As Delicate as a Rose

By: Raven in Red

Lorynn Benedict enters courtship with Commodore Norrington. Soon after the two are married, James must go to sea in pursuit of the pirates that have been attacking Port Royal. NorringtonOC

Chapter Nine: The Prisoner

Once I had forgiven James, he turned around to leave the cabin. We heard commotion out on deck. However, as soon as he had opened the door, he exclaimed, "Oh dear Lord!"

"What? What is it?" I rushed to his side. He walked out on deck, with me following closely behind him. "Oh, no!" I gasped. Sailing right up next to the Interceptor was the same ship that had been attacking Port Royal. I fearfully clung to James' arm. "Is there going to be a fight?"

"Probably," replied James, "Although this certainly has saved us a lot of time tracking those pirates down. They don't look like they're willing to negotiate, though."

"Well, of course they don't!" I said as I gestured to the many sword-baring pirates. "They look like they want to kill us all!"

James gave me a comforting pat on my shoulder. "Just stay in our cabin, and they won't hurt you."

"James, you're babying me," I folded my arms and glared at him. "And I don't like it."

"I'm sorry, Lory," he said in apology. "I just don't want you to be in the middle of a battle."

"Oh, alright," I decided to be a good girl and cooperate with my husband. "But you had better come back to me alive." I poked a finger into his chest.

"I will, I will," James reassured me with a kiss. With a smirk, I went back into our cabin. "Oh, not again!" I groaned when I saw that James had, once again, forgotten his sword.

"James!" I yelled as I went out on deck. The pirates were cheering as the ships aligned. Below deck, the crew was loading the many cannons. I stormed right up to my husband and shoved the sword into his hands. "Don't forget it again! Remember what happened last time?" James winced at the not so fond memory.

"Lory, get back to the cabin!" James ordered urgently as he clipped the sword around his waist. With a nod, I obeyed, locking the door behind me. I tried not to fear for James as I heard the cannons go off. I was glad that I wasn't any closer to them, or else my hearing would have been ruined. To pass the time, I paced the cabin and listened to the many sounds of the battle. Among the booming of the cannons were shouts, screams, swears, and the sound of clanging swords. I prayed that James was as good with a sword as he had told me many months ago. I was able to keep calm while I kept telling myself that James would survive. I had faith in him, and I wasn't going to let that faith die.

Eventually, I heard James' voice. "You'll be spending some time in the brig, Mr. Sparrow." I was overwhelmed with curiosity, but I didn't want to disobey James and leave the cabin, so I just waited with my curiosity until he returned.

At first, I was overjoyed to see him come through the cabin doors. However, I cried out in fear when I saw the bloodstains on his shirt. "James, what has happened to you?"

"I just got a few scratches, Lory. It's no big deal," replied James as he threw his jacket over the back of his chair. When he sat down, I took charge.

"Just a few scratches, you say," I scolded. "You're bleeding all over that shirt! Take it off and let me get you cleaned up." He obeyed me without question, possibly nervous that I was having another mood swing. I filled a bowl with water from the pitcher near the washbasin and grabbed a small towel from the cabinet nearby. Once I had soaked the towel with water, I looked over James' wounds. He had a few bleeding scratches on his lower arms, along with a slash over his right kidney. Sighing, I clamped the towel over each of his wounds in turn.

"Thank you, Lory," he caressed my face.

"You're my husband. It's the least I can do," I replied modestly. Once I was done, I threw the bloody towel away and led James over to the bed. "I love you, James. I'm sorry I seemed angry at you. I just don't want you to be hurt, and I guess I get overprotective."

"Don't worry about it," he smiled up at me as I got him a fresh shirt. "I would have done the same for you."

- - - - - - -

Later that night, James didn't go to bed with me. He had some business to take care of with the crew, so they were all meeting down in the galley. From what I had heard, they wouldn't be done for at least an hour. Seizing the opportunity, I decided to satisfy my curiosity and sneak down to the brig to find out about James' new prisoner. By Mr. Sparrow, he was probably referring to Captain Jack Sparrow, one of the so-called 'best' pirates in the Caribbean. If he was behind bars, I could talk to him without getting hurt, and maybe find out why James had captured him.

"Mr. Sparrow?" I called out quietly as I got down to the brig.

"Well, hello there," he replied eagerly as I approached his cell. He was handsome, I had to give him that, underneath the dirt, dreadlocks, and tattered clothes.

"Don't try anything, Captain," I held up my left hand. "I'm married."

His eyes fell onto my engagement ring and then my gold wedding ring. "Ah, that's a shame."

"Says who?" I took a seat on a bench across from his cell.

"Says me," he winked. As I rolled my eyes, he declared, "You must be Lorynn Benedict, wife of the one and only Commodore James Norrington."

"How do you know?" I narrowed my eyes in disbelief.

"I have my ways, love," he winked again. "Now what brings a lovely lady like yourself down to the brig at this hour of the night? Won't your darling husband be mad?"

