Tudor awakened in a sunlit cabin, gently rising up and down with the water and waves quietly lapping against the hull. Unfamiliar with her surroundings, she immediately bolted upright in the bed, reaching for her belt. Finding it not there, she grabbed for the blade hidden under her red skirt. She was relieved to find it in its place.
She threw her legs over the side of the bunk to be met with a masculine grunt. She quickly jerked her feet back from the warm, groaning thing on the floor. Soon Jack's sleepy eyes appeared above the edge of the bed. "Oh, ye're awake then." His entire face came into view and he grinned groggily at her.
"Jack, what the hell?" She said as she readjusted the knife she held in her hand and blinked her bleary eyes. "What happened last night?" She asked as she sucked back a yawn. She glanced at the pirate's face askance as she leaned back a bit.
His smile widened. "Prolly not what ye're thinkin'."
Her eyebrow quirked. "You don't have an earthly clue what I'm thinking, Sparrow, but if it didn't happen how and why the hell did I get in this bed?" She brandished her knife still and questioned vehemently, although, not too angrily.
"Well, ye sorta just . . ." He lifted up his hands, holding them straight up and down together, then flopping them over sideways. He definitely wasn't awake yet.
Tudor paused for a moment, trying to compute his message and translate it into something intelligible. Then faint, fuzzy memories started poking through her sleepy memory. "Oh, right . . ." She said then nodded and shrugged. "Sorry about that."
"What could cause an active lass like yereself to become so exhausted that she'd pass out on an unwashed pirate such as meself." He queried, gradually becoming more in tune with his surroundings.
"I don't know really . . ." She got pensive for a moment. "I know I've been getting a little less sleep then usually – but that shouldn't have effected me too badly." She shrugged in indecision.
"How much sleep?" He asked, curious.
She mentally tallied the past week's nights in her head. "About five hours." She nodded, settling on the amount.
Jack paused. "A night?" He asked in wonderment. That was more sleep then he got in a night half the time.
Tudor shook her head. "No, this week." She corrected and saw his jaw drop at the minuscule amount of time. She shifted and started to explain. "Elizabeth keeps me up late with girly chats, then I guard at her door for a few hours in case anything happens. Usually I sleep for a few house after the servants wake up, but since I'm coming down here in the morning, I haven't been able to."
Now fully awake he sat up. "What brought ye to The Pearl in the middle of the night? Something about a sign or what not?"
"Well, Elizabeth said that she wanted to see Will again – not quite in the right context, but oh well – that releases me from my 'no lover's feuds' rule . . . and well . . . you did say please." She tried to explain, then gave up a shrug. "What's your plan to get Elizabeth and Will living happily ever after again?" She asked as she settled comfortably.
It finally registered that he had gotten his way and he grinned widely, then pondered carefully for a moment. "Tomorrow night, get Elizabeth out into the garden. Will will – Will will . . ." he got distracted for a moment, then shook his head clear. "I'll have Will there and then we let nature take her course." He said after clearing his throat.
Tudor rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You expect that to work? Nature taking her course. I think you put to much faith in human nature, Sparrow." She grunted skeptically.
"Trust me, it'll work out, love." He said softly.
She shrugged, showing her lack of concern, then flopped back down into one of the pillows. "Jack?" She asked, in a small, tired voice.
"Hrmm?" He stood up from the floor with a groan and stretched his stiff muscles.
"Feed me?" She asked without opening her eyes. She almost sounded like a little girl.
He sighed as if she were a huge burden upon him. "I'll feed ye, but I won't bring you breakfast in bed, so get up!" With that he tossed her belt onto the bed in front of her and exited the room cabin.
She laughed and shook her head at him as she sat up. She was glad to have her belt back, she felt so naked without it. She quickly finger combed it her coppery curls, and wrapped the wide band of leather around her hips as she headed for the door.
She stood for a moment in the little alcove between the door to the cabin and the deck as she finished buckling the belt. When she looked up from fidgeting with the buckle, Anna-Maria stood in front of her. "Good Morning." She said with a telling smile.
"Morning Anna-Maria." Tudor replied cheerily. Over the past week she had made an effort to learn all the crew's names. Anna-Maria was obviously the easiest to remember.
