Author's Note: A shorter chapter here. Thanks everyone for reviewing and remember to keep them coming!

Chapter Seven: Aboard The Martyr

The floor was hard and cold and wet. Carmen was aching when she opened her eyes and found herself lying on the floor. Groaning, feeling unrefreshed, she pushed herself up with her hands, noticing that her wrists were red and raw from the rope. She and Mar were sitting in a cell in the brig. Mar was sitting opposite.

Mar wasn't the sort of girl to cry, but she certainly looked miserable, slumped against the bars, her grey eyes fixed on the wall. She looked at Carmen and gave a strange smile. "You look how I feel."

"We're moving," Carmen sighed. Moving away from Jack and safety...

"Yes. And I've discovered I get seasick." Mar's milky skin was indeed green. She reached up to move some of her hair out of her face with shaking fingers.

Carmen leaned back against the bars and closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"Is this something to do with you and Jack Sparrow? I'm guessing he's the man you miss," Mar said softly.

"I'm not sure." Carmen reached up to her chin and felt the dried blood there from her stinging lip. Mar was in this with her now. She deserved to know the truth. "I don't know how much of this you already know, but when I was eight, Jack's pirate ship attacked the royal fleet I was sailing on. Jack refused to hurt me, and he took me to Tortuga. I became a bar wench... I was called Lainey Poelle, and I had no recollection of Evaneta. But then Jack came back, and he kidnapped me. We... well, I don't know exactly, but he told me who I am."

Mar nodded. "Did you meet this Chiltingham?"

"No. But that red-headed man, Tobias Hawke, I met him. He kidnapped me from Jack and tried to marry me. Jack saved me, but not before Tobias had put a bullet in me." She touched her stomach and realised she wasn't sure if the bullet was still in there. She resolved to ask Jack about it next time she saw him... if she saw him. She shook her head. Of course she would see him. He would be coming after the Martyr.

"How come you and Jack are seperated?" Mar asked.

"We're different." Carmen's eyes were full of tears. She didn't even know where they had come from. "He said... he said... I'm a princess and he's a pirate..."

Mar crawled over to her as she began to cry softly and hugged her. "You never gave me an answer- do you love him?"

"I don't know." Carmen wiped tears from her eyes. "I saw him at the ball last night, that's why I came back early. He... he changed his appearance so he could see me. And... and I don't know what it means, but when I was with him I never wanted to leave. I wanted him to take me with him. Does that mean I love him?"

Mar didn't reply. "Sounds like you two need to sort things out."

They heard footsteps coming down into the brig; heeled boots. Carmen quickly dried her eyes as the woman named Pussy marched in. She was a truly gorgeous woman, but her face was cruel. She wore a black blouse, opened so low her full breasts were almost spilling out, and a flowing black skirt with a split up the side.

"Good morning," Carmen said. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Pussy tossed her black curls. Her smile showed she was unfazed by Carmen's attitude. "I came to introduce myself," she said softly. "I am Pussy Hawke."

"Related to the oh-so-charming Tobias, are we?" Carmen asked. She wondered if she'd picked up this strange streak from Jack.

"Quite," she responded. "I'm his sister. And you, you bitch, are here because you are responsible for the death of my lover. Because of you, Jack Sparrow ran him through."

"Oh, you mean the fat guy?" Carmen asked sweetly, remembering all too well the man who had nearly raped her. "Yes, it was a terrible shame. Cut down before he even had a chance to fight back."

Pussy growled, but Mar cut across her. "What does Chiltingham have to do with this?"

"He's a friend of mine," Pussy replied.

"So you're sleeping with him," Mar mused. She grinned.

Pussy tossed her curls again, her blue eyes dark with evil. She arched a perfectly plucked eyebrow and pointed at Mar. "You will die slowly, girl, if you do not watch your tongue. And you, Princess... I will enjoy watching your face as Jack Sparrow is killed before you, before you are killed."

"Jack is going to kill you," Carmen said calmly, and she believed it.

Pussy smirked. "Jack Sparrow is not as great as you seem to think." Her smirk widened. "I should know." Then she turned on her heel and left, leaving Carmen's face flushed. I should know... That could mean only one thing.

"We must be the bait," Mar sighed. "Mentally torture us whilst waiting for the Black Pearl to come for us." She sighed.

"I'm glad I've got you, at any rate," Carmen said quietly.

"You might not do for much longer." Mar was grim. "They don't actually need me."