Chapter Twelve—Visitors
Upon entering the dining hall, Link and Yentiko were, unsurprisingly, greeted enthusiastically. All the noblemen and women in the room paused in their idle chat to give the two men an appreciative ovation, which the emperor waved into silence with the appropriate courtesy.
'Yes, thank you very much,' he said loudly, his voice carrying across the now quiet room where all eyes were upon him. 'It hardly needs to be said that we are all delighted to have our beloved general back on solid ground, safe and sound once more. We welcome him on his return with open arms, as always.' He cast another proud smile at Link, and the room broke into further applause, which faded as the usual social activities recommenced.
Having dealt with the formalities, Link refused to let his thoughts drift back to their previous thread, and rather made himself focus on the task at hand. He scanned the room immediately for a group of men that looked unfamiliar, the explorers, but saw no one. He was about to ask Yentiko if perhaps they would be arriving late when the emperor exclaimed, 'Ah, yes! This way, Reyga.'
He waved for Link, puzzled, to follow him and made his way across the room. The general obeyed, but when he realized who the explorers were, he was only further surprised.
First of all, there were only two of them; he had expected a shipload by the way Yentiko had spoken of them. Second of all, they were a man and a woman, and to judge by the way they stood hand in hand and very close to each other, they were a couple. Who had ever heard of lovers that sailed about and explored together? The idea was worryingly familiar, yet paradoxically foreign.
Despite his concerns, Link smiled politely at them, just as they did to him.
'Good evening,' said the man, in the accent of one who clearly had no experience with the language.
"Good evening," the emperor replied; his accent was just as awkward as that of the visitors. Indicating Link, he said, "General Reyga."
That, Link knew, was about the extent of Yentiko's English, so he took over the conversation. "A pleasure to meet you. My name is General Link Reyga."
The woman exchanged a surprised look with her companion before saying, "You speak our language."
"Yes, I do," Link confirmed with a grin. "I've spent some time out west, where you're from, I believe?"
"Yes, we live in the Caribbean," the man replied by way of agreement. "My name is William Turner, and this is my wife, Elizabeth."
"Again, it's a pleasure," Link told them, shaking William's hand and kissing Elizabeth's, as he knew was convention in their culture.
'Let's sit down to dinner,' the emperor spoke up, looking among them as though hoping for some comprehension.
"Ey, penca," Link said pleasantly; he switched languages when he indicated the table to add, "Shall we?"
They took their places at the high table, Link between the emperor and William, and Elizabeth at her husband's other side. The emperor muttered to Link, 'Find out about them. They've tried to tell us their story, but it's complicated. No one's really been able to understand it.'
Curious, Link merely nodded, then turned to William and Elizabeth and said, "So, His Majesty tells me that you've been having some trouble relating your history."
Elizabeth laughed as William said, "Absolutely. It's a long and complicated one, yes, but it's mostly the language barrier that's preventing us from getting it across."
"Would you like to hear it?" Elizabeth inquired.
"Certainly," Link agreed sincerely. "I'm always in the mood for a good adventure."
And so they began to explain. They came from the town of Port Royal; Elizabeth had been the daughter of the governor there, and William had been a blacksmith's apprentice by trade, though easily at least as gifted as his master. The two of them were friends only because of a distant chance of fate in their childhoods, which had led to a shipwrecked William being picked up by the same vessel which was carrying Elizabeth and her father to the Caribbean from England. It took some round about explaining for Link to understand what England was, as Europe was such a foreign land that he had no concept of it. When he related the idea of a continent back to Yentiko, the emperor's reaction was one of amazement.
'So far north? And such massive areas of land? Are you serious?'
The visitors went on to tell how Elizabeth had been engaged to another man, a naval officer. But after she was kidnapped by pirates—Link's stomach gave an uncomfortable squirm—and William risked life and limb to save her, the two of them had been engaged and then married.
"And since we both love the life of adventure, we decided to go exploring after that," William concluded. "Serving our country, you know."
"Sailing is in our blood," Elizabeth put in, "especially William's."
He cast her a sharp look, but the glance she replied with was just as pointed. "Don't worry about it," she told him in a low voice.
"I thought we agreed…" he replied just as quietly.
