Disclaimer: I had Jack Sparrow chained in my basement, until Disney came to reclaim him. Now he's no longer mine…
AN: I love it when Nerissa scares the heck out of Jack, don't you? Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 9: Negotiating, the Siren Way:
Jack's POV:
Fingering his pistol at his side, Jack did his best to keep from having a heart attack on the spot. From what he could tell with a glance at his crewmates, they looked like they were trying to do the same. Nerissa's surprisingly blunt form of business could very well get them all killed this day. Dealing with the Clarence clan was like asking the Devil to bless your babe: no good could come of it, and more than likely someone wouldn't be living to see the next day.
'She'd better know what the bloody hell she's doing,' he thought to himself, frowning slightly to appear more intimidating. 'When I said that I trusted her attempts to get the map, I didn't think that she'd try something like this!'
Biting the inside of his lip, Jack watched as Nerissa practically lounged in her chair. Her relaxed manner made him want to reach out and shake some sense into her. Instead, he simply sat quietly and let her do whatever it was she had planned out.
"I don't have all day, Edward," she said, examining her nails. "A simple 'yes' or 'no' will suffice. If you say yes, you get a tidy sum added to your coffers and we do all of the dirty work."
Jack nearly swallowed his heart, which had somehow made it into his throat. Trying to keep a hold on his sanity, he gripped the arms of his chair as Edward Clarence smiled and leaned back in his own chair, obviously enjoying Nerissa's behavior. A quick movement of the other man's blue eyes, however, showed that Edward was interested in more than Nerissa's business proposition. Letting out a small growl, Jack glared daggers at the man behind the desk.
Starting in surprise at the growl, Edward looked between Nerissa's relaxed form and Jack's stiff, protective face and looked a tad bit…afraid? Obviously he was, since he swallowed a bit hard a moment later. Chewing slightly on his lower lip, Edward appeared to be in deep thought about the proposal, his eyes glancing from Nerissa to Jack, then to the three large men standing behind the two seated pirates. He then let out a small sigh.
"As much as I'd like to accommodate you, Lady of the Sea, I'm afraid I can't do it for less than half of whatever treasure you're looking for," he said, folding his hands over his stomach as he leaned back in his seat.
"Forget it, Edward," she snapped, sitting up in her chair so suddenly that it surprised everyone else. "It's not your crew or ship that'll be doing the hard work, it's mine, and I'm the one that has to pay them for the dangers they'll face! A quarter of the treasure is the maximum you deserve. Now stop stalling. I want the other half of that map, Mr. Clarence."
She scooted to the edge of her seat, her brown eyes intent on Edward's blue ones. Her form had turned hostile, and there was a slight sneer forming in the corner of her mouth as she continued to speak to the now slightly shaken blond-haired man.
"And need I remind you what your family owes the Sirens?" she said, her voice turning threatening. "If it weren't for our ships and our cooperation, you wouldn't be nearly as powerful and feared as you are now. If you want to keep our little deal between friends intact, you'll hand over the map and take what I give you. Savvy?"
Edward started to pull a brave face. "You can't threaten me with anything, Siren," he snapped. "My family had grown since the deal between the Sirens and Clarence family was made, and we are more powerful than you could ever hope to dream!"
"Don't let your Grandmother Melinda or Great-Aunt Agnes hear you say that, Eddie," Nerissa said. She smirked at Edward's surprise of her knowing his family members by name. "The children from Melinda and Agnes' mother are of Siren blood, and by Siren law, you're bound to do whatever a Siren wants you to. If you decide to go against me, you'll end up tied to a heavy stone and tossed off a dock for being so daft trying to get the better share of an offer like this."
"That's impossible!" Edward Clarence snapped, his hands now gripping the edge of his desk. "There is no way my family is comprised of Siren women!"
She examined her nails again as she spoke. "How else would you explain all of the easy doings the Sirens let your family get away with over in India?" Nerissa asked, looking up. "Not to mention how your ships are never harassed by any Royal Navy ships. We could easily take down any sort of pathetic attack you might come up with, and if you're stupid enough to try and deny one of us what we need, you can kiss your little spice trade goodbye." She gave him a quaint little smirk. "All I have to do is send word out, and your spice empire comes crumbling down around your ears." She waved her hands about the room to emphasis her point. "So what do you say, Mr. Clarence?"
Edward Clarence's face steadily grew redder as he sat there, fuming. Jack became uneasy as time slowly ticked by, and was ready to get them out of there when the other man spoke up.
"I suppose I have no choice in the matter," he growled. "You'll have your map half by noon tomorrow."
