"Why didnae ye tell me ye were onboard the ship?" Ashlynne clenched and unclenched her fists as she yelled against the wind, unable to look at her younger sister for the time being without the urge to throttle her. "Daft, yer daft." The crazed woman had remained hidden in their hold for two days already and if it hadn't been for Ishmael investigating a strange sound—Hope's coughing—they probably would've gone another few days without knowing of her presence onboard.
It was too late to turn against tide and wind and they were far enough away from any port that they would waste days heading back; time was too precious to do that. Her sources had spoken of a gathering of the Brethren Court and that could only mean one thing: hell was about to break loose. Whatever it was Jack Sparrow had sought, or even Norrington, things had apparently not gone according to plan. If she wanted to be free of the curse she had to act now, before Jack Sparrow screwed everything to high heaven and back.
"I know how to tie rigging and I can repair sails faster than the majority of these men." Hope moved to stand beside her, though she wisely refrained from trying to touch Ashlynne. Instead she wrapped the blanket Devlin had gotten her tighter around her shoulders. "I won't get in the way."
Ashlynne closed her eyes against her frustration and took a deep breath to calm her nerves, "Hope, this is nay a sailin' adventure. Ye ken where we are goin' and ye ken the risks we will face." She finally turned and looked down at her sister, her fair, beautiful, naïve sister. "I cannot abide by the idea of all of us dyin' on this mission, Hope; I wanted ye to at least survive if the worst was to occur."
She was of course referring to the fact that Devlin had already bribed and growled his way onboard the ship Parlan had commissioned for their mission. He'd grown tired of always being left behind and as this seemed to be a last ditch effort, desperate was how he'd described it, Devlin wanted to tag along. Unable to argue against his reasoning she'd relented and together they had gathered a reliable crew, some of whom she'd sailed with before. They were not hardened pirates but they were sturdy sailors none-the-less.
They had all agreed that Hope would remain on Tortuga. Already only the three of them remained of the Fitzpatrick family, now if the worst did happen there would be none left—Ashlynne didn't consider her unfortunate tendency to survive death to be anything in her favor; it almost seemed a cheat to consider herself still a Fitzpatrick since she was supposed to have died at least four times already. Now, if something should happen to her or either Devlin or Parlan then there would be no one for Hope. The men they would encounter, no matter what past she had with them, would spare Hope no mercy. They were pirates after all.
"Ashlynne, I'm no longer that scared girl held hostage in a castle. I'm a Fitzpatrick first and foremost. If I die, I do not want to die tucked away in some cottage in safety. I want to die knowing that I was with those I loved at the end of it all and together we were doing something that mattered." Hope sighed and Ashlynne realized in that moment that her sister was right; she'd spent so much of the passing years on the run, seeking a way to secure her own future death as well as the stability of their family, that she hadn't stopped long enough to see that the passing years had aged her family as it had herself. "You've sacrificed so much for me, and for our family." She reached out and laid a hand on Ashlynne's shoulder. "I will no longer stay behind while you or the others risk their lives to give the remnants of our family a fighting chance for survival. I am your sister and because of that I must be granted the right to risk my life and limb alongside Devlin and Parlan, and yourself." Ashlynne saw her sister's lips quirk upwards in a smirk. "Besides I've a great desire to see this Brethren Court."
Ashlynne shook her head, "Yer not goin' anywhere near that place, Hope. I forbid it!"
"Well, Ashlynne, that's the beauty of you being my sister and not my mother. You can forbid as much as you like but unless you physically tie me down I can still act according to my own whims." The twit danced out of Ashlynne's reach before she had a chance to snag her. Hope was laughing and Ashlynne felt her own face crinkle into a smile, an odd sensation to be sure after so many years of hardship. "Now what can I do right now to help?"
Ashlynne glanced around the deck of the ship and saw that all was as it should be. The crew Parlan had hired was perhaps the best Tortuga had to offer, and they were not the typical Tortuga fair—at least not the type that Sparrow and Gibbs had recruited. These men were fishermen for the most part, peers of Ishmael and Devlin, and only a few of them were branded for past piracy. Ashlynne knew that the majority of these men would not actively seek out ways to double cross her, or harm her sister should they get the chance. They would not, however, put themselves at great risk either. This was a job for them, not a cause to die for. She understood that and respected it. Hopefully, she would not have to double their pay for a risky endeavor before it was all over.
"I see nothin' at the moment. Ye can retire to my quarters and rest in a real bed for a wee bit. We should be comin' up on Black Sand Beach in the morn and we'll fill our stores with water afore we head on to the Brethren Court."
