Chapter 2
Nightmares
"Yer the Cap'n Jack Sparrow?" Said the strumpet on his lap.
"Right o," Jack said with a smirk that wasn't quite faked.
"Then I'm all yers Cap'n," she whispered as she leaned down for a kiss. Jack abruptly stood up, dropping the girl to the floor with an audible thud, and swayed out of the tavern he had been in, ignoring the strumpet's indignant howls that followed in his wake.
"It's nuthin, I jus wasn't in the mood fer a whore's all," he mumbled to himself as he made his way quickly, if unsteadily, to the Black Pearl. He was beginning to believe this when the group of six rather large men came out of an alleyway and began to circle him. He was so surprised he hadn't noticed them that his jaw dropped open before he could stop it. Normally his guard would have been up from the moment he had entered Tortuga, but this time he had been so busy thinking, or rather trying not to think, about Saihrena that he hadn't even realized he was being followed.
"Look boys, it's Sparrow returned te life. And here we was ready te fergive the debt ye owed us," the largest of the men said, stepping forward and wielding a wicked looking scythe. Jack looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before recognition hit.
"Ah, Roger mate, how ye been?" He said, trying to gain control over the situation; he owed them quite a large debt.
"I've been pinning fer me ship that ye stole from me, with me intended aboard," he growled.
"I may 'ave stolen yer ship, but the lovely Mary gave 'erself willingly, isn't me fault she wanted a real man."
Roger lunged as Jack pulled his cutlass from its sheath. He dodged the scythe, but nearly skewered himself on one of the other men's blade as he dodged. Jack smacked Roger over the head with the handle of his cutlass, then broke free from the circle and ran. Jack didn't like to run from fights but against six he didn't have much of a choice. He was close to the Pearl, which was lucky for him because as he came into sight and called for all hands on deck the six men caught up with him. Roger looked from Jack to his ship and back again for a minute.
"We'll be back fer ye Jack," he said, then turned and fled. Jack sped up the ramp and onto the Pearl where his men were assembled and waiting. He counted quickly and realized they were missing ten crewmen.
" 'alf a ye go ashore and find the rest o the crew, we leave in two hours. The rest ready the Pearl. Anyone not back in two hours time 'll be left, understood?" He barked. The crew answered with a resounding,
"Yes sir." Jack nodded and went to his cabin where he locked himself in. He hated her for making him miss her, and he hated himself for not being able to hate her.
Saihrena was awakened roughly. "Wake up Princess, we got breakfast fer ye," one of the pirates said, pushing her roughly. She looked a warning at the man, and caught her breath. For a minute there she had thought he was Jack, but no, it was the man who could only be his brother.
Saihrena wondered why no one else had noticed the resemblance between the two; Morgead had spent quite a bit of time in his company. It hit her suddenly, and so hard that she burst out laughing. The other two pirates behind Jack's brother looked at her as if she had lost her mind, and she just laughed harder as Jack's brother looked at her with mirth in his eyes. The reason Morgead couldn't see the resemblance was because he remembered Jack being pampered and groomed, he hardly looked the same when he was a mess; neither did his brother. She calmed down after another minute, but until they left her eyes sparkled with merriment at the joke.
The days passed in a blur, all mixing together to form one horridly monotonous day in her mind. She slept through most of it, sometimes being woken abruptly by one of the pirates, other times being woken by the sense that someone was looking at her. Those were always the worst because invariably Morgead was there waiting. He made no move to touch her or force her to do anything she didn't want to do, and she had the feeling he was waiting for something.
Sometimes she ate, sometimes she was allowed up on deck, but always she thought of Jack and how, as long as they were at sea, he would come for her. The problem was he wasn't here yet. Her thoughts kept circling this way, the Pearl was the fastest ship in the Caribbean, possibly even the world. It was most definitely faster than the shi she currently sailed upon, why wasn't he here yet.
The questioned was answered one day when she surreptitiously let it slip that Jack would save her.
"Jack Sparrow is an incompetent fool who at this very moment is drinking himself stupid in Tortuga and sleeping with anything that moves," Morgead said, laughing.
"You see we left a letter and that disgusting necklace telling him you were leaving him, and he took the bait," Raul finished. Saihrena had to restrain herself from trying to kill him again; she didn't think she would survive the third time. She had simply gone back into her cell and cried herself to sleep.
Before long they reached Spain, Saihrena had calculated about six weeks time. When they reached Port Saihrena was chained like a criminal and her head was covered. She was then throne into a covered carriage and the hood was removed. The carriage drove them along quickly, and she found herself at the home of her childhood, the castle where Raul now ruled instead of her father. There was no feeling of homecoming as she entered the grand hall, no welcome of parents or brother; instead there was the feeling of ice moving up her spine.
"Take her to her room," Raul ordered as they entered, and she found herself being swept up the stairs into, of all things, the room she had owned as a child. Everything was the same as she had left it, how many years ago, six, seven, possibly more. The bed was the same, as were the few toys from childhood she hadn't gotten around to having disposed of. It was the life she had left when she was kidnapped by pirates, and it looked as if it had been waiting for her return.
She found a sense of longing for times of old, of running down the staircase into the throne room and into her fathers waiting arms, of going out for a ride with her brothers, of having a family. Without warning a woman burst into her room and began bustling around the closet without even a word of good day.
"Excuse me, what are you doing?" Saihrena asked, and the woman turned to her in surprise.
"Why I'm airing out your wardrobe Princess Saihrena, just as the King has ordered. The ball is tomorrow night and he needs to know if you have anything decent to wear."
"What ball?" She whispered in horror, though she feared she already knew.
"Why the ball to announce your return of course," the woman said, turning back to the closet. Saihrena breathed a sigh of relief. "And your engagement to King Morgead," the woman finished. Saihrena ran to the bathroom, she didn't make it and vomit flew over the elegant Persian rug. It seemed her nightmares had become reality after all.
Again another short chapter, but it's up much quicker than I had anticipated. Again, don't get too used to it. Thanks to all those that have reviewed so far, and so fast, especially Manson. I put it up and not 2 minutes later there was a review! Anyway, keep reviewing and I'll keep writing. Thanks!
