Book Two - Chapter Six: Viola de Mano

As Amelia's performance had joined the two crews, Captain Jack Sparrow was being given information about what the Caspian crew's business was here in the Caribbean. They had mentioned defeating a great number of merchant ships and tracking down some notable pirate vessels. They had defeated one ship, the Wandering Eel, who was only half manned due to their failed raiding of a savage island kingdom. Supposedly they had managed to burn most of the island as they pushed off with what remained of their crew, but in doing so left behind mountains of gold. Greater than the gold, however, was the rumoured chest of Ewould, a Dutchman who supposedly sold his soul to find the golden temple of the heathen gods. What was in the chest exactly could not be said for certain, but those who believed said that it contained the device Ewould used to communicate with the devil. Of course, his supporters would argue that it was to receive the word of god, like the ark. Another fraction would declare it to be a device void of all Christian association, a heathen instrument to summon Charon of the river Styx. What ever lay in the chest was the cause of Ewould's discovery, though he would die in that golden temple.

This information inspired Jack in opposing ways. On one hand, the amount of times the word gold had been repeated and the context in which it was used created a lovely picture of wealth inside of the captain's head which he could not ignore. On the other hand, the captain could not forget where this information was coming from. The extent at which he could trust another pirate was always put into question. This occasion was no different. On top of that, the news he was receiving was still nothing but hearsay. He had never even heard of a ship called the Wandering Eel. Still, the sound of gold echoed very loudly in his ears. There would only be one way to be sure.

Captain Jack Sparrow approached Amelia that night, with her father close at hand, not trusting the captain's presence in their room so late at night. He disclosed his proposition without the least bit of reserve. Neither of his listeners seemed to be in agreement with his plan.

"You'll not be usin' me daughter as bait!" Barbossa protested.

"Not bait as such. He's been givin' her the eye anyways, why not use it? She'll naught have to do what she doesn't want to. There's no harm in asking," Jack justified.

"And if I do this and he answers me dishonestly?" Amelia asked.

"We're no worse off then, are we?" Jack said.

"And should he question my motives?" Amelia furthered her questioning.

"You're a clever girl. Do as you best judge," the captain replied.

There was no more reaction from either the father or the daughter. Jack felt that they must still need more convincing and so he kept emphasising the amount of gold involved and how much they could buy with it, or even the idea of cleaning out that rumoured golden temple and turning it into a nice summer home for the crew to share.

"I'll not be tellin' ya what to do," Barbossa said to his daughter with a sigh, "but, whatever ye decide, I trust ya to have a pistol close by."

The task was simple enough. Amelia had only to verify the location of Ewould's mysterious island with Captain Darius, whom Jack trusted to bestow such information to such a lovely creature as Ms. Amelia.

Amelia found the opportune moment on the following evening as Captain Darius was sitting alone along the beach, playing a small viola de mano by the light of a bonfire. It would seem improper for Amelia to just approach him by herself. Even if she was on a mission, she still had a sense of propriety to consider. Besides, if she ignored her sense of propriety for this moment, it would lessen her image of feminine virtue which Amelia had deemed her most appealing quality, else those around her would not be driven so wild by the thought of compromising that virtue.

She stood a moment at a distance listening to the tune he played. He did play beautifully. He saw her out of the corner of his eye and near the end of his current song he transitioned perfectly into a ballad he knew had melted the hearts of many women in his country. He sang with his song, though the words were not in a language that Amelia understood. Captain Darius leaned a little to his side so that he could be indirectly performing for the girl. The gesture did not escape Amelia's notice, and though she was very hesitant to do so, she did approach the captain. She stood several feet away from him and continued listening.

When he finished his song, he turned to her and asked, "Have you ever played the viola de mano?"

Amelia shook her head, "No, sir, I cannot say that I have."

Captain Darius waved his hand and said, "Come. I promise I do not bite."

Amelia looked about her before proceeding. She knelt down in the sand beside him.

"It's really quite simple," he said moving behind her with his instrument in hand. He placed the base on her lap and moved her hands one at a time to a proper starting place.

