Prologue
The storm had come upon them quite suddenly. In his many years asea, the captain had never witnessed such an awful gale preceded naught but with a warning. That morning's sky had promised a day of smooth sailing as the ship continued on to the new world.
The waves had begun to increase shortly after one of his passengers had approached him requesting his services to perform a marriage. As captain, he had seldom performed such an ordinance before the mass immigration to the new world. In these current days, however, it had become quite the common practice. More often than not, upon the month's long journey from England to the Americas, there would be many a couple who would meet and decide to marry. Quite often these were marriages of convenience completed by persons who were afraid of facing the unknown alone. The captain could not say the same of the young couple standing before him now in the torrent.
Rarely did the captain take much notice of his passengers from steerage. He preferred to think of himself as a fair man, but knew that besides the basic courtesy required of him he only gave notice to those who had wealth enough to secure themselves cabins upon his ship. As such a man, he knew that he had taken too much interest over the past three weeks in the couple before him; he also knew that such interest was unavoidable.
The young lady, upon boarding his ship, had been discovered to be a young heiress who had abandoned her wealth and family to escape an unwanted engagement. Although she had only brought enough money to purchase her ticket in steerage and perhaps a few nights at an inn in the States, her manners had betrayed that she did not belong in the servants clothes she wore which the captain rightfully believed to have been stolen. At barely sixteen years of age, he was surprised in the few meetings he had had with her that she spoke as though one with three times her age, a feeling that was compounded by the ageless wisdom that shone from her emerald green eyes.
Her companion, a hardened farmer of at least twice her age, had fled England after discovering that his landlord had been cheating him. With no family, and without a recommendation, he had been unable to find a new tenancy so had packed his few belongings and purchased a ticket to the new world.
The couple had met shortly after pulling out from the docks in London. The young heiress had appeared to recognize the man at once who claimed that he had never met her before; yet she had been persistent. At one point the farmer had approached the captain requesting that he talk to the young lady to insist that she abstain from continuing to pursue him. The captain readily agreed and immediately called the young lady to his quarters. Despite the admonitions given by the captain, the young lady merely raised her head up higher and declared that she would do no such thing, for she was determined that he remember her. Before the captain could object, she had pierced him with her green eyes, which at that point seemed more the color of the dark forest, turned around and left the captain feeling unable to put together a cohesive thought.
A few days later, there had been a storm, mild compared to the one they were currently sailing through, yet dangerous all the same. The farmer had been recruited by some of the higher paying passengers to help secure belongings in the private cabins. He had been all too happy to help until a particular wave had thrown him off balance as he traveled between cabins and he toppled down a flight of stairs. Unsurprising at this point to the captain, the farmer had been found by none other than his persistent admirer as she attempted to find extra blankets for some of the children below.
The ship's doctor had been immediately called for and his diagnosis was not good. The farmer had hit his head and was bleeding heavily; he had also not gained consciousness since falling. While the doctor had been far from optimistic, stating there was nothing to do except wait and pray for the man's soul, the young lady refused to leave his side. Despite everything the captain said or did, she would not be persuaded. For three days she sat by his sickbed administering herbs of names and colors the captain and doctor had never heard of, all the while whispering to the farmer in a foreign tongue. Many of the other men in steerage were uncomfortable with the presence of a young lady, yet when the captain had approached her with their concerns he was unable to speak under the gaze of her sharp eyes; eyes that he swore had been green before but were now a muddy brown.
The evening of the third day, the doctor happily approached the captain with news that the farmer had at last awakened. Quickly leaving his quarters, the captain journeyed down to steerage himself to check up on the patient only to discover him in a passionate embrace with none other than the young heiress. Hesitating only briefly, the captain informed the pair that although he was pleased at the man's recovery, he could not allow behavior of that nature upon his ship between two unmarried persons.
For the next week, the couple spent all their waking moments together, to the exclusion of everyone else. Although they kept their word to the captain that they would indeed keep to proprieties demands, no one could mistake the loving glances sent to each other as well as the whispered conversations in the same foreign tongue she had used during the farmers convalescence.
Having watched the couple for the entire journey thus far, the captain had only been mildly surprised when the farmer had approached him requesting a marriage between the two. The beginnings of the storm immediately after this request, however, caught both the captain and the entire crew by surprise.
