A Line In The Sand
Chapter Six

Victoria had been listening intently to the conversation between Barbossa and Sao Feng and she caught the swift glance Feng shot at Elizabeth when Barbossa mentioned Calypso.

Calypso? She thought. Surely he doesn't believe in that nonsense? Surely he can't think it's Elizabeth?

But, when she looked at Elizabeth, who was giving Will a fierce glare, her chin jutting out, Victoria couldn't really blame him. If Sao Feng had to choose a sea goddess from the three women on board, it would not be the smirking witch or the pale, filthy girl dressed as a boy – it would be the golden skinned beauty. When Elizabeth agreed to go with him with a sharp comment to Will about being able to deal with pirates, Victoria knew that Sao Feng was positive she was Calypso. And for all Victoria knew, he could be right.

"You'd better take me too then," Victoria said and Sao Feng studied her hard.

"Why?"

"You can't expect her to go without a handmaiden, can you?"

"No," he replied slowly.

"Victoria," Will hissed. "Shut. Up. It's bad enough Elizabeth's going, I can't see you go as well."

His chains jingled as he tried to close his fingers round her arm, but she shook him off.

"You want her to be alone?"

"Then I should go -"

"No! You stay here, Will. You've done enough damage; see if you can't fix it. Now, do you intend to insult my lady by taking her without her handmaiden?" she extended her chained hands to Feng.

He glanced at Elizabeth who was clamped in Tai Hueng's hands. She had looked confused at the exchange between Will and Victoria and her mouth had opened slightly when Victoria called her "my lady," but it was the briefest of slips. By the time Sao Feng looked at her, she was standing upright, chin forward, surveying him with a cool gaze.

"Take her too," he snapped and Victoria heard the jangle of Will's chains as he reached uselessly for her.

"My lady?" Elizabeth muttered as they were helped into a longboat.

"Chin up, my lady," Victoria returned tightly, shooting a pointed glance at Sao Feng.

Being accepted as Elizabeth's handmaiden both amused and irritated Victoria. She helped Sao Feng's women dress Elizabeth before Sao Feng descended into his luxurious cabin.

"Take her to get dressed," he said to his women, his lip curling as he noted the dirt on her too-large clothes and the untidy plait no longer tucked up under her hat.

When the cannonballs hit, Victoria's hair had been unplaited and her shirt was halfway over her head. She snatched up her sword and pistol and ran out onto the deck, following Tai Hueng to the Captain's cabin.

She skidded in behind him in time to hear Elizabeth say, "He made me Captain." But before she could say anything, she was dragged from her place, leaning in the doorway of the cabin, out onto the deck. Tai Hueng and Elizabeth followed and were also seized.

"You are not my Captain," Tai Hueng snapped at Elizabeth.

"You're not my First Mate," she retorted. "Victoria, you've just been promoted."

When they were thrust before the Admiral, he noticed Elizabeth, in her elaborate get-up, first.

"Elizabeth!" he caught hold of her in a brief, euphoric hug.

He opened his eyes when Elizabeth was in his arms and noted Victoria. They darted back to her as he recognised his friend beneath the grime on her pale face and he felt a grin blossom across his face as he let Elizabeth go.

Victoria's eyes didn't widen and crinkle at the edges. That old adoring look had become one of pain and disappointment.

"Victoria?"

He gathered her in his arms and pulled her close. His head settled in the crook of her shoulder and he breathed deeply.

"Jones said you were dead."

She didn't stiffen or pull away; she just stood there until he let her go.

"He said you were all dead," James said, looking from one girl to the other. "Elizabeth, your father will be overjoyed."

"My father is dead," Elizabeth said and her tone was unnecessarily hard. That is, until Victoria realised that Elizabeth wasn't stating a fact – she was making an accusation.

"No. He returned to England."

But even as he said it, Victoria saw the uncertainty on his face.

"Did Beckett tell you that?"

"Now is not the time, Captain," Victoria said. "And I believe you ought to be sending us to the brig, Admiral."

As he gave his instructions, Victoria found Elizabeth's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. When James offered the Captain and her First Mate his quarters, Victoria let Elizabeth refuse and silently made to follow her. But James stopped her, his fingers sliding up her arm to take hold of her elbow.

"Please," she said. "Please don't touch me, James."

She said it as though in pain and he let her go slowly, his fingers sliding down the way they came. His bent index finger caressed her knuckles and he looked hard into her eyes.

"I didn't know. Victoria, I swear I didn't know about Governor Swann."

She shook her head and walked away from him to where Elizabeth stood, refusing to move. She slipped her arm around Victoria's shoulders, cast James a dark look, and finally allowed herself to be shunted towards the brig.

"Bootstrap?"

"Elizabeth, please…"

"Bill Turner?"

"Elizabeth."

"Bill Turner?"

"Elizabeth! Stop it! Now!"

"You know my name."

Victoria had leapt across the cell to grab Elizabeth. She dug her fingers hard into Elizabeth's arms and twisted her violently away from the bars. They froze, staring at each other when they heard the third voice and slowly looked at the man dragging himself out of the wall.

"Yes," Elizabeth said again, tearing herself out of Victoria's dumbfounded and suddenly lax grasp. "Yes. I know your son."

"William?"

"Yes. And this – this is his sister, Victoria. Your daughter," she gestured behind her, but Victoria was already taking a step back. Elizabeth grabbed her hand and pulled her closer.

Victoria would never forget those chilly blue eyes or the damp, rotting coldness of her father's hand on her face as it ghosted across her cheekbone.

"You look like your brother. Your brother, he's coming for me. He sent you to tell me, didn't he?"

"No. No, he didn't," Victoria shook her head, shrinking away from him. Her mother had said he was a handsome man, that her brother would grow to look like him. But Victoria could trace no semblance of Will in that lost face.

"He's trying," Elizabeth said, frowning at Victoria.

Victoria slunk back, horrified, as her father and Elizabeth talked. She memorised the details of his vaguely green face, the carbuncles, dripping starfish. Her father was retreating back into the wall and Victoria traced his outline and memorised the points where he became the wall. "I wouldn't pick me."

She was sliding down into a corner by the time he looked up and said "You know my name," again.

"Elizabeth," she sighed. "Leave him be. Please."

She stayed in that corner for what felt like hours, watching Elizabeth pace. She leant her head on her knees and didn't look up until she heard the scurry towards the front of the cell. She looked up then, her vision hazy and saw James Norrington standing there in the open doorway.

"Come with me. Quickly."

"What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked.

"Choosing a side," he said firmly, standing aside to let Elizabeth out. His hands tightened around the bars of the cell as he leaned forward, meeting Victoria's eyes to drive his point home. "Your side."