28: Devils in Disguise

Much to Elizabeth's surprise, Jacob wasn't wrong when he said she would do well as long as she followed his steps. By him leading the entire dance, Elizabeth was able to learn the dance moves fairly quickly. Though the performance was still stressful and required every inch of her focus to ensure she didn't trip on Jacob's foot, she could confidently say she was holding quite well on her own. When the music slowed down or when the move was tedious, it would allow Elizabeth to break focus and look over Jacob's shoulder where Forge and Octavia were dancing.

Elizabeth didn't know how utterly disgusted her face expression was, but she guessed it was enough to scare a small child away. It pissed her off that she was dancing on the same dancefloor as Forge and Octavia. She promised herself and Jacob she would keep a cool head at the Palace Ball but Elizabeth couldn't help it; the pure anger was creeping up and it was becoming difficult to conceal. Ironically, she was angrier with Octavia rather than Forge who was the man who stole everything from Papa and killed him. Octavia's betrayal struck a chord within Elizabeth because she was her mother. Yes, she barely remembered the woman, but she was her family for God's sake.

Everything was all made so vivid and obvious to her now. Rose Whittock was never Rose Whittock, she had always been Octavia and she was born into a Templar family. So, when she met the upcoming Master Assassin, Frank Whittock at such a young age, she was forced to take on the Rose identity and pretended to be innocent when in fact she was only befriending Frank to betray him in the end. Later, as things progressed, things between them were beginning to become serious and again, Octavia began living her life as a spy with Frank, always coming back to the Templars to inform him on his next moves and lived her life like this for multiple years.

It confused Elizabeth how someone could to do that to their own children. Betray them. Abandon them. Lead another life. Start a new family. And Elizabeth couldn't help but the dark thought that was engrained her head; Rose Whittock, now Octavia Whittock was a terrible and nasty woman who deserved to die. However not before Elizabeth got the answers she deserved from her.

"Listen closely," Jacob whispered in Elizabeth's ear as he twirled her once, "after this dance is finished, I will ask Octavia for a dance and you will ask Forge. We'll try to expose them."

Elizabeth stumbled on her current step as she looked at him with bewildered eyes. She bristled, "You're mad if you believe I am asking Forge to dance. I cannot even look at the man without obviously glaring."

Jacob sighed, "I don't usually ask for favors, please do this. It will be perfect opportunity for Evie to dunk the poison. Believe me, I don't like the idea of you dancing with that scum, but you must. And think about it this way, it will be your final chance to talk to him before he drinks that wine. Do you want answers or not?"

"Fine," Elizabeth huffed, "you're right. I can't be cowardly now. I'll do it."

A smirk appeared on Jacob's face as he said, "If anyone can do it, it's you. Just hold back on the sneering and nothing will happen. I promise."

"Very funny," Elizabeth replied with a casual roll of her eyes. As the song came to an end, she said to Jacob, "and don't get too handsy with her. Remember, she is still my mother."

Jacob replied, "There is only one Whittock woman I wish to get handsy with. Actually, let me take that back, there is only one woman I wish to get handsy with at all."

Good save, Elizabeth thought as she said, "Would love to meet her. Now go, don't leave the she-devil hanging."

"Of course," Jacob replied, "Good luck."

Elizabeth nodded in return and watched him saunter off to meet Octavia to ask her to dance. She tightly smiled and took his hand. Jacob smiled widely, undoubtedly working that classic Jacob Frye charm. And she was drinking it all in. All right, that was over with. Now it was time for Elizabeth to ask Forge for the truth.

Elizabeth sighed as she scanned the lively party for him, "You can do this. You can dance with the murderer of your father. No big deal. Normal."

Finally, she found Forge, eating hors d'oeuvres from a plate and she took a deep breath before she walked up to him. She kept her fist clenched behind her back, so he wouldn't see how badly she wanted to hit him as she piped out in a small voice, "Would you like to dance?"

As before, Forge was still a little anxious around Elizabeth and said, "I-I, yes, of course, dear."

He took Elizabeth's hand in his. It took ever fiber in her being not to tear away. Jacob was right. If she wanted answers this was the time to get them.

"Fond of dancing?" Forge asked, attempting to make small talk.

