"My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair,
And I have left my parents and three thousand pounds a year,
My heart is pierced by Cupid, I disdain all glittering gold,
There is nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold"
-"My Jolly Sailor Bold"
I Disdain All Glittering Gold
Chapter Nine
A/N: I finally finished NANOWRIMO! That means that I did what I set out to do and wrote a 50,000 word novel in a month! Now I just have to spend 5000 years editing it -sigh. Anyway, sorry for the delay: here is Chapter Nine- which takes place in Dead Man's Chest!
Rain fell heavier than it had in decades, the day of Elizabeth Swann's wedding.
Marina Turner stood solemnly behind her friend, and soon to be sister-in-law, head bowed.
The harsh wind had knocked a few tea cups off of the tables they'd set up earlier that day.
"Where are you Will?" Marina whispered desperately.
It was then that the ships began to arrive, and a company of men in red uniforms scuttled onto the beach of Port Royal, dragging William Turner with them.
It took Marina and Elizabeth a moment to register what they were seeing, when their eyes met and they ran, trying not to trip on the ends of their dresses, to a circle of guards.
Two men had their arms tightly around Will's, and his hands were clamped in handcuffs.
Elizabeth rushed to her betrothed, and grabbed his hands, searching his face for answers.
"Will what is it? What's happening?!" Elizabeth demanded.
Marina stood behind the two, letting droplets of rain smudge her makeup and run off her nose.
She didn't know what to do. She wished she had the courage and the quick wit that she'd had on her adventure with Jack Sparrow, but now she felt lost.
"I don't know," Will admitted, finding his sister's face and gulping apologetically.
"You look beautiful," Will murmured to Elizabeth.
Indeed she did, Marina thought, simply gorgeous. It would have been a wonderful wedding, with Marina as the maid of honor. But it seemed things were taking a dreadful turn.
Marina felt the weight of the sharp dagger she kept, concealed, at her hip. She could take action, but how much could she really change?
Suddenly, there was a commotion as Governor Swann attempted to make his way to his daughter and future son-in-law, but was blocked by the guards.
"How dare you?!" The man shouted, "Stand your men down at once!"
The man, the new Commadore, who was standing with his face turned to the sea, turned to face them now.
He gave them all a sly grin. He had that cold, wicked look in his eye that reminded Marina of Norrington. But it was different...somehow.
He introduced himself as Lord Beckett cooly.
"You have no reason or authority to arrest this man!" The Governor snapped, finally making his way to Elizabeth, Will, and Marina.
Marina shivered, looking directly at Beckett. He gave her a sharp look.
"In fact I do," he corrected the Governor, walking forward a bit.
Marina held her breath. He stood so close to her, the tips of their boots touched. She had an uneasy feeling about this man that surpassed anything she'd felt about Norrington, or even Barbossa.
"On what charge," Marina demanded, glaring at him. She mustered up all the courage she could, and stood tall.
Becket smiled tightly, pursing his lips. He handed her a piece of parchment.
"But this warrant is for me," Marina gasped, gaping at the man.
"Oops," he handed her another, and also passed one to the Governor."
"This is for Elizabeth!" The Governor realized.
The guards grabbed both Elizabeth and Marina.
"And I have another one for a Mr. James Norrington!"
"He's not present," Marina spat, glad for this piece of information, frankly.
"We are under the King's jurisdiction of the King's governor of Port Royal," Elizabeth told the man. Marina always admired how intelligent the woman could sound.
Marina stuck her chin out stubbornly.
"-and you will tell us what we are charged with."
The Governor gave his daughter and her companions a pitiful look and began to read from Elizabeth's parchment.
"The charge is conspiring to set free a man convicted of crimes against the crown of the Empire, and condemned to death, for which the...," the man's face fell.
"For which the punishment, regrettably, is also death," Beckett finished smugly.
Elizabeth and Marina began to struggle against their captor's, but Will's face was blank and empty.
Beckett approached them closer.
"Perhaps you remember a certain pirate of the name of Jack Sparrow?"
"CAPTAIN!" Will, Elizabeth, and Marina shouted in unison.
"Captain Jack Sparrow," Beckett tested the title in his mouth, "yes, I thought you might."
His hands were clasped behind his back.
It had been five days, locked up in prison, when Will left Marina and Elizabeth.
He briefly mentioned something about being summoned to see Beckett.
Elizabeth took the opportunity to sleep. This whole situation had exhausted both girls to no end, but Marina knew there was no way she could sleep, not now.
She lay down across the dirty floor. She no longer cared about the state of her clothing. After her experiences with Jack Sparrow, she knew there were more important things to worry about. Especially when your own life was about to end.
Marina peered through the bars of the jail cell, thinking to herself that Jack Sparrow had been situated in this very cell, not long ago.
She often wondered what he'd been doing these past few months since they'd seen him last. Probably something incredibly stupid, she presumed.
When Will returned, he had a conflicted look upon his face.
He approached the girls' cell, accompanied by two guards.
They opened the cell and Marina stood up, immediately, promptly brushing off her dress.
