A/n: This is rather huge chapter, but there was no way to make it smaller. You'll see when you read it. Enjoy!

Hidden Swann

Will stretched and moved his neck around in circles to ease the strain of looking down at his work for too many hours. He'd been working non-stop on a special sword for a rich out-of-towner, named Thomas Fullerbutton. Mr. Fullerbutton was supposedly an older man with a taste for nice swords, although Will had never met him. He'd gotten half of his payment, instructions on what Mr. Fullerbutton would like, and a smile from a friend of Fullerbutton's who'd dropped by yesterday.

Will guessed it was about two in the morning and probably time to call it quits for the night. He'd continue first thing in the morning.

He held up what he had done so far. The sword had twisty gold surrounding the jewel encrusted handle. Mr. Fullerbutton's friend had given Will the jewels, and asked him to meld them into the handle if he could. Will could and did, though it'd been quite a trickier process than he would've expected, laying them out exactly as he'd been asked to. He figured it would probably take him a week or two to fine tune the lovely sword. He only wished he could keep this sword for himself, because it really was one of his finer swords. Especially since his own sword was getting to be rather shabby.

He heard some yelling, but it was quite far away sounding, and as always, Will assumed it was coming from the local bar.

He yawned and his eyelids drooped. "Definitely time for bed." he mumbled to himself. He locked up Mr. Fullerbutton's fine sword, then set about slowly putting out the numerous lanterns around his shop.

Yes, his shop. Mr. Brown, Will's "mentor" had retired shortly after the raid on Port Royal, saying that he needed someplace where there was no excitement, and he could just eat and sleep. So Brown had chosen a location - southern Bermuda - handed the keys and the ownership of the shop to Will and left.

Will blew out the last lantern and headed for the comfort of his bed, his muscles aching and reminding him of just how tired he was. Suddenly, there was pattering just outside his door, and then loud, hurried banging on his door.

"Will! Wake up!" he heard a woman shout and knew who it was immediately. "Help!"

His previous exhaustion forgotten, he jumped to the door, unlatched and opened it as fast as he could. Elizabeth fell in and Will caught her.

"Elizabeth! What - " he started.

"Shut the door, and lock it - quick!"

Will set a panting Elizabeth down on his bed, and did what she said, making extra sure his door was securely locked. Luckily, the area where his bed was located was in a shadowed area of his shop. Anyone looking in could not see his bed from the windows or doors. It was completely shielded from the bright moonlight spilling in through his windows.

"What's wrong? What happened?" He whispered urgently.

Elizabeth's breaths were coming in long shuddering, panting gasps as tears streamed down her cheeks. Will could see, even in the dark, that Elizabeth's hair was frazzled and hanging as though wet, full of random bits of twigs and leaves. Her nightgown and housecoat were dirty and ripped, and then he noticed her bleeding bare feet.

"Are you alright? What happened?!" Will asked again as he held her mud-spotted face between his palms.

"Will, he came back!"

"Who did?" He demanded.

"The King," She cried, shaking all over. "Saradon - he b-b-broke into t-the house, with his m-men and he... T-they b-b-broke d-down my d-door! I t-tied things t-together, and went out the - the window! I ran all the way here, I... I sent Molly to the fort for help and I..." She couldn't continue and started crying heavily.

Will pulled her into a tight embrace, his thoughts racing. "It's alright. You're safe with me now. I won't let anything happen to you."

What do I do? he thought. Any minute Saradon will figure out where I live and come straight here... and if he doesn't come tonight, how do I keep Elizabeth safe with a man of his power here? And gall! Who is bold enough to attack a Governor's house in the dead of night, not far from an entire fort of armed men?

She pulled back slightly from his arms. "My... my rope wasn't long enough and I had to jump down. I-I landed all wrong, and it... my ankle..." She shifted and winced.

He reached down and very gently touched her ankle, trying to determine if it was broken or not. "Maybe I'd better light a candle and take a look..." he suggested.

Elizabeth sucked in her breath, trying to ignore the renewed throbbing. "I don't want them - him - to find me..."

"In the back room. It has no windows, but I can hear what's going on in the rest of my shop."

She nodded.

Without asking, He scooped her up in his muscular arms and carried her to the back room. He shut the door behind him with his foot and set her down on a chair in the pitch blackness. He struck a match and lit a candle, then bent down to carefully examine Elizabeth's swollen ankle.

"You ran all the way here on this?" he couldn't stop a smile that was part amusement and part amazement from creeping across his features.

She bit her lip. "I was scared."