"Don't be stupid, Clarence," Nerissa snapped. "I may be female, but I'm not stupid. I know the map half is here. I also know that if I come back at a different time, you'll have this place crawling with your pathetic lackeys, all of whom will be intent on having a fight. You go and get me that map half now, or so help me the Sirens will have all of your trading posts burned to the ground before the year is up!"
There was an eerie silence for a few moments, and Jack counted each and every breath as he waited. The silence pressed down on him like a hand, slowly smothering him until he thought he'd go mad from the waiting. Finally, just when he thought that a few well-placed shots might solve all of their problems, Edward Clarence rose from his seat and went to a bookshelf. Pulling out a book, he flipped to a page and removed a piece of parchment. He stared at the paper for a moment before replacing the book and returning to the desk. Edward cast a hard glare at Nerissa before grudgingly handing over the map half. The woman accepted it with a broad grin on her face.
"There, now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" she said, practically cooing at the angry man.
"Shut up and get the hell out of my house!" Clarence snapped, blue eyes narrowing dangerously.
Jack growled and stood up, pistol in hand as he aimed it at the offending man's head. "Don't ever talk to her like that again, you filthy pig, or I'll gut you myself. Savvy?"
He was pleased as the other man's eyes widened to saucers at the sight of the gun pointed at his forehead, his throat moving as he swallowed hard. Jack waited until the other man held his hands up in surrender before lowering his weapon, and even then, it was only slightly. Satisfied, he watched as Nerissa began heading for the door, his crew following close behind her as Jack stayed behind to watch their backs. He saw Clarence reach for his desk, but the faint click of the pirate captain's pistol being readied stopped him from going further. Smiling, Jack watched as the blond man backed away from the desk, his hands in the air as he waited for Jack to leave.
Giving a mock salute, Jack backed out of the room and followed his crewmen and woman out the front door and into the streets of Tortuga.
Nerissa's POV:
The walk through Tortuga was a satisfying one…well, in Nerissa's mind, at least. However, she could tell that Jack and the other men wanted some answers to what had happened, so she stopped walking and turned around to catch everyone's attention.
"I know that you all want answers, so why don't we go someplace private where I can explain myself?" she said, smiling at them.
Beads jingled as Jack nodded. "I know of a cozy private room at the Faithful Bride that we can all talk in," he said, walking ahead of them.
In twenty minutes, they were all comfortably situated around a table in a private room at the back of the Bride, mugs of alcohol in everyone's hand, including Nerissa's. Sighing, she looking into her glass of wine (ordered at Jack's insistence) and prepared to talk.
"The reason I know of the Clarence family is very simple and very basic. It's entirely because they have extremely strong ties to the Sirens," she began, taking a sip of wine. "Basically, the small treaty between the two parties is this: they give us bribes and very expensive spices for free, and our fleets don't raid their trading posts or ships whenever we encounter them. Another part of our little 'bargain' is that they are also supposed to give us anything we are in sore need of. Edward Clarence knows this, so when I came in and began acting the part of a Siren captain, he had no choice but to give me what I asked for. He may have wanted to fight me, but the treaty is too important to him and his family to risk for the sake of one bit of treasure that is a lot less than what they make with the spice trade."
"But what about us men?" Thompson asked after downing the entire mug of rum and reaching for a full bottle of the stuff. "I thought most of your ships were full of just women alone."
Nerissa shook her head, taking another sip of wine. "Most ships are crewed by nothing but women, but there are still quite a few others that have men aboard. Those men tend to be husbands or sons of Siren women who love the sea as much as we do. Even though you're men, it's not entirely unusual for men to accompany Sirens on their adventures."
"And what if Clarence had refused your orders?" snapped Jones, his eyes narrowing. "He would have shot us on the spot!"
Nerissa snorted. "Highly unlikely," she said, raising her wine glass once more. "That fellow we asked directions from at the docks? He had a tattoo on his arm, which means he's a link to the Sirens. I told him that if we weren't back in three hours to let the Sirens know what had happened. After that, the treaty would have been void and the Clarence family would be paupers by Christmas time."
Jack let out a huge huff. "Well, luv, needless to say, you scared me out of my wits with your little act there," he said. "How did you know that the Clarence family had the map, though?"
"There were hidden marks on the map are symbolic of the Sirens," she explained, moving her glass so that the wine sloshed around the sides. "One symbol is linked to a Spanish ship attacked almost a century ago as it returned from the Caribbean. It was full of stolen gold and jewels from the natives on the mainland, and the Sirens, in turn, looted that ship before sinking it. That particular ship of Sirens then hid the loot and made the map for others to find."
"Why would they do that?" Jones asked, though the rest of the men (including Jack) looked just as confused. "It seems kind of silly to raid a ship, destroy it, and hide the loot from your own friends and family. Not to mention hiding the map as well, which just makes me wonder how sane that ship of Sirens really was!"
