A/N: I can't tell you all how much it meant to me that so many of you are still reading, despite the fact that I left you wondering for so long what might become of this story. I owe you all more than that and I apologize for the hiatus. I assure you that I am back now and do have every intention of finishing this story. Please remember that I promise this will pay off in the end for my Jack & Ana lovers. We are just going through a difficult time in the storyline right now to make them appreciate each other more in the future :o)
To all of you who left me reviews…I love you guys…thank you so much for letting me know you are still enjoying. You are my reward at the end of the day!
Chapter Forty-Five
She was two weeks out now and while the weather and the sea were being much more kind to her ship and crew this time around, her own body was rejecting anything and everything she offered it. She leaned over the rail of The Sea Wench and puked into the blue abyss for the third time on this particular morning as Starling cast an uneasy glance in her direction. She gave him a dirty look and he went on about his business, but he kept an eye turned in her general direction. He was concerned about her, as most of her crew was, and truth be told, they had every right to be. She had left Jack's side, who at the very least had offered them a sense of security, to sail off on her own during a time of the year when most captains refused to leave their harbor, with a smaller than normal crew and headed into an unfamiliar ocean. Had Jack's madness rubbed off on her? Now, she was sick and her crew was worried.
Looking through her telescope, she spied a small piece of land far off in the distance and decided it was finally time to unload some unnecessary cargo. She stepped below deck and into her cabin for a brief moment of solitude to prepare her for what was to come. There was a knock at her door and she heard Starling ask permission to enter.
"Come on in sailor," she replied.
Starling stepped through the door and shut it behind him. "Captain," he paused, "I have some concerns."
Anamaria scowled.
"I know you don't want to share your personal life with your crew, but I'm worried about you and I'm not the only one. You're sick all the time. What's going on with you?"
"I'll be fine. Mind your own business and I'll mind mine. Besides, we have other issues at hand."
Starling quirked an eyebrow at her.
"It's time to get rid of Braden. I want to bring him up here, see if we can get him to talk, play off each other and see if he'll give us any information."
"And if he does?"
"We'll let him off easy. Put him off on a small island where he can eventually barter passage off from natives or merchant traders," she suggested.
"And if he doesn't?" Starling asked.
Anamaria shrugged, "We drop him off on the nearest deserted island. Let him fend for himself."
"Well, let's get him up here and see how it goes," Starling stood and quickly made his way to the brig.
Braden did not look happy to see him. The young sailor's clothes were extremely grimy and he looked as if he had not slept in days. Starling grabbed him roughly by the shoulder.
"Come with me," he said, his voice deep and authoritative.
Braden did not put up a fight. He dropped his head, his hands were still shackled, and he simply allowed Starling to push him towards the captain's cabin.
Anamaria almost allowed herself to feel bad for him when Starling thrust him towards her. It was clear the poor boy had never found himself in such a state of distress as he did now. Anamaria fought to quickly control her emotions. This "poor boy" had threatened her and her captain and now, he deserved to be punished.
"Mr. Rivens," she began, "I believe you owe me an explanation."
"You'll get nothing from me," he spat out bitterly.
"To the contrary, I think you'll be prepared to give me quite a lot if you ever want to see civilization again," she added.
Braden scoffed.
Walking up behind him, Starling made for an impressive presence when he laid a hand across the young man's back. "I recommend you do what the captain wants. Elseways, she might ask me to let the cat out of the bag."
"Why were you spying on Jack Sparrow?" she asked, hearing his voice ring in her ears "Captain…it's Captain Jack Sparrow."
Braden met her eyes, "Why should I tell you?"
Anamaria gave a soft smile, "Because from the looks of it, I'm the one in charge of your future."
"He murdered my sister," Braden said, needing little convincing to talk.
Anamaria gave him a strange look, "Jack Sparrow killed your sister? Have you met Jack Sparrow? He has a hard enough time killing members of the East India Trading Company who are trying to kill him!" She let out a chuckle.
Braden stared at her darkly.
When he didn't respond, Anamaria confronted him again, "Do you really thing that Starling and I are going to believe Captain Sparrow killed your sister?"
Braden still stared on at her.
"I've heard enough Starling, make sail for the nearest island and let's drop off this useless cargo.
"He's not who you think he is," Braden said.
"Oh, now all of a sudden, you're willing to talk?" Anamaria asked. "Funny how that works, isn't it?" she mocked him. "Well, talk fast. I'm beginning to feel as if you're just wasting my time."
"Does the name Madelyn Prescott sound familiar to you?" he asked.
The last name was inconsequential. Anamaria only knew of one Madelyn in Jack's past. She remained silent, but her eyes gave her away.
"She was my sister and Jack is the reason that she's dead," he said, tension rising in his voice. "I take it you have heard her name before."
Starling tossed a confused look in his captain's direction.
"I thought you said your name was Rivens," Anamaria questioned.
"My real name is Benjamin Prescott," Braden revealed. "I was seven when my sister Madelyn was murdered. As I grew older, I watched her death tear my family to pieces and I swore to take revenge on the man who killed her. It took me a long time to find the man my father told me was responsible. I only knew his name, Jack Sparrow," he said with great distaste.