"Is Jack awake yet, he's usually pretty tired the morning after . . . I need to talk to him about a problem."
Tudor paused for a moment, not comprehending what she was alluding to, but then just decided to answer the question. "Actually, I think he's in the galley getting food for me." She said and smiled again, then glanced askance at her. "Morning after?" She asked for an explanation.
"Oh, I don't mind. He's all yours, there's nothing between us. I just came to tell him that we need more rope. One of the cannons is loose and the last spare bit we had Will knotted up and no one can get it out. So, yes, I'll leave you and Jack to your business." She began to turn away.
Tudor's jaw dropped. That's what she was afraid she had meant. "Oh, no – it's not like that, no, no – no!" She stammered then shuddered at the mental picture. "Just tell him yourself –"She motioned in the other direction of the ship.
"Alright, what ever you say. I won't meddle. I'll just tell him later then." She smiled and sauntered away. As she left, Tudor had the feeling she didn't believe her. She just shook her head and started for the galley. When she got there, she sat down across the table from where Jack sat already and dug into the food he had gotten out for her.
"Do ye think ye'll have been missed back at the Governor's" he said, trying to make conversation.
"Hadn't even though about it." She said, not too worried. "I'll tell them something." She shrugged then took the drink he handed to her and sipped it. She then remembered. "Oh, bumped into Anna-Maria. She says they need more rope. Something about a loose cannon and Will knotting up the last length."
Jack groaned and shook his head. "The boy's a right good smithy but he should never be allowed near a piece of rope."
"That reminds me, I have to get my dagger back from Will." She quickly finished her breakfast, then stood. "I'm going to go find him."
"Aye, I had better go see Anna-Maria about that rope." He said and stood with her and followed her out the door.
They parted ways and Tudor quickly found Will working on a pile of swords, sharpening and cleaning them. Will looked up at the sound of her boots moving across the deck towards him. He smiled cheerily. "Good morning Miss Smith." He said affably.
"Will." She nodded to him. "Done with me dagger yet?" She asked.
He smiled and pulled the knife from the stack of swords he was working on and handed it to her with a smile. "It's a beautiful blade. Incredibly well made. Where did you get it?" He asked with a smith's interest.
She shrugged. "Picked that one up in France I think, or maybe Vienna." She pondered for a moment then couldn't decide which and gave up. "If you think that is nice, look at this." She reached for both sides of her belt and pulling out a long sword and parrying dagger crossed, laid them on the barrel Will was using as a makeshift bench.
His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Beautiful . . ." Was all he was able to gasp out in his awe. Tudor beamed with pride. "That – that . . ." Will stammered as he inspected the piece. "It's amazing. I've never seen a handle so perfectly shaped before, and the blade . . . it's, it's, it's wonderful!" Tudor smiled again, and pulled out her pistol and played with it as Will continued to scrutinize the matching set of sword and dagger.
After twirling it several times and slinging and un-slinging it, she lifted it, and without a second glance, shot a seagull flying over head.
Will looked up, startled, and then laughed as the bird flopped into the water. "Do you have any other weapons?" He asked eagerly.
With a grin Tudor whipped out her Dirk. "Picked that up in Ireland 3 years ago. Great little toy. It's so versatile. It's almost long enough to be a short sword and can be used as such, but it's still small enough not to be unwieldy." She handed it to Will, then laughed at the incorrect way he was holding it. "Not like that. You're holding it like a hatchet. Like this. "She took it from him to demonstrate.
Jack, who had been watching since he heard a gunshot and the angry squawking of a bird laughed as she jabbed and parried the air. Thinking this could get interesting he decided to continue to watch. He repressed another laugh as Will tried to mimic her motions. "Very good." Tudor commended him. ". . . and they are great for throwing too." She spun quickly and threw the Dirk, sending it flying past Jack's head. He immediately hit the deck and Tudor gasped in shock. "Jack, my god, I'm sorry!"
"WOMAN! I feed ye and this is thanks I get?! If this is about last night, ye certainly didn't seem that upset this morning!" He bellowed as he righted himself on his feet and skulked off.
