Chapter Nine
Left alone with the beautiful Princess, Angel began to become increasingly nervous even as his loins became more heated. He knew Jack was right and that the Princess would only be safe once she was on the other side of Jack's door. He smiled at her. "Would you like to rest for a while, Cordelia? The Captain said you may use his quarters. I've never been in there, but I am sure they are the best accommodations on the ship."
She was tired but did not want to sleep nor, she realized as her hazel eyes turned from the water to look back up at the dashing Pirate who had rescued her, did she wish to be parted from this man any time soon. It was strange, but although they had just met, she already felt safer around him than she had since her father had changed and began to look at her as a young adult instead of a child. "Perhaps later," she answered softly. "Thank you."
"We should retire there. I won't leave you if you don't want me to," he said as though he had read her thoughts, "but you could lay on the bed and rest." He knew he might be getting into troubled waters over his head, but she looked as though she was about to fall out and he couldn't bare the thought of that. "It's this way," he said, walking over to a door that looked like all the rest. He opened it and stepped back, allowing her to enter. He hoped Jack did not get mad that he was about to be in his Captain's room, but he did say that the Princess was to be there and since she did not want to leave him, he couldn't see any other way to get her there.
Cordelia started to follow, but as she reached the door, a thought occurred to her. Despite his heroicness, Angel was not the Captain and might well get into trouble for accompanying her into chambers that he would not normally be allowed in. She stopped beside him and, looking up, spoke softly, "Please do not allow yourself to get into trouble on my account. Should the Captain ask, tell him . . . " She paused, considering their choices. Knowing that there were not many, she took the only one she truly saw. Although it would hinder the reputation of any lady, she did not care. "Tell him I requested your presence should he ask. That, I hope, will alleviate you of any possible negative consequences."
He smiled down into her eyes. "Fair lady, the Captain told me to make sure that you were comfortable and well taken care of, and I intend to do that." He did not add 'only that'. "Although you do request my presence, there may come a time when I have to leave you, but I will not be far. The Captain has never forbade me entry. I just never wanted to encroach on his privacy. He is a very private man," and he added almost as an afterthought, "and a very lonely man. He is basically good at heart and will help you any way he can, but his mischievous side gets him into trouble often. All in all, he is a great Captain and an even greater friend. He will not mind." As long as I behave myself, he added to himself.
"Good," Cordelia returned with a satisfied nod and smile. She passed through the doorway and was surprised to find herself in what, at first glance, appeared to be a normal bedroom. Indeed, had there not been swords hanging above the bed and dresser and on one of the walls, she would never have thought she was in a Pirate's cabin. A black curtain hung over what she presumed to be the dresser's mirror, and she gave it a curious glance as she looked the room over. A bookcase stood in one corner in a silent reminder to her that pirates were, as far as she could tell thus far, nothing like so many people thought. It was filled almost entirely with books save the top shelf that held several rolled-up maps. She wondered what those maps looked like for she knew they must lead to treasure and had never seen a real treasure map before. What surprised her most about the room, however, was its neatness. Though he had impressed his kindness upon her, she certainly would not have thought the Captain gave even one gold coin to cleanliness yet the room seemed in near perfect condition. The bed actually looked as if it had never been slept on, and everything else appeared to be in its rightful place, as well.
Angel followed closely behind Cordelia, closing the door behind him. He was in awe of the Captain's room. He had never known Captain Jack to be overly concerned with neatness yet this room could have been in a rich man's house. It was not only neat and orderly, but it was clean! Since when was the Captain so concerned with cleanliness? he wondered. Then he remembered how many times a week Jack insisted on bathing. Must be preparing for something, he thought to himself. Too many baths are not good for you.
Although Jack insisted on his crew taking at least one bath a week, most of them never took more than that. In fact, there had been times when the catman had had to be picked up and bodily thrown into the water; most of those times, his wife had been the one doing the throwing. Angel's keen sense of smell was very appreciative of Jack's abilities to make sure that every one kept some cleanliness to their bodies for he had found body odors to be extremely offensive in the hottest summers. Indeed, if not for the weekly baths, he would probably not have survived the stench.