Nerissa laughed. "It's sort of a game," she explained, another sip of wine going down her throat. "We do it to make our lazy Siren sisters get out and go do something. The purpose is that, not only do they get some exercise and get to hone their skills, but they get a nice reward to retire with when they retire." She grinned broadly. "It also gives them a reason to try and survive to old age, too."
The crewmen and captain of the Black Pearl were silent for a moment before they burst out laughing. Once they settled down, the all toasted to the twisted workings of the Sirens.
Three Hours Later: The Black Pearl: Jack's POV:
Watching Nerissa sit and chat with his crew had made his heart do funny things in his chest, though he'd never admit it. Captain Jack Sparrow simply did not admit to having strong attractions to young, beautiful, clever women with pretty eyes. No, that simply wouldn't do.
'Put that out of your mind right now, Jack,' he thought to himself, finishing off another bottle of rum and dropping the empty glass container to the ground beside his bed. Stretching out, he let his mind wander to the day's events. The girl had very nearly killed him with that little act of hers.
"Damn nearly killed the others, too," he muttered, chuckling in spite of himself. "The woman knows how to play a situation, though."
'Of course she does,' snapped a voice in the back of his mind. 'She's a bloody Siren! They all know how to lie, cheat, steal, and fight their way out of a situation!'
That was true enough. From the tales and information Nerissa had given him so far, Jack knew that beneath her aristocratic breeding and polite exterior, she was just as much a pirate as he was.
'Not that it's a bad thing, mind you,' he thought, staring at the ceiling of his cabin. 'Never met a woman who could keep up with me before.'
Well, except Elizabeth, but she was in a category all her own, just like Annamaria. Both were bold women and could get their own ways out of a situation, but only Nerissa seemed like something more than that. She could easily play a situation to her advantage, and that just made his stomach twist, turn, and dance the tango with his heart. It wasn't painful by any means.
'Actually, it feels kind of…good.'
He sighed and closed his eyes. Before he knew it, sleep came and dreams of a certain Siren invaded his unconscious mind…though he wouldn't remember them later…
The Next Day: Nerissa's POV:
Yawning, Nerissa waited outside the captain's cabin, intent on going after the treasure as soon as possible. But from the smell of rum coming though the door, it had likely been a very late night for the Captain. Still, that was no excuse for sleeping until after lunch! When Jack hadn't shown up for the midday meal, Nerissa had wanted to head in and wake him up with a bucket of cold seawater. However, Mr. Gibbs and Annamaria had convinced her that it would be a bad idea to wake the captain, and that scrubbing the deck on her hands and knees for the next six months wasn't exactly worth it.
'I'll be the judge of that,' she thought as she prepared to raise her hand to knock on the large door, grinning evilly to herself.
After all, it was mid-afternoon, and the treasure was just calling for them to go and get it! Granted, it was an easy job, but she wanted to pay off the Clarence man before he got too impatient and started sending some sort of assassin team after them. Not that he would…hopefully. It was a very good thing that she had sent word out to the Sirens (via some 'special' friends) about the Clarence family getting a bit too arrogant for their own good. There would probably be a few raids on the spice market this year, just to put the pampered fools in their place.
'God, I love this type of work,' she thought to herself, smiling as she prepared to knock on Jack's door. 'Maybe I should convince the Siren Elders that I don't want to marry some merchant fool and have them put me on a ship instead…' Now wouldn't that create a lovely expression on her father's face? Oh, she would pay a handsome price to see what her father would say to her becoming an official Siren of the Sea.
'In fact, Papa's reaction to my joining the Sirens might just be equal to Jack's after I wake him up.'
Deciding to skip the knocking, Nerissa snuck into the cabin, her eyes and ears open for any sign of movement. The only thing she heard was snoring coming from the bed, which was exactly what she was hoping for. Smirking, she tiptoed to the bed, staring at the half-naked captain as he slept. He was so damn good-looking when he was asleep, though, and it seemed a pity to wake him. On the other hand, there was a treasure to be had and a crew to pay, so it was for a good cause in the end. Holding back a chuckle, Nerissa lifted the small bucket of cold seawater and dumped it onto Jack's head.
Letting out a shout, Jack leapt out of bed, angry brown eyes searching the room for the criminal who had woken him up. Nerissa raced for the doorway, calling out a "good morning" as she slammed the door shut behind her.
Jack's POV:
Still sputtering, Jack bit back a grin as Nerissa high-tailed it out of his cabin. The girl had guts, that's for sure, and he so enjoyed a woman who was brave enough to pull a stunt like that while he was asleep. Smirking in spite of himself, Jack got up and began to get dressed, plotting revenge for a later date.
AN: How did you like the chapter? Please show your support and love by reviewing!