Hope nodded and disappeared down the stairs beside them. Ashlynne sighed and looked back out to the relatively calm sea. Inside her breast pocket was the list James had given her and she felt it burn its way into her skin with each passing moment, a reminder of her desperation. In the weeks since her encounter with James and their fairly positive parting, she'd used her contacts to try and pinpoint where some of the items might be. Most of the answers had been less than helpful.
She knew Sparrow would never part with his compass, and she wasn't about to let her curse come between them—they were fairly close to being friends and all that so there was no point in ruining that by killing him. Charles Vane's sword had been commandeered by Captain Holford right before Vane's execution and Holford's son, a vice admiral stationed in India, currently had the sword. India was too far away for Ashlynne's liking, and she didn't want to bring harm to Holford—from what she'd been told he was one of the few officers in the navy worth serving.
Henry Morgan's body and the cemetery it lay in had been buried beneath the sea after the earthquake of 1692 and as far as Ashlynne knew he'd been buried in his favorite pair of boots, most likely the víðarr shoes she'd been hoping to find. Similarly Bart Robert's body, and his sword with it, had been buried at sea in 1722 and there was very little chance of her finding his exact location, or of being able to reach his remains without risking an encounter with a bloodthirsty mermaid.
Edward Low was still very much alive, contrary to reports given by the Royal Navy and society at large. Parlan had encountered him a few years prior in a beachside cottage in Brazil. He'd retired from piracy but not from being a cantankerous old bastard. Ashlynne knew she'd have to kill the man for the carnwennan dagger and as Brazil was similarly far away like India, she found that option less inviting as well.
No the only options were for the draupnir ring, formally owned by the late Calico Jack, and the Andvarinaut ring, owned by the also late Henry Every. According to her sources, Captain Teague, Keeper of the Code, had the draupnir ring while Sao Feng had the other. Ashlynne was unsure which would be more likely to bargain with her, as again she had no interest in shedding more blood than was necessary to end her curse.
When they'd been in Japan on assignment, a lifetime ago it seemed, they'd brushed with Sao Feng a few times. There had been an almost romance between Sao Feng and Ashlynne, but his piratey ways and her disinterest in joining him in them had thrown water on that fire. Instead they'd remained drinking buddies whenever they were in the same place at the same time and Ashlynne had actually saved the life of his paramour some time later. Perhaps that would be a help in winning over his favor; though, given the number of paramours Sao Feng had had over the years, it was unlikely.
As for Teague, Ashlynne was unsure of what might get him to help her if anything. She knew he was Jack's father, but using her friendship with his son would most likely get her shot. She also knew, through one of Jack's drunken confessions, that Teague had inadvertently saved James' life years before during a battle with James' father Lawrence Norrington. That didn't seem to be a likely access point for her plea either. Most likely if she stuck to the code, cited from it as evidence, she would win him over, if she could at least.
"Are you ready for death?" Parlan asked, alerting her to his presence beside her; she'd apparently had been so lost in thought she'd been unaware of his approach.
"If, by yer question, ye mean am I ready for the curse to be over, then yes I am. If, however, ye mean am I ready to die and have all of ye die with me because of this bloody curse, then no I am not."
Parlan shrugged, "I mean the former but I would agree with you on the latter. I don't think we'll come to much harm though. It seems every ship belonging to the Royal Navy is out scouring the seas for Sparrow and company. I'm fairly certain we'll be able to pass through without detection. Besides we fly no colors and for all any observer can see we are unarmed."
Ashlynne snorted. Yes any casual observer would not know that all hands on deck were armed with Spanish 6-shot flintlock pistol swords, as well as regular pistols, in addition to their sabers and daggers. Nor would an observer know that both the upper and lower decks held puckle guns, flintlock revolvers or as Parlan liked to call them, autocannons. They had two regular cannons but were for the most part armed only for close encounters. They knew they would not be able to hold off a larger ship, not since they were a mere sloop, and had armed themselves accordingly.
"Hope for the best and prepare for the worst." Ashlynne drew aside her coat so that Parlan could see the multiple grenades that were strapped to her chest belt. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and she smiled. "Cutler Beckett is involved in this, or at least he will be, I ken that for a fact. I'd rather like to put one of these under his seat if I can."
Even though they were not die hard pirates themselves, none of those onboard held any particular liking for Lord Beckett and all would welcome his demise. He'd driven all former pirates, even those formally pardoned by the king, into hiding for fear of execution. Many good, honorable men and women had been killed because of Beckett and Ashlynne hoped that she'd be able to meet him before her curse was broken, just so she could survive killing him even if he was surrounded by bodyguards.
"Over compensation never occurred to you?" He pointed to the two pistols she'd strapped to her body, one to each thigh, along with her saber hanging off her belt and the daggers she had jutting out of each boot.
"Never." She enjoyed Parlan's responding laughter and joined in a moment later.
