Chapter 9
(ELIZABETH'S POV)
When Elizabeth reached the docks of Shipwreck Cove she had seen that, yes, the flag from there belonged to Jack and that he had arrived in a dinghy. Immediately, she had explained to him the situation with James and, though he seemed angry, Elizabeth was almost sure that he wouldn't hurt him. In any case, he had made her left her own place, which would have upset her more if it weren't obvious that Jack seemed to only had wanted to talk.
So, despite her curiosity, she had left and went down to make company to captain Teague… Or rather, to distract him a bit so the others could talk without getting worried about someone hearing them. She would have like to stay, but she owed Jack at least some respect for their past together… It still left a bad taste in her mouth and she had tried not to think about it while asking Teague about the Pirate Code, since she didn't know much... Although, as Teague had mentioned:
"Most pirates comply the half of it, so don't expect them to follow it too much... Ye only need to impose the most important, in general it works by force or fear, but I don't care what ye're going to use."
She had been glad that he had supported her, even if apparently he didn't know of her crimes.
In that moment, of course, Jack had appeared interrupting and telling her that James was joining him and she almost felt somewhat betrayed… Didn't he also owe her something because of her father? Why work with Jack? She had been felt a bit hurt, but she guessed that she had at least made a deal with Jack, in case something went wrong in Singapore.
Afterwards, the days had passed and the Empress was finally ready; the crew began to get down to business. From the corner of her eye, she could watch as Jack made his appearance, followed closely by James. Elizabeth, in a second, made the first one stop before he would enter the ship; James stopped too.
"Just so you know, I'll expect you to work and you'll sleep with the crew." she told Jack with a significant look and she then looked at James, raising an eyebrow "The same thing to you, James. Neither of you will have a special treatment."
She turned to Tai Huang to check everything and, after making sure that all was well, she climbed the main deck of the ship.
"Alright, weigh anchor!" she smiled when she started giving orders "Dong Zhao, I want you at the helm, set way to Tortuga… For those that have not met me on the way to the Devil's Throat, know now that there are three shifts in this ship. Tai Huang will tell you when you'll have to work. Now!" she shouted "I want movement! Look alive, men!"
"Aye, aye, captain!" all of them said.
It was incredibly exhilarating to be able to command and also how well the men responded… She supposed she had her past self to thank for her speech from before the battle against the Flying Dutchman and the Endeavor.
She watched as Tai Huang gave the assignments and, for a first few moments, she simply walked around and initially spoke to the few of the Empress's crew who knew English, as she hadn't learned much Chinese after being rescued by James.
A few hours later, she found this one over the railing and she decided to join him for a bit, wishing to make peace somehow.
"Captain." This one smiled at him, pleased "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Just checking that everything is alright." She shrugged with a mischievous look "The weather is on our side, so we should get to Tortuga in a week or so."
"I see the time at sea has taught you a lot." James smiled. "These men are answering well to your orders."
"It's still hard to gain their trust." she admitted in a whisper "But I did pay enough attention to the few times I've been in a ship with someone acting as a captain."
To that, James smiled, looking happy "I'm glad of that, even if not that much of the profession."
"... I can't go back to a normal life, James. You know that I don't belong there." she shook her head, deciding to also be honest "I love the sea, sailing and this freedom. I can't and I won't give it back."
James stayed silent for a few seconds before sighing.
"I know. I just wished..." He shook his head "Turner asked that I take care of you, if I could. And I still have some sins to atone for."
Elizabeth laughed at that "As if I needed protection..."
"You may need it in Singapore, Eli- Captain." He corrected himself and looked at her "Just do me the favor of writing me a letter if you need me."
Elizabeth's eyes softened at that. "Oh, James... You're too good for me." she smiled sweetly "But I'll accept your offer. Thank you."
James smiled slightly and kept his gaze at the sea, while Elizabeth just stared at the crew of the Empress, seeing how Jack worked with the other men in the sails and laugh escaped her lips, watching as this one was grimacing. Apparently, James had heard her because he had turned and laughed too.
"I know that I said to be careful with him, James, but..." Elizabeth commented, peeking for a moment at Jack "I know he's a good man, deep down. So maybe you're right in trusting his motives a bit."
James frowned at that "You're also good, you know that, right?" he said, putting a bit his hand on her arm.
She shook her head, with a sad smile "No, I know that I'm not. But that's okay. I'm not here because I'm good, I'm here because this is what I am and where I'm meant to be."
With a last smile, she patted him on the back gently and went back up to the wheel, gripping it carefully, trying to keep any thoughts at bay… She wondered what James would think of her if he knew what she had done to Jack.
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Twelve days later, they reached Tortuga… She supposed she deserved it for taking the valuables from that French merchant ship, but at least the money would be useful to her.
By the time they reached the docks, Elizabeth began ordering her crew to find some way to repair the damages, sell what they had stolen, and get more people for the ship.
"We'll be here three days, less if possible." she announced and then turned to point at six of them "You stay here for today, the rest… I want you back tomorrow at first hour in the morning."
"Not counting me and our former commodore, ye mean…" Jack said just as he got down, shaking off the dirt of his hat thoroughly.
"Yeah, that…" Elizabeth sighed "I hope that everything will go well for you, Jack. I'll prefer you with a ship if I need your help. Oh, speaking of that… How can I contact you?"
