Chapter 3 – Another Sun Rises

The day was beautiful, the sun was shining and the clouds were like big pieces of cotton in the sky. Elizabeth opened her eyes and relished the brief moment where the sun was warming her face and the birds were chirping in harmony their heavenly song. The moment didn't last however as she remembered what she was to do that day. Suitors were coming that day and she was to choose a husband by sunset in only one weeks time.

The thought of her marrying sent her stomach against her and she felt light headed and dizzy. Her corset was lying on the floor next to her bran new dress that she was to wear that day. She was to get a new dress every day of the week.

Sometimes she thought of Will, how kind he was, how noble. Her ideals and love for another man made him leave Port Royal. He had said he did not want to be in the way of her happiness. That was before Jack was killed.

Her dreams of his death were stopping and she was able to cope better in the daytime. His face would sometimes haunt the moments when she was doing nothing else but thinking of her future. But he was gone, his body never recovered.

Getting out of bed was automatic to her now and she stood, reaching for her corset. In some sadistic way she thought of how happy her father must be. Jack Sparrow was dead, she was not going to be marrying a blacksmith, and she now acted like a proper lady, seen and not heard.

Elizabeth was so lost in her thoughts she didn't even protest when her maid, Marietta, came and took the laces of her corset from her and started to lace them up.

"There are some fine gentlemen here Miss Elizabeth, and all of them are eligible and eager to meet you. Oh how I wish to fall in love some day with a nice rich man who can give me anything I could possibly want. That is my dream starting right now."

Elizabeth jerked away when Marietta was done with the corset and reached for her dress that looked very uncomfortable. "No you don't. As a matter of fact there is no such thing as love. It is the work of the Devil when you feel that warm feeling in the pit of your stomach when he looks at you. Or the heat in your blood when he's so close you can feel the ridges of his muscles. It's all the Devil."

Marietta almost cowered away when Elizabeth spoke with such hate in her voice. It made her sad to think the girl she thought of as a sister lost the only thing she used to believe in.

Tears were falling down Elizabeth's face as she held the dress limp in her hands. "It isn't fair Marietta, I loved him. I did. When I had the chance I was too stupid to recognize it. I tried to suppress the feelings I had for him. And I don't care if it was the Devil! If it was evil! I loved him."

Marietta held the girl as she sobbed. She could feel Elizabeth's sorrow and wished that she could do anything to make it go away. All she needed to do was find a good man who could love her and take care of her, make her stop dreaming of pirates.

"Please Miss Elizabeth, we must get downstairs. Let me help you with your dress."

Elizabeth let her dress fall to the ground and Marietta picked it up, pulling it over her head.

Downstairs Governor Swann was entertaining the guests that had arrived; five very eligible males were there to call on his daughter. He was getting restless at the fact that Elizabeth wasn't present yet.

"Gentlemen, if you please, I will go and present my daughter."

The men all looked at the governor and nodded.

Weatherby Swann climbed the stairs one at a time and when he reached Elizabeth's room he knocked.

"Elizabeth, are you ready dear?"

The door knob started its circular motion and when it opened Elizabeth stepped out of the room looking beautiful.

"There you are, well you look stunning my dear."

Elizabeth stared at the floor boards and said nothing. Her eyes were starting to water.

"I do wish your attitude would improve though."

At his comment, Elizabeth shot a look at her father and scowled.

"Doing that will cause you to get wrinkles. Now, let me present you to the gentlemen downstairs who have been waiting quite some time to see you.

She said nothing and followed her father to the stairs, looking at the men she mused how one of them was going to be her future husband.

JSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJS

Captain Randall Marcus stepped off his ship and paid the teller at the docks. His crew was taking the day off while he searched for the woman that was supposed to be there waiting for him. How he was going to find her he didn't know. He had no information about her, no name, not even a physical description. He was just supposed to know.

Walking the streets of Port Royal made him feel dizzy. His legs didn't want to cooperate properly on the land as they did when he was rocking harmoniously with the sea. The land felt odd and unstable to him. Shaking the feeling off he saw a lot of people in the town square, a noose hung in the background.

Walking over to the people he heard them talking of nothing he ever heard of, they were all gossiping about a young lady who was to marry. She was the governor's daughter and she was very beautiful. Intrigued, Randall walked over to one of the older women and asked about her.

"Her name is Miss Elizabeth Swann. She was engaged to the blacksmith who left her, it is rumored that she had a love after him. That is why she's so sad, you see, he died."

"Oh how terrible. What was his name?" He asked.

"Well, not to be the one to spread such a terrible rumor but, the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow."

Randall raised his eyebrows. "A pirate? Is that so? Well, thank you very much my dear lady but I must be going."

He left the square and looked again at the noose that hung, swinging in the background. He didn't want anything to do with a town that was accustomed to pirates. He was for the king of Spain, and he was sure pirates are number one on the list of predators.

Heading to the docks to retire to his ship he saw a beautiful bird sitting on the dock. It had white feathers and a long neck. A man had it in his hands.

"Excuse me sir, but what kind of bird is that?"

"This is a Swann Mr."

"Marcus, Randall Marcus."

JSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJSJS

Elizabeth met all the men who would be staying in Port Royal just to court her. Two of them were from her home country of England; two was from Scotland, and one from France. All of them were quite handsome but they were stuff and boring. She did ask them questions about themselves and all she got was how successful they were in their business. Not one of them had any adventure in their blood.

After supper she excused herself and said goodnight to the men before heading out to the docks. There were a few more boats then she had seen in a while but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Sitting down and letting the water wash over her feet she thought of the next days events. She was to go to the park with Richard and out for dinner that same night with Andrew. The day after that was two more men then the last one the day after that. Sighing she put her head in her hands and waited for the night to end.

"Excuse me Miss, but don't you think it's a little late for you to be here alone?"

Elizabeth's breath caught in her chest, the man's voice was deep and rich, just like Jack's it didn't have the swagger to it and the pirate lingo but it was Jack's, it had to be. Turning around her heart broke. Of course it wasn't Jack.

"Thank you for your concern but I'm quite all right."

The man sat next to her and offered his hand. "I'm Randall Marcus."

She took it and looked at his face. "I'm Elizabeth Swann." She said and thought it odd when Randall avoided her gaze.

"Is that so? There is a lot of talk about you in town."

She laughed bitterly. "I bet there is. All these men coming to marry me. I don't want to marry them."

Randall looked at his hands, "You want to marry your pirate."

Elizabeth looked shocked. "How do you know about Jack? No one knows how I feel about him."

"Well, someone does. Anyway why hang on? Why not get married?"

She looked at him like he was crazy. "I love him and I, wait, who are you to ask me these questions? You don't know anything about me or him. I don't want you to inquire about it any further. Goodnight Mr. Marcus."

With that Elizabeth left and Randall went back to the ship. To tell the truth, he didn't know what made him ask such personal questions. It was her business and he would be gone the next day anyway. He would find a wife somewhere else.

TBC