After watching Colet and Will Turner leave, Prince Jonathan slipped out of his own party to go see his father, King Richard. He entered the king's bedchambers quietly, not wishing to disturb him if he was sleeping. "Father?" he asked quietly.
"Come in, come in. I'm awake." The king's voice faltered and he began to cough. Jonathan went to his side. The room was lit only by a bedside candle. In its flickering glow, Jonathan found his father a glass of water. Richard leaned forward to take a sip then collapsed weakly onto his pillow. "It won't be long now, my son."
Jonathan did not say anything. He took the king's gnarled hand in his own and kissed the ring on his finger. "Aren't you supposed to be hosting a party?" Richard wondered aloud.
"I needed urgently to speak with you."
"You have found a bride." The king grinned triumphantly.
"I have," Jonathan answered grimly. He rose quickly and began to pace the room.
"This troubles you. Who is she?"
"Jack's lass. Colet is her name." Jonathan halted at the window and pulled the drapes to the side to look outside.
The king was silent. His face twisted in anger. Suddenly, he lurched forward. "A commoner!" he spat. "Jonathan, I ask you for so little. Why do you do this to me?"
"I'm not doing anything to you father."
"You would break hundreds of years of tradition? We've had nothing but royal blood in this family."
"Why does it have to be that way?" Jonathan whirled on the king. "Our children will have the blood of their father and the heart of their mother. Can't that be good enough father?"
The king collapsed onto the bed once again. "You love her?"
"I feel as though I might." Jonathan answered turning back to the window.
Richard closed his eyes. "I want you to be happy. You are my only son, and I love you…"
"I know this."
"…But I will not offer you my blessing." With that, the king turned his back to his son.
Jonathan gaped at his father's still form. His eyes narrowed in anger and he turned to the door. With his hand on the knob, he turned back to his father and said. "Then I will not marry at all." Jonathan slipped through the door.
The king's eyes popped open and he whipped around to offer his son a scathing retort, but Jonathan was gone.
***
Once Will and Cole arrived back at their home, Cole arranged for a bath then dressed in her nightclothes and headed to the library. She needed time alone to contemplate.
Cole stared out the window, her forehead pressed against the cold glass. Her arms were crossed as if to ward off the chill that threatened to invade her body. She was watching yet not quite seeing the snow tumble down as the fire crackled behind her, its heat radiating around the room. Cole sighed, pulling the blanket that was draped on her shoulders tighter around her. She had visions of Jack and Prince Jonathan dancing in her head as she brooded, one hand idly stroking her stomach.
"Would you care for some hot cocoa?"
Will's voice slowly roused her out of her trance. She straightened and closed her eyes briefly before turning to face him with a bright smile. "That would be lovely."
Cole shuffled over to the couch where Will sat arranging his treats neatly on the table. Cole sat down beside him and began nibbling on a cookie. She felt his worried gaze on her. "I'm fine Will, really," she assured him without meeting his eyes.
"I'm sure you are," Will replied, not sounding completely convinced of his own words. "Enlighten me, will you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"What was this business between you and the prince about Jack not loving you?"
"Jack doesn't love me. If he does, he certainly has an odd way of showing it," Cole answered.
"May I ask what caused this change of heart? You were singing Jack's praises not hours before the masquerade ball."
"I met Prince Jonathan. He caused my change of heart. I hate that man with every fiber of my being," Cole said this calmly, sipping at the cocoa.
Will was gaping at her. "You've never seemed to pass judgment so quickly before. You've only just met Jonathan."
Cole gaped back. "You're perfectly aware of the fact that I've known the prince for quite some time now."
"Well I suppose you knew him as a child," Will agreed. "But I never heard you speak ill of him before now." He was completely and thoroughly confused.
"I do not remember him from when I was a child."
"Yet you've known him for quite some time?"
Cole turned and regarded Will with puzzlement. She tried to determine whether or not he was attempting to pull her leg. "Of course I have. Don't pretend like you don't know what's going on."
"Trust me, I'm not pretending," he promised.
"You were there last night on the balcony, were you not?"
"Yes, of course I was."
"And you saw Prince Jonathan without his mask, did you not?"
"Yes. I've seen him before without his mask. What are you playing at?"
"You heard him speak?"
"You know that I did," Will said impatiently.
"Then you must realize that you've known Prince Jonathan for years," Cole reminded him.
"What the hell are you talking about? I only met him for the first time a little over a week ago!" Will was flabbergasted.
"I suppose you do not recall breaking him out of jail or rescuing him from the noose two years ago or sailing with him on The Black Pearl merely a month ago?" Cole demanded, leaping angrily to her feet.
His brow furrowed as he watched Cole sink to the couch beside him, her face in her hands.
"Cole. That wasn't Prince Jonathan. That was Jack," Will insisted.
It was several seconds before she spoke, her voice thick with tears.
"Prince Jonathan is Jack." She raised her watery red eyes to his. "Don't you see?" she whispered.
Shocked, all Will could do was shake his head sadly. "No Cole. I don't see it at all. Jack is dead. Prince Jonathan is just Prince Jonathan. Any resemblance between the two is because they're kin," Will insisted without hesitation. He regretted his words instantly.
He reached out to touch her shoulder, and Cole yanked her body out of his reach. She rose and walked away, her shoulders sagging as if they were burdened with a heavy weight. "You're right, Will. Even though he lives on as Prince Jonathan, Jack is dead to me."
With that, she disappeared out the door.
Unsettled, Will turned his head towards the window. He sat up straight with a hand resting on each thigh. He stared unblinking at the swirling snowflakes debating with himself over whether or not there was a chance that Cole was right.
There was no way, he decided. Jack was dead.