Link, however, had stopped listening. He had just realized what had been bothering him about the story these two were telling—He had heard it before.
"Will and Elizabeth," he interrupted. "You're Will and Elizabeth."
The two people in question glanced at each other in confusion. "Yes…" Elizabeth confirmed uncertainly.
Trying to keep his tone casual so as not to raise suspicion from people who didn't know what he was saying, Link asked carefully, "The same Will and Elizabeth who once knew Captain Jack Sparrow?"
The stiffness of their wide-eyed expressions answered his question. "What?" asked Will edgily.
"Jack Sparrow. Of the Black Pearl. The pirate."
"What do you know about…him?" Elizabeth asked in a guarded tone.
Link nervously bit his lip. "Too much to say here, even if no one understands me except you two," he told her, "but I need to talk to you. Both of you. About him. One moment…"
Turning to the emperor, he said, 'I was just telling the Turners, it would be nice if I could show them around the palace a bit. If you don't have anything planned, could I perhaps take them on a tour after dinner?'
'They've already seen most of the place, Reyga,' the emperor pointed out. 'It's really not necessary for you to show them again, is it?'
'With all due respect, Majesty, they told me they'd very much like to look around with someone who speaks their own language,' Link replied swiftly.
'Oh,' said the emperor, looking mildly surprised. 'Well, in that case… Yes, by all means, go right ahead.'
'Thank you, Majesty,' Link said sincerely. He was one step closer to understanding what was going on…which was more than he could say for anyone else he could think of at the moment.
"General, what…?" asked Elizabeth uncertainly, recalling Link's attention. He jumped slightly in his seat, and looked at her with a smile.
"I'm sorry, I was just discussing with the emperor the possibility of taking you two for a tour of the castle after dinner here," he informed them; seeing that they were both about to open their mouths in objection, he went on, "Because I thought that I could take you to see Jack."
Will glanced at his wife with an uneasy smile. "Excuse me? He's here?"
"He is, as a matter of fact," Link explained delicately. "Under arrest. Piracy charges."
"And what makes you think we would want to see him?" Will pointed out guardedly. "He's a pirate, we're not—"
Link shook his head. "Don't worry. Jack is actually—well—sort of a friend of mine. Sort of."
There was a silence as the couple looked at him, apparently unwilling to admit the truth of their relationship to the pirate.
"Well…you're the general here, so you must outrank whoever had him arrested," Elizabeth reasoned. "If he's your friend, why haven't you ordered his release?"
Link gave a slight laugh. "I could do that," he admitted. "Except that I arrested him."
"Wh—"
"It's a long story, I assure you," he said quickly. "But…I think I'll figure out something. Just trust me on this. I'm sorry about the confusion, but I'll explain everything later. For now, we should stick to small talk that won't raise suspicion."
The Turners exchanged a look, and Link tried to read their expressions. He nearly sighed audibly in relief when he saw Elizabeth give a slight nod.
"All right," Will agreed, "but after dinner, we want some answers."
"Of course," Link promised. "And with any luck, you might be able to give me some as well."
'Reyga, my man,' Yentiko spoke up, making Link jump in his seat, 'what are you talking about?'
'Nothing,' Link answered, realizing too late that he might have spoken a bit too quickly. 'Nothing at all.'
Anyone who claimed that the kind of conversation which took place over a typical state dinner was interesting was, in Link's experience, always lying—high society was quite simply boring. But this evening, trying to maintain an outwardly bland attitude was even harder than normal, when he knew that both he and the two people he was speaking to really just wanted to drop their respective façades, leave the room and sort out their stories.
The most they could do, however, was hurry through their meals; Link merely smiled innocently when Yentiko commented on his general's appetite. He had never been so relieved to see the many royal servants that swept into the room to clear the plates and leave the room free for inane chatter. As the clean up took place, he leaned toward Yentiko and said in a low voice, 'Majesty, the Turners tell me they're not feeling terribly social at the moment…it's the language barrier, mostly. They're happy to have found someone they can talk to, and so they'd really rather spend some time with me than stay here and try to make conversation with strangers. Would it be all right if we…?' He gestured vaguely toward the door.
