A/n: New chap! Tell me what you think... :D (Excuse typos n stuff - I had no time to read it over thoroughly... its like nearly midnight and I just got home from a moive - "Fever Pitch" with Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore; it was cute) And I'm doing the 30 Hour Famine right now (started at 1:00 pm), so lack of food and extreme amounts of juice could contribute to my braindead-ness... lol. Anyways, read it, let me know what you think. Gimme a review (pretty please?).

CHAPTER 7

Will grinned from ear to ear as Jack Sparrow helped him aboard the new and improved Black Pearl. The deck was spick and span, the sails billowing above his head in the wind.

Captain Jack patted Will on the back. "So, how ya bee, boy?" he said, also grinning.

Will pat Jack's back in return. "I wasn't so good until you showed up."

"Why? What's happening now?" Jack said seriously, and then turned on an amusing smile as he added, "Elisabeth giving you trouble?"

Will shook his head, but said, "In a way, I suppose." And without further hesitation, Will spilled the whole story to Jack, and evidently the crew who were standing by.

"So you need a ship, is that what you're saying, mate?" Jack crossed his arms over his overly tan chest, showing slightly through his mish-mash of pirate clothes.

Will nodded.

Anna Maria sidled over and set her hand on Jack's shoulder, who was looking thoughtful. "Well, Jack? He is your old mate. And it wouldn't be too out of the way, now would it?"

"Raaawww! Wind in the Sails! Wind the Sails!" Mr. Cotton's parrot cackled suddenly.

Anna Maria regarded the parrot briefly, and started to speak, the ends of her coming out from her red bandana tossing in the wind. "Even Cotton - "

Jack cut her off. "I wasn't thinking if we were going to take him! I was trying to figure out where he would sleep!"

The crew laughed, including Will, as relief washed over him. He'd known deep down his pirate friend would help him, but he'd still had the feeling pulsing through him a moment ago that he was going to have to find some other way.

"We just got here, though, mate, so we need to get some supplies before we set off." Jack said, and motioned over his shoulder for the crew to get busy, which they did immediately.

Gibbs called over his shoulder, "Good to see you Will!"

"You too, Gibbs!" Will waved at him, smiling.

In only a few hours time, he was going to be on his way to see Elisabeth. He only prayed he wasn't too late.

Elisabeth was jarred awake when the creaking and slamming of the ships doors and ramps became startling apparent. They were here. They were in Saradon's land.

Judging by the small amount of orange tinted light filtering through her tiny window, Elisabeth surmised it was either dawn or dusk, but most likely the latter. She donned the thin leather slippers laid out for her, but still refused to put on the dress. She would wear her nightgown and her robe, and that was that.

Earlier that day, they had moved her an ever so slightly more comfortable room in the ship. Truly, the only difference was the small window up near the ceiling. The rest looked exactly the same, including the dress over the ragged looking chair.

There were a series of thumps and bumps overhead as the crew unloaded, and she wondered when they would decide to come fetch her. And no sooner had that thought crossed her mind, she was startled by loud clanging of keys jostling outside her door. The door flung open, and a burly man stood there.

"We're here. Get a move on." he said gruffly, obviously in no mood for anything except getting of the ship.

Elisabeth said nothing and sullenly stood. She walked to the door, and the man clutched her arm. He jammed the keys back into his belt with the other hand, and began leading Elisabeth roughly out of the ships bowels.

She took no note of her surroundings - why bother? - until they had come off the ship, down the ramp, and she set foot on the shore. The man stopped walking and continued to hold her arm tightly in an inconspicuous way as Elisabeth took some time to look around.

They appeared to have docked in front of a small town. All over the buildings and homes hung long blue banners with some animal on them, colored in yellow. Straight ahead of the dock was an archway, apparently leading to a road, which in turn lead to the castle - she guessed. The shops and buildings on either side of the street were all plain, stone gray, with people bustling along the street going about their daily business, paying her no mind.

Beyond the town to the left, she could see a bridge in the distance, and then fields and a forest. It looked like a lovely country, and she would've liked to come some other time when she was not a captive or prisoner to a man she barely knew.

'Speaking of the wretch himself...' Elisabeth thought bitterly.

Saradon descended the ramp coming the ship in his annoying splendor of fine clothes, perfectly curled hair, perfectly tanned skin, and a perfectly fake smile fixed upon his face as the public caught site of their King coming back from a trip.

Elisabeth inwardly groaned as people crowded around, all wanting to get a better look at the King. She was eternally thankfully she was wearing a long thick robe, even if it was a pajama robe. She wouldn't have been able to bear it, standing in front of all these people in her nightgown.

'Although,' she half-smiled. 'You did stand in your undergarments on a plank in front of Will, Jack and a band of dirty pirates once.'