Anamaria let him continue, slightly intrigued by where he was going with his story.
"It took me a long time just to find out who he was. When I discovered he was accused of piracy, I joined the Navy. I thought of it as an honest career with a chance to track down the man I so desperately wanted to take revenge on. But working under a large machine with so many rules proved difficult. I saw Jack escape from near capture time and time again and our hands were tied. I dropped out, started planning things on my own. I was tired of having to follow the letter of the law, this way I could get even much quicker.
"Everyone knows that Sparrow's favorite haven is Tortuga. I sailed there with a merchant crew and tried to make connections. So, I found out who was on his crew, who was important to him, how I could really get inside. Bumping into you while you were looking to crew your new ship was a fluke!" he gave a slight laugh, "but it worked out better than anything I had actually planned!"
Anamaria frowned at him.
"So because your father gave you the name Jack Sparrow and told you he murdered your sister, you took his word? Knowing nothing about the man?" Anamaria asked.
"He's my father. He lost his daughter. Why would he lie to me?" Braden was confused.
"Jack Sparrow didn't kill your sister," Anamaria stated simply.
"How do you know that?" he asked, his brow wrinkling.
"Truth be told, your sister wasn't murdered. She killed herself," Anamaria paused. "But if you want someone to blame you might as well blame your father, he's more guilty than Sparrow for her death."
Braden jumped to his feet, "You take that back!"
Starling was on him before he could even fully stand. "Sit down Rivens," he issued firmly.
To Braden's regret he had no other choice than to sit under Starling's watchful eye. He was angry, but if he got violent he would only be locked back in the brig and dropped off on the next deserted island, which according to his captain, wasn't very far away. His best bet was to get them to listen to his story and make them feel sorry for him or at the very least, question their flawless Sparrow's integrity.
"Jack Sparrow killed my sister," he said firmly.
"You want to know the truth?" Anamaria asked. "Your sister was betrothed to Captain Jack Sparrow long before he was ever a Captain."
"That's a lie. Jack Sparrow was in love with her, but she didn't return the feelings. That's why he murdered her…because he couldn't have her."
Anamaria let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head. "You're wrong."
"I knew my sister," Braden stated.
"How well could you possibly have known her?" Anamaria asked. "You were seven years old when she died."
"I would remember if she had been in love with Jack Sparrow," he said calmly. "I would remember him being around. I would have known who he was, what he looked like."
"Would you?" Anamaria questioned. "Or would she have been too afraid of your father's reaction to show how she really felt about him."
Braden failed to respond.
"Your family was wealthy. Jack had nothing. Their relationship would have been frowned upon…strongly…by the whole town and definitely by your family."
"If she had loved him, my father would have accepted him."
Anamaria shook her head again. "No, he wouldn't have. He didn't! Your father lied to your sister. While Jack was off sailing to earn enough money to provide for your sister, he told her that Jack was killed in a storm. Devastated by her loss, she married another only to have Jack show up one day thinking she was still waiting for him. She couldn't stand the heartbreak of knowing she had given up on him, knowing she had betrayed him. When he left to go out to sea again, she hung herself from the pain."
Braden was growing angrier by the minute. "My sister did not kill herself."
"Hung herself from the rafters of your father's barn, didn't she?" Anamaria asked.
"Jack murdered her and left her there for my parents to find," Braden insisted.
"Let me ask you this," Anamaria said. "If your story were true, if Jack really had killed your sister, why would he lie to me?"
"Why would my father lie to me?" Braden asked harshly.
"Because he's a good man. He wanted to keep your sister's honor and dignity intact, despite the fact that she killed herself. He didn't want you to be angry with her, he wanted you to be angry with the man he felt destroyed your family. You see, in his eyes, he does see Jack as guilty because she fell in love with him, because she was too good for him and she deserved better."
Braden was silent, thinking the situation over.
"Why would Jack lie to me? We're pirates. We kill people for fun!" she laughed. "Why not add one more notch to his belt? Why openly admit to me that he loved her? That he wanted to marry her? That's not Jack at all. Love is a weakness to him."
"He loves you! Can't you see that?" Braden asked.
"What?!" Anamaria was genuinely surprised. "Not hardly."
"Of course he does," Braden insisted. "That's exactly why he would lie to you. He wants you to fall for him. He doesn't want you to know all the terrible things he's done."
"He can't hide the terrible things he's done from me," she said softly. "I've been there for most of them."
"He's lying about her," he stated simply.
"I know when Jack lies. Trust me, he wasn't when he told me about your sister," Anamaria said. "She's the only person he's ever loved. He wouldn't have hurt her."
"He loves you and look what he did to you!"
"Jack Sparrow does not love me!" she shouted. "If he did, we wouldn't be out here right now!"
The silence grew between them.
"I'm done," she said firmly. "Lock him back in the brig," she directed Starling.
"Captain please," Braden asked.
"No," she quickly left the room.