Tudor watched him stomp his way across the deck and momentarily caught sight of Anna-Maria coiling some new rope and smiling as she watched the scene. Tudor just laughed to herself and shook her head, giving up on caring what this mad crew thought. It was worth a chuckle anyway. She turned back to Will, who stood smiling, trying not to laugh at the situation. "Elizabeth tells me that you are a wonderful sword-fighter. Care to skirmish?" She asked, trying to change the subject, but still laughing.
Will stifled a snicker. "I would enjoy that very much Miss Smith." His face was beginning to turn a dark shade of red as he selected a weapon and took his stance. As they began to battle, his concentration on the combat distracted him from all else.
They parried, blocked and circled around every attack, defended, every defense broken through. "Your good." Tudor said, pleasantly surprised at having to put effort into the sparring.
He smiled as he glanced her blow off the broad of his blade. "Thank you." He said between blows. "It's nice to fight with someone who follows the rules of engagement for a change." He said as he managed to throw her out of the clinch they were in.
She grinned impishly, and winked at him. "Only when I have to mate, only when I have to." Round one ended, two began, and in the end, after five rounds total, it was almost noon and the score stood at Tudor 3, Will 2, although, Will insisted the last round was tied.
They sat down on the barrels and Will looked at Tudor with regret. "That was wonderful practice, Thank you. But I have to go back to my work, I'm afraid."
Tudor smiled and nodded. "Yes, I must be off to the Manor before they all think I've been kidnapped in the night for my family fortune." She said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes and stood to go.
As she headed toward the gangplank, she saw Jack tiptoeing out from behind the cabin door, looking cautious. When his wary gaze lighted on her, his expression brightened. "Oh, ye're all done playing at swords then." He said approaching warily, afraid of sharp objects whizzing past his head again.
She winked at him. "Aye, for now anyway." She said then motioned to the plank. "I'm off to feed some cockamamie story to Elizabeth about me whereabouts of the past 16 hours.
"No, wait, I want to discus –"he halted and swung his head to look at the crew whose eyes suspiciously darted suddenly away and drifted about, landing on nothing in particular. He come to her side an whispering in her ear, grasped her arm. "I've a plan I'd like to discuss with ye, Miss Smith." With that, he gave her arm a tug and began to drag her toward his cabin yet again.
She moaned, not knowing if she could handle another of his half-baked schemes. "Oh no! Not again! Didn't we already do this once this morning?" Tudor didn't notice Anna-Maria doubling over the cannon she was helping to tie down, laughing noiselessly at having only seen Jack whisper in her ear an pulling her towards his quarters and hearing her complaint.
"Sit down." Jack motioned off-handedly towards the heavy wooden table and chair after he closed the cabin door. "Rum?" He asked as he picked up a flask and a goblet.
She shrugged indifferently. "If ye've got nothin' else." She said as she plopped down in a chair and propped her feet up on the table.
Jack nearly choked at this lack of enthusiasm at his beverage of choice, but poured two glasses anyway, then placed one in front of her and sat down himself. "I have a proposal for ye to consider." He said leadingly.
She raised her brows. "Really Sparrow, I don't know you that well." She said sarcastically, then continued. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be on one knee?"
"Oh, I do apologize. I seem to be a mite stiff seeing as how I did sleep on the floor last night." He quipped, now in on the joke.
"And here I was all ready to accept." She continued in the same vein of jocularity. "Let you make an honest woman of me." She said, alluding to the rumours that were certainly circulating around the ship by now with a wicked grin. "Which would of course be difficult since I'm not honest." She winked boldly at him, then sipped the rum.
"Well then there's not much point in me trying is there?" He concluded.
She nodded and shrugged. "So why did you drag me in here, much to the curiosity of your crew?"
"Ah, yes, I was getting to that." He gulped down the last of his drink, poured another for himself, then leaned forward in his chair and propped his elbows on the table. "I propose . . ." He paused and looked at her pointedly and she put on her most innocent look. Satisfied that she wasn't going to interrupt again, he continued. "I propose that you accompany me . . . and my crew on our next voyage."
Tudor could see that he was very pleased with his plan, even now he seemed like an excited boy. This she certainly hadn't expected and she fought off the urge to let her jaw drop in disbelief. Do no laugh in his face. She mentally coached herself. Do not laugh in his face. As the stony silence lengthened and Jack had yet to see an expression cross her face other then utter shock, he hurried to explain. "Here, let me put it to you this way . . . I imagine you're fairly wealthy, yes?"
