"What?" Nova said with widened eyes, "Nothing I own is that valuable. I
don't have anything anyone wants."
Jack reached over the table and took one of the young woman's hands and yanked the sleeve of her shirt up slightly. There on her arm, wrapped around her wrist was a gold snake bracelet, its emerald eyes flashing in the light.
"That little trinket is a lot more interesting than it's normal market value would suggest," Jack said with half a smile.
"You have my attention," Nova said, leaning back.
"You happen to have the key to a very interesting treasure right here," he said, "it seems that this little serpent opens the Devil's Keep."
Nova looked curiously at the deceptively plain jewel on her wrist.
"That's a legend, Jack. There is no Devil's Keep. People have died trying to find it and there's still no proof that it exists."
"But they didn't have the key, love. You do. And there in lies our predicament. If we get the Devil's Keep, we have a fair chance of getting darling William out of his current situation. You see, Lord Pennington knows his son was degenerate; he'd disowned him for the same reasons. He also knows Will was in the right. Right now he's simply lashing out at him. Now if we can buy Will's freedom it's going to be with the Devil's Keep. Pennington has been interested in that treasure for as long as I can remember. He doesn't know where the key is. Luckily, we do."
"If I remember my treasure lore, the Devil's Keep wasn't a normal cache," Nova said thoughtfully, "it was a weapon of incredible power capable of unleashing the Apocalypse if in the wrong hands."
"That's the way the story goes, yes."
"What are we going to do with it Jack? Should he have it?"
"That all depends on what it actually is," the pirate said unconcernedly, "there is the strong possibility that it won't be anything more than your normal pirate treasure."
"And we need Will," Nova said, "I bet that's part of our little treasure run bargain."
"Of course," Jack said with a smile.
He looked at the snake again closely.
"Where did you get that thing?"
"A man traded it for rum," Nova replied, "no telling where he got it and there's nothing that will keep a man from his liquor."
"True enough," Jack said, "and we're about to trade it for a man's life."
Jack reached over the table and took one of the young woman's hands and yanked the sleeve of her shirt up slightly. There on her arm, wrapped around her wrist was a gold snake bracelet, its emerald eyes flashing in the light.
"That little trinket is a lot more interesting than it's normal market value would suggest," Jack said with half a smile.
"You have my attention," Nova said, leaning back.
"You happen to have the key to a very interesting treasure right here," he said, "it seems that this little serpent opens the Devil's Keep."
Nova looked curiously at the deceptively plain jewel on her wrist.
"That's a legend, Jack. There is no Devil's Keep. People have died trying to find it and there's still no proof that it exists."
"But they didn't have the key, love. You do. And there in lies our predicament. If we get the Devil's Keep, we have a fair chance of getting darling William out of his current situation. You see, Lord Pennington knows his son was degenerate; he'd disowned him for the same reasons. He also knows Will was in the right. Right now he's simply lashing out at him. Now if we can buy Will's freedom it's going to be with the Devil's Keep. Pennington has been interested in that treasure for as long as I can remember. He doesn't know where the key is. Luckily, we do."
"If I remember my treasure lore, the Devil's Keep wasn't a normal cache," Nova said thoughtfully, "it was a weapon of incredible power capable of unleashing the Apocalypse if in the wrong hands."
"That's the way the story goes, yes."
"What are we going to do with it Jack? Should he have it?"
"That all depends on what it actually is," the pirate said unconcernedly, "there is the strong possibility that it won't be anything more than your normal pirate treasure."
"And we need Will," Nova said, "I bet that's part of our little treasure run bargain."
"Of course," Jack said with a smile.
He looked at the snake again closely.
"Where did you get that thing?"
"A man traded it for rum," Nova replied, "no telling where he got it and there's nothing that will keep a man from his liquor."
"True enough," Jack said, "and we're about to trade it for a man's life."