Thank you Evana and FreakishlyDisturbed13 for your reviews! Zeech- thanks for your insight, I really appreciate it!
~*~
Chapter Four
Lifeboats in the Ocean
~*~
The next day, Serenity awoke to black clouds with scarlet hues around their lining. Any day now, she thought, dressing in her Sunday best, for today was the day that she began work at the home of Lady Chastity, the mother of the twins Elisa and Christa. She made sure her hair was smooth and her dress unwrinkled before she went down to the kitchen to grab a thick slice of bread from the cutting board. The occupants of the inn were already wide awake and moving about, eating breakfast when they pleased, the servants cleaning the rooms when the guests were out of it. Serenity swung her cloak around her shoulders and walked to the stable that they kept next to the barn. It was small, but it held her family's two horses and the horses of whatever guests that they had adequately.
A lovely palomino occupied the third stall. This was the horse that usually bore Serenity around when she needed a steed. Quickly she made sure that there were no mats in the horses mane and tail, and that the horse's coat was not especially dirty, and then she sat herself in the saddle and grabbed the reins in both of her gloved hands.
The air was still and thick when she ventured out of the stable. Not even a single bird was singing, and the town had grown ominously still, save for a few fishermen still combing the waves for a small catch. The beach glittered with shells that had washed up from the recently violent waves, carried with the hurricane from faraway places to Port Royale's shores. However, Serenity steered the horse in the opposite direction of the beach, towards the home of the governor's family.
The day passed slowly, but looking after the two children was not as hard as Serenity imagined it to be. They were very well behaved, sweet little girls, and Serenity was relieved when she met Madame Swann, who didn't look down her nose and wrinkle it at her or something dreadful like that. The two tutors, the main tutor Sir Jacobs and the etiquette tutor Madame Hashely, were civil, but Madame Hashely in particular seemed not to like Serenity that much. It was odd, but Serenity got through the day and returned to her home without any significant traumas.
However, things went slightly downhill from there once she got home.
Daniel was leaning against one of the posts, his pointed hat pulled low over his eyes, smoking a thick cigar and looking at the ground. Graceful wisps of ghostly smoke curled around his head as Serenity rode up to him and pulled the rains, slowing the horse to a halt. Daniel puffed on his cigar as if in greeting.
"Hello, Daniel," said Serenity cautiously, not knowing exactly what to expect with him.
"Hel-lo," said Daniel. "What's a pretty thing like you doin' out in a storm like this?"
"It's not storming yet."
"Hmph," Daniel stood up, transferring his weight from the post to his own two feet, and walked over to her horse with a cockiness that was the first time showing since he had arrived. "Still," he said, grinning up at her, "Things might not be safe. Wouldn't want a lass like you hanging around the wrong kind of people, get what I'm saying?"
Serenity leaned closer. "What in the pits of Hades are you talking about, Daniel?"
Daniel leaned up towards her, following her eyes with his own black ones. "Abso-lutely nothing."
"Are you drunk?" she whispered.
"No," he laughed, "sailor's don't get drunk."
"Then what are you?"
"I," said Daniel with a swagger, "I am a"-
"Serenity!"
Daniel fiercely pressed his lips against hers for a moment, trying to force his tongue into her mouth. For the once second that his mouth was on hers, Serenity tasted rum. No doubt about it, he was drunker than he had probably ever been in his life. She put her hands up to his face and pushed him away from her. The sudden movements caused her horse to sidestep, catching Serenity unawares. She fell from her sidesaddle position, right into the arms-
Right into the arms of William Turner, who was looking at her as if she were some kind of alien creature.
"Hullo, Will," she said shakily.
"Serenity!" he repeated her name, the word weighted with surprise and scandal. His hands curled around her shoulder and her knee, where he had caught her, brushing against the skin of her neck. She shivered in his arms as he looked towards Daniel, leaning arrogantly against the same post that he had been previously.
Will set Serenity down on her feet and supported her with a hand around her waist as he stepped towards Daniel.
"What're you gonna do?" Daniel asked, shrugging. "Pretty girl on the street, storm of the century's bearing down upon us," Daniel laughed wildly, "we're all going to die, nothing better to do…"
"He's drunk," Serenity whispered, her lips brushing against Will's ear, her hand clutching the cloth of his sleeve. She tried to convince herself that she was fine, that she could stand on her own, that she wasn't just feathers and dust…but she couldn't. She put as much of her weight on her feet as she could, but still held on to Will's arm as if he were her lifeboat in the ocean. His hand tightened protectively around her waist- hadn't he always been there to protect her? Always, Will had been there, like some freakishly human guardian spirit.
"Does that matter?" hissed Will, turning towards her for a second, and then back to Daniel, still flopping his body against the post. "He's not slurring his words."
"He's a sailor," said Serenity. Will sighed.
"Maybe we should just leave him here," he suggested, "Leave him here until the alcohol wears off."
"I don't know," Serenity said, looking towards the ocean. A wave was roaring towards the town across the surface of the water, crashing on the sand with more might than she had ever seen a wave with before. White foam splashed up from the impact, soaring through the air to land farther up on the beach, as if the storm was marking its territory.
"Let him rot," said Will. He slapped the palomino, which ambled into the stable, and then led Serenity down the road towards his workshop.
"No," Serenity said, "I have to go home, my parents will be worried."
"I'll take you back as soon as that scoundrel goes back inside." Will led Serenity into the shop, the governor's house casting shadows through the streets as the sun set behind it.
~*~
Elizabeth Swann sat at her bedroom window, her eyes trained on the door to the blacksmith's shop. Although her home was set back a bit from the road, as befits a governor's house, she could still see Will walking with some girl down the road. He had both arms protectively around her, and she was leaning into him as if she needed him, as if he were her life support. Trying to fight down the evil feelings of jealousy that rose inside of her, Elizabeth stepped away from the window and tried to focus on the book that she was trying to read. But the task was impossible, as the image of Will and that girl kept swimming in front of the pages, blurring the words and making the sentences unintelligible. Why do I feel this way about him? Thought Elizabeth desperately. He's only the blacksmith's apprentice.
But she couldn't help envying the girl that he had been walking with. The image of the girl stayed in her mind long after she finally stepped away from the window to try a succession of various attempts to remove her mind of the subject of William Turner.
Will belongs to me, a voice inside cried out. But the thought was in vain.
~*~
"Will," said Serenity for the tenth time, holding a cup of tea in her hands. "This really isn't necessary. Really. I can go home now, I'm fine…"
"No," Will said. "That Daniel is probably still drunk and leering at every woman that passes by his door. I wouldn't…" Will sighed. "I wouldn't feel safe."
"Will," said Serenity calmly, "you're too worried about things."
"I don't want"-
"You don't want me to get hurt," she finished. "But my parent's are there and all, what safer place would there be?" Still seeing the uncertain look in Will's eyes, she took his hand and tilted his chin up so that he would look at her. "I'll stay away from Daniel until he's sober again," she said, brushing her cheek against his in farewell. "Thank you for everything, Will," she said, walking out the door once more, and temporarily out of William Turner's life.
~*~
It was late at night when the girl left the workshop. Elizabeth could see her face clearly now, and made a mental note to remember it until she saw her again.
I need to know who she is. I just need to know who she is…
~*~*~*~
I hope you liked! Review! Tell all your friends! J