Chapter Seven

To the Death

"A tournament you say? To the death? Why allow this pirate the death of an honest man?"

Though Beckett went against his own words a moment later, for something about the look Norrington gave him told him that Jack was an honest man, or at least, people thought him to be. "Very well, we shall have our entertainment." He brought James to one side as the noose was removed from Sparrow's neck, muttering in undertones "Make sure you kill him. It would be a shame to see you in that noose."

"Give him a sword, and clear an area of the courtyard."

"But sir…his shackles?"

The smile on the admiral's face let Cutler know that he wasn't about to make this a particularly fair fight. If James though he was being kind by giving Sparrow a chance then he had been horrible mistaken. Beckett wanted the pirate to die, and if this was going to be in an amusing manner, even better.

"The first man to be unable to strike loses, and shall be either hung or shot." Beckett ordered, Jack now standing and struggling to hold a sword in his bound hands. Whatever madness this was, he hoped it would end soon. There was no hope of escape, as the guard stood with their guns loaded, and the look James had flashed him didn't tell him anything, Jack just stood and hoped the man wasn't too good with a rapier.

He jumped down from the marble ledge, unsheathing his sword with a singing pang of the metal, the steel glinting in the faint light as it caught the sharpened edge. He stepped forwards, coming up close to Sparrow, expression earnest and hiding anything he might have been thinking. The first strike from him cut the chain between Jack's bonds, and Norrington raised his eyebrows at Sparrow, hoping to seem surprised. Beckett had been promised entertainment.

James noticed the crowd's eyes light up at the event, but Cutler was becoming more and more furious as the fight wore on - with each parry, the clanging of the blades as they met, protecting the wielder, with each slash as it whipped through the air, making yet another wound in the space between the duellers.

Another five minutes passed – still no obvious winner, or loser. Both contenders battled it out, but James was losing heart. He had hoped to let Sparrow win, at least, and at Jack's next blow that nearly gashed his shoulder deeply, Norrington pretended to stumble, and lay there on the ground, rapier two metres away having skidded across the stone ground, breathing heavily as the point of Jack's blade was mere centimetres away from his sincere face.

"Jack," he muttered, "Go… as soon as…. they let you. Take Miss Swann… and… Mr Turner…" Dark eyes flickered from the guards beginning to surround them both back to Jack's face.

"What is your deal, Norrington? You said there was something else?"

"Yes – let Miss Swann and Mr Turner go with the good Captain,"

A pause, a silence, broken only by the rough wind and the shuffle of feet from the spectators, one or two strained coughs.

"Very well,"

Jack was out of there as fast as his legs would carry him, down the road to the coast, Will and Elizabeth in his wake. Will was shouting something, but Jack didn't stop to take note of what it was, not until they had reached the small rowing boat. Making to push it out onto the water, the pirate only stopped when he realised he couldn't – Will was in the way.

"Move whelp,"

Will face was earnest. And three times more Jack made to cast off, but to no avail as Elizabeth joined her lover, preventing the Captain from leaving. Jack rolled his eyes as Will spoke up "He saved your life Jack, you owe him."

"Get in the boat Will, you too Miss Swan – you're wasting time, we need…"

"You owe him! Get back up there and save him you coward!" Will cried, not abandoning his grip on the boat for fear that Sparrow would simply jump in and row out to the Pearl. "I thought you were a good man!"

"Correction, pirate." He retorted, pulling out a gun from behind his back and loading it "Get in the boat."

"I know you won't shoot me Jack – now come on."

"Get in the boat master Turner. Unless you don't trust me, in which case you can bloody well go back to the Pearl…no wait, forget I said that – you can bloody well go back to being a blacksmith and leave me to rescue dear James on my own"

That shifted the two, and moments later all three appeared to be rowing back to the black ship, in actual fact, Jack had another trick up his sleeve.

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Author's Notes: What's the tension like?