James saw two very large, very expensive look rings sitting on the Captain's desk. He had previously seen the same two rings on Sparrow's fingers, so they obviously belonged to him. James turned his head to check if anyone was looking at him before carefully swiping both rings off the table and stuffing them into his pocket. He could not explain the urge to take the rings, he just felt that he needed to do it. Perhaps he did it to spite Sparrow, perhaps not, James did not know.
"Our boat is going to be leaving soon," Gillette said popping his head into the room. "You should say goodbye to Miss Synnove before we leave."
"Alright, I will be with you soon," James replied. He exited the Captain's quarters, making his way up the stairs quickly across the deck and down the stairs on the other side. James moved briskly, and knocked on the door to his and Synnove's room. James could hear Keys bark quietly at the sound before the door swung open and Synnove stepped out.
"Are you going now?" she asked.
"In a few minutes I think, I just came to say goodbye first." James smiled weakly at Synnove, not at all impressed at the fact that he had to leave her behind for the day. His hands rested around her waist, pulling her body close to his own. James had been told that Ragetti, Pintel and two other former naval officers Murtogg and Mullroy would be staying aboard the vessel to ensure that no one attempted to steal the Black Pearl in the absence of either Captain. None of the four pirates were happy with the arrangement that had been decided upon, but they were not in a position to change anything. He would have laughed at their predicament, but he did not want to make them angry and tempt them to disrespect Synnove or the Osmosechu sister whilst he was gone.
Synnove rested her arms around James' neck, smiling up at him. "Make sure that you are very careful, I do not want you coming back to me more injured than you already are."
"I will do my best my love," James replied. "How about giving me a kiss for good luck?"
"I suppose that I could spare one," she said. Synnove rose to her tiptoes and planted a quick kiss to his lips.
"Perhaps one more?" James requested. He bent down closer to Synnove tilting his head to the side and claiming her lips softly, he was about to deepen the kiss when he was interrupted.
"Hey!" Pintel shouted. "The longboat is leaving now, so stop with all of this," Pintel grabbed at the air cradling the empty space like he had a woman in his arms and kissing the air, "and get moving!"
James rolled his eyes at the pirates retreating form, "I suppose that I must leave you, for now," he said.
"I will walk you to the longboat," she said. Synnove stepped out of his arms and laced her fingers through his.
She stood at the railing watching as James made his way down to the small boat, with him sitting in it, it was now full. "Goodbye!" she said waving to James, Gillette and Groves as the boat was untied from the ship. She stood still, watching until the boat could no longer be seen, then she turned to the two Captain who were both still on board the ship.
"Captain Barbossa, Captain Sparrow, may I have a word with you for a moment please?"
"What be your problem lass?" Captain Barbossa asked. Captain Jack popped out from behind the older Captain, looking rather upset that his voyage to land had not commenced yet.
Synnove put on her best authoritative face, frowning and trying to look threatening before she spoke. "I have been informed that there is a degree of danger for James, Gillette and Groves on the supply run, am I correct?"
Barbossa smirked wickedly at the small woman standing in front of him, "that be true."
"As your employer, I would like to state that if James, Gillette or Groves are harmed in any way, I will be holding the both of you personally responsible and your fee for returning us to Sweden will be halved, if not completely done away with. Do I make myself clear?"
"Clear as crystal Miss Nordenburg," Captain Barbossa said with a snarling smirk.
"Good," she said nodding. Captain Sparrow stayed suspiciously quite, but she did not give it much thought. "When should we expect you all back?"
"When the time is right," Captain Sparrow said. "I have a lot of … business that I have to attend to while we are on shore." Synnove nodded in reply and watched as Captain Barbossa and Captain Sparrow lowered themselves into the longboat and began rowing away.
James, Gillette and Groves followed Mr. Gibbs around for the morning, going from food warehouse to warehouse for supplies. For some reason they ended up doing all of the heavy lifting, leaving the rest of the pirates to do as they pleased. James fought back his urge to say some less than kind words about discipline and the lack of respect the pirates obviously held for their Captains. It was hard work, but he managed not to offend anyone by the time that Groves and Gillette were sent back to the ship with the supplied. James had wanted to go along as well, but there had not been enough room for everyone, so he was forced to stay behind and wait until the pirates were ready to return before he could get back to Synnove.
"Go off and do something else for a few hours while we have some fun," Mr. Gibbs said. Each of his arms were around the waists of two younger women. The woman on his right had bright red hair piled on top of her head in an ornate bun, the woman on his left had dark brown hair cut short to sit just above her shoulders. Both women had blood red painted lips and pale powdered faces with artificial beauty marks
"But not the type of fun that would have yer woman all upset," Mr. Gibbs added.
