Maria was breathing rapidly. A light sweat glistened her forehead. She quickly ignited the lamp next to her bed. The lamp lightly illuminated her room. Her four-poster bed in a nicely sized room, decorated with family memories that she was not a part of. She sat up, attempting to catch her breath. She put her hand over her heart, processing her dream.
'Why now?' she thought.
Why did she dream about that day today of all days.
It was her 18th birthday.
She had lived in Port Royal for eight years now.
Governor Swan took a liking to Maria that day on the ship. He thought she would be a good sisterly companion for Elizabeth. He did not formally adopt her but he did make sure she was properly educated and trained as a young lady befitting of the social stature of a governor's daughter. She and Elizabeth were raised as sisters.
At that thought, she recalled her dream. She knew Elizabeth still had the medallion and kept it hidden in a drawer with a false bottom in her night stand. Without knowing why, Maria felt the sudden urge to hold the medallion - keep it with her. Not with Elizabeth. She crept out of her comfortable bed, put on her robe and left her bedroom. She crept across the hall to Elizabeth's room. She lightly knocked.
"Maria? What is it?" Elizabeth answered.
Maria walked in the room.
"Can I see the medallion that you took from Will that day on the ship?"
Elizabeth looked at her puzzled. She went over to her nightstand and removed the false bottom that hid the medallion. She took it out.
Maria shuttered. Even covered in dust, the medallion still emanated a bad omen for her.
"Why do you want to see it?"
Maria didn't explain. She quickly grabbed the medallion and ran her thumb over the decorated gold. It felt like fire in her hands.
"Maria, are you going to answer me?"
She was so distracted looking at the medallion that she almost didn't hear Elizabeth.
"I'm taking it back."
"Why? I've kept it for all these years, why now?"
Maria couldn't tell her why without jeopardizing her family's secret and Will's.
"It's my eighteenth birthday. This is what I wish as my gift from you."
"Maria, that's not exactly how gift giving works. But if it's what you truly want and as long as you keep it safe..."
"I will guard it with my heart. Nothing will be safer."
Her voice was low and she realized she was talking as if Elizabeth wasn't in the room.
She looked around Elizabeth's room. It was personalized with all of Elizabeth's most prized possessions. It looked lived in. Different from Maria's room - which barely looked occupied. She never felt attached to those expensive things.
Suddenly, Maria realized how this world she was brought up in for the past eight years was not the world she belonged in. She felt unworthy of living in a regal mansion as the adopted child of a widowed British governor.
A knock on Elizabeth's door interrupted her thoughts.
"Who is it?"
"Elizabeth, it's father. Is Maria in there with you? I have her present with me."
Elizabeth opened the door and welcomed her father and two maids. One of them rushed to the windows and drew the curtains. The bright tropical sun radiated into the room. Maria squinted her eyes and was taken aback by the light. She didn't know it was already past dawn.
"There you are, my dear," Governor Swan addressed Maria.
She smiled.
"Happy eighteenth birthday, Maria, darling." He pulled out a large box. Elizabeth's eyes lit up excited to see what her adopted sister was getting.
Maria took the box with gratitude and put in on the chest at the end of Elizabeth's bed. She lifted the top cover and inside was a beautiful cream colored dress - fit for a princess - and a matching hat and parasol.
"Oh, Senor, it is beautiful! Muchas gracias!" Maria exclaimed, truly thankful to have such a generous benefactor.
"You are welcome, dear. Go ahead. Try it on."
Maria took the dress with Elizabeth's and the maids' help and went behind a screen in the corner of Elizabeth's room. They began to dress her.
"I'm told it's the most fashionable for women in London. How do you like it?" Governor Swan asked as the maids pulled the ties to the very tight corset. Although Maria did appreciate his generosity, she could never get used to the uncomfortable corset. Unlike Elizabeth, Maria was built with curves and had more meat on her bones than most English women.
"Las senoritas in London must have learned not to breathe," Maria replied.
Elizabeth laughed. "Father, Maria should wear this to the ceremony today."
"Que?"
"Lieutenant Norrington's ceremony. Commodore Norrington he will become," the governor responded.
Maria rolled her eyes. "Of course."
It was no secret to those in Port Royal that James Norrington fancied Maria. Maria didn't mind innocently flirting with him and seemingly reciprocating his affections but she could tell by the governor's tone that he hoped it would turn into a good match.
"Wouldn't it be wonderful if Norrington proposed, Maria?"
Maria just stared blankly. 'Mrs. Commodore Norrington?,' she thought. She didn't like how it sounded.
"I guess."
"Maria, don't you want to be as in love as I am with Will? Am I right, Father?" Elizabeth asked.
The mention of Will and Elizabeth's love was like a knife to Maria's heart.
Maria had harbored an all-consuming love for Will since she met him. They had shared each other's secrets. He had promised that he would always be there for her. He was her only family now. That is what he had said to her that day the ship was attacked. But instead of courting her as she hoped and assumed, Will had began courting Elizabeth when she was fifteen. It hurt Maria to know that he preferred the governor's daughter to a Mexican orphan he'd promised the world to. Maria resented Elizabeth for that. And she hated Will for breaking a promise that meant a great deal to her.
"You are right, dear." The governor's response brought Maria back to the present.
"Yes, that would be lovely," she faintly responded knowing that she could never love or care about James Norrington the way she already loved and cared for Will.