Chapter Twenty-Eight – Shameless Celebration on the Good Ship Revenge

The Dread Pirate Roberts threw one hell of an end party. His vessel, the pirate ship Revenge, had shirked its duty as terrifying myth for one evening and allowed itself to be transformed into a floating platter of sumptuous festivities: moored off the shore of Léogâne, the deck of the Revenge had been draped with silks and candles behind colored glass, throwing a myriad of yellow, red, blue, green, and purple shadows in all directions, and was populated with pretty serving girls holding drinks on trays. A little band of musicians had set up on the quarterdeck and was playing a rousing song with a fiddle. The deck had the look of a cozy and tastefully decorated den on water.

Leaning against the deck railing with his back to the water, Will and Jack plucked colorful drinks off of one of these trays as a serving girl sashayed past. The evening was completely and utterly lovely: the warm breeze was tentative, the water swelled and fell gently, and the friends had every reason to feel as though they were on the top of the world. They had been given a full day to rest – Jack doubted that he would have been able to bear even looking at another drink otherwise – and after sleep had refreshed them, they were more than ready to celebrate their victory with the passion appropriate to pirates that had just been declared the finest of their generation.

Jack and Will sipped their cocktails, and surveyed their friends happily. Carly had been overjoyed to discover that the Dread Pirate Roberts kept a collection of vibrantly-hued parrots on board, and was currently teaching them to sing in harmony with one another in time to the music. Carine and Jones were perched, feet swinging, on the forecastle rail, and Matthew was with Roberts in his cabin, speaking with interest about what it was like to be the Dread Pirate. There were many other pirates onboard, either friends of Roberts, of Dana and Melanie, or of the tournament in general. None of the other pirates to compete in the tournament had been allowed on board – after the incident between Dana and Billy O'Random, Roberts was not willing to take any more chances.

Jack turned to Will. "So, mate, how does it feel?"

Will sipped his drink before answering, despite the fact that the feeling he was feeling was precisely what he had been thinking about since he had woken that afternoon. "It feels good," he said. "It feels right." He smiled at Jack. "Who would have guessed that when you met me in the smithy all those years ago, that I would be standing beside you as a fellow pirate champion?"

Jack smiled, and delicately tasted his own drink. "Who indeed."

Melanie and Dana walked over to them from the other side of the deck. They were giggling with their arms around one another, and sharing a bottle of red wine. Dana dropped a curtsey when they halted before them. "Well if it isn't the Baron of the Blade and the Duke of Drink," she said.

Jack tipped his hat. "It is an honor to be in the presence of both the First Lady of Fire Arms and the Princess of Pilfering."

"This party is missing something," Melanie said. She looked pointedly at Jack. "I would say it's missing a bottle of Chateau Latour –"

Jack held up his hands. "I could always kiss you again, love."

"– but Roberts found me one!" She displayed the label happily, and passed the bottle back to Dana. "But sorry, Jack. This one's ours, and no kisses this time. We don't want to share."

Will smiled at them. "What's our party missing, then?"

"Dancing!" Dana passed the bottle to Melanie, then snagged Will's wrist and tugged him out onto the open deck. When the band saw that they had dancers, they started up a lively tune. Will, laughing, set his drink down, slung his arm around the gunslinger's waist, and spun her across the deck. It did not take long for some of the other pirates to join in.

Melanie took up Will's position next to Jack. After another sip from the rather exotic wine bottle, she offered it to him. He raised his eyebrows. "I'm feeling generous," she said.

"I don't know, darling. You might start to associate the taste with me."

"Thanks to the stunt you pulled before, I already do. So go ahead."

Jack accepted the bottle and put his arm casually around the captain of the Yellow Dart. "So we're winners," he said.

"That we are."

Jack sipped the wine, savoring it. It was truly delicious stuff, but there was something to be said for the flavor of a good wine from lifted from the already sweet lips of someone else. Jack glanced at Melanie, but she met his look knowingly and as firmly as a blade meeting a blade.

"You are shameless," she said.

"It takes a lot of practice."

As the night wore on, there was more drinking and there was more dancing and there was certainly more celebration. The band played deep into the night. When the candles finally began to disappear into themselves and sputter out, and when the serving girls graciously departed, it seemed as though it was time for bed. In the growing darkness, the four friends embraced once more, and it was Jack who had the largest smile. He grasped their shoulders.

"Thank you," he said to them, and turned to go to bed.

As he walked away, the three friends looked at one another. "We could say the same," said Will with a chuckle. "But I do thank you ladies as well. You've helped make a dream come true."

Melanie hit him in the shoulder. "As though you wouldn't have become one of the most fearsome scoundrels of the sea without our help."

"I don't know about that," said Dana. "Will still thinks that orange juice is the best accompaniment to breakfast."

"What's wrong with that?" asked Will.

Melanie leveled a look at him. "The fact that you wake up early enough to eat breakfast."

They laughed, and Melanie bid her two friends goodnight. She was to bunk in Roberts' cabin with Carine and Carly, and she turned to make her way there.

Dana and Will were left alone on the deck. Will extended his arm gallantly, and Dana accepted it. They walked leisurely in the direction of the forecastle deck where hammocks had been strung up for them to sleep in, barring indecent weather. The stars glittered and sparkled overhead, icy light, and Will could not help smiling.

"I just can't believe that I'm here," he said.

"Imagine how hard it is for me. Don't forget that I was with you the first time you were ever drunk, let alone drunk in the company of the world's most infamous pirate gunslinger." She squeezed his arm. "But don't worry. I think you're worthy enough to be my escort. After all, your resume is fairly impressive now."

Will laughed, effectively covering the sound of the boots that was rapidly approaching the pair from behind. Will opened his mouth to reply smartly to Dana's remark, but both friends were silenced when a cloth with a harsh chemical suddenly covered their faces and rough sacks were brought down over their heads. The stars disappeared as the world faded to complete black.