"I suppose you'd be right. . ." She replied, not sure where he was going with this.
"Well, now I'm telling ye that ye could attain a fortune right ten times that sum." He baited. She again remained silent, but lifted her brows in slightly piqued interest. "There is but one private Spanish Fortress remaining in this great body of water ironically known as the Spanish Main."
He certainly gestures with his hands a lot. I wonder if it might be all the rum. She thought absent mindedly during Jack's overblown speech. She glanced quickly at her emptied drink, pushed it away from her then looked up again as she caught a flash from one of Jack's rings on his hands as he gestured widely again.
"And why is it the last fortress left out of hundreds? Because, my dear Lady, it's the most heavily guarded, and on top of that, there is only one ship accessible to the harbour. It is by all merits the most secure target in the whole Caribbean!" He concluded with a final emphatic flourish.
"And you're fool enough to go after it and want me to go along because of all my mad war skills, risking my neck while I'm saving your ass, all for some supposed treasure, that will supposedly make me rich beyond my wildest dreams." She elucidated for him.
"Exactly!" He grinned widely.
She smiled at him. "No." She stated firmly with a saccharinely sweet tone and without any hesitation.
His face fell. "Take some time to think about it!" He reiterated.
"Alright," She smiled patronisingly, then tapped her finger against her cheek. "Hmmm . . . no." She said after a moment's pause.
"That's not thinking about it!" Jack yelped.
"What do you want me to do?" She yelled back. "Think, Think, ponder, wonder, quandary, query, debate – think, Think, THINK!" She found herself using wide hand motions in her excitement. "The answer is still NO! Learn to take it for an answer!" She was determined that he was not going to get his way this time.
"But . . . why?" he said, sounding a bit like Will
She gritted her teeth and inhaled deeply. "Let me put it in small words that won't sink in your rum soaked brain – I'm a mercenary. I've worked long and hard to get my reputation to where it is and I'm not going to throw that away by becoming a pirate! Mercenaries may be pretty low on the social ladder, but I'm not going to willingly lower myself to the level of a pirate." She explained in a barely controlled tone.
"Are ye saying that ye think ye're better then me?" He huffed indignantly.
"Aye, pretty much." She nodded vigorously and reached for the pitcher of rum and grimaced as she poured the liquid. "Are you sure you don't have anything better to drink?" She found herself whining, then snapped out of it and paid penance by sipping the beverage with a cringe. "Don't take it personally Sparrow. Take it as an aversion to your profession. You're petty thieves - pickpockets of the high seas. I prefer to get my money the honest way." She shrugged and sipped again.
"A-ha, but it was you yerself who said ye were a dishonest woman!" He looked smug.
Her jaw dropped and a noise of frustration escaped her throat. "I'm not honest but I want my money to be. Frankly, I just don't want to spend the last few seconds of my life falling!"
Jack sputtered a bit, began to speak a few times only to change his mind. He crossed his arms over his chest and a decidedly surly expression overcame his face. "Snob!" he fired in her direction.
She let the insult roll off her and shrugged in disregard. "When you live in the muck I've lived in my entire life, you need to maintain some kind of dignity." She said nonchalantly, in an almost soft tone.
He had begun to pace but stopped abruptly at her statement, and looked squarely at her. He saw the look of stark pain in her eyes and his stance softened, but then her features hardened in a stubborn resolve and he knew she wouldn't be moved. "I bid you good day Miss Smith." He said tersely, then exited. He let the door fly on its hinges, hitting the wall and let free a flow of very colourful language mumbled under his breath.
Tudor sneered as he banged out of the room, then grabbed the flagon of his oh-so-precious rum and chugged the remaining half down quickly, then threw the empty carafe across the room and stormed out the door herself.
She saw, or rather heard, Jack above at the helm, bellowing orders. Cotton gave her a silent look, as if to say. "What did you do?" as he looked mournfully at his usually cheerful captain, who now stood pouting. She rolled her eyes as she looked at him, then left the ship and quickly made the way for her house, plotting her excuse for when she got back to the governor's house.