He was surprised to see that the Captain had books for to hear the Captain talk, he was not an overly educated man. He was beginning to wonder just how much of the Captain was real and how much he did to affect his outward appearance to the world. Did any of them really know the man behind Captain Jack Sparrow? Angel didn't think so.
He walked over and stood by the bed. "This looks extremely comfortable, Cordelia. Why don't you lay down on it? I'll take your shoes off."
Normally, she would have balked at any man's suggestion that she lay down, but she knew Angel was only being a gentleman looking out for her best interests. She smiled at him as she crossed the room and sat down on the bed. She hoped having her shoes taken off was not too close to having the royal treatment she was accustomed to, but just the thought of Angel's hands being so close to her skin sent a secret thrill coursing through her. She had seen the look upon his face when he had entered the cabin behind her and commented softly, in a small attempt to change the subject, "I noticed you also seemed surprised by your Captain's chambers."
"Captain Jack always puts an outward appearance -- well, the way you saw him today before he changed into the fancy finery, just an ordinary man who can be silly at times, but this looks like a gentleman's room. There's not too many gentlemen aboard the Pearl. We have a code of ethics that Jack wrote up, and I wondered about that at the time I signed up. Most Pirate ships don't have ethics, but then most Pirates don't have ethics."
Cordelia started to tell Angel that the ethics of he and his friends she had already met that day were clearly visible in both their heroic actions and their mannerisms where a lady such as herself was involved. Indeed, she'd met many of society's supposedly finer gentlemen who had not even had as much of a thimble of the manners Angel, Brendan, and their Captain had. Angel continued before she could speak, however.
"If Jack finds out that any of his men don't have ethics, they had either better soon develop them or they will walk the plank. He tolerates no bull when it comes to ladies yet I hardly ever see him with one." He said the latter hoping Cordelia was not getting ideals about his Captain; he wanted her all to himself. "Before today, I have never seen Jack in those fancy clothes. I didn't even know he had them! He must have bought them for the wedding!"
Cordelia's gaze snapped to Angel's in surprise. "The wedding?" she repeated questioningly.
"Of his best friend and the Governor's daughter. But then the Governor turned out to be two-faced. You sure you want to hear all this? It's a long story." Even as he talked, he was unlacing her boots and slipping them from her feet.
His fingers brushing against her feet as he slipped her boots off sent sparks racing through her. Had her curiosity not been so piqued, she would have wondered what his hands would feel like on the rest of her body. "Yes, please. I noticed the way he took off so hurriedly with the other gentleman. He seemed quite upset, and I was concerned. You all have already been so nice to me that I would hate to see anything happen to any of you." Realizing that she was being what society would consider to be too bold, she blushed slightly and amended with a jesting smile, "Besides, it is not as if we are going anywhere any time soon."
Angel thought for a minute. Where should he begin to tell the tale? "On our last journey to regain the Pearl that had been stolen from the Captain, the Captain met Will. Will went on the journey with us in order to rescue the Governor's daughter, who he was in love with. Jack ended up rescuing both of them and returning them safely to Port Royal. Despite all the good deeds that Jack did, the Governor was still going to hang Jack because he was a Pirate. He would have succeeded if Will had not saved him."
"The Governor's daughter is beautiful. Will is handsome," Angel said, nodding his head slightly. "They fit good together." He did not add that Jack was in love with Will even though he knew it and that they would make a much better pairing. "The Governor's daughter talked her father into giving amnesty for one day so that we could sail into the harbor for their wedding. We came only to find that the Governor was a lying, two-faced . . . " He didn't finish the sentence.
"He betrayed his daughter's love and trust by having his soldiers beat up Will on the morning of their wedding and sell him into slavery. Captain Jack has rushed off to save Will. If things were going like they should, at least half the crew would have went with him. As it is, Brendan and I returned to tell Jack what had happened only to find that there was no one aboard the ship but Jack, you, and your father's guards. I really hated for him to run off with just Brendan. I should be there, but I need to be here worse. I have no clue as to where the crew ran off to but trust that they will soon return."
