Sorry it sucks...but when I finish the whole fic, I will go back and edit the ENTIRE thing.
Eleanore stayed on deck as long as she could, until the last golden strands of the sun setting were gone, for she dreaded the moment she had to join Lord Beckett in his chambers as he had requested her company for dinner. James had gone off to bed, complaining of a terrible headache. She knew that he felt guilty for what he'd done. Sighing, she decided to go in and face her fate. Squinting into the distance, she tried to see the black sails of the Pearl, but evening fog had rolled in and covered everything. Pulling her shawl around her shoulders, she crept to the door of her renewed fiancé's chambers, but stopped, hearing him talking to someone.
"Well, conveniently in two days time, before Ella and I are married, Governor Swann will be resigning from his title and consequently, I will be taking over for him." Cutler's voice came. Another officer's voice came with a chuckle.
"It does impress me, how you managed to forge his signature on those documents and convince him to retire. Lord knows...he wasn't going to do it on his own." Ella stifled a gasp by putting her hand over her mouth.
"Yes well, I was taught that if you want something, you have to take it and get it any way you can...that's what I did with Eleanore...and to think, she thought she could get out of it?" Both men laughed at the thought. "I always beat Sparrow..." Cutler said and clicked his glass with the other man's.
Desperately, Ella considered throwing herself to the mercy of the sea for a moment.
"Oh Jack, I am so sorry I'll never get to tell you...I think I've fallen in love with you..." Her thoughts were interrupted by a man clearing their throat. She swivelled about to face the man she'd come to loathe.
"Ah Ella...come in my dear...we do have much to discuss..." Beckett said, pulling her in by the arm and looking at her suspiciously.
Meticulously planning out his heading with Mr. Gibbs, Jack halfheartedly nodded his head at what Gibbs was saying, though he hadn't a clue. His eyes were fixated on the compass, ever lying open.
"Cap'n, what are ye lookin' at if ye don't my me askin'?" Gibbs asked and Jack's bejeweled finger pointed to his trinket, which had stopped spinning and was now ticking back and forth.
"What's it mean, Cap'n?" He asked suspiciously and Jack shrugged.
"Not so sure mate, but I think it's a sign that I should be drunk right now..."
"Not quite Jack Sparrow..." Tia Dalma was suddenly before them, her face grim.
"Now, how did you do that?" Jack asked, half impressed.
"Mah-gic..." She said with a grin. "You in trouble Jack..." He smiled vaguely.
"You're telling me, love. We're out of rum and my compass went all ticky and such." He said, remaining aloof.
"Precisely..." Tia Dalma replied solemnly, "It mean something, but I cahn't tell you what...you let 'er go, Jack...why?" Calmly, Jack turned to his first mate.
"Mr. Gibbs, could you be so kind as to give Tia Dalma and I a private moment?" Jack asked through gritted teeth. Sometimes, he wanted to strangle the woman.
"Aye sir." Gibbs said and left.
"Why Jack?" She asked again and he sighed in irritation.
"Tia Dalma, can you please just leave well enough alone?" He asked and she growled.
"No! You come too far jus' to lose like 'dis...after bein' rescued from limbo an' the belly of 'dat beast...you could beat 'dis! I work too hard to bring you back jus' for you to sell your soul to Hades." Jack snorted.
"Let's be practical, shall we? Why would any respectable girl want to throw away any semblance of normalcy to become the woman of a pirate? She'd never know if I was faithful, if I was dead or alive...no, I can't go back to that life of taking orders, of living under someone else's terms. I am not John Sparrow anymore."
"Yes you are...your soul is de same...and so are you...but et es time to compromise...and stop running..."
"Running from what?" He retorted and she smirked.
"Love?" Before he could protest, her hand went up to silence him as she said, "Dat compass stop spinning for a reason...think about it...someone had to confess aloud..." He shook his head and turned away but when he looked back at her she had disappeared again. Angrily, he threw his empty bottle of rum at the wall and put his hands over his face to think.
"Gibbs!" He called out in defeat, staring at the damned compass.
"Aye Cap'n?"
"Go get Lizzie and young William...and hurry will you? We have work to do...plans to make...confessions to make...bugger."
