Fire and Ice
"There's something to knowing the exact shape of the world, and one's place in it, don't you agree?" Beckett swung the elegantly wrought sword around, to point at the pathetic, shrunken figure before him. Behind him, an artist stood, carefully painting in the outline of a galleon upon the blue sea.
Governor Swann held out his manacled wrists imploringly, the wrists bloodied and swollen.
"I assure you this isn't necessary,"
"I had you brought here because I thought you'd be interested in the whereabouts of your daughter," Beckett continued, flicking the blade up to admire its sheen in the Caribbean sunlight.
"You have news of her?" Swann asked; hope stirring in the depths of his eyes. Beckett just watched him with a cruelly amused smirk. It was Mercer who eventually answered him.
"Most recently seen on the island of Tortuga and then left in the company of a known pirate, Jack Sparrow, and other fugitives from justice,"
"Justice? Hardly," Swann said derisively to himself, before he looked to Beckett, as he spoke again.
"Including the previous owner of this sword I believe," Beckett sheathed the sword, reverently placing it back into its casket. "Our ships are in pursuit. Justice will be dispensed by cannonade and cutlass, and all manner of remorseless pieces of metal. I personally find it distasteful to even contemplate the horror facing all those on board," and with that calculated last, Beckett glanced over his shoulder to Swann, watching and waiting for his reaction. Swann looked down, defeated. Beckett felt triumph well within him at the sight.
"What do you want from me?" he finally asked, wringing his hands.
"Your authority as governor, your influence in London, and your loyalty to the East India Trading Company," Beckett replied, turning and walking towards him slowly, arrogant and commanding. Swann smirked momentarily, when Beckett stopped a few paces away.
"To you, you mean," he said the statement a fact, not a question. Beckett's amused smirk only grew.
"Shall I remove these shackles?" he asked, walking closer, so Swann's eyes could not escape his. Swann looked down, and then sighed before he raised his wrists.
"Do what you can for my daughter,"
At a nod from Beckett, Mercer stepped forward to unlock his chains, and Swann rubbed the bloody welts on his wrists ruefully, sending Mercer a contemptuous glare. Beckett turned away, triumph and arrogance shining in his eyes.
"So you see, Mercer, every man had a price he will willingly accept. Even for what he hoped never to sell,"
Swann looked up, alarm raging in his eyes. Beckett sat behind his desk, crossing his booted legs, steepled his fingers and regarded Swann speculatively from his chair. Swann hesitated, and then walked forward.
"Now Governor Swann, we shall discuss how best to ensure your daughter's safety, according to our bargain,"
"I see no reason why you cannot simply return her to me, when you capture Sparrow and the others. I will take care of her," Swann said, confusion in the crease of his brows. Beckett smiled, contemplating his reaction to his next words.
"No, no Governor Swann. You may be able to restrain her until her companions' executions, but after? You will not be able to control her, yet alone salvage her reputation. Indeed, it is already blighted by her previous association with pirates; this latest will effectively destroy it, rip it into irreparable shreds. So I see only one option, within my power to help her,"
"Why do you care so much? She has nothing to do with your plans!" Swann exploded, walking forward threateningly. Beckett raised a brow, wagging his finger warningly, patronizingly.
"Ah ah ah, Governor. Be very careful. I may decide to go back on our bargain. As to why I am so concerned, you will soon realise why. As I see it, the only way to effectively contain, control and salvage Miss Swann and her reputation would be for her to become my wife,"
"You mean to marry her!" Swann asked incredulously. Beckett merely sighed impatiently, as though Swann's not taking anything in quick enough was beginning to annoy him.
"That is, I believe, what I just intimated to you. As my wife, Miss Swann will not only regain her reputation but also complete safety from retribution by the law. Really it is her only option, seeing as she failed to kill me a few weeks ago," Beckett explained, smirking at the memory of the spirited, fiery young woman he had met again, the night of her ruined wedding. Such a far cry from the innocent young miss he had encountered, and been charmed by, in Governor Swann's London hallway.
"She will never accept it, nor agree to it. She is too wilful for you to ever control, Lord Beckett," Swann told him, desperately searching for a way out of this predicament.
"Would you rather go back upon your bargain? Be thrown back into jail to await trial and execution, perhaps alongside your own daughter? It makes little difference to me,"
"When we made this deal, I was not aware that in agreeing to it, I would be effectively selling my own daughter off to you!" Swann gesticulated wildly.
"Calm yourself, Governor Swann. Elizabeth is a smart girl, I think when we do catch up with her, she will be quickly brought to see things my way," Beckett said soothingly, with a quirk of his eyebrow. "You would be in a better position to help her out of jail, than in one," he continued, driving in his spike a little more. It didn't really matter; he would get what he wanted eventually. After a few moments desperate thinking, Governor Swann hung his head and sighed dejectedly.
"Yes, I agree," he said quietly, not meeting Beckett's eyes. Beckett grinned, and relaxed back into his chair.
"Excellent," and with that he waved away his future father-in-law, and settled back to plan exactly how he would, when he caught up with Elizabeth, bring her around to his way of thinking. His grin turned predatorial at the thought.