His eyes kept getting drawn to the swords. He knew where they came from, and he knew who made them. He also knew he'd better not touch a single one of them or Jack would know it and would probably have his head for it, but his hands itched to stroke even one of them. They were beautifully made with excellent craftsmanship. Each one of them would be a prize to own, and yet he knew that the maker had no clue as to where his swords had gone. You sly fox, he thought, thinking of Jack.
Cordelia's gaze followed Angel's to the swords, and she wondered why he was looking at them as if each was a willing, beautiful woman just waiting for his caress. It must be a Pirate thing, she thought to herself with a shrug of her slender shoulders. As she looked back down, her mind returned to all that Angel had just told her. "I can not imagine how any father could be so heartless as to sell his daughter's love into slavery," she admitted. "I know there are a lot of awfully horrid things that go on in this world, but that . . . " Her voice trailed off into a shudder. How could any father betray his daughter so much, but then another part of her wondered as sadness flickered in her hazel eyes, how could any father do to his daughter what hers had done to her?
"I never trusted the Governor," Angel said, "and neither did Jack. I think that if the Governor had not given amnesty for this day, Jack would have come alone. Will means that much to him. Elizabeth never said much about her father, but I always thought they had a normal father-daughter relationship. Now I think it could have been more." He didn't say what more, allowing her to think what she would, but the emotions that flickered in her eyes surprised him, telling him that she understood far more.
"Jack figured we might have to fight our way out of here, but everything was peaceful when we came in. Our sister ship is not as well-known as we are, and since we are both flying the English flag for this day, no undue attention was drawn to her. She is berthed not far from us, and her Captain is one to fear. Still, we were alert but never in a million years, would we have expected what we found."
"The look on Jack's face when we told him was almost more than I could bare. I think he flipped. He went ahead and dressed as though he was going to the wedding, as you saw, and then he took the strangest sword I've ever seen." He paced to and fro in the cabin nervously, trying to remember if he had seen any crew members from the Witch in a while. Where could they be? What had drawn all their members away? Did the Governor have them or, even worse, could they be dead?
Cordelia watched Angel pacing in great concern. She knew he wanted to go help his friend and also knew that the Captain would most likely need his aid. She stood and was about to walk over to Angel when something white falling outside the one window in the room caught her eye. She looked at it, and her mouth opened in a round circle in surprise. "I did not realize it snowed in Port Royal at this time of the year," she commented quietly.
"Snow?" Angel asked with disbelief on his face. "I've never known it to snow in Port Royal. It's usually too hot. This is indeed a strange day!" He looked out the window and could see the entire harbor and out to the ocean. He longed to be out there. Even though it had its dangers, he still felt safer out there than he did here.
It was then that his attention was drawn to a small box ornately decorated that sat in the center of the table. He walked over, lifted the lid, and looked inside. He gasped when music came from the little box. Looking inside, he spied a key and a note. He lifted both the box and its treasure and carried it to Cordelia. "Please," he begged with his eyes, "read to me what it says."
Her hazel eyes widened as she looked up into Angel's begging eyes. This man was constantly surprising her more and more. "Of course," she replied with a reassuring smile. Her fingertips brushed over his hand as she reached for the paper. She had meant to take the note from him to read it, but instead she found her hand closing gently around his as she began to read the note. "For two of my very best friends, I hope the happiness that you find on this day will be the beginning of the happiness you will share in your life together. If you ever need me, send word and I will come." Her eyes lifted back to Angel's as she finished with a statement of the obvious, "It is signed by your Captain."
"Thank you," Angel said. "I often wish I could read, but unfortunately, I can not read or write. It gets embarrassing sometimes. My Father was a vicar, but the only thing he ever taught me was abuse. He worked me from sun up to sun down and abused my Mother, my sister, and me. I hated him." He figured she'd recoil from him when he admitted, "I killed him."
"I was out working in the field and cut my hand. I went home to get it seen to. I found my Mother dead, my Father's knife embedded in her heart. I recognized the knife. I pulled it out, closed her eyes gently, and kissed her. The bastard would pay for that."