"Just write to C.T. Johnston to The Faithful Bride… Miriam saves my mail." Jack shrugged.
"Miriam?" Elizabeth asked, raising an eyebrow.
"A Spanish little girl, her mother works there…" he rolled his eyes a bit "It's a long story, Elizabeth."
Elizabeth shook her head, but decided to drop the subject. Just as Jack was about to leave, she grabbed him.
"I'm warning you, Jack… If anything happens to James… You won't have to worry about a kraken or my husband to end you because I'll do it myself. Is that clear?"
"Inescapably." he replied with a bitter smile.
She would have almost asked herself why she had referred to William as husband, when technically her marriage had ended quite quickly, but she hadn't had time to change what she had said, as James appeared, interrupting their conversation and looked at them, questioningly…
"Shouldn't we leave?" James seemed to decide to ask Jack.
"Right, we're leaving. We'll see each other, Lizzie. Ta!"
She sighed and almost prayed that they would be okay and wouldn't kill each other. In the meantime, she knew that she could let Tai Huang and Dong Zhao sell things. For the moment, she focused on waiting for the men who were getting supplies and some help to repair the ship. Part of her was relieved by that, as she didn't know if she would have been brave enough to venture into Tortuga alone... Even if she knew that she could defend herself, she was no fool and she knew that if they were enough, they could easily beat her.
That first day was pretty easy; they found some people to whom they were able to sell what they had earned and the people who were working on repairs to the ship said it would be ready by the third day in the morning.
The next day, at her command, the workers started quite early and she decided to change some clothes to venture into the place. She went into some stores to sell some of the things that had been from Sao Feng and found her crew waiting to talk to her all at the same time…
She shook her head, took a deep breath and shouted "Gentlemen!" Everyone turned to look at her "How about just one of you talks?"
They shared a few looks and Dong Zhao stepped in front of her "Forgive us, madam… Some crewmembers have heard from a source that Charles Vane has in his hands a great booty and the men are thinking on inviting him and his crew to a few games."
"Charles Vane with a booty?" She had heard of him and it had given her goosebumps in her youth "And you want to bet with him, win a few games?"
"We have enough money for that and we could win something, madam." one of them pointed out.
"Don't be fools…" Tai Huang clicked his tongue "Vane is not someone easy to trick…"
Elizabeth nodded at that, but at hearing more people around the place talking about the same topic, she frowned a bit "Who have you heard this from?" she asked.
"From Jack Sparrow, madam." Dong Zhao answered quickly.
She exhaled through her nose, almost annoyed and thought it would be a waste of time to get into any game with Vane but, on the other hand, most of her crew were willing to spend the money, and if they could win more…
"Where Vane is going to be?" she asked to Tai Huang.
This stared at her, surprised, but seemed to awake "Probably in one of three most important taverns, madam, but it's more important the games you're more invested."
"Cards and dice?" she mentioned with a little smile.
Tai Huang also smiled "Then it would be better to stay in The Faithful Bride and spread around here about our achievements and get us some opportunities… Don't you think, captain?"
She nodded "Do that, Tai Huang, thank you… And better be ready to embrace that oldest and noblest of pirates tradition, agreed?"
This one nodded.
When night had fallen and they had had some fun with a few people at The Faithful Bride, a group of six men appeared at the door… They appeared to be a pack of wolves and Elizabeth followed their movements until they approached their table. It was then that she finally raised her head completely, as she had done in her social circle with her father.
"Yes?" she asked, as she gathered again the cards of the last game.
"I had heard something about a Chinese crw that had won a small booty and I was a bit interested in that…" he started and then smirked "But seeing as you are a woman, most likely they ran away thinking you were a witch or something similar."
Elizabeth sneered at that "So, since I must have enchanted the other ship, suddenly you're not interested in playing anymore to a little card game?" She sent him a pleasant smile "What, are you afraid I'll win?"
His eyes seemed to spit fire for a second and he got a bit more closer to the table "Not at all." he smirked and pointed to two of his crewmates to sit with him "Let's play then, little lady."
She sniggered and looked to her crew, two of them sitting with her. When she finished dealing the cards and the game started, she put a hand on the table loudly, almost scaring the rest.
"It's captain Swann to you." she stated, with pride in her eyes.
This one smirked at that, took the cards, and with a smile that would have terrified the world, he stared at her.
"In that case, captain Vane, at your service."
She smirked at that in turn "At my service? We'll see about that, won't we, captain?"
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&&& A.N.: Hello and good day! This chapter we have another intervention of our little villain and soon you'll meet another good interesting friend... hehehe
I'm also glad to see some people liking the story and also commenting; I'm really grateful that you're reading it! ^^ To the rest that are lurking in the dark, I encourage you to give kudos, comment and share it if you want with other people :) They do say in English that "Sharing is caring" after all XD
As always, thanks for the support!
And, good news ^^ I finally (finally) ended translating and passing everything that I had in Spanish into English, which means that soo I'll be able to publish as I did before in Spanish, which was once a week! The next time it won't be possible, because I still have to write one more chapter, but when I publish chapter 10, I might be able to follow my old schedule :)
Hope you enjoyed and until next time! &&&