"Treasure Can Be Misleading"

"Return To Port Royal"

Chapter 7

"Let's see… who else do we need on the guest list?" Elizabeth pondered, turning to her father for suggestions.

"Well, there's always that friend of Commodore Norrington's who's stationed down at Carmel Harbor," he offered.

"Is he the tall dark-haired chap who came up last summer?"

"Yes, he's the one. What do you think?"

"That's fine. I'll write his name down," Elizabeth agreed, scribbling down the name 'Lieutenant Wesley Skylark' in addition to the list in front of her.

"What about my sister?"

Elizabeth looked up to find Will standing in the doorway, casually leaned up against the frame.

         "Oh! Of course, how silly of me to have forgotten," she blushed, quickly writing down Arcelia's name underneath Lieutenant Skylark's. "I'm sorry, my dear."

         "Just checking," Will nodded, taking his leave of the doorway and off to another part of the house.

*~*~*~*~*

         "Ah!" Arcelia winched, putting a hand over her temple.

         "You all right?" Ana Maria asked, glancing over with a slightly concerned glance.

         "Yeah… just fine.  But I think I need to see my brother," Arcelia mused aloud.

"What for?"

"Don't know. I suppose it's a 'sibling sense' acting up. The pinch right at my temple," Arcelia pointed to the side of her head. "I'm going to tell Jack to make a stop back in Port Royal," she said, crossing the deck and hurrying up the steps to the bridge. "Sparrow!" she called, walking over to the scruffy pirate steering the ship.

"Yes, luv?" Jack briefly glanced back at her, having to still keep him eyes forward.

"I'm ordering you head for Port Royal. We're going to pay my dear brother a visit," she dictated.

Jack scoffed at the idea.

         "You, my dear? Order me about?" he chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "Why don't you just head back down and laze about like you usually do? Let me do the captaining," he recommended, waving his hand to shoo her away.

This was definitely the wrong thing to say.  Her arm then shot forward and grabbed Jack by his shirt collar, barely allowing his arms to reach the helm.

         "We're going to Port Royal, see Will, and have a jolly time.  Is that entirely clear, Mr. Sparrow?" she asked, jerking him backward a bit. "Or must I repeat myself more thoroughly?"

         "No, no need, luv. Crystal clear," he replied nervously, not wanting to further test the lengths of the female Turner's patience.

She released him from her grip and let him return to navigating, a smug and satisfied smile on her face.

"Onward… to Port Royal," he muttered bitterly, casting an annoyed glance back at Arcelia.

*~*~*~*~*

         "Arcie?" Will's eyes widened with surprise as he spotted the black sails of The Pearl gliding over the ocean waters and into the harbor.

He hurried down the gangplank towards where the ship was taking anchor.

         "Ahoy, Will!" Arcelia called down to her brother, saluting him.

         "Ahoy!" he called back. "What are you doing back so soon? It's only been 6 months," he said.

Arcelia took hold of a nearby rope and slid down it to reach the platform faster.  She held out her hand and took Will's in a solid friendly handshake.

         "Funny thing about having a sibling… whenever something big is happening in one's life, the other can always sense it.  And I'm sick of getting those headaches," she laughed.

         "That sure is an accurate sense.  Elizabeth and I are to be married at the start of next month," he informed her.

This conversation went on as the two walked down the wooden path, leaving the crew of The Pearl to tie up and go about their normal routines upon docking.

Will then led Arcelia back to the Governor Swann's mansion, reacquainting her with Elizabeth and her father.

"I'm so glad we've had a chance to meet again!" Elizabeth said, practically beaming with delight. "Will and I were beginning to wonder how we were to get in touch with you about the wedding. It's lucky you turned up," she giggled.

Arcelia smiled back, a little disgusted with her ditzy spell at the moment.  But she would ignore it and humour her, for she knew Elizabeth was only pleased to see her.

         "And now I have the opportunity to get you ready for this evening's Engagement Ball," Elizabeth clapped her hands together, summoning the servants.

         "A ball? Me get ready?" Arcelia's eye grew to the size of dinner plates, and was then subsequently swept off by a group of maids upstairs to Elizabeth's room.