His eyes glazed over as he became lost to his memories, his mouth moving as of its own accord. "It was then I heard my sister scream. I ran, but I was too late. The bastard was deeply embedded in her and was pumping away. He didn't know I was there. It was then I realized, as I stabbed him through his black heart, that he had killed my sister by strangling her even while he was raping her." He was wrapped in his memories, and his pain showed in his face, his hands clenching by his side.
"I snatched him from her, and I stabbed him over and over and over again. His blood was all over me, and still it wasn't enough. I carried my Mother and sister to the field and buried them, and then I burnt him in the house. Of course, the villagers all thought I had gone crazy and killed everybody. After all, they would never expect a man of God to go berserk. Bloody bastard!"
He had forgotten that Cordy was there. As he remembered being chased, his words just tumbled out of his mouth. The villagers' screams that they would kill him and feed him to the fishes echoed in his head. They had caught him, had him at the stake, and were about to burn him alive when, like an avenging Angel, Jack had appeared out of nowhere, cutting him free, saving him, and taking him far away with the town in flames behind them. "I've been with him ever since." He remembered the flames licking at his skin, and he groaned aloud.
He was scaring her, but though terror blanched her face, she did not fear him. Rather she feared for him. She knew he'd forgotten that she was there and that he did not remember anything save the memories of that time. She also knew she needed to snap him out of his past, though he would be horrified when he realized all that he had just revealed to her. Taking a deep breath, she laid a gentle hand on his cheek. "Angel?" she called as though he were asleep.
"Oh my Gods! Beautiful lady, I did not mean to run off like that, but I haven't been touched by such a gentle hand, not since my Mother! I am sorry if I scared or sickened you." He breathed deeply but did not move from her touch.
"You did neither," she was quick to reassure him with a shake of her head. "I am just . . . " Her words failed her, but she tried again. "I am honored to remind you of your mother, Angel, but I am so sorry that you went through what you did." His eyes and face were still filled with such emotion that she only wanted to comfort him, and to her surprise, Cordelia found herself stepping closer to him. Her hands dropped from his face and hand so that her arms could circle his body as she dared to hug him gently. "No one should have been put through such."
His arms slipped around her, and he held her gently. This woman was driving him crazy, making him feel things he had never felt before, and making him want things that he knew were impossible! The smell of her hair was so heavenly that he just wanted to gobble her up. Before he could stop himself, he nuzzled her neck gently.
What could he, a lowly Vampire Pirate, offer such a beautiful woman? He'd had women before, many of them, but not in a while. He had had them in many ways, but none of them stirred his blood like this dark-haired beauty. He realized that he had best let her go before he followed his instincts and did something that they both would regret.
"Thank you, beautiful lady, for your gentleness and understanding." He regretfully began to let go of her when his eyes caught a mark on her neck. He recognized it as what it was. "When?" he asked her. "Who?" He knew the mark had been burnt on her. He would kill the bastard who did it. He did not let go of her.
She froze in his arms when she heard his questions, and her heart thundered so loudly that it seemed to her to fill the room. She had never meant to reveal what her father had done, the real reason why she had ran away from home. When she opened her mouth, she released a breath of air that she had not even been aware of holding. "What?" she tried to ask innocently, but her voice trembled. She bit her bottom lip, knowing already what the answer would be.
"Whatever bloody bastard put his mark on you, I will kill him! If he hurt you more, I'll make him eat it! But I don't understand. I can see it's a King's ring. Your father?" He was still holding her and not looking into her face. Her heartbeat sounded as loud as thunder in his ears. "Why would your father put his brand on you? Was it him?"
She knew she could not lie to him. "Yes," she forced herself to answer in another deep breath. "I tried to fight him, but he would not have it. I'd already hated him for trying to force me off on Prince after Prince, but when he decided I was to marry the captain of his guards instead, I thought it couldn't get any worse. Gods, was I ever wrong," she said dryly. "He wanted me to marry Groo so that I would remain accessable to him and he could . . . he could take me whenever he wanted."