'Oh, already?' asked the emperor in disappointment. 'This entire dinner is for you, Reyga, it would be a shame to see you leave so soon. Why don't you just tell them they're free to go if they would like, but you're the guest of honour.' He grinned, patting his general affectionately on the shoulder.
'Thank you, sir,' Link said, 'but I'm afraid I'm not feeling much up to a party, either. I'd really prefer to just give them the tour, you know, something more quiet like that, and then just fall into bed and catch up on sleep. Tired from the trip and all that.' The last sentence, at least, was completely true.
'Reyga, my man…' Yentiko began.
'I'm very sorry.'
Link knew Yentiko; he knew that the emperor would keep his general happy. It simply took a bit of sincerity in his voice, an apologetic look in his eyes, and a pause to let Yentiko remember his shining record, and then a bit of amiable mindless rambling to go out on a pleasant note. First, just to ensure that he would present an absolutely flawless character portrait of an imperial subject, he added, 'I would hate for Your Majesty's guests to receive the wrong impression of your hospitality by being shunted aside. Surely my own reputation isn't so important as that.'
Yentiko looked at Link for a moment critically. Then, as Link had known he would do, he shook his head with a hearty chuckle.
'How can I say no to you, my man?' he laughed. 'Are you sure that tongue's not solid silver?'
Link smiled modestly, concealing his relief. 'I assure you, Your Majesty, there are those who have resisted my charms.'
Yentiko winked, asking quietly, 'Can I take that to mean that the ladies you've encountered in your travels are less inclined to be impressed by your epic adventures that you would have them be?'
'Did I say that?' Link asked innocently. He was of course playing into Yentiko's sense of humour—this was the mindless rambling part—but in truth the words reminded him rather too closely of Tetra.
Still laughing quietly to himself, Yentiko said, 'Well, then, Reyga, I suppose I can't keep you here. You go ahead.'
'Thank you, sir.'
By this time, the diners were rising from their seats to reengage in mingling; Link turned to an expectant Will and Elizabeth, the former of which immediately asked, "So are we allowed to go?"
"Yes," Link told them. "Come on, we'll slip out quickly, before anyone tries to make a fuss over us."
The other two nodded in prompt agreement. Link mediated the brief goodbyes they exchanged with the emperor, who said that he hoped they would have a good night and that they found the general's company pleasant. They assured him they did, although Link knew they were remaining undecided about him until they saw Jack. Without further ado, they wove through the crowd and out the door.
The instant they were out of Yentiko's earshot, another individual caught the emperor's attention.
'Excuse me, Your Imperial Majesty…'
'Commodore! How good to see you. Welcome back.'
'Thank you, sir,'
'I trust you're well?'
'I confess, Your Majesty, that I am not exactly…'
'Something wrong?'
Faudry gave a regretful sigh. 'I'm afraid I have some more unfortunate news to relate regarding out own beloved General Reyga.'
"…and she's now sitting in prison with your old friend Captain Sparrow, hating me thoroughly."
"Can't blame her," Will muttered, when Link concluded the story of his relationship with Tetra.
"Although Jack seems more forgiving," the general added, ignoring the other man's comment specifically because he knew how true it was.
"Well, I'm not surprised," Elizabeth reasoned dryly. "He's not the best friend you used and then stabbed in the back, is he?"
Link sighed, coming to a halt halfway up the stairs leading to the maximum security cells. "I told you, I know I was stupid. But I really thought—" He cut himself off, frowning at them. "Look, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but to be perfectly honest, all that doesn't really concern you. You're here for Jack, right?"
"Of course."
"Then let's just worry about that for now."
Link knew, though he was walking ahead of them, that Will and Elizabeth were looking at each other again and speaking with their eyes the way they did so well, but he really didn't care. He led the way up to top level in silence; there they found a heavy doorway that blocked the way to the maximum security cells, and the guard before it saluted.
'Take a break,' Link instructed the man immediately.
'But, sir, I'm under strict orders not to…'
'And those orders came from me,' Link pointed out, 'so I have the authority to change them.' He jerked his head backwards. 'Go.'
The soldier saluted again, and quickly obeyed his general's command. Link was flipping through his key ring even as the other man walked away, his footsteps echoing down the stairs.
