He had no idea how long he'd been walking and furthermore he didn't care. It wasn't that he was being stubborn. Rather, it was that he wasn't aware of the ability to care. Aside from eating and drinking, which were reflexive now rather than impulsive, the only thing he still had were her eyes in his mind, the feel of her lips caressing his. Something told him to hold to that, a something that didn't seem to exist. But hold he did, keeping the impressions and memories tighter to him than he had ever kept anything else. Not that he could remember keeping anything else. No, all he had was the eternal light, the unending beach, and the memory of a woman he could never tame.

XXxXxXxXx

The squall had blown up suddenly. One moment he'd been leaning against the railing, the next he decided to retire to his bunk. He'd not even made it halfway down the ladder before the cry went out.

"To your stations! It's blowin' hard!" Galvanized into movement Will darted back up the ladder to see the black clouds rolling in, closing quickly on the starboard side.

"It's witchcraft, mark my words!" muttered Gibbs. Barbossa's voice rang out, surly and strong as usual.

"Get it together, lads! Mind the bo'sun's call! This means to hit us hard, and I won't have it!" As he finished speaking, it seemed the storm rose to the challenge in his voice, throwing gusts of wind at the vessel hard enough to rock it dangerously. Acting on reflex now, Will and the others followed the instructions put forth from the whistles that echoed over the raging storm, audible even when the captain's voice would not have been. Racing with purpose, the crew worked together to keep the vessel as stable as they could while the black clouds whipped the sea into a frenzy. Hauling line with the rest of the crew, Will found himself repeating Elizabeth's name over and over, a talisman against an unknown fate. The storm seemed to not care, but he did. With every breath he took, he fought against not only the sea, but his own fears. He would find Elizabeth again. He would.

XXxXxXxXx

She stood in the doorway, unsure of what she was to do next. Her question, however, was answered quickly.

"Step forward."

Moving gracefully, she held her head high as she stepped into the light. The woman at the desk was not what she had expected. Her hair was black as night, shimmering slightly in the light from the oil lamps, half of it wound into an intricate series of braids and knots on the top of her head while the rest was left unfettered to fall and ripple down her back to well below her waist. Her skin was a dusky olive color, not unusual for these people, Elizabeth knew. But it was her eyes that stopped her in her place. They were a lovely, deep turquoise, framed by luxuriously long lashes, and they pierced right through Elizabeth, making her feel almost as though the woman was reading her mind. Her crisp, cool voice broke into Elizabeth's mental reverie.

"I am to understand that, after your initial reaction, you have taken well to your training. Your instructors speak highly of your skill and dexterity. And I see you carry yourself with confidence. That is a wonderful appearance, but we shall have to see that it does not lead to pride. Pride would be...highly dangerous for you, my dear." Ti-Sian stood, her gown not unlike Elizabeth's own, though it clung more to the woman's curves and was made of a smooth, soft-looking fabric in a deep red color. She walked around Elizabeth who, remembering what Ryah had told her, stood entirely still and calm, saying nothing, not even when the woman reached out to untie the knot at her neck. She stayed motionless as the belt was unwound, removed, while Ti-Sian's hands smoothed down the fabric of the dress over her hips. But when the other woman's fingers went to open the row of hidden buttons down the back of the dress, Elizabeth whirled to face her.

"What on earth are you doing?" she demanded, her voice imperious and affronted more by reflex than by actual emotion. The slap caught her off guard.

"Never speak unless you are directly addressed." Ti-Sian's voice never changed in tone, but there was a bite of ice to it that hadn't been there before. "I had thought to spare you the unfamiliarity of a formal disrobing, but I see your insolence leaves me no choice." She reached over to the desk and rang a small silver bell. Immediately a man walked into the room. He was dressed in a pair of billowing black silk trousers, his toned chest bare, his eyes unreadable. "You will stand there while Gocho removes your clothing for my inspection." Elizabeth gasped, turning white. She was to what? She didn't open her mouth, though she wanted to scream. ~Let me endure this. I must have their trust if I am ever to escape.~

She felt his hands trailing lightly down her baack, deftly opening the small buttons as he went. It took less than a minute, but it felt like hours. Elizabeth concentrated on keeping her breathing even and steady as she felt his large hands, surprisingly gentle and impersonal, push the garment off of her shoulders and slide it down her hips to pool on the floor. She kept her head high, willing this to be over quickly, but then she felt his hands lifting the hem of her undershirt. Fear hit her then, hard. Not only was she to be inspected, whatever that meant, but here was a man she did not know, who was divesting her of her clothing...who would be seeing her nude. Elizabeth, strong though her resolve was, began to shake slightly.