"George, I need my white muslin gown with the blue ribbon from the green trunk." Tudor said as she strut through the back door to her gorgeous townhouse and started towards the elegant staircase, then paused and turned. "Oh, and do we have any rum in the wine cellar?"
She threw her legs over the side of the bunk to be met with a masculine grunt. She quickly jerked her feet back from the warm, groaning thing on the floor. Soon Jack's sleepy eyes appeared above the edge of the bed. "Oh, ye're awake then." His entire face came into view and he grinned groggily at her.
"Jack, what the hell?" She said as she readjusted the knife she held in her hand and blinked her bleary eyes. "What happened last night?" She asked as she sucked back a yawn. She glanced at the pirate's face askance as she leaned back a bit.
His smile widened. "Prolly not what ye're thinkin'."
Her eyebrow quirked. "You don't have an earthly clue what I'm thinking, Sparrow, but if it didn't happen how and why the hell did I get in this bed?" She brandished her knife still and questioned vehemently, although, not too angrily.
"Well, ye sorta just . . ." He lifted up his hands, holding them straight up and down together, then flopping them over sideways. He definitely wasn't awake yet.
Tudor paused for a moment, trying to compute his message and translate it into something intelligible. Then faint, fuzzy memories started poking through her sleepy memory. "Oh, right . . ." She said then nodded and shrugged. "Sorry about that."
"What could cause an active lass like yereself to become so exhausted that she'd pass out on an unwashed pirate such as meself." He queried, gradually becoming more in tune with his surroundings.
"I don't know really . . ." She got pensive for a moment. "I know I've been getting a little less sleep then usually – but that shouldn't have effected me too badly." She shrugged in indecision.
"How much sleep?" He asked, curious.
She mentally tallied the past week's nights in her head. "About five hours." She nodded, settling on the amount.
Jack paused. "A night?" He asked in wonderment. That was more sleep then he got in a night half the time.
Tudor shook her head. "No, this week." She corrected and saw his jaw drop at the minuscule amount of time. She shifted and started to explain. "Elizabeth keeps me up late with girly chats, then I guard at her door for a few hours in case anything happens. Usually I sleep for a few house after the servants wake up, but since I'm coming down here in the morning, I haven't been able to."
Now fully awake he sat up. "What brought ye to The Pearl in the middle of the night? Something about a sign or what not?"
"Well, Elizabeth said that she wanted to see Will again – not quite in the right context, but oh well – that releases me from my 'no lover's feuds' rule . . . and well . . . you did say please." She tried to explain, then gave up a shrug. "What's your plan to get Elizabeth and Will living happily ever after again?" She asked as she settled comfortably.
It finally registered that he had gotten his way and he grinned widely, then pondered carefully for a moment. "Tomorrow night, get Elizabeth out into the garden. Will will – Will will . . ." he got distracted for a moment, then shook his head clear. "I'll have Will there and then we let nature take her course." He said after clearing his throat.
Tudor rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You expect that to work? Nature taking her course. I think you put to much faith in human nature, Sparrow." She grunted skeptically.
"Trust me, it'll work out, love." He said softly.
She shrugged, showing her lack of concern, then flopped back down into one of the pillows. "Jack?" She asked, in a small, tired voice.
"Hrmm?" He stood up from the floor with a groan and stretched his stiff muscles.
"Feed me?" She asked without opening her eyes. She almost sounded like a little girl.
He sighed as if she were a huge burden upon him. "I'll feed ye, but I won't bring you breakfast in bed, so get up!" With that he tossed her belt onto the bed in front of her and exited the room cabin.
She laughed and shook her head at him as she sat up. She was glad to have her belt back, she felt so naked without it. She quickly finger combed it her coppery curls, and wrapped the wide band of leather around her hips as she headed for the door.
She stood for a moment in the little alcove between the door to the cabin and the deck as she finished buckling the belt. When she looked up from fidgeting with the buckle, Anna-Maria stood in front of her. "Good Morning." She said with a telling smile.
"Morning Anna-Maria." Tudor replied cheerily. Over the past week she had made an effort to learn all the crew's names. Anna-Maria was obviously the easiest to remember.
"Is Jack awake yet, he's usually pretty tired the morning after . . . I need to talk to him about a problem."