"I tried to fight him, Angel. I tried," she repeated, whimperingly, again as tears welled in her hazel eyes, "but he tied me to the bed so that I could not move! That mark was meant to remind me that I was his daughter and, as such, . . . his property to do with as he liked!" Her tears slipped from her eyes, racing down her cheeks and falling onto his shoulder.
He squeezed her just a little tighter. "I will kill the bastard! You need not ever fear him again. If any man ever touches you again and you don't want to be touched, you have but to tell me. They will not live long enough to see the next day. No one as beautiful and gentle as you are should ever have had to undergo something like this! I am sorry." He tilted her chin upward and swabbed gently at her tears with his thumbs. "I will protect you, my lady, if you will allow me to. No one will ever hurt you again."
Before Angel even knew what was happening, his lips had plunged downwards onto hers, but he did not defoul her mouth. He gently pledged his undying loyalty to her. He felt a tremble go through her body, and he figured it was because he had forgotten himself. Though her lips parted under his, he was still about to release her when he heard some one calling. He didn't want to let her go, but he had to take care of this business.
"I will be back. Some one's on the ship." He withdrew quickly, leaving Cordelia holding the music box. Gods, what a woman, he thought, and how lucky I am to know her and to escape without getting slapped! He almost had to laugh at the times poor Jack had been slapped, and for most of the time, not even knowing what he was being slapped for. At least, had it happened to him, he would have known. He slipped out the cabin door, closing it softly behind him.
Behind him, Angel left a strong woman quivering like a leaf in a gale. Cordelia trembled not from fear or the sadness that had threatened to engulf her until Angel had touched her face to wipe her tears away and spoken so sweetly to her. Rather, she shook from the intense passion that his kiss had sent coiling through her body and shooting through her every core like a million fiery stars.
Princess Cordelia Chase had been kissed by many a Prince and even once or twice, since leaving home, by men on the streets who had tried, and thankfully failed, to take her without her permission. She had even been kissed by a few members of royalty who were supposedly among the best kissers her part of the world had to offer. Yet never had she been kissed like Angel had just kissed her! Never had she felt such passion! It threatened to engulf her, and her every fiber ached to allow it to do precisely that. Her lips parted in a longing sigh even as she heard a stranger's voice speak to Angel outside the cabin door.
Angel had thought he recognized the voice, and sure enough, it was Elizabeth.
The instant she had heard a door open, Elizabeth had whirled in its direction. She looked in surprise at Angel as he stepped out of Jack's cabin and wondered what in the world he had been doing in there and why he looked as if he were dying for oxygen. Her brow creased, but she did not bother to ask him. Instead, she leapt right to the point. "The Captain and two of the other crew have gone after Will. I am to go with you when you set sail, and he told me to tell the rest of you to prepare and be ready to sail the minute he gets here."
"I have no ideal where the rest of the crew is, Elizabeth. Two of the crew are with the Captain?" he asked, remembering what she had said. "Who?"
"The doctor, Brendan, and that Faith."
"Good," Angel said. "I can stop worrying so much about him; Faith won't let anything happen to him." He thought for a minute and figured the safest place for Elizabeth would be in the cabin with Cordelia. "I am guarding another lady," he told her. "She's in Jack's cabin with Jack's permission. The safest place for you will be with her. I will stay out here and guard you. Please be nice to her. Her name is Cordelia, and she's had a hard time."
Elizabeth nodded. She knew her place and understood why they were determined to keep her safe. Given her father's orders, if any of the guards were to spot her on the ship, they would all be doomed. As she slipped past Angel into Jack's cabin, she wondered about Cordelia. Had the Pirate Captain finally found a woman, or was she the reason why Angel had seemed in such a need for air?
Cordelia was just placing the box back onto the table where Angel had taken it from when she heard the door open and shut again. "Angel . . . " she started as she turned to face the person, but her voice died in her throat when she found a blonde woman standing there instead.
"He's outside."
Cordelia's forehead creased, and her hazel eyes narrowed as she looked in suspicion at the blonde. "Who are you?"
"My name is Elizabeth. I am . . . "
"I know," Cordelia spoke softly, "and I am sorry for your loss."