"He doesn't know," I stated plainly. "And I plan to keep it that way." I folded my arms.

"Ooh, the lass is going behind her husband's back," said Sparrow with a smirk.

"Oh, please!" I fired back with a glare. "I just came to ask some questions."

"Then ask away," he leaned forward against the bars. "I'm listening."

I got to my questions straight away. "What is the name of the ship that attacked Port Royal twice, and now the Interceptor?"

"The name of that vessel is the Dragon Wing. She's fierce, and she carries a great deal of cannon," replied Sparrow.

"Yet we still managed to overpower her," I mocked. "Next question: why are you here?"

"Well, I was originally a prisoner of the Dragon Wing. I had been there for nearly a month. When the ship was attacked, one of the cannonballs blasted through the wall of the brig and destroyed the lock on my cell. I seized the opportunity to escape. However, I wasn't quick enough, and your dear Commodore took me prisoner. I've known him for a long time, love, and he and I are not what you would call friendly to each other," said Sparrow.

"Well, I don't blame him," I retaliated. "He is not what you would call friendly to any pirate, especially one that he already has issues with."

"Any more questions, darling?" Sparrow asked with a smirk.

"Yes, there are a couple," I ignored the fact that he was calling me 'love' and 'darling'. Normally I would have been mad, since James was the only one allowed to call me those, but I decided to keep my head cool. I continued with my questioning by asking, "What happened between you and my husband?"

"It's kind of a long story, love. It boils down to this: Two years ago, I stole his ship, which was the Fearless Flyer at the time, and used it to ransack the ship of my enemy, Lord Cutler Beckett," Sparrow said semi-proudly. I recognized the name Beckett. He was a Lord who worked for King George in England.

"One more question," I concluded, "If you were kidnapped by the pirates of the Dragon Wing, then where is your ship and crew?"

Sparrow lowered his head in shame. "At the moment, I am not in possession of either."

"I'm quite sorry to hear that, Captain Sparrow," I was genuinely sorry for him. For a pirate, having no ship was like any normal man having no home. "Wait," I had realized something. "Why are you simply telling me all of this? I'm a complete stranger to you."

"Sometimes you just have to let it out, love," he answered with a sad smile. I sighed and knelt down so that I was at eye level with him. Luckily, the floor was dry, so I didn't have to worry about ruining my dress.

"I understand, Captain Sparrow," I took hold of the bars. Then I felt a stab of pain in my belly. I reached down and clapped my hand over it while I tried not to make it too obvious.

"You're pregnant," he declared.

"What? Do you just 'have your ways'?" I laughed a little.

"No, I can tell by the way you're holding your belly," he said in slight awe. "I knew a woman once who died during her pregnancy."

"That's awful," I said with empathy. Then I heard footsteps. "Uh-oh, I'd better get back upstairs before James, I mean the Commodore, finds out that I'm gone." I stood up carefully, ignoring the pain in my womb. "Good night, Captain Sparrow. I'll come by tomorrow night if possible." I then left the brig and joined my husband in bed, as if I had never left the cabin.

- - - - - - -

The next morning, I managed to get a little bit of free time to visit Captain Sparrow. James had another meeting with the crew. Jack was simply overjoyed when he saw that I had brought a bottle of rum with me.

"How did you know?" he asked in surprise.

"Lucky guess," I answered with a small smile. I knelt in front of the cell again and handed the bottle to Jack. I didn't take any for myself, simply because I didn't want to harm my unborn child. Jack took a long, grateful swig before gazing, almost lovingly, into my eyes.

"You're an angel," he declared. I gave a nervous laugh as he reached out and touched my face.

"Um…thank you, I guess," I backed up slightly.

"You really are an angel," he said after he had taken another swig. "I haven't had even a taste of rum in weeks." I laughed and sighed as he finished the entire bottle. "How can I possibly thank you?" he took my hand and kissed it.

"Um," I lost my train of thought. Jack was making me nervous. "Don't worry about it." Then I stood up. "I should probably get going now." I hurried quickly out of the brig and back into James' and my cabin. Luckily, James wasn't there, so I didn't have to cover for myself.

When James came back into the cabin, I tried to sound a little suspicious. "Why have you been having these meetings with the crew, sweetheart?" I asked as I took James' coat. "Is something wrong?"

James sighed and gave me a gentle hug. "We're just unsure about what we're going to do about the pirates. We still have to catch them and find out why they've attacked Port Royal. We're just running low on energy for the time being, after that unsuccessful battle."

"That doesn't make any sense. We won that battle. How could it have been unsuccessful?" I asked, puzzled.

"It was unsuccessful because we didn't get any information from them," James sighed again and looked out the window. "Maybe we'll get some answers tomorrow." He then went back out on deck.

"Maybe I'll be able to get some answers from Jack," I said to myself.

- - - - - - -