"You mean our sisters can have fun with this one?" the redheaded woman asked. She looked James up and down, her eyes trailing over his body hungrily.
"Nope, this one is strictly off limits. Unless you want a feisty Swedish woman to hunt you down. She already threatened Captain Barbossa and Captain Sparrow in one sentence," Mr. Gibbs said smiling drunkenly.
"Is she a mad woman?" the dark haired woman asked. Her words were slurred and her voice was louder than it needed to be, telling James that she was intoxicated more than her two other companions.
"No Miss, she is not mad," James said. "She is just …" he paused looking for the right words to describe Synnove, "protective. She is protective of me just as I am protective of her." James smirked at the thought of his small Synnove telling both Captains what she would allow to happen and what she would not allow to happen. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and nodded to Mr. Gibbs before turning his back on the group of three and making his way down the street. James would look around at some of the shops, maybe he could find something for Synnove while he was wandering. He knew that she became very bored during the long days spent onboard the ship, though Synnove had not and would not admit it.
James wandered along the silent streets, peering into the windows of each shop he passed but he found nothing of interest in any of the stores. James was beginning to lose hope that he would find anything, until he turned down an unmarked street and his eyes fell on a small store squashed between two much larger ones. For reasons he could not place, James felt himself gravitating towards the small shop. Upon closer inspection he discovered that it was a jeweller's store, he knew that he did not have any money on him to purchase anything, but he could see no harm in looking around. There were still a few hours that he had to kill before he could go back to the ship and already he had travelled down most of the streets in the immediate vicinity.
As James stepped through the doorway and into the shop, the dinging of a bell could be heard. The man James assumed must be the jeweller popped up from wherever it was that he had been hiding and smiled widely at James. The jeweller was missing several teeth on both the top and bottom rows and he was stooped over with advanced age.
"What can I do for you lad?" the jeweller asked, a thick accent making it difficult to understand what it was that he was saying.
"No thank you sir, I am just looking," James replied. He hoped that the man could understand him and would not pester him.
"Alright lad, just call if you need anything," the jeweller replied before disappearing back to wherever it was that he had come from.
James' eyes scanned the display cabinets, studying the many finely crafted rings and bracelets. The shop seemed so out of place for the area that it was in. James was surprised that the shop had not been ransacked and had its valuable goods stolen by now. He dismissed the strange feeling he was getting from the store and continued to wander about the shop. Coming to stand by the front counter James' eyes widened. In the very centre of the cabinet sat a very familiar ring. It had a plain gold band with a medium sized sapphire stone in the middle with diamond shaped petals surrounding the sapphire. It was the very same ring that Synnove had worn in his dream; there was no doubt about that.
"Ah, so you have found something that has caught your eye," the jeweller said coming back to stand behind the counter. He smiled at James with an all-knowing look twinkling in his dark eyes. "That is a very beautiful ring you have your eyes on."
"I fear that I do not have any money for such an item sir," James said.
"Turn out your pockets and show me what you have, we may find something that I am willing to trade for," the jeweller said. "While we negotiate, why don't you tell me about the special young lady you want to present this to?"
James dug into the pockets of his trousers and found nothing with which to bargain, next his hands delved into the pockets of his coat and pulled out the two rings he had 'borrowed' from Captain Sparrow's desk. He placed the two rings down on the counter top and looked hopefully up at the jeweller. "She is truly the most wonderful woman that I have ever met. Patient and forgiving beyond reason with the kindest heart you will ever come across.," James paused, wondering if he should divulge more information about Synnove or not. The jeweller seemed to be very interested in his opinion of Synnove, perhaps it would make him more likely to trade with James if he liked the sound of Synnove. "She has long black hair the colour of midnight and she is as pale as a sheet. Her eyes are the colour of the ocean, calm and gentle one just like she always is."
"I see," the jeweller said. He turned his attention to the rings James had placed on the counter, picking up his magnifying glass inspecting the quality of James' stolen rings. They were not worth the same as the ring that James had selected, but if James was willing to sell them together then it would be worth it. The jeweller informed James of this and watched carefully as James considered the deal. "Do we have a deal lad?"
"If you are such that this is a fair exchange for you," James said. He did not think that Sparrow's rings would have fetched all that much, but he was glad that they did.
"I would not have offered if I did not think that this is a deal that we can both benefit from."