"You just strum lightly, like this," he said very warmly and directed her left hand across the strings. The sound was very plain. "Then, you adjust the sound up here, like the viola," he continued while directing her right hand to line up with the strings along the neck. He went through, pressing one of her fingers down gently at a time while still instructing her other hand. He watched everything from just above her shoulder and she could feel his breath on her neck. Amelia did not dare to look at him beyond his hands. The captain then begun to direct her hands into a slow pattern, it was the tune he had just performed, and he gently added his soft lyrics to the basic melody. He casually removed his left hand from hers, allowing her to strum independently. His hand did not move far, however. The captain gently placed his free hand on the young woman's waist. Amelia felt his hand there but could not think of how to respond while he was still at her shoulder singing to her. The captain's hand was quite comfortable where it rested and soon began to creep forwards along her ribcage. Amelia put a halt to everything and jolted away from him.

The captain felt his error and addressed it, "Forgive me, Ms, I am forever too forward, it is my nature, troublesome though it is."

"Forgive me, sir," Amelia said scrambling to her feet, "I should not be here."

"Please, stay a moment," the captain begged while he too was scrambling to his feet. "If we part like this I shall forever feel I have played the ass. I shall be restrained and civil. I swear on my honour as a captain, as a pirate, and as a man who finds himself deeply affected."

Amelia stood a moment, "Only one of those factors could possibly merit my forgiveness, sir," she said in all seriousness.

"Would it be too forward of me to ask which one, Ms?" he inquired.

"Much too forward, sir."

"Then I shall restrain my curiosity as best as a man can. But I must be honest Ms, you do intrigue me. It is not often that a man such as myself finds himself in the company of a woman who demands so much respect," he said.

"I demand nothing of you, sir, other than a civil conduct that would not compromise the good name given to every woman," she replied sternly.

"Again, I choose the wrong English words, forgive me. And again I am being too forward. I am but a humble man, inferior to the ways of women and above all such women as you who are ladies of the purest form. God's greatest creation stands before me and I find myself more and more unworthy of being in her presence with every word I speak. But surely you cannot blame me. I am after all only a pirate, and what pirate has ever been known for his genteel nature? No, I am very much my father, and I am not ashamed to say so. He was a good man and a faultless captain. He was feared and respected by those around him. He taught me many of his best commanding qualities, but being noble and being gentle were not among those lessons. Believe me when I say that I have no intention of offending you, and that at each moment I find myself doing so, my own soul seems to tear at me."

His words sounded sincere and Amelia did not like the idea of being so harsh on him.

"Your father, too, was a pirate?" she struggled to say, trying to change the subject.

Captain Darius took her response as a sign of forgiveness, showing that she was willing to stay and speak with him at least a little longer.

"Yes, as was his father," the captain replied. "I am the first to move permanently out of the Caspian Sea. It is my attempt to establish my own legacy."

"Permanently? But is not the lord of the Caspian Sea required to remain in the Caspian Sea?" Amelia asked. "At least, that was the impression that…Jack…gave."

"It is the region over which I hold the greatest amount of power amongst the brotherhood of pirates, but my freedom is limited there. We have no access to open ocean from that sea. It is a large enough sea, but I cannot confine myself while there is so much of the world out there waiting to be sailed."

"I understand," Amelia said, meaning that she knew exactly how he felt about being confined and yarning to be free.

"And how does a woman such as yourself come to the Caribbean? It is not the most hospitable place for one so delicate," Captain Darius inquired.

Amelia did not fully appreciate being thought so meek as being "delicate" seemed to suggest. She refuted his statement by saying, "Not quite so delicate as you might believe, Captain. I, too, call a pirate Father, and I have worked very hard to earn my place aboard his ship. Just because I'm not as vulgar as the next deck swabber, it does not make me delicate."

Captain Darius admired her spirit and gave a single hearty laugh, but did not find her at all intimidating.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Amelia snapped.

"Quite the contrary, Ms," the captain replied, "I have no reason to doubt you. I suppose I meet the idea torn in two. For one thing, it delights me to see a woman such as you try to take on such…independence. It is a rare thing indeed and does not often keep a woman very feminine. On the other hand, it is a great shame. You are still quite young, Ms, and there is still time for some such scoundrel to rob you of that virtue you praise so much."

