“Control yourself, I’m here.” Years of living in the Colonies hadn’t seen much improvement at all when it came to navigating the thick woodlands of North America; he still crashed through the trees with less grace than a bear, snapping twigs left and right and sending wildlife scattering in his wake. The dipped brim of his hat was already filled with pine needles, and they fell in generous heaps as he shook his head vigorously. “You could give a man a moment to collect himself.”
He never could place Kidd’s age – the pirate had been a friend of his father’s, he knew, which meant that he had to be at least fifty, if not older, but he didn’t look it. Like some faerie out of a child’s storybook, he appeared forever young. It was an impressive feat. “I hadn’t expected you to come this far north. Are you confident that the Caribbean will not collapse without you?”
“About as confident as you having your moment to catch your breath.”
Kidd should have looked concerned.
He could see Kenway in his son: face, height, attitude, clearly elegance in observance to the amount of wilderness dumped on the beach. Fortitude, however, Kidd could not receive. Unlike the rabid dog which chased him in the street and on the rooftops, shouting his name, and tackling him through the ground, he saw little of the Jackdaw captain in his son. Stubborn he was; a talent to drive men mad he did, and not like a woman.
“Not much choice does one have when you receive an invitation like that” Kidd frowned; currently half-way done reliving a time when he picked sand out of his linens. “Rather than worrying about the likes of them, I prefer not waste any more time and prattle about nothing of your concern, instead, get on with why I am here.”
He could see better now the impact of respect the Templar leader provided traversing to meet his guest alone. Foolish, he thought, an easy target to eliminate, a sentiment equally daft for himself. Yet Kidd would not, will not, kill this man, for they shared a common goal worth more than his one life and all the risks involved.
Kidd dropped his arms, found himself staring into the eyes of a method man, and realized here was his chance, “What do you have?” he said and spoke soft “The leads on Edward.”