"There we go," Link muttered, finding the right key and inserting it into the lock. When it clicked, the voices on the other side of the door went silent; he hadn't noticed they were speaking to begin with.
The door creaked as he opened it, and peered around the corner into the open, circular room ringed by spacious prison cells and wide windows looking out over the sea. Two faces were staring at him, one keenly interested, the other intensely distrustful, but he was at least relieved that there were no more. With a smile, he threw open the door widely.
"Tetra! Jack!"
"Link!"
"Link?"
"Jack!"
"Will?"
"Jack!"
"Elizabeth!"
After everyone had shouted everyone else's name, the five of them fell silent and stared at each other.
"What's going on?" Tetra asked slowly; her arms were folded across her chest, her eyes were narrowed sharply, and her face was stiffly guarded.
"Wait," Jack said, standing up and raising a hand to gather the attention of the others. "For once, I think I can explain this the best. Tetra, love, this is Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. Old friends of mine."
"Actually, it's Elizabeth Turner now," spoke up the woman in question.
"Really?" Jack's face lit up, and he clapped his hands together joyously. "Congratulations! Will, nicely done! Oh, we've got to have a party for you two!"
"Thanks, Jack, but I believe you were in the middle of something?" Will interrupted pointedly.
"Oh, yes. Newlyweds, this is Tetra."
The woman in question said nothing, her face still dark with a bitterness that said she didn't care what they thought of her. Perhaps because of this intimidating aura, the two new arrivals barely looked at her.
"Crew member of mine," Jack explained, unperturbed by her uncharacteristically disturbing mien. "And I think you've already met Link," he added, waving toward the general.
"We have," Will agreed, "but he was a bit vague on some details."
"How did you get here?" Elizabeth asked, looking around. "Link mentioned piracy…"
Tetra laughed bitterly, and the others fell to looking at her. Noticing this, she spoke up, "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt? You were all talking like I wasn't here, so I didn't think you'd notice."
A startled silence followed.
"Sorry," Link spoke up in a short voice.
"You should be," she reminded him, shifting her seat to face him in irritation. "But, anyway, what are you doing here?"
"We came to see Jack. And…"
"And they wanted to get an explanation, too," Link finished Elizabeth's statement. "In fact, you're all getting an explanation right now. First of all, I should clarify that the reason Jack is here isn't exactly piracy. It's because he's an ally of Tetra's, which makes him an enemy of the state."
"What, I can't become an enemy of the state by my own reputation?" asked Jack, clearly insulted.
"I'm sure you could, Jack, but you didn't," Link told him in exasperation. "Anyway, we all know why Tetra's here…even if we don't like it," he cut off the retort he could see ready to fly from her lips. "And we all want to get out of here and home safely. I would also like to remind everyone that no one has yet been convicted or sentenced, so there's still some hope there—"
"Not much."
"You're right, Tetra, not much," Link admitted readily, surprising her into silence. "So our best chance at the moment is to figure out a solution that works around the assumption that Tetra and Jack are convicted criminals. Any thoughts?"
No one looked away from Link, though he scanned their faces to possible answers.
"Perhaps you hadn't noticed, mate," Jack spoke up, "but you're the only one who knows this world, and you're the one who got us into this mess. The rest of us have all just fallen into what is essentially your problem. So you're the only one who can get us out of it, really. Unless, of course, Miss Tetra has changed her mind about the wedding."
"Over my dead body," she growled, slumping against the wall of her cell was more and facing away from the others.
"That's basically the only other option you're left with, love," Jack pointed out, "which brings me back to the start." He learned against his cell bars and gave Link a frank look. "It's your call, mate."
Link sighed shortly. "So no pressure."
Jack shrugged. Link sighed again.
"Okay… Okay, all right, look, I've got to think," he mumbled, rubbing his face with his hands. "I said I'd bring you here, and I did, so now I'll leave you all to talk, and if you come up with anything, let me know."
"Right."
"We will."
"Aye, General."
Tetra didn't answer, though she felt Link's eyes upon her. She refused to look up until after he had said, "Bye, then," and his footsteps had faded away.
"So," Elizabeth spoke up in the new silence, approaching Tetra's cell. "Princess of a lost civilization?"
With a sharp look, Tetra asked, "He told you that?"
