Despite the gorgeous afternoon, Will still could not shake the feeling of dread from his soul. Why would Elizabeth not tell him that she was going to see the Commodore off? He would have let her go. Wouldn't he?
Will had to admit that he and Norrington hadn't been on the best of terms. Will still felt the "noble" man was after Elizabeth, after all Norrington had tried to marry her before. When asking Elizabeth to see him off the Commodore had even omitted the step of asking Will, Elizabeth's fiance for permission to speak with her privately. That certainly showed a lack of propriety on the Commodore's part.
What am I thinking? He thought. Will had fought for the last eight and a half years trying to find a way around propriety, after all it was far too improper for a Governor's daughter to marry a blacksmith. If Will could betray the social requirements of the time, couldn't Elizabeth?
Perhaps he was being too protective. Port Royal was a safe place and the Commodore, though completely arrogant, knew to keep his distance. And it wasn't as if Elizabeth had feelings for Norrington. Right?
He tried not thinking about that one particular question, but his mind kept circling back. Will had to have asked himself the chilling question five times before he actually began approaching the docks. There were a few ship still left in port but the docks were relatively still. All the ships that needed to leave had. He searched for Elizabeth.
The naval dock was vacant of all civilians as far as Will could see. There were a few officers, but since there were no longer any military vessels left at Port Royal, there was no need for heavy guarding. He looked at the trade and civilian docks.
Plenty of people. Merchants and sailors sat eating their mid-day meal, ignoring the warm sun. No one was working and there still was no sign of Elizabeth.
Will flexed his fists, hoping that by some distraction he had missed her, but no. She wasn't at the docks. He looked back the way he had come, maybe she had passed him...
No. Even as he turned to look, he knew that she had not passed him. He would have seen her, or she would have seen him. There was something terribly wrong.
After a few long terrorizing seconds, Will decided to approach one of the navy officers.
"Ah, Mr. Turner!" one of the soldiers hollered when he saw the blacksmith. "This dock is off limits to civilians, even you I'm afraid."
"Where's Elizabeth?" Will asked ignoring the soldiers first comment.
"What's all this about?" another soldier came up.
"Elizabeth," Will nearly shouted at the man. "Where is Ms. Swann?"
"Oh...she..." the second soldier pointed to the Dauntless, then retracted his finger. "Hmm."
Will stared in the direction of his finger and stepped between the two soldiers. The Dauntless had already made it out to open water. Elizabeth couldn't still be...
There were shouts from the fort's primary tower that loomed just overhead. "-Dauntless! Men Overboard!"
One of the soldiers rushed to the edge of the dock and pulled out a scope. "Bloody h'aye!" he spat when Will stole the scope out of his hand and peered into it.
The ocean was calm, but scattered in the coat tails of the Dauntless, were specks of red and white and one familiar blue. Finally snapping, Will thrust the scope back into the soldiers grasp and bounded into the nearest row boat. Flinging the ropes that tied the boat to the dock aside and barely waiting for the two officers to follow, Will rowed in pursuit of the ship.