Marina went to wake Elizabeth when Will shook his head.
She glared at him.
"What? Only me?"
The guards grunted at them to hurry up.
"I will explain later. Go with them. I must...say goodbye to Elizabeth. Just for now."
Marina gave him a reluctant look, but trudged forward. She wondered where they were off to now, and when she'd see Elizabeth again.
Will dragged Marina along to Tortuga with him, without even a simple explanation.
It was when he began to ask assorted strangers if they knew the whereabouts of a certain Jack Sparrow, that her heartbeat increased.
"What are we doing? Why are we going after Jack?" Marina whispered furiously in between talking to a man who told them that he wasn't sure where Jack was, and hadn't seen him in days.
Will gave his sister a long, hesitant, look, then took a deep breath.
"Beckett says I'm to find Jack and his compass. If I do that, I can withdraw the charges against you, me, and Elizabeth. You are allowed to accompany because I managed to argue that I was useless without you, and..."
"And what?" Marina frowned.
"And Jack will be more likely to hand over the compass with your persuasion," Will put, uncomfortably.
"What does that even mean?" Marina raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, you know Jack likes you the best. It's because he sees potential in you...," Will trailed off and looked at the sea.
Marina knew what he meant. Six months ago, Will would have many nasty things to say about pirates. Certainly now he didn't want to be a pirate, but Marina knew he couldn't help but wonder what their father would think of him, if he could see him now.
"Nah," Marina tried to cheer Will up, "he just likes me for my arse."
Not but ten hours later, Marina and Will were being rowed across the ocean in a tiny boat, to a strange island, where they could see the Black Pearl docked.
It was empty; abandoned maybe. Surely Jack was around there somewhere.
Suddenly, the man who had been rowing them across began to speak rapid and agressive French.
"What is he saying?" Will looked around wildly. They'd stopped moving.
Marina had picked up enough French to know what was happening.
"We have to swim the rest of the way," she told her brother.
"Bon voyage!" the man yelled, and the Turner siblings dove into the ocean.
When they made their way ashore, they stumbled around, and Marina coughed up a bit of water. Her dress was clinging to her quite tightly.
"JACK!" Will called, but Marina knew it was no good.
"JACK SPARROW!"
The ship was empty.
They forged their way through the forest, until a group of men with spears attacked them.
Marina screamed high enough to break glass, and Will practically leapt into her arms.
They attempted to fight their way out, hanging by their feet from a trap in the tree. But it was no use: they were shot with tranquilizing darts, and Marina's vision faded to black.
When Marina awoke, she was being carried over the shoulder of one of the savages from earlier. She noticed that, behind her, Will was being carried, tied to a long pole, like a pig about to be roasted.
This wasn't going to end well.
Marina attempted to struggle free, but to no avail.
Where the bloody hell was Jack?
They were carried across a very long and rickety bridge, when Marina caught sight of their destination.
Oh dear God, she realized, they think Jack is their king.
There Jack was, in all his ridiculous glory, seated in a big makeshift throne, and some hideous makeup drawings on his face.
"Jack? Jack Sparrow?" Will had realized who he was up against.
He laughed, relieved.
"I can honestly say I'm glad to see you."
"I beg to differ," Marina mumbled, having been thrown onto the ground by the man who'd carried her.
Jack stood up and approached them, eying them as if he wasn't quite sure what they were.
"Jack...it's us: the Turners!" Will yelled, frustrated.
Jack spoke to the savages, and Marina had no idea what he was saying.
"Tell them to let us go!"
Jack appealed to the men, and they responded quite firmly.
"What did they say?" Marina demanded.
"Hmmm...," Jack approached Marina, grabbed her arm and pulled her into his throne.
"Yes, you're to be my Queen...and I believe Will here is to be our feast."
"WHAT!?" Will and Marina shouted in unison.
Marina tried to get up, but Jack pushed her back down into a sitting position.
He continued to talk to the apparent cannibals.
Will told Jack about Elizabeth and how he only needed the compass.
Whatever Jack then told the cannibals, it seemed to excite them and prompt them to begin chanting and carry Will off.
"Jack!" Marina fell next to Jack, following him, "where are they taking? What are they doing?"
Jack said nothing.
"Jack Sparrow," Marina shouted, "I threatened to crack your skull open once, and this time I really will do it!"
Jack winced.
"You're not a very good Queen, are you?"
"JACK! If my brother doesn't make it out alive, I might just join those cannibals and eat you alive," Marina ground her teeth together fiercely.
"It's nice to see you too, love," Jack said fondly.
A Response to Your Reviews:
Hades-Daugher17: Thank you so much! Sorry it took so long!
LittleMonkey28: Yay! I know they are so cute together!
Guest13438957429: Thanks, you'll see soon enough!
Isabella95: Sorry I didn't make that deadline, I hope you like this!
MissLizziebeth: Aw thank you, I hope you enjoy!
A/N: Okay so I realize that was really short, but I'm quite busy now. Anyway, I will have next week's chapter up on Saturday, and it will be much longer!