Elizabeth smiled sadly at the other woman. "Thank you." Cordelia nodded but did not speak again as her eyes turned to the door behind Elizabeth. Why was Angel still out there? He had said he would return, so why hadn't he? Was he running from her?
Angel raked his brain, trying to think of some one he could send to find the crew. It dawned on him that the only being that could carry this mission off and was available was King Meesy. Rather or not King Meesy would do it for him, he didn't know. He could only try.
Angel climbed up onto the top of Jack's cabin so that he could see over to the other ship. Calling just loudly enough to be heard over at the Sea Witch, he called, "King Meesy, please show yourself! I have a mission for you! I need your help desperately!"
Angel was rewarded when a cat bounded onto the Sea Witch's railing. The large cat's fur was already ruffled by the cold winds that were blowing, and snow sparkled amongst his chocolate and cream fur. Deep blue eyes peered out from a chocolate face as he looked expectantly at Angel, clearly waiting for an explanation.
"I have two ladies whom I have to guard. There's no one else. Captain Jack requests that all crew members return to the ship immediately and prepare for sailing. The Governor has betrayed Will and Elizabeth. Jack has gone to rescue Will, who the Governor had sold into slavery. We must be ready when they return! Please help!" he begged the furry feline.
Meesy cocked his head to one side as he listened carefully to Angel, and when the Pirate was done speaking, the cat nodded. He disappeared from sight then, but it was only a few seconds before Angel saw a blur of cream and chocolate streaking down the dock. He hoped it would not take King Meesy long to locate the others. He admired the cat greatly for he had seen many things seemingly impossible accomplished by the furry feline. In fact, there was no other cat alive who could hold a candle to King Meesy, and if Angel only knew half the things Meesy could do, he would never believe them. The Lewis sisters had chosen well in their choice of a familiar. He knew the crew would be coming soon and set about doing what he could to prepare the ship even as his mind turned back to Jack and Will and he wondered what was happening.
Darkness continued to engulf his world as Will Turner slowly came to. The first thing that he became aware of was that somebody was moving his face and pushing and pulling his jaw and cheeks. He had never felt their touch before and knew instantly that it was neither Jack nor Elizabeth for he would recognize either's touch immediately. No, this person was some one who had no business touching him. He tried to pull away from their touch, but something held him in place.
He was still too groggy to fight whatever was restraining him, but the rattling sounds his restraints made as he tried to move told him that they were chains. He moved his wrists, and the same rattling sounds met his ears. Fear began to encroach upon his heart. He was chained, his hands and feet shackled to a wall, but who was touching him and where was he?
It was then that Will suddenly felt thumbs forcing his lips apart and fingers poking into his mouth. His eyes flew open as he reacted with instinct, biting down on the fingers so hard that he felt the copper taste of blood trickle onto his tongue. "Hey!" a sharp voice commanded. "Nae bitin' the customers!" Though Will had already released the stranger's fingers and was about to spit out the blood in disgust, a fist plowed into his gut.
"Hey now!" exclaimed the first stranger. "I may like violence, but I will not pay for injured merchandise!" The man wore a tophat, was dressed in a fine suit, and carried a cane that he had no need for. To those who only passed him on the streets, he appeared to be an astristocratic gentleman, but Will already knew that a monster lurked behind that facade.
"Oh," the second quickly backpaddled as he stepped away from Will. "Well, hum, in that case, nae free nips." He was a short man, but his stocky, muscular build more than made up for what he lacked in height. His gray hair was pulled back in a limp ponytail, and his clothes and skin were covered in so much grime that one could easily tell he had not had a bath all year.
The first man ignored the second as he returned his attention to Will. His dark eyes hungrily roved the younger man's body even as he licked the blood that trickled from his wound. "Fine set of gnashers you have," he commented more to himself than to Will, "but I wonder how you are when it comes to the sheets." No sooner had he made the comment than his hand swiped out and grabbed Will in between the legs.