Elizabeth smoothly said, "I can definitely see the appeal. It can be very enjoyable depending on your dance partner."

He tightly said, "That is true," before he rotated clockwise, alongside Elizabeth with their right hand in the air and their left hand joined in the middle.

Elizabeth asked, "Surely, you know who I am?"

"Of course, you introduced yourself before," Forge replied, a bit confused. He didn't understand what she meant so she wanted to make it a bit clearer for him.

She replied, "I am not just the daughter of a business man or of the Master Assassin but the daughter of Rose Whittock. Do you recall who she is? I don't remember much of her and would love to hear anything of her."

Forge tripped a tad bit and said, "I-I, she was a wonderful woman. It was unfortunate she died giving birth."

Elizabeth got closer to him and said, "Yes, but it's funny because nobody actually saw her birthing my little brother. In fact, I never saw my mother's dead body since my father said he did. Do you know why that was?"

Forge began to whisper in her ear with a forced smile, "Did you ask me to dance or to talk?"

"Why shall I take orders from a Templar?" Elizabeth spat, "I suppose you were aware my father was an Assassin, but you were a Templar? Did he know your true identity?"

Forge looked taken aback. "What are you trying to do? If you what is good for you, little girl, you will stop at this instant before this becomes something you do not wish for."

Elizabeth glared at him and exclaimed, "Get answers from the man who betrayed and killed Frank Whittock!" All form of common sense had left Elizabeth at the moment and she didn't even care if he hadn't been poisoned yet She could kill him right here and now. She didn't care about the consequences because all she wanted to see was his dead body limp on the floor.

He began, "I-I-"

"Did you or did you not kill my father?" she urged getting closer to him.

Forge looked nervous and scared. Elizabeth began to wonder how this man was the highest ranked Templar. He was a scared little puppy right now. It didn't make sense to her. Shouldn't he be more defensive? "I don't know what you are talking about. We had nothing to do with killing Frank Whittock!"

"We? Oh, I suppose you are including your wife, my mother in that little group as well?"

This was when Forge cracked. "Rose- Octavia is my wife! She never belonged to Frank. That is a r-rumour."

"You bastard," Elizabeth swore as she ached to strangle him. "You ruined my family. My life."

Forge suddenly looked at the ground and was beginning to talk to himself. "She couldn't have done that, could she? She would have told me. She would have told me!"

Meanwhile Jacob who was busy talking to Rose, noticed from afar, as well as many other partygoers the spat that Elizabeth and Forge were getting into. Suddenly, he politely dragged her by her arm and asked them with a worried look on his face, "Is everything alright over here?"

Rose looked at her husband with a pointed look. "You don't look too good, my dear. Should we go somewhere quiet?"

Unexpectedly, Forge asked quickly, "Did you have anything to do with Frank's death?" He-he didn't know about his death. Elizabeth fully believed he had no idea that Frank's death wasn't an accident. But then who did kill him?

Oh.

"O-of course not!"

Elizabeth looked at her with narrowed eyes. "It was you! You killed the father of your children."

Rose looked at Elizabeth with wide eyes. Feared eyes. Lying eyes. "You're not my daughter! I do not know you!"

"Liar!" Elizabeth exclaimed pressing close to her mother, "you're my mother and the mother of William and Oliver.

"You're mad! Somebody kick her out!" But there were no guards to help. They had been taken care of, thanks to Evie and Henry.

"I suppose lying runs in the family, doesn't it, Mother, Father?"

From the doorway, suddenly two people appeared Elizabeth certainly didn't expect. Mary and Will were not dressed for a Ball and were carrying weapons. How were they able to sneak those past security? Elizabeth held her breath when she realized their disheveled clothes had blood stains in them and she knew it didn't belong to them.

"Mary!" Forge exclaimed as he caught sight of her. He took ahold of her shoulders and asked forcefully, "Who the hell let you out of the house?"

Mary struggled in his grip but eventually shook his arms off of her and nudged closer to Will. She said, "Will did! You locked me in that room like I was an animal and I don't believe you were ready to let me out anytime soon. You couldn't have your hidden children become not hidden. Now tell them the truth. Mother, Father, tell everyone here what you have been keeping from them, us and all of London!"

