Disclaimer: I don't own POTC. Title is a quote by Marcus Aurelius.
Chapter 39: A man's worth is no greater than his ambitions
Will handed him the bags. "Yes, thank you. The inn is that way," he directed the boy.
"Are we staying at the same inn as the Navy?" Camille asked.
"Yes. We must at least pretend we are looking to rescue the Thatchers."
"I suppose so. I wonder what Norrington's role is in all of this is? He's been extremely helpful to us in figuring out the specifics of this."
Will nodded. "I suppose he wants to get back the dignity that Gillette stole from him."
"Yes, but there must be more to it than that. After all, he did sign on with a pirate ship. But anyhow, we need to get down to Aguadulce as fast as possible. And to do that, we have to either find a guide or the captain. And I don't think that the latter will be too possible."
"I agree. But let's talk of that later. Here we are," he said, as they came to the inn. The boy was still ahead of them, taking the bags ups to the rooms. He nodded to them and proceeded back downstairs.
That evening Camille found herself incredibly bored. Having the various luxuries of not being on a ship was always tolerable, but it was the people she could never stand. Women fanning themselves and making small talk, men being ever so polite even though they were constantly thinking about making love to all of those women…she would have been gone by now if it hadn't been for Will.
"So is everything accounted for?" Will asked.
"Yes, it is locked in my bedroom. And I've already looked over several maps, so our destination shouldn't be too far away. The only part that I'm not so sure about is the travel. It is through a jungle."
Will smiled. "Are you telling me that you're scared of traveling somewhere on dry land after all these years being at sea?"
"Well, it's just that I've only read about them in stories. And I've always heard that they are extremely dangerous."
"Camille, I doubt that there's going to be any kind of danger out there that you can't handle."
When she got back to her room, she paused at the top of the landing of the steps for a moment. There was clearly a light coming from beneath her door. She slipped her shoes off and tiptoed silently to the door. Peering through the doorknob, she could see Jack sitting in the room by the fire. He had his arm out in front of him, and was looking at the Mark.
She turned her key as quickly as she could, hoping that Jack would not hide anywhere while she did so. When she opened the door, she found him still sitting on the floor, staring into the fire.
She smiled at him. "Hello, Jack. You look so much better, and I'm quite relieved to see that."
"So now we're British again, eh Camille?" he grinned, getting to his feet.
She kissed him, and as she did he pressed something small into her hand. It was her ring. She put in on, sighing. "The small ring that's caused us so much trouble. Do you have a plan?"
"Always, love. With the map, you should have no trouble at all finding Aguadulce." He took a strand of her hair, even though it was tied up.
"Once we get there, do you know exactly where this place is?"
He shook his head. "No, but I have a feeling that something will come looking for us soon enough."
"Have you seen the rest?"
"Yes, they are still on the Pearl. I don't know why they never landed here, but they must've had a good reason. I need to get to my ship."
"So why is it so important that I go on to Aguadulce? I'm afraid that I don't understand."
Jack took her arm gently. "I want you to lift the curse from yourself. And we both know that you'll be more than safe with William."
Camille frowned. "Jack, what is going on between you? He wouldn't tell me a thing. There's obviously something that you are disagreeing about that has to do with me."
"Well, it's quite obvious that he's worried about the impact I am having on you," Jack admitted, seeming a little upset.
"Your influence on me? As if I didn't have a say in the matter of becoming a pirate?" She rolled her eyes. "That does sound like something that William would say. But why is it such a tense subject now?"
"How should I know? I've only dragged you into a fatal encounter with this immortal soul-stealing pirate after he nearly killed us and we got away with this curse on our skin. Perhaps one of those was a trigger for him."
Camille laughed. "Do you think he's jealous, Jack?"
"Jealous? Of us? Doubtful."
"Think about it. Elizabeth died, remember? He's got to bear seeing her face every time he looks at Cadence. Not to mention that he almost did sleep with me."
Jack rolled his eyes. "What does that possibly have to do with jealousy?"
"He does harbor some extremely tender feelings for me."
"He does not."
She laughed again. "All right, I'll be serious. But I still don't understand why he is being so protective of me."
"Well, I suppose he dreads the thought of anything happening to you, such as I do. Only I know that keeping you chained down is the worst thing to do to a woman like you."
She smiled. "Good. I'm glad you've learned that lesson already. But I still think that I should go with you to the Pearl. What if something has happened?"
"Then at least I'll have you to get me out of it."
She nodded. "All right, Jack." She kissed him before he slipped back out the window. She watched him blend in with the people below as she shut the window. Sensing a presence on the other side of the door, she crept next to it and could see the shadow of someone standing behind it. Her heart jumped into her throat. Had somebody heard about the ring? How long had they been standing there? She took out her pistol, taking a deep, but silent breath, and yanked the door open.
The presence was gone. There was no one at either end of the hallway as Camille looked to the left and then to the right. "Hmm," she said to herself, tiptoeing outside and shutting the door loudly. But still no one appeared. She thought for sure that trick would have worked and the spy would have accidentally revealed himself.
She went back into her room, feeling uneasy. Perhaps the person had only been passing by. Either way, she should have been more careful about what she said in a place like this where the wrong ears could hear her.