AN: I had a very tough time coming up with ideas for this chapter, I rewrote this about 4 times before I was almost satisfied with this one. Thanks for baring with me!
Mary walked onto the deck rubbing her stomach whispering to herself, "Ya need to settle down in there, that's starting to hurt." Edward looks at her with concern in his eyes, "Whats going on Mary?"
"It's nothing, she's only stomping on my insides at the moment." Mary stops to against the railing rubbing her stomach attempting to soothe the cramps away. Edward replaces her hands with his and speaks, "Maybe you should sit this one out, you look like you are in a lot of pain." Mary grabs his wrists, "I'll be alright Edward, she will settle down soon." She gives him a peck on the lips and the two stroll to the helm stopping next to Adéwalé.
"Captain Kenway, I can see Nassau on the horizon, we will be docking shortly." Edward nods and directs his attention to the crew, "Men! Listen closely! We will be arriving in Nassau shortly, you are all to keep at your stations incase we need to make a prompt exit. We will be using the cover of darkness to make our move, do not ingage in combat, flee if the Jackdaw is under attack. Do you understand?" The crew answers with a loud "Aye!" Men throwing their arms into the air and quickly returning to their jobs.
Vane takes the wheel from Adéwalé and makes a sharp turn, "No sail! Pull her in!" The crew slowly pull the Jackdaw towards the the dock; Edward, Mary, and Adéwalé make haste to the side of the deck, the three hopping off before she is even tied off.
Edward and Adéwalé don't have to search for long before they hear the traitorous voice of Benjamin Hornigold. "If you don't mind me asking sir, what's the meaning behind the blood samples we're taking?" The two men quickly duck into the nearest shrubbery. "Torres tells me that blood is required for the observitory to properly function."
"How do you mean sir?" Hornigold stops and eyes the bush the two men are hiding in, and continued walking with Rogers.
"If one wishes to use the observitory to spy on King George then one would require a drop of the Kings blood to do so. In other words one sample of blood is enough access to a man's everyday life."
Hornigold stops abruptly, "Does Torres mean to spy on me then? For I have given a sample of my own blood."
"As have I captain Hornigold, as will other templars, It's a sign of trust." The men make it to the fort atop the hill, two brutish men step aside allowing Hornigold and Rogers passage. Edward and Adéwalé stand up, "I guess you aren't just chasing fantasies captain." Edward pats his shoulder and runs to the gallows. "Follow me Adé."
The two run past the gallows to a log hanging over a cliff, "Are you sure about this Captain?" He kicks a pebble off the edge watching it fall. "That's a mighty far drop, we'd be dead in an instant." Edward hops from the log landing on a tree growing over the small ledge. "If you're too scared stay there," He points towards where the guards were standing. "However you'll have a hard time escaping from that group of soldiers." Adéwalé follows the blondes lead and joins him on the small cliff. The two scale the crumbling wall, they reach midway up the watch tower and see a guard pacing around. Edward lets out a bird call and the man walks over inspecting the noise. Edward quickly jumps up stabbing the man in the throat throwing him off the edge. The two pull themselves up, jumping to some left over scaffolding to scale the rest of the way up the wall. They dispose of the two sharp shooters and jump down into a haystack below. They sneak down the steps and jump into the brush once again when they hear, "Remind me, where in africa are they headed?"
"Principe sir, a small island." Voiced the traitor.
"Yes, we sent two of our best men." The two pirates see Hornigold shuffle a bit towards the bush they are hidding in.
"Edward Kenway," Hornigold bellows out,"imagine my suprise seeing your Jackdaw anchored there. Have you heard everything you came to hear? Will you now rescue the sage from our clutching hands?"
Edward stands up and growls, "A pox on you traitor! You sold us down river!"
"Because I found a better path. The Templars know order, discipline, structure, but you never could fathom these subtleties. Goodbye old friend, you were a soldier once, when you fought for something real. Something beyond yourself." Hornigold pulls out his sword and points it at him, Adéwalé hops up out of the brush, pointing his pistol at the man. Hornigold lowers his blade and the two men take off.
Hornigold shouts out, "After them!" Sending gaurds running in all directions. The men run up the walls and hop off into a hay wagon. They quickly jump out and bolt down the hill passing by the tavern.
Mary speeds to the tavern hoping to run into the infamous Blackbeard. As she walks up the large set of stairs she feels the pressure building in her abdomen again, she leans against the railing and lets out a deep breath. Once the pressure subsides she walks the rest of the way up the stairs.