Tudor paused for a moment, not comprehending what she was alluding to, but then just decided to answer the question. "Actually, I think he's in the galley getting food for me." She said and smiled again, then glanced askance at her. "Morning after?" She asked for an explanation.
"Oh, I don't mind. He's all yours, there's nothing between us. I just came to tell him that we need more rope. One of the cannons is loose and the last spare bit we had Will knotted up and no one can get it out. So, yes, I'll leave you and Jack to your business." She began to turn away.
Tudor's jaw dropped. That's what she was afraid she had meant. "Oh, no – it's not like that, no, no – no!" She stammered then shuddered at the mental picture. "Just tell him yourself –"She motioned in the other direction of the ship.
"Alright, what ever you say. I won't meddle. I'll just tell him later then." She smiled and sauntered away. As she left, Tudor had the feeling she didn't believe her. She just shook her head and started for the galley. When she got there, she sat down across the table from where Jack sat already and dug into the food he had gotten out for her.
"Do ye think ye'll have been missed back at the Governor's" he said, trying to make conversation.
"Hadn't even though about it." She said, not too worried. "I'll tell them something." She shrugged then took the drink he handed to her and sipped it. She then remembered. "Oh, bumped into Anna-Maria. She says they need more rope. Something about a loose cannon and Will knotting up the last length."
Jack groaned and shook his head. "The boy's a right good smithy but he should never be allowed near a piece of rope."
"That reminds me, I have to get my dagger back from Will." She quickly finished her breakfast, then stood. "I'm going to go find him."
"Aye, I had better go see Anna-Maria about that rope." He said and stood with her and followed her out the door.
They parted ways and Tudor quickly found Will working on a pile of swords, sharpening and cleaning them. Will looked up at the sound of her boots moving across the deck towards him. He smiled cheerily. "Good morning Miss Smith." He said affably.
"Will." She nodded to him. "Done with me dagger yet?" She asked.
He smiled and pulled the knife from the stack of swords he was working on and handed it to her with a smile. "It's a beautiful blade. Incredibly well made. Where did you get it?" He asked with a smith's interest.
She shrugged. "Picked that one up in France I think, or maybe Vienna." She pondered for a moment then couldn't decide which and gave up. "If you think that is nice, look at this." She reached for both sides of her belt and pulling out a long sword and parrying dagger crossed, laid them on the barrel Will was using as a makeshift bench.
His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Beautiful . . ." Was all he was able to gasp out in his awe. Tudor beamed with pride. "That – that . . ." Will stammered as he inspected the piece. "It's amazing. I've never seen a handle so perfectly shaped before, and the blade . . . it's, it's, it's wonderful!" Tudor smiled again, and pulled out her pistol and played with it as Will continued to scrutinize the matching set of sword and dagger.
After twirling it several times and slinging and un-slinging it, she lifted it, and without a second glance, shot a seagull flying over head.
Will looked up, startled, and then laughed as the bird flopped into the water. "Do you have any other weapons?" He asked eagerly.
With a grin Tudor whipped out her Dirk. "Picked that up in Ireland 3 years ago. Great little toy. It's so versatile. It's almost long enough to be a short sword and can be used as such, but it's still small enough not to be unwieldy." She handed it to Will, then laughed at the incorrect way he was holding it. "Not like that. You're holding it like a hatchet. Like this. "She took it from him to demonstrate.
Jack, who had been watching since he heard a gunshot and the angry squawking of a bird laughed as she jabbed and parried the air. Thinking this could get interesting he decided to continue to watch. He repressed another laugh as Will tried to mimic her motions. "Very good." Tudor commended him. ". . . and they are great for throwing too." She spun quickly and threw the Dirk, sending it flying past Jack's head. He immediately hit the deck and Tudor gasped in shock. "Jack, my god, I'm sorry!"
"WOMAN! I feed ye and this is thanks I get?! If this is about last night, ye certainly didn't seem that upset this morning!" He bellowed as he righted himself on his feet and skulked off.
Tudor watched him stomp his way across the deck and momentarily caught sight of Anna-Maria coiling some new rope and smiling as she watched the scene. Tudor just laughed to herself and shook her head, giving up on caring what this mad crew thought. It was worth a chuckle anyway. She turned back to Will, who stood smiling, trying not to laugh at the situation. "Elizabeth tells me that you are a wonderful sword-fighter. Care to skirmish?" She asked, trying to change the subject, but still laughing.
