Elizabeth stiffened and clutched her abdomen as a deep groan surfaced from her. She closed her eyes against the sudden wave of vertigo that was becoming more frequent in the recent days past. Her body screamed for nourishment, anything to pacify her ravenous hunger and fill the cavity that was her stomach. It demanded her attention every waking minute and sent her body reeling when denied. Elizabeth steadied herself using the iron bars that held her to the wretched prison. The hellish place which afforded no creature comforts. For far too long she was left starving, tired, and dirty in the grimy prison cell. She felt that she might have easily starved if not for her doting fathers bread which he smuggled past the guard when he could. There wasn't even a place to sleep, save for a thin wooden bench which was hardly suitable for sitting. Her suffering would end soon enough.
It had been near a fortnight since the doomed wedding, one week since William had informed Elizabeth that he was going to seek out Jack Sparrow and his compass in Tortuga. She surmised that Lord Beckett wanted the compass for the only thing it lead to; the cursed Aztec gold of Isla de Muerta. Who wouldn't want the riches of it's golden cavern's? And so now she had leverage against the cruel Lord. Elizabeth planned to tell him what she has seen of it, thus saving him from the fate far worse than death. Perhaps then she could reap her rewards in the sum of a letter of marque, saving herself. If she could, she would save the others too, but they were far from priority. Elizabeth found it difficult to feel guilt over this; she could only think of her father. She knew that Lord Beckett had promised both she and Will's freedom, but intuition told her not to put faith in this. Will was easily lead and easily lied to; Lord Beckett might have spotted this fault in him. And then there were the daunting signs of her deteriorating health; there was a chance that she might not be alive by the time Will came back. The only way she would feel secure was to take the matter into her own capable hands.
As per the plan which she had given thought for the past three nights, she would ask to speak to him when twilight fell unto Port Royal that night. That way if escape was necessary the town would be void of watchful eyes and ripe with dark corners to hide in. If escape was not warranted and she only sent back to her cell, well then it was an opportunity to charm or thieve her way into food and drink. It seemed worth the risk no matter how she looked at it. For the past two hours she had been watching and listening for Port Royal to quiet as the town retired to their homes. The time had come.
There was a guard donned in the red and white uniform, same as all the rest. She recognized him; he had been apart of James' crew that had come to her rescue. He sat not far from her cell every night from dusk to the early hours of the morning. Elizabeth did not know his name as he never cared to entertain her by conversation, but tonight she had to try. As per his usual routine, he sat upon an old wooden chair, leaned back far with only it's hind legs on the dirt floor with his nose in a book.
'Sir,' Elizabeth said in the most honeyed tone she could muster. 'Might I be so fortunate as to be told your name?' There was no answer, but the guard briefly glanced her way before turning his attentions back to his book. 'It is only that it seems we occupy so much of each others time, and yet we have not made each others acquaintance. My name is Elizabeth.'
The guard shifted uncomfortably in his chair. 'I am not to speak to you, 'mam. Strict orders.' He looked conflicted about his words. 'But-' he put the blue book onto his lap- 'if you must know, it's Private Murtogg.'
'It is a pleasure to meet you, Private Murtogg,' Elizabeth curtsied, a habit she felt would never be broken, no matter how long she was absent from polite society. 'And so now if ever we lack in amusement, as this place seems so easily prone to, we might speak. I promise I won't tell on you.'
Private Murtogg let a smile cross his boyish face.
'I do feel so sorry that you have been assigned to watch over me. How tedious a task,' she said, feeling confident that her charms had swayed her newest acquaintance. 'Not long ago, to my knowledge, a dog was kept here to spare soldiers from such uneventful work.'
'Yes, it's been a fortnight since it went missing,' Private Murtogg informed, letting his chair fall back into it's natural position on all four legs. 'Took the keys and two prisoners with him.' He stood and stretched with a sigh. 'You might know their names, from what I remember they were on the crew of the ship you were taken on this year last. Pintel and Ragetti, I think.'
Elizabeth did remember those two particular pirates; the blubbering idiots who chased her through her mansion and assisted in her capture by the now dead Captain Barbossa. She hadn't liked Pintel as much as she had liked Ragetti. They both seemed harmless, though. If only she had been arrested days before, then perhaps she could have made a hasty escape.
'Yes,' she nodded. This was her opportunity. 'Arrested at Isla de Muerta. I believe you were there as well. How gallant of you, to fight against such ghastly creatures.'
'Not as brave as you, milady,' he said with a smile.
Elizabeth smiled back and pushed a strand of hair away from her face absentmindedly. 'I don't feel so brave now,' she pushed herself from the iron bars and sat on the wooden bench. 'I'm scared. Worse, I feel secure in the hope that if I were to speak to Lord Beckett, I might be let free. Yet I am not allowed, despite the knowledge I possess that would be most useful to him.' She focused her sorrowful brown eyes on the soldier and hoped that she looked pitiful enough. 'And so I must await my death, unknowing when it may come. And it is not my death that I fear, but that my hapless father would be left on his own.'
'Might I inform Lord Beckett of your need to speak with him?' Private Murtogg offered with no hesitation. His brow was worried out of concern for her.
'Oh no, I couldn't trouble you so, sir,' a response spoke in such a way to elude him of her scheming.
Private Murtogg shook his head and smiled. 'No trouble at all, I could do for a stroll to the offices anyhow. Sitting for such lengthy times isn't good for one.'
'Thank you,' Elizabeth gushed. 'I will repay your kindness as soon as I am able.'
With a short nod from Private Murtogg, Elizabeth was left alone. Alone once more with only her thoughts to attend to. Anxiety brought her teeth onto her soft inner cheek as she worried at the odds of freedom.
The young woman wished to be no longer plagued with torment. No more expectations or regulations. No more taxing guilt about her choices. To be let out of the dark humid cell and her engagement to Will sundered, so that she may return to happy life with her father, as they had lived before. Where she would make decisions for her future, this time after long calculated thought to avoid further unpleasantry. Though Elizabeth was well aware of her part in any misfortune which she was made to suffer in life. It had all begun with that bloody necklace. If she had not been a thief, if she had simply left it with Will, she would have certainly avoided the imprisonment that tortured her at that moment. The cursed gold would have never called to Barbossa and his heathens, leaving Port Royal unharmed. She wouldn't have been taken. Neither Will nor James would have had to save her and so she wouldn't have admitted any feelings to Will and could have spared James the hurt. And she wouldn't have felt so compelled to assist in Jack's escape, who would have avoided capture if not for her in the first place. The only good that had come of it all was the adventure, which she earned to taste once more. Quite selfishly she would make all the same mistakes once more only to experience it again.
Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably on the hard bench and winced as an acute pain whipped through her frame, curtesy of her stiff back. With a slow breath of air, she tried to soothe the pained which held her whole body in a vice. It seemed that there wasn't a single part of her spared of pain. She thought of all she wouldn't give for a bath, warm meal, and suitable sleeping accommodations. The list wasn't very long. A hard bargain would have to be made to earn any one of these things, that is, if her information wasn't swaying enough and she were sent back to her cell.
Footsteps signaled the return of Private Murtogg, who was looking rather proud of himself. 'Miss Elizabeth, Lord Beckett will speak to you now. Come with me.'