He chuckled and she winced in pain as he gingerly checked her ankle a bit more. A moment later, he concluded, "I don't think it's broken. Just badly hurt." He stood. "I'll go get something to wrap it in." He left the room and returned shortly with several strips of cloth. He expertly wrapped up her ankle and tied it off.

"Thank you." she said.

Will moved and sat down on the bed beside her. "You're welcome."

She was still shaken by the night's events and worried about her father but for the moment at least, she felt safe. He wrapped his arm around her and she leaned in to kiss him.

Suddenly, there was yelling in the street outside the shop. Will and Elizabeth jumped at the noise then froze as the voices got louder. They could hear doors being slammed, more voices and then there was a loud pounding on Will's front door.

"It's him!" Elizabeth hissed in panic.

Will put his hand up. "Wait," he whispered. He moved to the door of the back room and listened carefully to what was going on.

"Open this door!" a voice commanded. "Or we will be forced to break it down!"

"It sounds like the soldiers." said Will and glanced around the little room as Elizabeth whimpered. He looked up and got an idea. "Into the rafters, c'mon."

She stood on the bed as best as she could and then he helped her to climb up into the thick rafters.

"Climb to the far corner and lay down." He instructed hurriedly. "It's a perfect hiding place. It's impossible to see unless you're up in the rafters yourself."

"Be careful." she said.

He jumped down, grabbed the lantern and hurried towards the front door. "I'm com- "

Before he got close enough, the door was practically blown apart and splintered all over the floor. Soldiers bearing Saradon's colors ran into Will's home and immediately began tearing it apart. He tried to stop them but they completely ignored him. He bristled as he watched the men over turn a table covered in clean, meticulously laid out tools. The tools clattered to the floor and scattered in different directions through the dirt.

Saradon sauntered in casually after his men.

"Saradon, you have no jurisdiction here." Will said hotly. "How dare you and your men barge into my home in the middle of the night -"

"Oh, but you'll find that I do." said Saradon smoothly. "See, I am a King. And while I not King here, I am still a man of high ranking. As high, if not higher, than your Governor. It's one of the great advantages of being royalty - you get to be important wherever you go."

"That doesn't give you the right to invade our homes! And kidnap an innocent woman! The men at fort - "

"The men at the fort are being quite distracted, I assure you." Saradon smiled nastily at Will's look of shock. "I didn't come unprepared, you know. I have a very large ship, with a second entirely made up of men who were waiting just off shore in case I needed them. And I did."

Will clutched the lantern in his fist tightly, trying desperately to find a way out of this. It was only a matter of time before one of the soldiers ransacking his home found Elizabeth crouching in the corner of the rafters...

"Other houses are being searched, if you're feeling singled out." Saradon added with a sneer. He leaned closer to Will and added in a dangerous whisper, "But I know you have her. And I'm not leaving empty-handed."

"I don't know where she is." Will snapped. "Last I saw her was this afternoon at her house - when she refused you."

Saradon stiffened at the memory and his tone grew instantly ten times more hostile. "Listen blacksmith, you have one chance. I know she's here, I know you're hiding her. Let me at her and I'll spare your life."

"Go ahead and murder me then." Will growled.

Saradon curled his lip, his eyes burning with anger. Will never found out if Saradon was ready to kill him then and there, as right at that moment, a soldier called from the back of the shop.

"Sire!"

Will's stomach dropped. They'd found her.

Saradon smirked and dashed to where his soldier was calling from.

"There, sir!" The soldier was pointing out the back door and down the street where a figure could be seen running.

"After her!" Saradon hollered and pushed Will aside with an unexpected and mighty shove that sent him flying into several overturned chairs. Saradon and the soldiers bolted down the street after the figure.

Will struggled to get up quickly and chase after them, sure the figure was Elizabeth and sure he could somehow fight off the soldiers so Elizabeth could make it to the fort. Before he made it to the door, however, he saw a pair of feet (one with a bandaged ankle) dangle down from the rafters. He ran to help her down, shocked and elated that the shadow fleeing down the street was not her.

"You're alright - they didn't find you!" he said and hugged her tight.

"No, they didn't. I was petrified one of them would climb up and look and I was nearly afraid to breathe."

"Then who are they running after now?"

"Some unlucky soul." Elizabeth said grimly.

"Well, now's our chance. We'll go a different direction, stick to the forest and get to the fort." said Will. "You'll be safe there."

"But what about all the men Saradon said he'd brought with him?" Elizabeth asked as she and Will hurried out of the shop and down the street.

"We'll worry about that when we get there."