Will stifled a snicker. "I would enjoy that very much Miss Smith." His face was beginning to turn a dark shade of red as he selected a weapon and took his stance. As they began to battle, his concentration on the combat distracted him from all else.
They parried, blocked and circled around every attack, defended, every defense broken through. "Your good." Tudor said, pleasantly surprised at having to put effort into the sparring.
He smiled as he glanced her blow off the broad of his blade. "Thank you." He said between blows. "It's nice to fight with someone who follows the rules of engagement for a change." He said as he managed to throw her out of the clinch they were in.
She grinned impishly, and winked at him. "Only when I have to mate, only when I have to." Round one ended, two began, and in the end, after five rounds total, it was almost noon and the score stood at Tudor 3, Will 2, although, Will insisted the last round was tied.
They sat down on the barrels and Will looked at Tudor with regret. "That was wonderful practice, Thank you. But I have to go back to my work, I'm afraid."
Tudor smiled and nodded. "Yes, I must be off to the Manor before they all think I've been kidnapped in the night for my family fortune." She said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes and stood to go.
As she headed toward the gangplank, she saw Jack tiptoeing out from behind the cabin door, looking cautious. When his wary gaze lighted on her, his expression brightened. "Oh, ye're all done playing at swords then." He said approaching warily, afraid of sharp objects whizzing past his head again.
She winked at him. "Aye, for now anyway." She said then motioned to the plank. "I'm off to feed some cockamamie story to Elizabeth about me whereabouts of the past 16 hours.
"No, wait, I want to discus –"he halted and swung his head to look at the crew whose eyes suspiciously darted suddenly away and drifted about, landing on nothing in particular. He come to her side an whispering in her ear, grasped her arm. "I've a plan I'd like to discuss with ye, Miss Smith." With that, he gave her arm a tug and began to drag her toward his cabin yet again.
She moaned, not knowing if she could handle another of his half-baked schemes. "Oh no! Not again! Didn't we already do this once this morning?" Tudor didn't notice Anna-Maria doubling over the cannon she was helping to tie down, laughing noiselessly at having only seen Jack whisper in her ear an pulling her towards his quarters and hearing her complaint.
"Sit down." Jack motioned off-handedly towards the heavy wooden table and chair after he closed the cabin door. "Rum?" He asked as he picked up a flask and a goblet.
She shrugged indifferently. "If ye've got nothin' else." She said as she plopped down in a chair and propped her feet up on the table.
Jack nearly choked at this lack of enthusiasm at his beverage of choice, but poured two glasses anyway, then placed one in front of her and sat down himself. "I have a proposal for ye to consider." He said leadingly.
She raised her brows. "Really Sparrow, I don't know you that well." She said sarcastically, then continued. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be on one knee?"
"Oh, I do apologize. I seem to be a mite stiff seeing as how I did sleep on the floor last night." He quipped, now in on the joke.
"And here I was all ready to accept." She continued in the same vein of jocularity. "Let you make an honest woman of me." She said, alluding to the rumours that were certainly circulating around the ship by now with a wicked grin. "Which would of course be difficult since I'm not honest." She winked boldly at him, then sipped the rum.
"Well then there's not much point in me trying is there?" He concluded.
She nodded and shrugged. "So why did you drag me in here, much to the curiosity of your crew?"
"Ah, yes, I was getting to that." He gulped down the last of his drink, poured another for himself, then leaned forward in his chair and propped his elbows on the table. "I propose . . ." He paused and looked at her pointedly and she put on her most innocent look. Satisfied that she wasn't going to interrupt again, he continued. "I propose that you accompany me . . . and my crew on our next voyage."
Tudor could see that he was very pleased with his plan, even now he seemed like an excited boy. This she certainly hadn't expected and she fought off the urge to let her jaw drop in disbelief. Do no laugh in his face. She mentally coached herself. Do not laugh in his face. As the stony silence lengthened and Jack had yet to see an expression cross her face other then utter shock, he hurried to explain. "Here, let me put it to you this way . . . I imagine you're fairly wealthy, yes?"
"I suppose you'd be right. . ." She replied, not sure where he was going with this.
