Author's Note: The prologue takes place directly after At World's End, though the rest of the story will take seven years later, like the summary promised. This is my first posted fanfiction. Reviews would be great!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the movies. I do like to think I own my plotlines, though. Please, no stealing.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Prince of the Seven Seas

Prologue

Elizabeth was King of the Pirates, and a Pirate King would not cry for more than three weeks alone on an island. She was not sure how she had arrived at that conclusion, but by repeating that time table enough to herself, she had begun to believe it.

Three weeks had passed, and it was time to pull herself together. Elizabeth had awoken that morning to a very sour stomach, and she took that as a sign that she needed to work her way back towards civilization and real food. Will had trusted his heart to her, and she did not think he would take it well to hear that she nearly starved to death in an effort to stay by its side. Like any true pirate, she needed to bury her treasure. She was certain Will did not expect her to carry it around all the time, as that would be dangerous for both her and her husband.

So after some careful memorization, she picked a location to hide the Chest. Two palm trees and a large rock by the spring would have to do as markers. As long as she alone knew where it was, it should be safe.

A tropical breeze kept her sweating brow cool as she labored away. After a solid couple hours of digging and refilling, Elizabeth stepped back to examine her handiwork. Her fingernails and the oar she had rechristened as a shovel were covered in grit, but the job was done. She had even managed to limit herself to three sobbing breaks.

Elizabeth was not a girl prone to tears, but the events of two weeks ago had (understandably, she felt) changed that. First, believing the love of her life to be dead, then to have him resurrected only to learn she would not see him for another ten years, and at that time, only for a day, Elizabeth had enough emotional turmoil to fill the rum locker of the Pearl. With tears threatening to come again, Elizabeth knew the time to get off this uncharted island was not going to come a moment too soon.

Two days into her stay on Isla who-knows-what, Elizabeth had come to the realization that she had only a rowboat to get back to civilization in. A few moments later, she had realized that civilization for her was likely to be rather limited, as she was a wanted woman in the eyes of the Royal Navy. She had a predicament on her hands. Sea-turtles seemed a bit out of the question.

Luckily for Elizabeth, she had recently developed a sense of direction. As a young woman growing up in strict upper-class societies, Elizabeth never needed to know where anything was around Port Royal. Her drivers would always know where to take her. However, several months out at sea taught her the importance of having a sense of where she was in relation to other places she knew to be safe. And right now, the safest haven imaginable for a Pirate King was luckily just one island over. With decent weather conditions, she felt she could row the distance to Shipwreck Island in one day.

She rinsed the shovel-oar off in the rising tide. Burying the Chest had taken longer than she had anticipated, and it was already midday. It would be foolish to start her journey now, with the 

strong Caribbean sun beating down on the sea between the two isles. Elizabeth sighed as she realized she would need to spend yet another night on this depressing beach.

Shuffling back to her makeshift shelter, Elizabeth gritted her teeth. "No more tears, young lady," she told herself firmly, "Just one more night here. The next time you set foot on this isle, it will be for much happier reasons." Though it won't be for another ten years, she added internally, and a tear escaped down her sun burnt cheek.

Another wave crashed into the little boat, and Elizabeth spit seawater for the seventh time that morning. Her stomach was not pleased with her, and it seemed particularly displeased with the seawater. She kept her food down as best she could, though. "A Pirate King should retain some semblance of decency," she told herself, "And rowing up to the cove with vomit on the side of my vessel would undermine that, now wouldn't it?"

Shipwreck Island was growing closer. With any luck Tai Huang and the rest of her crew would be waiting in the waters nearby for her. She had, however, given Tai Huang responsibility for the safety of the ship and crew, which he could have taken to mean: "Run for your lives!". It would not surprise her. She knew Sao Feng had made many enemies of the Western pirates. True, a few weeks ago the pirates of Shipwreck Cove were united, but Elizabeth was pretty sure that alliance was broken just as soon as the East India Trading Company fleet turned heel. Whether Tai Huang would master his fears and wait for his captain, or high-tail it out of the New World while he had the chance, remained to be seen. Elizabeth crossed her fingers and hoped for the best, as she rowed her way through the clear Caribbean waters. It was basically all she could do.

It was into dusk when she finally managed to round the edge of the island. Elizabeth felt her arms were about to fall off, but every time she had tried to stop for a break, she ended up having to work even harder than before to get back on course after the currents had their way with her. Despite being more used to physical labor than she ever had been in her early life, her hands were still blistered from the efforts. Elizabeth had uttered her fair share of curses along the trip, taking an embarrassed pride in her new-found colorful language. Being a pirate had some fun perks.