"A scoundrel such as you were just a moment ago?" Amelia argued.

This caused the captain to laugh again and raise his arms crossed at the wrists, "Aye, Ms. Amelia, such as I am still, I confess it! You have caught me! But tell me, how does a pirate lady treat such a scoundrel as me? I could predict my fate if it were in the hands of a pirate - I believe I would barely survive the feat. And by the hands of a lady - well, as they say, hell hath no fury as a woman scorned - so I would assume the fiercest torture to eat away at my very soul. But you, Ms. Amelia, what shall you do with me now?"

"I," Amelia replied with mock authority, "have full reason to disclose your behaviour to my father and captain, and they should not find themselves so forgiving, as you have suggested is a pirate's nature. Plus, a woman scorned hath no fury as her pirate father who would lay his life for his daughter's honour. But, I think I could be persuaded to be merciful."

Captain Darius leaned in closer to her, "And how might I persuade you?"

"First," she said with the air of reciting a list, "you must swear to speak only truth to me."

"Have I not been truthful? I can think of no deception so far."

"I recall you recently mentioning something about restraining yourself," Amelia implied.

Darius smiled, and said cunningly, "Aye, I said I would try. Believe me, Ms. Amelia, I have been trying very hard. Upon my vow of speaking truth, I assure you, were I not so restrained at this very moment your virtue would be quite compromised, regardless of consequence."

"Second," Amelia continued her list. Captain Darius leaned in further to hear every syllable that she would utter. "You must disclose, in great detail," the captain leaned in further, "the whereabouts of Ewould's island."

Darius laughed, "I see my crew has been conversing with yours."

"Do you refuse?" Amelia asked.

He looked her in the eyes and said, "On my honour as a captain, a pirate, and as a man affected, I suppose I have no choice but to comply with your demands."

With that, the captain did proceed to give a very gradual yet detailed description. Amelia was quite surprised at how well this seemed to work, however she feared that she would be unable to recite all of these details later when it would be called from her. The captain even drew little diagrams on the sand to help with his explanations. When he had finally finished, Amelia felt the urge to get up and rush away to tell her father before the information would be lost from her memory. As she went to rise, Darius took hold of her arm, not harshly, but just enough to catch her attention.

"Ms. Amelia, you would not be so cruel to use a man such as that, now would you?" he asked very slyly.

Amelia knew not how to respond. It was obvious that he wanted something, but she did not have the heart to inquire, fearing that it would not be to her advantage.

Darius rose to his feet and gave her his hand to help her up as well. Then he continued, "You will go off and tell your captain all that I have told you. He will set sail in the morning and you along with your crew. I have no hope but to fade from your memory. But you should know, Ms. Amelia, that you shall not fade from mine. Now, I have done as you asked of me, and so it is only fair that I ask for something in return."

"What would you have of me?" Amelia asked quite hesitantly.

"I ask for a moment to be forward now," he said in a very beguiling way.

Amelia found her heart had stopped beating again. All her thoughts moved so quickly that she could not decipher a single one. Her mouth quivered as she tried to speak, but had no words to say. The lord of the Caspian Sea used his right had to stroke the young woman's cheek. He moved in closer. Amelia looked at his eyes, and saw that they were focused elsewhere, at her lips. He pressed his lips against hers softly and meaningfully. His left hand rose to support her right side, bringing her in closer to him. Amelia's eyes closed as she took in the kiss. She felt him start to drift away, but before his mouth was fully detached from hers, she instinctively pursued him, kissing him back. The kiss lingered on while he held her and she clung on tightly to the sleeves of his shirt.

When the kiss had finally given way, they stared at each others eyes. Amelia had no words to say and did not even notice that her heart had begun to beat again. He held her cheek once more and said, "You gave me a second chance, and I will not part a scoundrel again." He reached for her hand, and held it with both of his hands, feeling the smoothness of each finger. "I shall wish you a good night, Ms. Amelia, and if I do not see you in the morning, may you have fair winds on your voyage." He then lifted her hand and bowed to kiss it passionately. With that done, he left her to go back to her father.