Reaching the top she looks around, frowning when the retired pirate is no where to be seen. She heads in the direction of the bar to ask the bartender but stops once again feeling the pressure return. She rests her hands on the table putting the brunt of her weight on them letting out a quiet groan this time, her head perks up when she hears her name. "Mary is that you? What's going on?" Mary shuffles quickly to Anne and grabs onto her hands. "Just the person I need to see! Have you seen Thatch?"
Anne pulls Mary to arms length, "After his retirement party he said something about heading to the Americas, someplace called Ocracoke. Mary, what's wrong? I can see something in your face, what are you hidding?"
Mary cringes and squeezes tightly onto Annes hands, "I'm fine really, we need to get out of here. Hornigold has taken the pardon and joined forces with the Templars." Mary buckles at her knees and cries out in pain, Anne guides her to a nearby chair. "I don't think you're fine, will you quit being so stubborn?"
Mary sighs when the pain disappears, and starts to stand up but is quickly pushed back down. "I hate to tell you this but you are in no condition to keep doing the things you are doing. You are obviously at your limit, stop pushing yourself or you will regret it." Mary laughs and attempts stand back up, "Don't worry about me, like I said I'm fi-" Mary lets out a shout and crumples to the floor clutching her stomach.
Edward stops when he hears a scream at the tavern, he quickly darts towards the noise.
"Anne! What was that scream? Are you alright?"
"It wasn't me Edward, it was Mary! I think she may be in labor!"
Edwards heart drops and he rushes to Mary's side, "She's not far enough along! She can't be having the babe!" He picks her up, turning to face Anne, "Come with us we need to get out of here quickly." The three bolt to the dock and hop onto the Jackdaw, Mary smashing her face into Edwards chest muffling her pained cries.
"What happened to her?" Vane shouts down at the group.
"It's not important right now, we've got to get out of here! Man the sails! Full speed ahead!" Edward rushes to his cabin placing Mary gently on the bed. She quickly unbuttons the top of her shirt allowing her to take in as much oxygen as possible, she takes in several deep breaths finally able to calm herself.
She leans back in the bed and throws her arm over her face, "I think the pain is gone for good now." Edward crawls onto the bed next to her pulling her to his chest, "You really had me worried for a moment. I think you need to settle down, the stress is getting to you." She turns to face him, "I'm not ready to stop, there's still so much to do! I need to make sure we're bringing our child into a safe and free world!"
"We won't have a child to bring up if you loose it in the process." Edward lowers a hand to her swollen stomach, searching her eyes for an answer. She closes her eyes and mumbles under her breath, "I'm just not ready." The two are silent for some time, Edward gets out of the bed quietly when he hears Mary's breath even to a slow pace and tucks the blanket around her, quietly shutting the door behind him as he left the room.
Mary wakes up to bright sunlight shining into her eyes, she sits up and swings her legs over the edge. She rubs her head attempting to push her stray hairs back into place. She stands up and walks out onto the deck. "Mary, you look like hell, what are you doing out of bed? Edward said you aren't to be moving around." Mary waves her away, "I'm fin-"
"Mary!" A boisterous voice shouts, "The hell are you doing out of bed?" Mary hears a loud thud next to her and feels arms wrap around her attempting to pick her up, she swats at him, "I can walk, leave me alone!" Edward warps his arms across his chest, "You aren't doing anymore work get to bed!"
"You can't treat me like a child Kenway!" The crew become silent as they stare at the couple. "Don't exert yourself, Mary." She storms to the wheel shouting behind her, "Don't chastise me!" She directs her words to the crew, "Stop your gawking and get back to work!" She grabs onto the wheel her eyebrow twitching a bit. Edward comes up behind her whispering into her ear, "I know you're in pain, it's alright to take a break, it doesn't make you weak."
Mary leans back into his arms and he pulls her from the wheel, guiding her to a chair waiting nearby. She plops down and crosses her arms around her chest, "I'm only doing this to get ya off my back, I'm not tired." She turns her head and sticks her nose in the air, Edward pats her head and returns to steering the ship.
The entire crew was on edge after their fight, everyone could feel Mary seething from her chair. She continued to bark orders, being pregnant only made her temper ten times more volitile. Vane puts on a brave face and approaches her. "Oi why don't you go take a nap, you're pissing everyone off."
The ship suddenly comes to a dead silence, the shanty cut mid song. Mary rises from her seat, "How about you go take a nap?"She shoves him away from her and pulls out her hidden blades, "At the bottom of the ocean." Edward quickly jumps between them pushing her arms down. "That is it Mary! You need to accept the fact that you can't be doing the things you used to. You are much too far along, you need to take a step back!"
"I can do anything I bloody well please, ya aren't my master!" Mary storms below deck locking the door to the room she once occupied.