Starling and Braden could both see that she was bothered, but Starling took charge of the situation, grabbing Braden's arm hard and leading him to the brig. Braden was smart enough to know better than to open his mouth when Starling had a firm hold of him. He could have easily broken his arm as he twisted it behind the prisoner's back and pushed him out of the captain's cabin.
Once Starling had successfully locked Braden back in the brig, he went up on deck to try and locate Anamaria. Heading towards the ship's stern, he spotted her. Her gaze was focused far off on the horizon and he wondered what thoughts plagued her mind as he stepped up behind her.
"Captain," he said softly, so as not to surprise her, but she didn't hear him. He laid a hand on her shoulder and she spun to face him.
"Starling," she said surprised. "You scared me."
"I'm sorry Captain. Are you alright?"
She shook her head as if she was upset with herself, but responded, "Of course. I'm fine."
"You shouldn't have let him get to you like that," Starling started.
"I didn't let him get to me," she stated.
"Yes, you did," Starling said firmly. "The second he mentioned Sparrow being in love with you, you lost it. He was trying to get something, anything on you and you let him have it."
"It doesn't matter," Anamaria said. "That island over there," she said, nodding towards the small spit of land in the distance, "is the last thing he's ever going to see."
Starling sighed, "Are you sure that's what you want to do Captain?"
"Never been so sure of anything in my life," she said.
"And what if he gets off?"
"We've been sailing for two weeks. How many ships have you seen? No one is going to rescue him. He'll die there," she said. "A fate well deserved."
"You surprised me in there," Starling admitted. "I knew you and Captain Sparrow were close, but I didn't realize you knew that much about his past. He must have trusted you more than anyone had any idea. You must miss him terribly."
"Captain Sparrow and I were good friends. We relied on each other as a team and that brought us close together. I miss him, but our lives have changed. It was time for us to sail alone, without one another," her voice almost broke, but she kept it steady as she turned to maintain the helm.
"I see," Starling said. "So you weren't in love?"
"I would never use love to describe our relationship," Anamaria stated, turning and walking away.
She chided herself as she went. Too many mistakes in one day. She had let Braden get to her so easily. What was happening to her? Was she going soft without Jack? Never. She reassured herself that she would only grow firmer without him by her side telling her how to run her crew. First, she would hold to her plan of dropping Braden off on the nearest island. He would be the only person she had ever marooned, but that mattered not now, she was proving a point.
As for Starling, he had better learn to keep his mouth shut. He had outright asked her if she and Jack were in love and he should have known better. However, she was even angrier with herself. Although she had said no, her reactions had almost given away a dead yes, that not only was she foolish enough to love Jack, but that he definitely did not love her back.
Why had she betrayed her emotions so easily? Why couldn't she learn to be more like her former captain who never revealed any emotion ever? Oh yes, that was because Jack was actually lucky enough to truly have no emotions. From as far as she could see, he had lost all emotion when his teenage sweetheart Madelyn had died. Now the same girl was the cause of Anamaria's latest problems. It was like one huge circle.
Starling watched Anamaria walk to the helm and turn The Sea Wench directly towards the small island. He truly felt inside that she was making a mistake, but he knew he could never get her to listen to him now. She was angry and trying to mask emotions that she wished she had never revealed. If Braden truly were to perish on the island then perhaps she would have made the right decision, but more likely than not, Braden would could back to haunt them at some point in the future. Starling had sailed with enough pirate crews to know that.
Starling contemplated a way to get Anamaria to listen to him, but came up with nothing and before he knew it, the tiny island was off their port side.
"Starling, bring the prisoner," Captain Saldana shouted.
He did as he was told, retrieving Braden from the hold and bringing him up on deck. Anamaria was kind enough to provide the scallywag a pistol bearing a single shot, which was customary for the situation. Surprisingly, Braden did not fight the decision being made, which only led Starling to further question whether or not they were doing the right thing. It didn't matter now though, Anamaria's mind was set. There was no going back on marooning the young man.
The island was indescribably small. There was little vegetation and if a passing ship didn't pick him up, he would have mere weeks to live. Starling felt a fleeting pity for Braden and wondered if his captain would have any regrets. Judging from the look on her face now, he doubted it. Her brief time at the helm had allowed her to regain her composure. Any emotion that may have been revealed before was gone now. She was pure pirate captain, punishing her prisoner for betrayal as she saw fit.
Starling was sure Braden had simply resigned himself to his fate as he put up no fight when he and Heladio loaded him into the rowboat and began rowing to the little island.
"Enjoy your reign over the locals," the captain shouted as the rowboat made way for the island.
Braden shot her a smug smile and Starling cocked his pistol. It didn't take long for Heladio to row close enough to the island for them to boot Braden out of the rowboat and force him to swim to shore. Starling felt uneasy and never took his pistol off the man as Heladio quickly rowed them back to The Sea Wench.
Upon boarding the ship, Starling spotted Anamaria watching Braden through her telescope from the helm. He started to approach her, but decided against, instead turning towards his cabin. It had been a long day and he wanted to rest now. There would be time to speak to his captain in the morning.