Broken Faith
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except the roadblock in the relationship of Jack and Elizabeth (aka Henri d'Alphonse, odious villain. Or Adrian Lyon, whichever you prefer.)
OC/E, J/E, W/E, N/E
Chapter 7
Jack found himself back on a small ship, anchored in the harbor. If anyone asked, the Lady Fair was a small merchant vessel, shuttling sugar cane between the Caribbean islands. She did move sugar cane around, but that was not the only thing she transported. For the moment, she found herself with her most precious cargo to date. He was sitting in the captain's cabin, waving his fingers through the flame of a candle, contemplating his next move, or rather, Henri's next move, which would dictate his own.
Jack recognized the name, though there were few who would. Henri d'Alphonse was better known as Adrian Lyon to men who sailed the high seas. The Frenchman, as he was referred to sometimes, was not a complimentary moniker. He was a privateer just starting the make a name for himself. The French liked him just as much as the English, who liked him not at all. The French only tolerated him because, despite the lack of name recognition, he was one of their top privateers. Sometimes, however, Henri went to far even for their tastes. He'd been sidelined for nearly four years after filleting one too many officers of foreign powers. Still, he had collected handsomely on their deaths. Someone always wanted the head of a powerful navy man.
It was that knowledge that bothered Jack the most. Privateers were not liked by pirates either. To illegitimate for society, and too legitimate for pirates, they were. Somehow, being in the middle allowed them to get away with looser morals then a Tortugan wench. One of the loosest was Adrian Lyon.
Jack suspected that Lyon was more involved with some of the nefarious goings on around Jamaica then he would admit to. In particular, Jack was reminded of the frigate Boston, which had encountered the Dauntless four years earlier. The captain of the Boston at the time was a Frenchman. He had not been sailing as Adrian Lyon, nor as Henri d'Alphonse. Still, Jack didn't like it. The fact that the man wanted to turn him over to an overzealous British man didn't help his cause in Jack's eyes. He would have to do a little more poking around before he talked to Elizabeth, but Jack had a suspicion that Henri d'Alphonse was on board the Boston four years earlier. He stared into the flame, pondering his next move.
Across town, Henri d'Alphonse was sleeping like a baby, dreaming of letters of marque and crates of gold as he handed Jack Sparrow over to his dealer. In his sleep, a slow, sardonic smile spread across his face.
While Henri slept, and Jack worried, Elizabeth Turner was sitting on her bed, staring out the window toward the sea. Until Jack had shown up, everything had been perfectly clear. To be certain, Henri had his faults, not the least of which was that he was rather stuck up, but she could do worse. Her father would approve, probably more of this marriage then her first. It would be an amicable partnership. She could move back to the continent, into the circles of society to which she belonged, away from the haunting call of gulls and the crashing of waves that reminded her of Will so much that she still cried herself to sleep some nights. Yes, she had been quite sure of what she was going to do, and then Jack had to show up and upset all her plans. She wouldn't let him, she just... wouldn't. She sighed, and looked across the bed to the empty, cold space where Will should have been lying. She married for love, once. It hadn't ended well. One couldn't marry for love if your husband sailed the seas. It was too painful.
There were many good reasons not to give Jack a second thought, not the least of which was the resemblance to Will. Not a physical resemblance, but they were cut from the same cloth, born of the same desire to sail the sea. Beyond that, he was a pirate, an unrespectable pirate. He couldn't take care of her. He couldn't even visit her in Port Royal on a regular basis. He was not the cleanest individual, he had no practical skills. She would be outcast from society if she even spoke to him civilly. Marriage, courtship, a kiss on the cheek even, were all out of the question. Oh yes, there were many good reason not to give Jack Sparrow a second thought. 'How unfortunate' she thought 'that none of them will stop me.'