She nodded. "He told us your whole history."
"Did he tell you that he's scum?" she asked viciously.
The other three smiled.
"Yes, actually," Will confirmed, "he told us why you hate him. And we can't say you're wrong."
This time it was Tetra who smiled, and the difference it made was dramatic; she no longer looked dangerous and slightly unbalanced, but intelligent and charming.
"The two of you do make for a fascinating story, though," Will added.
Tetra's smile faded and she chewed on one lip. "Yeah," she agreed finally, "I guess we do."
"Can't believe you gave it all up."
It was Jack who had spoken. The others swivelled their heads towards him in unison.
"I'm just saying, is all," he shrugged. Tetra found herself smiling again; Jack could somehow always make her smile.
Link used to be the one who did that…
"Not my style," she explained, speaking as much to drown out her own thoughts as anything else. "Being royalty, the whole thing…I just have no tolerance for dresses and makeup—"
"You pull them off quite nicely, though."
"—and being politely ladylike."
"Not that so much, I must agree."
Tetra's lips quivered with laughter at Jack's assessments. She noticed his eyes upon her, but it didn't dawn on her to think of what he was looking at. As she spoke, she fingered her golden pendant.
"There's not even a little part of me that wonders what it would be like…"
Jack's eyes left her, exchanging a meaningful look with the other two which Tetra didn't like. To remind them that she could see them thinking about her behind her back, she returned to a more firm tone of voice.
"But, anyway, the point is, as I've said a million times before, that he doesn't know what he's talking about," she finished briskly, shifting her position to sprawl her legs out before her and regain some circulation to them. "Now…what about you two? Where did you come from? Well, obviously you came from Jack's areas, but what are you doing here?"
"I might ask that as well," Jack agreed. "Last I heard, you two were facing Governor Swann's judgment back in Port Royal, because you had had just dropped your snooty fiancé for some blacksmith," he nodded to Elizabeth, "and you had foregone the honest life to throw your lot in with pirates," he nodded to Will. "But clearly things have changed."
Elizabeth smiled at her husband, who said, "Yes, they did. It's because of you, really, Jack. You never fail to leave your mark on people."
Jack shrugged. "Undeniable."
"In our case," Elizabeth went on, "you…proved to my father and Commodore Norrington—"
"Norrington!" Jack crowed. "That's the name I couldn't think of! Norrington." He shook his head, chuckling. "God, I love that man. Always good for a laugh."
There was a pause.
"Go on," Jack told Elizabeth.
"Thank you," she said slowly. "As I was saying…You showed them that being a pirate isn't necessarily such a bad thing. And that inspired Will and I to step outside what we were supposed to do, and set sail on the seas."
Jack grinned, leaning forward in his cell to hang his arms over the bars. "Man after your father's heart, Will," he said. "Bootstrap would have been proud."
"Thanks, Jack," the young man said, "but actually, there's more to it than that."
"Is that so?" the pirate captain asked. "You don't sound terribly pleased about it."
"Well…we're not," Elizabeth admitted awkwardly. "Or I should say, my father's not."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly does that mean?"
Elizabeth hesitated, and looked to her husband for an answer. "That means he didn't think piracy was a bad thing when it served his own ends and values," he said. "For example, when it meant that I would put my life on the line to save his daughter if need be. But when it meant that she would give up the life he had built for her by marrying me, and that both of us would spend our days on the quest for adventure and injustice, fighting for causes that deserve it…"
"Not very pirate-y of you," Jack observed.
Elizabeth grinned. "Well, we made our own code. And the first rule is—"
"To hell with anyone else's rules," Will grinned. "So we gathered up everything we own, commandeered a ship, left Port Royal, and got married on the first island we came to."
Jack raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Cut the strings with Daddy?"
Elizabeth glared at him. "I would have thought you knew me well enough by now to realize that I can take care of myself."
Jack grinned. "Just testing. Wanted to see if you'd dwindled into a wife yet."
The respective glares he received from Elizabeth and Tetra could have frozen a lake.
"Ooh," he laughed in response to the former, winking in response to the latter. Tetra furrowed her brow; the result was that she looked even angrier, but the gesture was really because she was slightly confused. It she knew him, she knew he always meant more than he was saying.