The cove was a little more difficult to navigate. Elizabeth was glad she had let Tai Huang maneuver about its choppy waters when she arrived at the town for the first time. The little rowboat was being tossed pretty solidly, but its shallow keel kept it from hitting any of the rocks.

"HER MAJESTY APPROACHES!"

Elizabeth raised her head in surprise. From the town walls (which were mostly just a bunch of railings from deceased ships), a crowd was gathering. People were cheering. Her upbringing berated her for not being able to name one face in the crowd of her subjects, but mostly she just felt relieved. Other people, she thought to herself. Finally. Three weeks was a long time.

She docked her miniature vessel and found a red carpet rolled out into the main hall. From its doorway strolled Captain Teague himself, his swagger confirming suspicions Elizabeth had had about his relation to a certain other pirate.

"Well, well," his slow, raspy voice echoed off the wooden planks like the thud of a fish on a dock. "If it isn't our King, back from battle." He bowed with surprising grace. "Welcome home, your Majesty."

Elizabeth allowed herself to be helped out of the dinghy. "Thank you, good Captain. I trust things are returning to normal?"

Teague smiled. Or rather, Elizabeth hoped it was a smile. It was difficult to tell with the wrinkled captain. "Normal is as normal does, and pirates do as pirates does. We do what we can to get by; but by us, things have a way of getting."

Elizabeth smiled politely in return, though her brain was trying to twist and turn his phrases into any semblance of sense. In the few lines of communication with Teague, Elizabeth felt several questions about Jack Sparrow being answered already. She took Teague's offered arm as they walked into the main hall.

"You must be famished," said the Code Keeper, and motioned towards a feast being laid out on the table before her. "Take a seat. A few of us old pirates will dine with you tonight."

Elizabeth quickly learned that Tai Huang had indeed fled the Caribbean, but he did leave a message behind giving his captain instructions on where to find her ship and crew should she return. She pocketed the message delivered by a seedy looking pirate she did not know, and chose to make the decision of whether she would try to locate her ship at another time. Mostly all she could think about at the moment was getting a decent meal in her. She sat down at the grand table, eager to begin the supper. The roguish Code Keeper took the seat to her left. Several other pirates she failed to recognize filled the remaining chairs in no particular order. She was introduced to them one at a time, and even through her exhaustion she memorized each face and name. Growing up a governor's daughter gave her at least a few skills she doubted other pirate kings had at their ready. As supper began, it was clear that Teague was the pirate she was meant to be speaking with the most, though he, in what Elizabeth was sure was his slowest voice imaginable, ended up doing most of the speaking.

Conversation with Captain Teague delved deep into the realms of platitudes with little reason and requests for the next course with a bit too much rhyme. Elizabeth wanted to attribute much of her confusion to having spent an entire day out under the Caribbean sun with no water, but seeing as every other pirate at that table was perfectly comprehensible, she concluded reluctantly that Teague was at least slightly off his rocker.

Dessert quickly gave way to after-dinner drinks. One aging pirate named Piers seemed very keen on chatting Elizabeth up, and clearly felt that they could chat better in private. Luckily, Teague seemed to have taken her under his wing for the evening, and whisked her away before the more bawdy party began.

"Thank you, Captain," Elizabeth said in relief as she escaped Piers and his incessant personal questions. "I would like to retire early, and perhaps get a good start on matters of business in the morning. Captain Piers was getting a little too pushy for my tastes."

Teague nodded vaguely as they arrived at what were presumably her quarters. "No problem at all, your Majesty. Jackie asked for me to keep an eye on you."

"Jackie? Jack?" Elizabeth was not sure if she should feel touched or suspicious. "When did he ask you that?" Her eyes narrowed.

Teague chuckled, then began to cough. Elizabeth felt a little uncomfortable when the coughing did not let up for some time. "You are quite the pirate, your Majesty," he wheezed a moment later. "Could give that boy a run for his money, if you decided to."

Elizabeth was not sure how to respond, and found herself fiddling awkwardly with the paint on the doorframe. Does he know? Does he know that I once killed his son? She swallowed the thoughts back in, doing her best to keep her composure.

If Teague had noticed her guilty eye-shifting, he chose to ignore it. "Jackie has good reason for wantin' to protect you. Shipwreck Cove is no longer safe. Just because they fled, doesn't mean the trading company or the Royal fleet won't be after us again soon."

Elizabeth nodded, realizing her role as king was likely to be of great importance yet again. The dim hallway hid the tears welling up in her eyes. She did not mean to get emotional, but the exhaustion of the past several weeks was catching up to her. She wished Teague would just let this all be until the morning.