Unable to stay in his quarters during the storm, the captain had agreed saying that he would be happy to perform the marriage after the storm had abated. Missing the look of frustration and horror upon the man's face, the captain rushed to don his oilskin coat and join his crew on deck. Once on deck, the captain took a quick survey of his ship and crew, called for all hands on deck to furl the sails and secure the rigging then rushed over to take the helm.
Within half an hour, the storm was at full force; it was quite possibly the worst storm the captain had ever sailed through. It was during this thought that the captain noticed the couple making their way through the wind, waves, and torrential rain to reach him. Before he could order them back down to steerage, the farmer grabbed a hold of the helm and lowered his face so that his dark blue eyes were staring straight into the captains own. The captain barely had time to contemplate the fact that he thought the farmer had grey eyes when he began to speak.
"Forgive us captain, but I'm afraid our wedding cannot wait for this storm."
Confused, the captain looked to the young heiress standing at her lover's side and saw confirmation and determination in her own eyes. "I'm sorry, Sir," the captain replied. "I can't leave me post while me ship, crew and passengers are in danger from this here storm."
"I'm afraid you don't understand, captain. We must get married, and we must get married now."
Shaking his head the captain looked between the two. "Yur both out of yur heads. I must insist ya head down to steerage b'fer either of ya git hurt."
"Captain, this storm will not stop unless you marry the two of us." The farmer continued to stare at him while the young lady leaned in and whispered something unintelligible while looking up towards the sky. Nodding his head, the farmer once again took her hands in his own and addressed the captain again. "Captain, am I correct in thinking that you are a superstitious man?"
Nodding, the captain decided to let his curiosity win over his concern. "O'course I am. I don't know no sailor who ain't."
"Very well," the farmer said in relief. "In that case I implore you to listen. We are cursed, for centuries we have loved each other only for various magical forces to keep us apart. Every time we find each other, something, such as this storm, prevents us from our union. This is the closest we have come to breaking this curse over us. Help us captain; marry us. Unless you decide to kill us, our marriage is the only way to stop this storm and save your ship and all those aboard it."
Skepticism reigned heavily in the captain's mind. As he hesitated though, a bolt of lightning struck the main mast sending one of the crewmen falling towards the deck. Before he could comprehend what was happening, the captain watched as both the farmer and the heiress turned as one and started waving their hands. He watched in stunned disbelief as in one fluid motion a gust of wind whipped a sail from its mast to catch the falling sailor while ropes wrapped themselves around the balustrade and the corners of the sail to allow the sailor to land gently and unharmed on the deck.
Stuttering, the captain turned frightened eyes onto the couple standing before him. "Tha'… tha'… tha's not possible! How'd ya two do that?"
Ignoring the question, the farmer once again asked, "Captain, will you marry us? Right here, right now? Only then will the storm end."
Nodding his consent, the captain called over his first mate to act as witness and began the ceremony while his crew continued to fight the raging storm.
Amidst the most terrifying storm of his life, the captain struggled to remember the words of the sacred ceremony while still trying to keep the helm steady. As the farmer was repeating his vows, a flash of lightening struck right above their heads and before he knew it, the captain was shoved backwards by the young heiress and a man's voice yelled out in utter anguish.
Once the captain had regained his feet, he looked on in bewilderment as the farmer lifted a huge beam off of the heiress' broken body with an inhuman strength. As the farmer gently cradled the heiresses head in his arms the waves began to calm. Now fearing the couple before him, the captain hesitantly edged forwards in the hope of gaining some form of understanding from the whispered conversation, thankfully this time in the King's language.
"Forgive me my love, I was not fast enough," gasped the heiress.
"Nonsense my dear. I am afraid I was the one who was not fast enough. If only I had remembered sooner."
"You say that every time, yet here we are, once again to be separated by a temporary death. Only this time, if the pattern continues to hold, you will remember first, my darling Eavan."
Chuckling ever so slightly through his tears, the farmer lowered his head to brush his lips gently across her brow. "Shush now my Ellette, you know the pattern will hold. It is my turn to face the agony of knowing you while yet being a complete stranger. It has been a hundred years since I last had this chance, but I will find you, just as you have always found me."
The captain stood spellbound as he listened to the conversation between the two lovers. Both had used names that did not belong to them, at least not according to the ships records. He had called her "little elf" while the name he had answered to meant "fair one". On top of that, the farmer's words of their curse echoed in head. Never before had the captain truly believed in superstitions; he had always respected them, but nonetheless found them unworthy of his sincere attention. As he stood watching the couple say their final goodbyes, the captain realized that perhaps he should give the superstitions of his crew more credit as there was obviously more to the simple world he had thought he lived in.