Octavia looked at Mary with wide eyes and yelled, "Elizabeth! Shut your mouth right now before –" Elizabeth? That was Mary's real name?

"Elizabeth?" Elizabeth scoffed, "you named your other daughter Elizabeth to replace me? Oh my fucking god."

Elizabeth thought she was going to faint. On the other hand, she wanted to hit something. Jacob held her shoulders in place. His tight grasp on her bare shoulders was tight but it caused her to be stable and a little at peace. Well at most peace she could be at the moment.

This shit was too crazy.

"And don't forget about my twin brother. William." Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh at this. She named her other children, her better children after her first children. This woman was a manipulative bitch.

"You're an awful woman," Jacob spat as he looked at Rose with disgust, "how can a mother have children, betray them and replace them? It's inhumane."

Mary said, "You deserve to go to hell. You are a monster. And you father, you were her puppet on a string, weren't you?"

Suddenly, a dagger plunged behind Forge as he crumped with pain. Screams erupted and all the people looked around to see who it was.

It was Oliver.

"What have you done!" Rose yelled, laying and crying beside the dead body. "Who are you?"

Oliver killed a man. The man to kill.

Elizabeth bitterly said, "Meet your son, Oliver."

"Mother?" Oliver tried to near her but she violently pushed him away, causing him to fall onto his butt.

"The truth is; Forge didn't kill Frank Whittock. I did. He was going to inform his children on what I did those years ago and I couldn't have that."

Suddenly, guards were swarming all over the palace. Evie was in the corner with Henry, running towards them. She said, "Till is dead. Guards are back. Need to fight." So they fought.

Jacob looked to Elizabeth and said, "Go Elizabeth! We will handle it you and Will chase her before she gets away!"

Elizabeth only nodded and tugged on her brothers shoulder as they began to dodge the guards they were fighting and chasing Rose who was running towards he carriage.

She boarded a horse carriage and two others beside her. Will and Elizabeth found another one and boarded it also, chasing her. They were able to beat the carriage.

"Somebody's climbing on the side!" Elizabeth yelled to Will as she drove. It was easier, considering she was in a dress after all.

"Got him!" Will said as he kicked him, literally.

After they were able to beat the other carriages, the real one holding Rose was in line. They had been riding towards the River Thames now. And they bumped, bumped carriages until it tipped over the edge. Both carriages had fallen in the water. Elizabeth felt all the air leave her lungs and she was falling. Then suddenly, she felt a cool shock shoot through her as she entered the water. She swam to the top, taking a deep breath of air since she had to untangle herself from the remaining pieces of the broken carriage.

Where was Will?

Elizabeth spotted him and they both saw Rose, laying on a piece of ply wood, gaining for breath. They didn't need to speak, they both knew what they needed to do. They swam to her.

"Please," she begged while holding her hands in prayer, "do not do this. I am your mother and I know I have done wrong, but I will this. We will live together, become a family again. Forget about the past, start a future with me again!"

Elizabeth said, "You killed Papa. How could we forgive you among the other things you have done?

Without allowing her to speak, Will and Elizabeth held the one dagger by the handle, their hands overlapping each other's as they plunged the dagger deep into their mother's heart.

/

After Elizabeth and Will swam out of River Thames while staining the water with their mothers' blood in the process, they were met with familiar faces underneath a bridge. It was Evie, Henry, Oliver, Mary and Jacob waiting for the siblings on the flat land hidden away from the eyes of the Templars and policemen who were presumably searching for them city-wide. They caused quite the stir at the Palace Ball that wouldn't go unnoticed and would likely make history in London.

All their eyes were glued on to Elizabeth and Will's clothes and the rips and blood stains on them that were darkened furthermore when wet. Elizabeth couldn't speak, nor she couldn't think of what she had done. However, when she solemnly saw Jacob's face, she understood everything was going to be all right.

In an instant, she shakily went to him and engulfed him in a rib-crushing embrace that she desperately needed. Jacob held her as he wrapped his large hand over her head and pulled it close. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head before resting his chin atop her skull. Elizabeth believed he began to talk to her yet all she heard was murmurs. There was a white ringing noise in her ears that she couldn't seem to shake off.

She blankly asked him, "Is it over?"

"I believe so," Jacob replied, "all of this madness is over with. It's the end.