite claiming he has not been paying attention."

"That sounds like Jonathan."

"He also somehow arranged better housing for one of their families without admitting he arranged it."

Alaric nodded solemnly. "Completely unrelated administrative coincidence."

"Obviously."

They shared the smile, then Kassandra looked at the reports spread across the desk before her expression became more reflective. "There is something else."

"Yes?" Alaric waited.

Kassandra gathered several of the files together, although she did not close them. "You asked how things were going."

"Yeah."

"They went."

Alaric frowned slightly.

Kassandra gestured around them.

"Without you."

He became still.

"William governed."

Her hand moved to the civilian reports. "The generals fought."

To the campaign maps. "Vanguard deployed."

The personnel files. "The fleets sailed."

The naval reports. "Jonathan kept this place running."

She glanced toward the door and smiled.

"Edward and his pirates carried out their assignments. The Celestial Banks opened every morning. Courts heard cases. Factories produced weapons and tools. Children attended school. Refugees were fed. Soldiers received wages and ammunition. Farms kept producing."

Her eyes returned to him.

"And Pennmere continued growing."

Alaric said nothing.

Kassandra leaned against the desk.

"You built this place by solving everything yourself."

His expression became faintly defensive.

"I had clones."

"That does not help your argument."

"Fair."

"You created businesses, negotiated treaties, designed institutions, funded infrastructure, intimidated people who needed intimidating, purchased half the things that were easier to buy than conquer, and somehow convinced millions of people that the impossible was normal."

"You know what," Alaric smiled. "That summary makes me sound busy."

"You were.." Kassandra's expression softened. "But Pennmere is no longer a collection of things Alaric Kenway personally keeps alive."

She touched the government reports. "It is becoming a country."

The distinction settled over him.

Pennmere wasn't a domain. Not an estate writ enormous. Not a trading empire centered entirely upon one immortal man with too many abilities.

It was a nation.

"Oh, and," Kassandra continued, "The institutions are strained."

That mattered too.

"Strained how badly?"

"The Commonwealth has expanded faster than some of its original structures were designed to handle."

She pointed toward different files.

"Regional governments require more authority than before. The Treasury is coordinating expenditures across territories that would constitute entire empires in Europe. Refugee systems originally designed for thousands are sometimes handling tens of thousands. Courts are dealing with legal traditions inherited from different colonial governments. The banks are becoming so central to everything that William wants additional safeguards against any single administrative failure."

Alaric nodded.

"That makes sense."

"Military procurement is becoming its own government inside the government. Transportation networks are being asked to move civilian goods, military supplies, refugees, and industrial materials simultaneously."

"We'll have to restructure."

"Yes," Kassandra met his eyes. "But that is different from collapse."

Alaric understood.

Pennmere's problems were increasingly the problems of something succeeding beyond the scale of its first design.

Kassandra folded her arms.

"You disappeared for several days during a war, and the Commonwealth did not stop to ask what to do next."

Alaric's gaze drifted toward the window again.

Philadelphia continued moving.

For most of his life here, some part of him had assumed that if he stopped pushing, everything he built would eventually slow with him.

Now the evidence across the desk said otherwise.

People had learned the systems, they had taken responsibility, and they had begun solving problems he never personally saw.

A strange warmth settled in his chest.

Kassandra recognized the expression immediately. "You are proud."

"A little."

"A little?"

Alaric looked back at her. "Fine… very."

Kassandra smiled.

"You should be."

He picked up one of William's administrative summaries. "I should probably tell him that."

Kassandra's smile disappeared.

"Hm?" Alaric noticed. "What?"

"…" She stared at him. "There is one problem."

He slowly lowered the report. "You said the country was stable."

"The country is."

"The army?"

"Functioning."

"Vanguard?"

"Functioning."

"Fleet?"

"Very enthusiastically functioning."

"Banks?"

"Open."

"Food?"

"Plentiful."

"Then what problem?"

Kassandra leaned forward. "William Penn."

"Huh?" Alaric blinked. "You already said he was alive."

"I said that was unfortunate for you."