Before he realized it, tears began streaming down the captains face, mixing with the rain, as he watched the farmer kiss his lover goodbye. With one last shuddering breath, the heiress closed her eyes and relaxed into the arms of the farmer. Forcing back a shattering sob, the farmer stood with his lovely burden in his arms and turned to face the captain.
"I thank you, sir, for your willingness to perform the ceremony during such a trying time. Thanks to you, we have never been closer to achieving our goal of breaking this accursed cycle. Alas, we have failed again."
Uncomprehending what was happening, the captain watched as the farmer carried his lover towards the side of the ship, and laid her upon the railing. He continued to watch mesmerized as the farmer began to climb over the railing, balancing on the edge of the ship and once again picking up the heiress. Understanding suddenly dawned on the captain and his first mate who he had forgotten was still present and also witnessing these extraordinary events. As the two men rushed forward to stop the farmer, they were stopped by an unseen barricade.
"I'm sorry, sirs," the farmer stated ruefully. "I am afraid I cannot allow you to stop me. Now that Iliana is once again dead, only my own death can stop this storm and save all those aboard. It is also the only way I can find her again." Pausing, the farmer tilted his head as though listening. Turning once again to the concerned and confused faces of the captain and first mate, the farmer smiled through his tears. "I hear… knocking. It shall be the last sound I hear in this life, and the first I shall hear in the next after I awaken. Only then can I find her again. Thank you, gentlemen, and may the rest of your journey be a safe one."
With a final kiss to the lips of the young heiress, the farmer turned and jumped into the choppy waves. As soon as the farmer jumped, the captain and first mate had been released from behind the invisible barrier. Rushing to the side of the ship, they looked around but found no sign of the lovers. Within a few minutes, the storm had abated, and the sea and sky were as clear and calm as had been expected that morning. Without a word to each other, both the men turned to survey the damage to the ship determined to forget what they had seen.
Although the captain lived for many years afterwards, the look in the farmer's eyes just before he jumped haunted him for the rest of his life. No longer had they been grey or blue. They were black. The darkest black the captain had ever seen, with depths no mere mortal could understand. The blackness of death.
.
.
.
Knock, knock, knock.
The sound reverberated heavily in his ears.
Knock, knock, knock.
Twisting and turning, he struggled to fight against the darkness closing in around him. He wanted to fight it, knew he had to, but he also knew that it was a fight he had already lost. He suddenly wanted to give in, let it take him. The darkness would give him relief.
Knock, knock, knock.
Realization dawned on him. He had already fought this darkness; he had willingly given himself to the darkness. He had willingly given himself up for her...for her...
Knock, knock, knock.
Gasping for air as a drowning man would, Fitzwilliam Darcy sat upright in bed fighting to understand his surroundings. It did not take long to realize he was in his own bed at Pemberley. Suddenly, memories of lives long gone flooded him, overwhelming him. Struggling to gain control of the memories he tried to focus on what had woke him up in the first place and triggered the return of his memories.
Knock, knock, knock.
Glancing towards the door, Darcy immediately knew what awaited him on the other side. Reaching over he grabbed his robe and donned it as he rose to answer the door. Standing on the other side was a footman holding a single lit candle wrapped in a black ribbon.
"Master Fitzwilliam, sir," the footman bowed. "I regret to inform you that your father is dead."
AN: If you waited until you have completely finished reading this prologue to read my AN, you are to be congratulated! You have done better than my mom, who until now is the only person to have read any of my fanfic stories. She kept stopping to ask me if I was sure this was supposed to be a P&P fanfic (several times) among many other questions.
While at this time I have not completed this story, I do have a clear idea of how and where I want this story to go. With that in mind, I do not have a set schedule for uploading new chapters. However, I personally cannot stand to wait for new content so I will try to keep you in as little suspense as possible. I do ask for your patience and understanding though should life happen.
I also personally do not care much for ANs, so at this time I do not plan to add any. I only felt this one was necessary based off of my mom's reaction to first reading my prologue. I will, however, add any AN if the need arises. In the meantime, I promise that although I am adding a heavy fantasy theme, P&P is my favorite story of all time so I will strive to keep true to the characters as best as I can. I hope you have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy this story. Until next time, much love to you all, my fellow P&P lovers!