"Yes," James said. "We have a deal."
"Excellent," he said. "Would you like something to put it in?"
"Just a small bag please," James replied. "I intend to give it to her as soon as I return to the ship."
The jeweller placed James' purchase on the counter top before returning to the back room to find a bag. "Good luck with your proposal young man," he said as he watched James leave the store.
James smiled to himself as he tucked the ring into the inside pocket of his coat. He kept on his guard all the way back to where the longboat had been tied to the dock. It would still be several hours before any of the pirates were willing to make their way back to the ship, but James had done his waiting and now he wanted to go back. No one was guarding the longboat so he untied it from the dock. Slowly he rowed himself back to the Black Pearl, the pirates could find their own way back to the ship, he did not care either way.
Synnove stood in the doorway of the Osmosechu sisters' room. She had her back turned to James and thus did not hear him making his way down the hall, closer to her with each step.
"Gillette and Groves are both back already, I wonder how much longer James will be gone?" Synnove asked, though she knew that she would receive no answer.
"He will not be too much longer Synnove," Yulia reassured her. "He is a very capable man, I am sure that he will be fine."
"I know that," Synnove sighed. "But when he is not here I cannot help but worry about him. The sooner he comes back, the sooner my mind will be at ease."
Antanasia opened her mouth to say something, but she caught herself before a word escaped. She had caught sight of Mr. Norrington coming down the hall quietly. He placed a finger to his lips, motioning to Antanasia to be silent and not give away his position.
Synnove pouted, wishing that James would hurry up and make his way back to her, "I simply cannot help myself. I miss him, even when I know where he is."
"Who do you miss?" James' voice said from behind her. At the same time his arms wrapped around her waist, trapping her in place and frightening her half to death.
"James!" Synnove exclaimed. She jumped at the unexpected sound of his voice letting out a small squeaking cry of surprise. "Welcome back!" she said smiling. "Now what have I told you about doing that to me!"
"I thought that you would be happy to see me?" James said.
"Of course I am happy to see you," Synnove moved around in James' grip so that she was facing him. "I am more than happy to see you in fact, I just do not appreciate being scared half to death each time you feel like it."
"I am sorry my love, but I have something for you that will make you forgive me," James said smiling.
"You did not have to get me anything darling," Synnove protested. "I was not seriously mad at you."
James dismissed her words, "do you mind if I borrow Synnove for a few minutes?" he asked the Osmosechu sisters.
"No of course we do not mind," Antanasia said smiling up at Mr. Norrington. She had a strange feeling that the older man had something important that he wanted to do. His eyes were shining brightly with love and admiration.
"Thank you ladies," James said. His hands dropped from around Synnove's waist and guided her back to their room with a hand on the small of her back.
"Is something wrong James?" she asked.
"Nothing is wrong my love, make yourself comfortable on the bed," James said. He could not wipe the large smile from his face at the thought of what he was going to do. Synnove raised an eyebrow at him, but did as she was told. She sat down on the bed far enough back so that her feet dangled above the floor.
James lowered himself to the floor on one knee and cleared his throat nervously. "Synnove, would you do me the honour being my wife?" He held a ring between his fingers and held it up to her, offering her all that he had.
Synnove's blue eyes widened as she took in the situation. Her silence was short lived, though for James it felt like she would never speak. "Yes!" she exclaimed and threw her arms around his neck. The force of her body impacting with James' pushed them both to the floor, James lying on his back and Synnove lying on top of him with her arms tightly around him. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Synnove repeated. She smiled happily down at him and squeezed her arms around his neck so tightly that James thought she was trying to cut his circulation off. She peppered his face with kisses, giggling with pure ecstasy, James had never seen her happier. He winced as his injured back continued to make contact with the solid wood beneath him, but he did not wish to push Synnove off of him.
"Well then, give me your hand," he said. James took her offered hand and placed the ring on her ring finger. "While this ring was not obtained through honest methods, I promise you that I will work hard and save for a proper honest ring for you."
"No," Synnove said. "I like this one," she raised the ring closer to her eyes for inspection. "I do not mind that it was not obtained completely honestly, it is beautiful and I would not change it for the world. If you do not tell me how you came by it, then I will never be any the wiser."
"Are you absolutely sure Synnove?"
"Of course I am sure," she said. "See, it fits me perfectly and soon I will be Synnove Norrington, it sounds amazing!"
"Synnove Norrington, my wife," James said beaming. "You are right, it does sound amazing."
Happy 1st Birthday to Serendipity! Who would have thought that I would have made it this far!