"Lift your arms." She dared not disobey that voice. She recognized the steel underlying the words, and she knew that if she displeased the cold woman before her, she would likely be put to death, or worse. So she raised her arms slowly over her head, the motion allowing this Gocho person to remove her shirt, leaving her standing bare from the waist up. She couldn't help the tears that began to trail slowly down her cheeks. Ti-Sian seemed oblivious, instead standing and walking around her for a slow perusal.

"Slender, but with muscle, not emaciated. Very nice. Skin smooth and unbroken, unmarred with either scarring or defects." She returned to stand in front of Elizabeth, who was by this time clinging to her hopes of escape like a drowning person would clutch at reeds on the riverbank. But all thought fled when the woman reached up and cupped her naked breasts in her hands. Elizabeth cried out in fear and shock, dropping her arms to cover herself. It earned her another slap, this one harder than the first.

"Gocho, hold her hands up." Though she struggled, Elizabeth was no match for the strength of her captor, and her only consolation was that he didn't seem to be deriving any pleasure out of holding her motionless while Ti-Sian squeezed and stroked her breasts. Finally, with a clinical air, the woman backed up.

"You may release her, Gocho," she said, turning to her desk and moving some papers. "I understand your name is Elizabeth, is that correct?"

"Yes," she replied, her voice small. Never had she felt so abused, so mistreated.

"Well, Elizabeth, there is one final thing I must ascertain, and then you shall be returned to your duties. Step over here." With quick steps she moved to stand where indicated, sure that the worst was over. "Lean forward onto the desk, and hold on to the edge." Suddenly Elizabeth felt the man's fingers peeling her undergarments down over her hips, and she knew what was next. Despite her best efforts, she began to cry.

"I must determine the state of your innocence so as to properly set a price for you." Elizabeth, past fighting now, dropped her head to the desk and sobbed openly. She didn't resist when, at Ti-Sian's orders Gocho positioned her ankles farther apart. She didn't move a muscle as his large fingers spread her womanhood and rubbed some sort of oil onto it.

"Now, hold still. I would hate for you to be ruined by your own stupidity. Test her, Gocho." Elizabeth felt him shift his grip, felt the tip of his finger against her most secret area, and the unmistakably odd sensation of it sliding into her. He went slowly, and there was no pain, but Elizabeth felt broken all the same. His finger quested deeper, deeper, feeling as though it was going on forever, until she felt it brush something, press against it. Involuntarily her hips shifted, ever-so-slightly.

"She is pure, Mother," his gravelly voice rumbled, and Elizabeth realized it was the first she had heard him speak. Her disjointed mind grasped on their conversation to escape her current situation.

"Very good. Thank you, Gocho, I can finish from here." She felt him withdraw his finger as slowly as he had inserted it, and wondered if she was completely insane when she missed the sensation once it was gone. She heard his footsteps as he left, and then the icy voice of Ti-Sian intruded into her thoughts.

"Stand. I will assist you in re-gowning." On automatic Elizabeth stood, not putting up a bit of a fight as the other woman dressed her. Finally she was clothed once again, and Ti-Sian walked to sit down at the desk. Bowing over her paperwork once more, she spoke.

"You may return to your normal duties. I will call for you once I have determined who is to be your buyer." Though the dismissal was curt, Elizabeth felt nothing but numbness at what had just transpired. Without another word she turned and left. Ryah stood in the hallway waiting for her, and one look at her face had the companion wrapping her into a hug.

"It will be fine, Elizabeth. Things do have a way of working out. It do be a test we all go through." Still she said nothing, letting Ryah lead her back through the twisting hallways to their room.