*~*~*~*~*

"I'm going to have to kill you now. You do know this, right?"

"It's not so bad, Arcie. You look nice," Will said.

Arcelia looked at him with an expression that could have burned a hole through his currently thick skull.

         "This is asinine!" she whispered harshly, balling her fists as if ready to let Will have it.

Elizabeth had done what was thought to be impossible: she'd gotten Arcelia to wear a dress and put on make-up, making her look very beautiful and lady-like indeed.  But Arcelia was not taking too kindly to her makeover in the slightest.  To add to her embarrassment, Will had also managed to convert Jack into some resemblance of a gentleman.  The only problem had been Jack's dreads, which Will had cleverly tucked up into an elaborate hat that perched atop Jack's head.

         "This isn't as bad as I'd thought," Jack chuckled, coming to stand in between the two Turners.

         "I hate you," Arcelia said without looking over at Jack.

Will left the pair of pirates to find Elizabeth, hoping Arcelia would hold back from killing anyone.

         "You're looking quite the lady, luv," Jack commented.

         "Get stuffed, Sparrow," she responded through clenched teeth, smiling for the people who were passing by.

         "It's a shame none of the other got to see you in such a fine clothes," he stupidly went on.

         "Piss off! I'm only doing this for Elizabeth and Will," she hissed. "And as soon as this is over with, I'm going to gut you with a rusty―" she started to threaten, but stopped mid-sentence when her eyes rested on something across the room.

         "What?" Jack followed her stare to what he assumed was the sight target.

It was a tall man, pony tailed long black hair, and dressed in a smart sharp-looking outfit.  He had one arm bent behind his back while the other kept the front, which seemed odd to the Captain Sparrow.  The man was, in consequence, currently talking with Elizabeth and Will.

         "Is he what you're looking at?" Jack asked again, looking back at Arcelia's now black face.

The man from across the room casually turned his head, now taking noticing of the pair staring at him.

         "Who's that?" he asked.

         "Her?" Will looked to where the man had his eyes turned to. "Oh, she's my sister. Arcelia," he said with a smile.

         "That's Spanish, for treasure, I believe," the man mused aloud, continuing to stare back at the white-faced young woman.

         "I'm not sure," Will responded.

The man handed Will his glass of wine and began crossing the room over to where Arcelia and Jack stood.

*~*~*~*~*

         "Hell! He's coming this way. Don't say anything stupid," Arcelia warned Jack, by reflex straightening her posture as the man drew closer. Oh, what on Earth am I doing? she wondered, puzzled by her involuntary actions.

         "Miss Arcelia Turner, I presume," the man greeted her, bending at the waist in a courteous bow. "I am Lieutenant Wesley Skylark," he said, taking Arcelia's hand and kissing it gently.

         "And how is it you know my name, Lieutenant?" she asked defensively.

         "Your brother informed me of that. I hope it wasn't too forward of me to address you by name before you gave it to me?" the Lieutenant Skylark acted contritely, a worried look starting to take his face.

         "No, it's quite all right. I didn't know you'd been talking to my brother," she said, taking back her hand from the Lieutenant's grasp.

She felt a chill run down her spine.  How could this man not recognize her? She didn't look that different in a dress, did she?

         "Might I request a dance of you?" he inquired, holding his hand out to her.

Arcelia looked at it with great caution, not sure as how to treat the current situation.  But she reluctantly took it, convincing herself that she was doing it for her brother's and future sister-in-law's sake, leaving Jack to mingle all by his lonesome.  She didn't feel guilty however.  He was a big boy and could take care of himself.

@*~*~*~*~*@*~*~*~*~*@*~*~*~*~*@*~*~*~*~*@*~*~*~*~*@*~*~*~*~*@*~*~*~*~*@*~*~*~*~*@

Author's Note ::  Ooooo! Arcelia is faced with The Lieutenant again, and a very charming man he's turned out to be. *wink-wink*  But poor widdle ol' Jack, left all by his lonesome. :(  How shall the newly made-over Arcelia handle this?  You'll just have to read on to find out, so there! XP  Ok, you know the drill: Read/Review/Flame (which is optional), savvy? ;)