He stared at her.

Kassandra's mouth began twitching.

"William has asked where you are so many times that I stopped counting."

Alaric's expression became cautious. "How many is 'so many'?"

"I stopped counting."

"That does not answer the question."

"It is the only answer you are getting," She opened a desk drawer.

Alaric watched her reach inside. "What are you doing?"

Kassandra removed a small folded paper.

His eyes immediately narrowed. "No."

Her smile widened.

"Kassandra."

She unfolded it.

"No."

She cleared her throat, so Alaric stood.

"Kassandra."

She began reading.

"'Going out.'"

Alaric looked at her and just closed his eyes.

Kassandra continued with visible pleasure. "'Possibly several days.'"

Silence followed.

"…"

"…"

Kassandra lowered the note.

Alaric opened his eyes.

"You kept that."

"I showed it to William."

His face changed. "You did what?"

"He asked where you were."

"So you showed him the note?"

"What else was I supposed to show him?"

Alaric couldn't do anything and just stared.

Kassandra's composure finally cracked and she laughed. "He read it three times."

Alaric slowly sat back down. "Oh."

"The first time, I think he assumed there was more written on the back."

"There wasn't."

"I know."

"The message was concise."

"You vanished during a continental war."

"I said possibly several days."

"That is not better."

Alaric rubbed his jaw. "What did William say?"

Kassandra tried to imitate the calmest version of William Penn's voice she could manage.

"'Her Grace, am I to understand that the co-founder of the Commonwealth departed during active hostilities and his complete explanation was going out?'"

Alaric's lips twitched.

"I would argue co-founder is not an official executive position."

"Oh, do just that."

He looked at her.

Kassandra folded the note and placed it carefully back on the desk. "Please."

"You want me to argue with William."

"I want to watch."

"You're supposed to support your husband."

"I did support you. I prevented three officials from sending search parties."

Alaric blinked and paused to look at her before chuckling in bewilderment. "They wanted search parties?"

"One of them thought you might have been captured."

Alaric stared at her.

Kassandra stared back.

"…"

"…"

Then both of them began laughing.

It took several seconds before Kassandra regained enough control to continue. "William did not think you were captured."

"Naturally so..."

"He said anyone capable of capturing you deserved the problem they had created."

"That sounds more reasonable."

"Yeah, but he's still furious."

"I figured," Alaric leaned back with a sigh. "How furious?"

Kassandra crossed her arms.

"Jonathan thinks William is going to give you a lecture."

"That's manageable."

"Reuben thinks he will demand a formal contingency protocol for your disappearances."

"Also manageable."

"I think he is going to strangle you."

Alaric looked at her.

Kassandra remained completely serious.

"With his hands?"

"If necessary."

"He can't even touch me even if the world will turn upside down hundreds of times."

"I do not think that will discourage him."

Alaric considered William Penn attempting to strangle him for leaving the country during a war with a note containing five words before his mouth began curving.

"Agapi mou," Kassandra pointed at him. "Do not laugh when he sees you."

"That makes me want to laugh."

"Alaric."

"I'll behave."

"You absolutely will not."

"I can try."

"Sure..."

Alaric smiled and picked up the note before he reread his own handwriting.

'Going out. Possibly several days.'

He looked at Kassandra with the note on his hand. "What exactly is wrong with this?"

Kassandra stared at him for a very long time before she covered her face with both hands. "Oh, Zeus."

Alaric chuckled while returning his attention to the reports covering the desk.

Outside Kenway Keep, Philadelphia continued its morning without requiring either of them.

The Commonwealth was at war, its armies were fighting, its ships were hunting hostile fleets, and its institutions were being stretched by an empire-sized republic growing faster than its original architecture could comfortably contain.

People were dying.

People were building.

People were governing.

And despite the absence of the man who had created so much of it, Pennmere had continued moving.

Alaric rested his hand over William's report as pride returned, then he glanced toward his five-word note as his expression became thoughtful.

"I should probably avoid William for a few hours."

Kassandra lowered her hands and looked at him.

"No."

Alaric sighed.

"Worth trying."