"Well, now I'm telling ye that ye could attain a fortune right ten times that sum." He baited. She again remained silent, but lifted her brows in slightly piqued interest. "There is but one private Spanish Fortress remaining in this great body of water ironically known as the Spanish Main."
He certainly gestures with his hands a lot. I wonder if it might be all the rum. She thought absent mindedly during Jack's overblown speech. She glanced quickly at her emptied drink, pushed it away from her then looked up again as she caught a flash from one of Jack's rings on his hands as he gestured widely again.
"And why is it the last fortress left out of hundreds? Because, my dear Lady, it's the most heavily guarded, and on top of that, there is only one ship accessible to the harbour. It is by all merits the most secure target in the whole Caribbean!" He concluded with a final emphatic flourish.
"And you're fool enough to go after it and want me to go along because of all my mad war skills, risking my neck while I'm saving your ass, all for some supposed treasure, that will supposedly make me rich beyond my wildest dreams." She elucidated for him.
"Exactly!" He grinned widely.
She smiled at him. "No." She stated firmly with a saccharinely sweet tone and without any hesitation.
His face fell. "Take some time to think about it!" He reiterated.
"Alright," She smiled patronisingly, then tapped her finger against her cheek. "Hmmm . . . no." She said after a moment's pause.
"That's not thinking about it!" Jack yelped.
"What do you want me to do?" She yelled back. "Think, Think, ponder, wonder, quandary, query, debate – think, Think, THINK!" She found herself using wide hand motions in her excitement. "The answer is still NO! Learn to take it for an answer!" She was determined that he was not going to get his way this time.
"But . . . why?" he said, sounding a bit like Will
She gritted her teeth and inhaled deeply. "Let me put it in small words that won't sink in your rum soaked brain – I'm a mercenary. I've worked long and hard to get my reputation to where it is and I'm not going to throw that away by becoming a pirate! Mercenaries may be pretty low on the social ladder, but I'm not going to willingly lower myself to the level of a pirate." She explained in a barely controlled tone.
"Are ye saying that ye think ye're better then me?" He huffed indignantly.
"Aye, pretty much." She nodded vigorously and reached for the pitcher of rum and grimaced as she poured the liquid. "Are you sure you don't have anything better to drink?" She found herself whining, then snapped out of it and paid penance by sipping the beverage with a cringe. "Don't take it personally Sparrow. Take it as an aversion to your profession. You're petty thieves - pickpockets of the high seas. I prefer to get my money the honest way." She shrugged and sipped again.
"A-ha, but it was you yerself who said ye were a dishonest woman!" He looked smug.
Her jaw dropped and a noise of frustration escaped her throat. "I'm not honest but I want my money to be. Frankly, I just don't want to spend the last few seconds of my life falling!"
Jack sputtered a bit, began to speak a few times only to change his mind. He crossed his arms over his chest and a decidedly surly expression overcame his face. "Snob!" he fired in her direction.
She let the insult roll off her and shrugged in disregard. "When you live in the muck I've lived in my entire life, you need to maintain some kind of dignity." She said nonchalantly, in an almost soft tone.
He had begun to pace but stopped abruptly at her statement, and looked squarely at her. He saw the look of stark pain in her eyes and his stance softened, but then her features hardened in a stubborn resolve and he knew she wouldn't be moved. "I bid you good day Miss Smith." He said tersely, then exited. He let the door fly on its hinges, hitting the wall and let free a flow of very colourful language mumbled under his breath.
Tudor sneered as he banged out of the room, then grabbed the flagon of his oh-so-precious rum and chugged the remaining half down quickly, then threw the empty carafe across the room and stormed out the door herself.
She saw, or rather heard, Jack above at the helm, bellowing orders. Cotton gave her a silent look, as if to say. "What did you do?" as he looked mournfully at his usually cheerful captain, who now stood pouting. She rolled her eyes as she looked at him, then left the ship and quickly made the way for her house, plotting her excuse for when she got back to the governor's house.
"George, I need my white muslin gown with the blue ribbon from the green trunk." Tudor said as she strut through the back door to her gorgeous townhouse and started towards the elegant staircase, then paused and turned. "Oh, and do we have any rum in the wine cellar?"