Will's education failed him completely as he growled savagely at the man while struggling desperately to break free of his chains and the stranger's grip. His legs jerked toward him, but the stranger remained just out of his reach and completely unfazed by Will's struggles. Instead, he squeezed the blacksmith's sword. Will's yell echoed through the stalls, and his brown eyes flashed on black. Still, however, he could not reach him.
"Oh, yes," the man purred aloud as he finally withdrew his hand. The hand that had groped him was the same one that Will had bitten. Now the stranger brought it to his face. He sniffed it first, then licked his fingers one by one. Sounds of satisfaction emitted from the depths of his throat as he licked each one that had groped Will through his clothes, and his eyes shone with eager anticipation. "I'll enjoy breaking you," he continued lustfully, "very much." His hand again grabbed the boy's member, and as he squeezed it hard, he finished, his fingers playing over Will's sword as if it were a new instrument meant only for him, "And very, very soon."
"I'll never -- " Will started to growl out, but the man cut him off.
"Oh, but you will -- for the right price, of course," he added with a meaningful look at the other man in the stall. "And once you're mine, I'll do with you exactly what I want." He squeezed Will again before releasing him and turning to go.
Will spit, but the man did not even appear to notice the spittle that struck the back of his head. "I'll never be yours, you bastard!" He cussed the man in more words than he'd even known he knew, only then realizing that he must have picked up even more than he'd thought from Jack, but the man only laughed.
As the laughter that made Will cringe faded into the distance, Will turned back to the other man. He tried a different tactic with him. "You must release me immediately! My name is William Turner, and I am to marry the Governor's daughter this day!"
The laughter that met Will's ears this time was huge and shook both the man's portly belly and the walls of the stall that surrounded them. "Right! Don't you think I know that the Governor himself was the one who had you sent to us? Good one, kid, but you're not getting out of here!" His laughter had stopped now, and he shrugged as he added, "Just be glad you'll probably only be sold for sex."
Will looked at him puzzledly. "You sell humans for another purpose?" Did he even want to know? "Work?"
"Well, aye, there's that," the man admitted, "but I was talkin' more about eatin'."
Lines of confusion drew together on Will's forehead. "Food? You mean to say you sell chefs?" That couldn't be right.
"Of course not. Humans to eat." Will wanted to think the man was joking, but he knew from his serious tone and surprised face that he was not. Will's own face paled. There were human beings that ate humans? Or could the legends of Vampires be true? Shivers raced through him as more fear than he'd ever felt for his own self crashed through him. Indeed, he had only been more afraid than he was now once in his life, and that had been when he had thought his beloved Jack had been dealt a fatal blow.
"Damn," his seller commented, letting out a low whistle as he took in his stock's paled face. "Ye are an innocent! I better gi tell the bosses that. It'll bring ye a higher price."
Will did not realize when the man left. His terrified heart was pounding so loudly in his ears that he could hear nothing else, and his surroundings whirled around him at a blinding rate. Even if he could somehow manage to break free of his chains and gain a weapon, there were bound to be far too many slave holders and guards for him to ever make it out alive, but if he did not somehow find a way out of this nightmare, he would meet a fate worse than death. Rather it was at that sick man's hands or another's did not matter. It was hard enough to pretend with Elizabeth, but at least she was gentle and truly cared about him. These people were strangers, and he was but meat to any of them.
Jack! his heart cried. Jack would find him! He would save him! But no, his brain argued, Jack did not even know where he was. No one except the Governor and two of his guards knew. Besides, why would Jack risk his neck again for him? Will knew he would not for as much as he loved him, Jack was still a pirate. He would gain nothing from saving his undeserving hide this time, so he would not risk his life.
Tears finally welled in the blacksmith's eyes as the source of his fear changed. No longer was he terrified of what would happen to him if he was sold or tried and failed to escape. The fear that filled his very core with ice was the knowledge that he would never again see the man he loved. He would never again have a chance to tell Jack the truth. Tears slipped down his face as Will realized that he would not even know if he might have stood a chance, no matter how slim, of somehow, some way gaining the pirate's love, of having his love returned, of knowing what Jack's lips on his own truly felt like instead of only what he imagined them to feel like. Will bit back a sob. He would never see Jack again.
To Be Continued . . .