Mary hears a knock at the door, "Go away Kenway!" A small voice replies, "It's Anne." Mary unlocks the door and lets her in, Anne embraces her and Mary starts to cry. "Oh Anne, I don't want this anymore. My back hurts, my feet hurt, and I can't do anything. I never asked for any of this!" Anne rubs her back kissing her on the cheek, "It will change when you have your babe, I know you'll make a wonderful mother. We made it to America, did you wish to walk around with me?" Mary stands up wiping tears away and scoffs, "Kenway isn't going to yell at me is he?"
Anne laughs guiding Mary off the ship, the two walk off the shore kicking a few bottles out of the way. "Seems as though he hasn't stopped celebrating since he retired." The two trudge to a nearby tavern, sit down and order some hot food.
"Look here! Look at these two beautiful ladies right here! What brings you lasses here!" Mary turns around standing up to greet the burly man. "The fearsome Blackbeard! Terror of the seven seas! I thought ya retired man, I heard ya sunk a man o war the other day!" The large man scoops Mary up and gives her a large hug, "Put me down man, I can hardly breathe." She gently taps the mans chest as he sets her down. Her face turns serious as she speaks, "Have you heard? Nassau has been taken over, Hornigold has sold it to the Templars."
"That fucking traitor! I'll gut him!" Mary places a hand to his shoulder, "Relax, we don't want ya getting killed. We're going to start a new republic in Great Inagua, Nassau is a lost cause. Join us man, join the assassin order, we will take care of ya and ya will have a real cause to fight for. No more stealing, no more plundering."
Thatch thinks for a moment and raises a glass, "Alright, I'll join you, but first let's drink!" Mary laughs, "That's all you do anymore!"
"Figured I'd find you here." Edward grumbles under his breath and nods to the two women, "Anne, Mary." Mary shys away from the inflection used on her name, Her eyes dart down to her hands. Edward directs his gaze back towards Thatch, "Did they tell you about Nassau?" Thatch swollows his mouthful of rum, "Aye, they did, it's a shame about that place, we worked so hard to build it."
Edward throws his arms down, "But we are going to rebuild and regroup build a new, stronger republic!" Thatch stands up, and brushes Edward away. "Don't waste your breath, the lasses already convinced me to join you. Besides, I was starting to get bored, retiring isn't as fun as I thought it'd be."
Edward is silent and plops down next to Mary, ordering a rum from a passing Waitress. "What's going on with you two? You're acting strange, you aren't arguing like you usually do." Thatch questions the couple, Edward lowers his head and says, "Some people feel as though they are free birds, with no concern of other's feelings." He sends a glare in Mary's direction, she hops from her spot in response and swiftly walks away without a word. Edward continues to stare forward allowing Mary to walk further away, Anne sighs standing from her seat, "You know, you should treat her better. She is carrying your child you know." And follows after her.
Edward and Thatch sit quietly sipping their rum, Thatch breaks the silence, "I agree with you Edward but you approached this the wrong way. You know how stubborn she is and how proud she is of her cause, you can't just rip her from her duties!" Edward brings the bottle back to his lips and takes a long drag on the liquid, Thatch continues, "I think you need to go after her, instead of accusing her, explain why she needs to stop. Go on boy." Thatch shoos the man away, Edward takes another large gulp emptying the bottle. He wipes his mouth on his sleeve and heads in the direction the women walked off in.
Anne cradles Mary rubbing her back gently hoping to calm her down. Mary cries into her, unable to control the tears streaming down her face. "He hates me Anne!" She begins weeping again. Anne pulls her up looking into her eyes and brushes the hair away from her face. "He doesn't hate you, he's just concerned for you. I think you're too stubborn sometimes, look at you! How many more contracts can you go on before endanger your life!" Mary bursts into more tears, "Yer right I'm a horrible person." Mary hides her hands in her face and sobs.
Edward pushes some leaves out of the way roughly, he stops when he sees Anne holding Mary. His face softens when he sees Mary weeping, he trots over to them and places a hand to Mary's head running a hand through her soft hair. She looks up at him and more tears burst from her eyes she grabs onto his waist and cries it him, "Don't hate me Edward." Edward squats down infront of her and places a soft kiss to her cheek, he pulls her into his arms and nuzzles into her neck. "I don't hate you, why would you even say that. I'm just angry because you have no sense of danger. You're going to get yourself and the babe killed. Now let's get back to the Jackdaw, we have to get to Principe before we lose the sage."
Edward stands pulling Mary with him, he extends a hand helping Anne up. He embraces her in a warm hug thanking her for calming Mary down. Mary grabs Edward by the hand and pulls him down to her level. "I expect this to go no further than us, got that Kenway." Edward laughs and walks ahead of the women. "Yeah sure, whatever you say Mary."