They passed the rest of the night in relative ease and Ashlynne was able to join Hope in her quarters for a few hours of sleep before Devlin shook her awake. She could see in the faint light of early morning that something was amiss; Devlin's face was tense and Ashlynne immediately prepared herself for the worst. As they made their way towards the top deck she noticed that all lights had been extinguished. She found Parlan easily enough, standing near the port bow with Ishmael, a spyglass held up to his eyes. It was just barely morning, the sun not peeking its head above the horizon just yet, but there was enough light to see dark outline of the island of Black Sand Beach before them.
"What is it?" she asked once she was close enough to whisper; all hands were deathly silent and still.
"Two ships sighted just around the cove." Parlan handed her the glass and stepped aside so she could see more clearly. "They haven't spotted us yet but I ordered all lights extinguished, sails furled, and all hands silent just in case." As Ashlynne held the glass up to see Parlan continued. "One is the Endeavor and the other is the Empress."
Ashlynne frowned. The Endeavor was Beckett's flagship and the Empress belonged to Sao Feng. As neither ship had opened fire on the other Ashlynne could only assume that there was some sort of arrangement between the two. Sao Feng had never been above playing nice with the authorities when it suited his purposes, a fact that had nearly cost her life a time or two in the old days.
"Sails." A voice whispered down from the bird's nest. "Ten o'clock, starboard."
Ashlynne moved to the other side of the ship and held up the spyglass. She let out her breath in a rush, as if kicked in the gut, when she saw that it was the Black Pearl. Something was indeed amiss here. Either the Pearl did not know of the other two ships or this was a strange rendezvous between strange bedfellows, all seeking a means to an end.
"Orders?" Ishmael whispered over her shoulder.
Lowering the spyglass and handing it to Parlan Ashlynne turned and leaned against the railing. They were anchored between two massive rocks some ways away from shore. As long as they kept their sails furled it would be difficult for either the Pearl or the other two ships to see them. The safest option would be to wait it out, see what events would unfold between the three ships before they attempted to make shore.
"How much water do we have left?" She began to tap her lower lip as she sometimes did in thought.
"Enough for a few more days, maybe a fortnight if we conserve heavily." Devlin replied.
They were only a few days sail from Shipwreck Island and so could make it there without having to retrieve water if need be. Ashlynne didn't like sailing so far without full stores of water or food, again preparing for the worst, but with these three ships hovering around the island like sharks it seemed that was their only option.
"We wait for nightfall then we sail for Shipwreck Island." They would not be able to outrun any of the ships and so that would be the safest option. "Keep an eye on all ships and let me know of any further developments."
Ashlynne moved into the charting room where she immediately began working on alternative routes, just in case. By midday, after Hope had come in to offer her help, Devlin came in.
"They've captured the Pearl."
Ashlynne hurried back on deck and accepted the spyglass Parlan handed her. Indeed the Empress and the Endeavor had circled around to the other side of the island and were now both parallel to the Pearl. She could just make out some of the crew standing on the Pearl's deck, Jack not being one of them, looking towards the Empress; it seemed that Sao Feng was working with Beckett and he had perhaps just disembarked the Pearl after whatever deal he'd struck with Barbossa-Ashlynne was surprised to see that he was alive and well after Jack's story of killing him.
"What do you think is going on?" Hope asked, alerting Ashlynne to her presence on deck.
She turned and was about to reprimand her sister when suddenly they heard the explosion of a cannon. Ashlynne brought the glass up just in time to see a figure fly off the Endeavor and fall into the water near the Pearl. Simultaneously the Empress unfurled her sails and weighed anchor, her movements smooth and quick as she departed from the cove. Only a few moments later the Pearl similarly began to depart, after retrieving the figure from the water-why was Ashlynne not surprised to see that it was Jack?-while the Endeavor remained as she was. Ashlynne soon knew why, as the main mast of the Endeavor collapsed, rendering the ship useless until it could be repaired.
"Orders?" Ishmael repeated his earlier question.
Ashlynne handed the spyglass to Parlan, "Follow the Empress. The Pearl will be heading towards the Brethren Court no doubt and I've an inkling the Empress will also be joining her. Beckett will most likely pursue Sparrow and the Pearl, leaving the Empress open for our unhindered pursuit."
They were underway within minutes and Ashlynne again retired to the charting room. Hope joined her moments later.
"Do you think he'll give it to you?" She of course already knew of the ring.
Ashlynne shrugged, her eyes not leaving the chart before her. For a moment a memory of a similar charting room aboard the Dauntless with Norrington hovering over her shoulder came to mind and she shivered. It would do no good thinking of those times now, not with the end so close at hand.
"We can only hope he'll see reason, or develop a heart."