As they ran, Elizabeth was made painfully aware of her sore ankle again so Will did his best to carry her or at least take her weight off of it as much as possible. They took as many side roads and alleyways as they could, careful to be quiet and aware but swift. Eventually they were in the forest and nearing the fort. They weren't safe yet, but they were close. They'd gotten this far without getting caught though they'd had to change course or dodge into the bushes several times when they heard footsteps approaching. Will relaxed a tiny bit but didn't let his guard down, holding a sword he'd grabbed from home tight in one hand and Elizabeth's hand in the other.

"Nearly there," he said. After a moment's pause, he added, "We'll get into the Fort and then the Commodore and his men will keep you safe."

"You'll stay with me too, won't you?"

"Of course." He squeezed her hand and kissed her forehead. "I will - "

It happened so quick, Will was almost unable to react. He heard running footsteps and as he stopped talking and turned to look, a man was already colliding with him at full force, his sword went flying from his hand and his other hand was ripped from Elizabeth's. They landed on the ground hard, knocking the wind out of Will and hitting his head hard enough that he saw stars for a moment. Elizabeth screamed, Will and the man wrestled and several more men came running. He belatedly realized they were Saradon's men.

"Run!" Will shouted and managed to twist and jam his legs into his attacker's stomach, momentarily throwing him off. He leapt up and started running after Elizabeth as the rest of he soldiers closed the distance through the trees.

Their feet pounded across the ground and Will put all of his energy and adrenaline into making it to the fort. Even if they got close enough, they could scream for help.

They didn't get close enough.

He didn't know what had hit him, but he fell crashing to the ground as something hit him hard in the back. He glimpsed Elizabeth tumbling too and before he barely had a chance to roll over and try to recover, Saradon's men were on top of them. He was dragged to his feet by his collar, choking him and he got hit in the head a couple times as he struggled to get away. Elizabeth hollered for help and he could tell she was putting up a good fight too. The only thing that stopped him was when the cold barrel of a gun was pressed sharply into the side of his neck. Soldiers not holding him worked to roughly bind Will's hands behind his back.

"It's over." said Saradon's voice in his ear. Saradon slowly moved into view and removed the gun from Will's neck but still kept it aimed at Will.

"You bast-"

"Tut, tut. Language." Saradon paused and gestured to where several of his soldiers had gagged Elizabeth and were working on binding her hands. "I told you I would not be leaving here empty-handed."

"You still think you'll get away from this? You realize the fort is right there and that they know what you're up to?" said Will. "How do you expect to get out of the harbor?"

"Trust me," Saradon stared at Will with eyes that gleamed coldly and dropped his voice. "We will get away with this. I will not fail this time."

A memory rose to the surface in Saradon's mind - "Drop... your... sword." - and he shoved it away immediately. That was last time. He was not that person any longer. He would not fail, he would not show fear...

It was a very short second, but Will saw it. There was a flash of something unreadable in Saradon's eyes. Fear? Uncertainty? Anger? He couldn't tell.

"This time?" Will said. Maybe if he could keep Saradon talking, he could figure out a plan in the meantime. "Why, do you do this often? A King like you, with all your charms and wealth can't keep a wife so you go around to other countries and steal them?"

Saradon came closer, wound up and struck Will hard across the face. "Don't be so cocky." he growled. "You know nothing of what you speak and I would therefore not say such things if I were you."

Blinking against the pain radiating across his skin and in his head, Will glared. "I have no fear of you."

Saradon narrowed his eyes. "You will." He raised the gun in his hand and aimed it at Will's head.

Elizabeth was fighting as best she could to get away and screaming uselessly against her gag. Will wished he could say or do something to comfort her, to save her. As it was, he was about to die. He steeled himself for the shot as Saradon cocked the gun.

Suddenly there was shouting not far away and a flash of torches. People were running down from the fort in the direction of the forest and shouting. Saradon glanced their way.

"It seems we're out of time, blacksmith." He gestured to the men holding Elizabeth, who immediately lifted her struggling form off the ground and did their best to run and hold onto her at the same time. "So long."

He pulled the trigger.

Click. Nothing happened. Saradon pulled the trigger again. Click. Again. Click.... click...

"Garbage!" He snapped and tossed the gun away.

The voices and light from the men coming from the fort was rapidly getting louder and closer.

To his own men, he ordered, "Dispose of him!" and hurried after the men carrying Elizabeth.

Will knew this was his chance and immediately started to fight his captors and call for help. All he managed was a sort of strangled yelp before he was kicked in the stomach, thrown to the ground, punched repeatedly across his body, yanked up by his collar and then clubbed on the back of the head especially hard.

After that, he felt nothing, heard nothing, saw nothing.

Just blackness.

A/n: Oh no! What's going to happen!? Is Will dead - or about to be?! Find out soon... Thanks for reading and reviews are immensely appreciated. :D