Instead, he looked squarely at her - an impressive feat for the ever-swaying pirate. "Your leadership will help keep us together. You can keep the pirates united against our enemy. Us pirates have not had a king in decades. Now, more than ever, we need one. Particularly a living one." Teague reached out and took her shoulder. "Captain Swann – "

"Turner," she said, raising her chin up high.

Teague smiled again and squinted his eyes at her in an all-too-familiar way. Elizabeth had had plenty of practice avoiding the scrutinizing gaze of Captain Sparrow, and she kept her proud posture.

"Very well, Captain Turner," he said slowly. "Are you still ready to serve as our King?"

The candlelight bounced strange shadows off the walls. The glass of wine Elizabeth had after dinner was starting to catch up with her, and she could not help but feel dizzy. The weight of what was being asked was not lost on her, but Elizabeth felt that after what she had to go through with Will, there was nothing left to be scared of doing. "Yes. Yes, I am." Her voice barely even quavered.

"Good choice," Teague said, letting go of her shoulder. "The Code would've required us to hang you if you had refused."

Elizabeth's eyes widened.

Teague continued to speak, not betraying for a moment if he had been serious or not. "You must also accept that your survival is a marker for the survival of us all. If we are threatened, we will evacuate you. Now," he held up a hand as she began to protest. "There is no use arguin'. By protectin' you, we are protectin' our way of life. It'd be best to just go along with what we suggest if such an occasion arises."

Elizabeth had had just about enough of this evening. She nodded, figuring it would be futile to try and object any further. If Teague would just let her get to sleep, she was sure she could sort this out better in the morning.

He finally seemed to cotton on. "You must be exhausted. I'll leave you to your quarters then."

She sighed in relief. "Thank you, good Captain." Elizabeth turned to go in to her room. The bed looked rather well-worn, but the promise of all the blankets piled on top was plenty of incentive for the Pirate King to bury herself in it as soon as possible.

"Just one more thing, your Majesty."

She turned back abruptly, resisting the urge to curse at the old man. "Yes, Captain?"

His face took on an odd expression, and he clearly missed her frustration. "It's a curious thing. You and your husband."

Elizabeth could think of a dozen things curious about their marriage, so she was at a loss for which Teague spoke of. She waited while he pondered in the hallway, swaying in the candlelight.

Finally, he spoke up again, voice raspy as ever. "The King of the Seven Seas, and the Lord of the seas beyond the farthest gate." He paused again, as if searching for the proper concluding platitude to send her to bed with. "Just…a curious thing." He ended lamely several moments later, then left her to the night.

Real food did nothing to settle Elizabeth's sour stomach, and after two more weeks of waking up ill, she accepted the idea that had been dancing around her mind for some time: she was with child. Will's child. Even though he was not physically in her life, he did not leave her to face life alone. Never had she felt more grateful to her husband as she did leaning over the railing each morning to spill her breakfast.

Keeping a pregnancy secret only works for so long. Teague and the other pirates of the Cove soon began to have suspicions, and the rounder her belly got, the more affirmed those were. She carried on with her Kingly duties as if nothing had changed, only pausing to quash ugly rumors doubting the paternity of the child.

Nobody expected the attack to come when it did. Long boat after long boat sailed into the cove one relatively quiet evening, a dozen British soldiers in each. There were only so many that could be taken out with canons. The rest had to be fought off with sword and gun. The pirate 

ships that escaped the cove barely made it out into the open waters before being fired on by the Royal Fleet.

The Pirate King was surrounded by a guard, but Elizabeth knew her defenses would not last for long. Shipwreck Cove had been breached, despite all assurances of it being a fortress "nigh impregnable". For the first time during a battle since the attack on her father's mansion years ago, her thoughts were not on fighting. They were on fleeing. She would not put Will's unborn child in danger.

Lucky for her, Captain Teague had the same thoughts. "Save the King!" and "Save the heir!" were the cries echoing through the town. She was rushed off to the fastest vessel in the Cove. Teague would captain it, and two other ships would flank them, drawing the Navy's fire.

With canon fire overhead, Elizabeth prayed to God, to Calypso, and to her husband for safe passage away from Shipwreck Cove. Through the powder, the smoke, the flames and the waves, her crew amazingly pulled her to safety. She did not know how many pirates lost their lives that day, but she did learn that more than her vessel alone escaped.

The remainder of her pregnancy involved an elaborate chase through the Seven Seas, the Royal Navy never far from her tail. After several months, just before she felt she was due to give birth, Teague pulled into an unexpected port.

Elizabeth was rushed onto shore as the ship pulled away in a hurry, left with only his words as instructions:

"Find distant relatives. Hide away. We will find you again. Take care of the child."

Elizabeth was back in England.