Suddenly Saradon was at her side, and her small memory induced smile vansihed immediately. She really wanted to punch Saradon and run. But where would she go? And there was no way she could outrun several of the King's Guards, especially the ones standing by on horseback.

"Good morning, good morning to you all!" Saradon said, his voice sickly friendly and fake. No one seemed to notice how fake he was being except Elisabeth.

The burly man had released Elisabeth's arm and moved away. Saradon grasped her hand firmly and shot her the smallest of glares, which clearly read,

'Say a word or move an inch and you are done.'

Elisabeth glared back at him, and moved a few inches away from him, just to spite him. He ignored her tiny attempt to make him angry, and continued to urge her forward through the gathered crowd, who fawned over Saradon.

Saradon kept his hand on hers, moving her closer to the carriage, exapling and announcing this fair maiden was his new fiancé from a land far away. She barely heard him spouting such things, because Elisabeth could only feel panic, helplessness, and anger. Panic, because she was about to climb into a carriage with Saradon which would take her deep into his castle, where she would be somehow be forced to marry him. Helplessness, because there was nothing for her to do except keeping hoping and praying with all her soul that her predicament would change for the better. And anger, because Saradon had this hold of panic and helplessness over her, and he knew it.

They were about a foot away from the carriage when someone thrust something into her right hand - the one not being held tightly in Saradon's grip. She glanced down at it, and saw it was a small circle of burlap, embroidered with a simple, single white flower. She glanced up to see who had given this to her and why, but had no idea which peasant or towns person it could have been.

She and Saradon stopped walking - he to smoothly coo to the people around him once more that day, her to look rapidly for the person who'd handed her the symbol.

A man with blonde hair pulled back except for a stray piece flipped over his eyes, gave her a tiny smile and a wink. Her first thought was that the man was some sort of bandit making eyes at her, because he wore a mask over the upper half of his face. But he wore no bandana to cover his head as other bandits did, so she wasn't sure.

He pointed to the symbol in her hand so fast she barely saw it. She glanced at the burlap in her hand, understanding that he'd given it to her, but having no clue why. Elisabeth looked back to where he'd been standing and nearly gasped out loud.

He was gone.

"Come along, pumpkin!" Saradon said loudly and again in that sickly sweet, overly fake voice. He grinned widely and ushered her to the door of the carriage where the footman helped her up and into the carriage. She stuffed the symbol in her pocket in a flash, not really sure what to do with it. Saradon climbed in after her, waving and grinning and cooing some more, before the footman shut the door and the carriage began moving.

Saradon kept the fake smile plastered on his face until the carriage's windows turned so no one could see him, which was when he promptly shut the curtains. He was about to say something, but Elisabeth beat him to it.

"Smiling so awfully all the time must make your cheeks tired." she said with a trace of humor.

His eyes narrowed. "You are going to make this difficult, aren't you?"

Elisabeth crossed her arms. "And why shouldn't I?"

He shook his head, and although she could tell he was angry, he did not retort. He leaned back in the seat. She wasn't sure he was going to say anything at all, when he finally spoke again.

"We can do this in an easy manner," his voice dropped low and dangerous as he added, "or the hard way."

Undeterred by his threat, Elisabeth shot back, "Oh, and what way was this? The ILLEGAL way, I would presume!"

Saradon clenched and unclenched his jaw. "No one can help you now. It does you no good to be wretched."

"No good? No one will help me? Want to test that theory out?" she said, and noted the twitch of worry across his face.

"What are you going to - " he started, but she cut him off.

"HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" she leaned out the window as she screamed. "I'M BEING KIDNAPPED - "

Saradon yanked her back in and slapped her hard across the face. It stung, but she didn't want to quit. What if someone would help her? She started screaming again, but only for a moment.

Saradon was quicker than her, and in seconds he'd knifed off a piece of the curtain and was jamming it in her open mouth. When she reached to yank it out, he'd grabbed her hands and was holding them on her own knees.

"You will be silent." he said, and there was no missing the fury in his eyes.

As Elisabeth choked on the gag in her mouth, she found it was the first time she was truly scared of Saradon. Something about the way he said that... it sent shivers down her spine, and she knew she would not being screaming anymore - at least not in this carriage.

He sensed her sudden fear, and eased off. "That's better." he said, his eyes still blazing.

She gently pulled the gag out of her mouth and dropped it on the floor. She said not another single word the entire rest of the trip.

A/n: So, how was it? Please oh please let me know...! Just no swearing please, and flames will be used to burn firewood.

Oh, more one little note thing. The symbol on the burlap: I don't have a specific meaning for it yet, so don't ask, lol. All will be explained (when I figure it out myself! lol!)

Also, for any of my fans out there reading my other stuff... I updated my "Behind Enemy Lines" fic, "The Other Victims", giving it its third and final chapter, and no one has reviewed the conclusion! Go now! Read! Review! (please:D)