"The less you have to say to me, the better..." Ella said, sitting quickly on the settee in Beckett's chambers.
"Oh ho! Well? Someone has a bit of gaul after the horrid way she behaved this evening! But not to worry...I forgive you." He said casually. She glared at him.
"You...forgive me? You blackmailed me into marrying you...I'm not exactly grateful." Beckett chuckled.
"Oh Eleanore, you are so very stupid...did you think that Jack Sparrow would leave his life of piracy for you? I can give you the life you need...and you will do the same for me." Looking at her hands, she said bravely,
"I will do what I must...if it will end your need to ruin Jack Sparrow...or is it John?"
"Jack's crimes will catch up with him sooner or later, Eleanore, nothing you nor I do will change that. Those who commit crimes must be punished."
"They are your crimes he will pay for!" She said angrily and he grinned.
"You are rather pretty when you're angry, though I suppose I shall have to train you. A governor's wife cannot be a rebel, like the current governor's daughter." He said coldly.
"What do you mean, governor's wife?" She asked in a whisper. He poured himself a glass of brandy.
"Once Governor Swann resigns, I will be replacing him."
"Resigns? But I've never heard that..."
"How could he stay on Ella? After the things he's done, he'll be lucky to avoid the scandal."
"What things?" She asked in disbelief. Chuckling, he sat beside her as she cringed.
"Why, he authorized the transport of African slaves without any way to house them...think of the diseases they will spread..." He said carelessly. Suspicion clouded her mind.
"Governor Swann would never...you're a liar..." She said, her voice laced with venom.
"Oh don't flatter me...I simply cannot allow the scandal to engulf Port Royal...you understand..."
With another chuckle, she felt his arm come around her and she closed her eyes as the familiar sense of discomfort washed over her.
"You're a very beautiful girl Ella, any man in Port Royal would kill to have you as their wife, what with the lack of women and all...which is why I must have you...don't you see? I am Cutler Beckett, and I always have the best of everything." She tried to move away but there was no more room to go.
"You talk as though I am some prized horse." She said with disdain. He nodded.
"Very similar...of course, you will also be an excellent mother to my sons. Maybe if you're lucky, I will let you raise them in England and send them when they are of age."
He suddenly was so close his breath was on her ear.
"But then again no...I must have my wife close so as not to create suspicion. And you will play the part. You will look as though you are the happiest woman on this island because if you don't, there will be hell to pay, not only for you and your precious Jack, but for your brother as well. He isn't sure yet, but your sister-in-law is likely in a delicate condition and I would hate for her to miscarry and shame your family..." He said.
"You wouldn't, you...couldn't!" She said shaking her head.
"Oh, I could and I would...but you can prevent all that by being a good girl." He stopped for a moment to smile.
"You could even start tonight..." He said, touching her shoulder with his finger tips. She shriveled away from him and closed her eyes, praying. Voices in her mind screaming at her. Memories of that night with Samuel when her father had come in on them.
"No..." She whispered aloud. Beckett raised an eyebrow.
"What did you say?" He asked.
"Not tonight...I said I would marry you and I will...and that includes the rules that apply to marriage. I will not spread my legs for you tonight and if I had it my way, I never would." She was silenced by the crack of his hand across her face. As he began to come toward her again, the door opened and James stood there. In horror, Ella hid her face as best she could and ran past her brother and out of the man's chambers.
"I thought I heard fighting in here..." He said coldly, glaring at the man he now hated. Beckett rolled his eyes.
"None of this is any of your affair Admiral...good night."
"No. Not good night...I'll have you know anything having to do with Eleanore is my affair until she has married you...which I wouldn't have her do but she insists on it." Beckett rolled his eyes, bored.
"Admiral, don't you know that your audacity is grounds for dismissal from the Navy and your position again."
"Yes, Lord Beckett I do...but you won't dismiss me..." He said and Cutler looked at him.
"Oh wouldn't I?" He asked and James nodded.
"That's right...because I quit...I'd rather work for Hades himself than for you. Good night sir." With that, James walked out in search of his sister and left Lord Beckett to his brandy.