"Yes, well, the point is… As far as Link and his empire are concerned, we're imperial explorers serving Elizabeth's father," Will told them, "but really, all this nobility and wealth is completely fake. We've pulled it together, mostly based on what we had before we left. The truth is that we have no ties to Port Royal any more."
Tetra relaxed her tense face to focus on the couple. "What exactly does that mean?" she asked slowly.
"That means we can never go back," Elizabeth clarified delicately, "because I'm really not the governor's daughter anymore. I'm Elizabeth Turner, and in the eyes of the law, my husband and I are pirates. Criminals. Landing on this island was as much an accident as anything else, and so we made up a quick lie about being explorers. Of course, it's forced us to stay here longer than we would have liked, for courtesy and all that…but the bottom line is, we're as unwanted both here and back in the Caribbean as the two of you are."
A silence followed this pronouncement.
"Wow," Tetra spoke up flatly.
"Aye," Jack agreed in the same tone.
"So," Will began uncomfortably, "we all have something to hide from Felicitovente. And we all have our own alliances, our own reasons for helping each other. So are we in this together, then?"
Tetra opened her mouth to say that this of course was the case, but Jack spoke first, asking slowly, "If we're not, mate, then you just signed your death warrant by telling us your secrets."
Elizabeth jerked in mild surprise, but Will didn't seem fazed. "No, we didn't. Link and his emperor still consider us prestigious guests and you common criminals, so they'll believe us over you. We could do with your help, and we consider you a friend—and Tetra by association," he added with a nod in her direction, "—but we can do without you if you force us."
Both men looked at each other evenly; then Jack grinned slowly. "Right, then," he said briskly, hauling himself to his feet to step forward and reach a hand out between the bars. "We have an accord. We're all working to get away from this God-forsaken empire scot-free."
He and his old friends shook on the alliance, and then Tetra did the same.
"So, whatever we can do to help each other out, we're going to do it," she said. "Right?"
"Absolutely," Will confirmed promptly. "We'll talk to Link, too, and see if he's got any ideas for you two. At the moment, Elizabeth and I don't need any help, but if our cover is blown…"
"We'll be there," Tetra vowed.
"Thanks," Elizabeth said sincerely, smiling at her.
"But," Jack spoke up, "there's one more thing."
"What's that?" Will asked.
"If you're going to talk to Link… Well, our guards confiscated some of our effects," he explained. "So I'd much appreciate it if you could see if our dear general could persuade his men to finding their way to return my hat."
As Will and Elizabeth rolled their eyes with furtive smiles, Tetra spoke up, "In all seriousness, I'd be interested to know now Link responds to that."
"Why?" Will inquired uncertainly.
Tetra grinned. "It's kind of a long story, but suffice it to say that I think I could learn a lot about what's happened to Link over the past decade based on his reaction to the word 'hat.'"
As Elizabeth opened her mouth, Jack interrupted swiftly, "I've learned something in the time I've spent with the two of them. And that something is—Don't ask."
Link was already unfastening his cuffs as he returned to his chambers. But though he was relaxing physically, his mind was buzzing with possibilities for how to help Jack and Tetra.
The problem was that all of his ideas were equally implausible.
Reaching his door, he leaned his forehead against it with a deep sigh. What was causing him the most difficulty wasn't the trouble he was having in formulating a plan. It was the fact that a noticeable part of him didn't want to.
"I just need a good night's sleep," he groaned, closing his eyes as he fumbled for the doorknob. "Maybe everything will make more sense in the morning…"
His sentence was trailing off even as he opened the door. And the instant he stepped into the room, he froze in his tracks.
"Why don't you close the door?"
Link didn't move, eyes fixed on the figure seated comfortably before his fireplace. "Do I know you?"
"I don't think so. But that doesn't matter."
"Who are you?"
"You know how they say that the enemy of your enemy is your friend."
Link nodded shortly.
"Well…by the same logic, the enemy of your friend is your enemy."
Now Link closed the door, and as he stepped forward to sit in the chair opposite the stranger, he summarized, "You're my enemy then, is that what you're saying?"
"And you're mine."
Link smiled slowly, feeling an idea verge. "Well, in that case…I'm fairly sure you're my friend."
