Book Two - Chapter Nine: Unexpected Negotiations

The next morning the crew held a memorial service for their fallen comrades. The service, however, was met by cannon fire. Two shots were fired. One graced right over the deck and into the water. The second landed on the deck and fell through to the crew's quarters. The captain called all the men to arms, sending them to man the cannons.

The ship they faced was smaller than their own but it had the speed and manoeuvrability that the Roving Maid lacked. It was decisively distinguishable as the Sirin. The two shots were determined to be no more than a warning. The Sirin neared the Roving Maid and Captain Darius stood atop his deck rail to speak to Caribbean crew.

"My friends!" Captain Darius called across. "My apologies for the intrusion. I wish congratulate you on your success! Did I not promise you so much gold?"

"Aye," Captain Jack Sparrow replied. "What do you want from us now?"

Darius began to laugh, and in turn the rest of the crew behind him began to laugh heartily.

"My poor dear Jack Sparrow. Why come to such conclusions? Are we not friends? I want nothing from you," he said. "I just want what is mine. My gold, my chest," he said making a casual list, "oh, and the girl."

His crew laughed behind him.

"And if we refuse?"

"It was not a negotiation, my dear fellow," Darius answered. "If you will not make this easy, then you will simply have to die, my friend."

"Well that's just silly," Jack said in a remarkably calm manner. "You blow up this ship and you've bloody well lost everything, now haven't you? There's no need to make this more painful than it need be. We're both civilized men, here. I call you to parley!"

"Parley?" Darius repeated.

"Aye, parley. You owe as much respect to the pirate code as I. Your piece of eight binds you to it," Captain Jack Sparrow said.

"Fine! Speak then!" Captain Darius called out in frustration.

"Not here," Jack said, he pointed to a small land mass, "man to man, there!"

"On land?"

"Aye. No arms, just parley," Jack confirmed.

"Fine. But you bring the chest. And the girl!" Captain Darius shouted back.

Having agreed on the meeting point, both ships closed in on the pitiful island. Jack ensured that his ship remained a fair distance from the Sirin. The whole of his crew were in a hubbub about what was to take place. No one wanted to give up the smallest portion of his gold, and no one thought it right to allow Amelia to be carted off like a common petty trinket. However, no one, other than the captain himself, saw the value in the simple chest that Captain Darius demanded to have. Jack did not explain his plan, nor did he allude to having one. He simply chose his attendant, as the code of parley permitted him to have, and told the rest of the crew to be on stand by to man the broadside should something foul be afoot. They were instructed to fire mercilessly at the Caspian ship.

"Amelia," he called, trying not to sound distressed, "ready yourself however you feel you must."

"Jack, you won't make me go with him," Amelia pleaded calmly.

"Nothing is for certain. We'll see how the parley goes," he said.

Barbossa was very upset by the whole ordeal. He cursed the Caspian captain and his crew. He swore death unto anyone who would dare to harm his only daughter.

Amelia went to her cabin. She was determined that if she must be treated so impersonally she would not give rise to any notion that she was beneath proper etiquette and treatment. She put on her gown and pinned up her hair as she used to do everyday back in London. Her face was clean and she had no trace of piracy on her. She did, however, put on her gold teardrop necklace, that would be the only item that she would take with her. When she exited her cabin, those who saw her stood amazed. It was quite surprising how quickly they all had forgotten how elegant she really was. There she stood now, a real lady, with none of the childish features that were so much apart of her when she first came to the ship. Nonetheless, the sea was still in her eyes, the waves in her hair, and a longing for freedom in her soul, but this time, there was more than one man who noticed it. Captain Jack Sparrow gazed upon the young woman, as though he were trying to memorize each feature in case he should never have another chance.

"Bootstrap," the captain called to attention, "you'll accompany Ms. Amelia to the parley."

Bootstrap acknowledged his order and agreed to follow it out.

Barbossa protested, "Captain, what reason should I not accompany me own daughter?"

"Too personal, mate," the captain replied. "If Amelia must be part of the negotiation then I can't risk having you do something rash. Bootstrap will be indifferent, he'll follow my word. If all goes as planned then they'll be no worry about getting your daughter back onto this ship safely. No harm will come to her. You have my word."

Barbossa was not happy with the answer but he could not question his captain further. As Bootstrap was crossing over the rail into the boat, Barbossa went to his daughter and embraced her tightly.

"Don't you forget what I told ya 'bout dealin' with that captain," Barbossa said in his fatherly way. "Keep yourself smart and safe. Don't trust these ones to be lookin' out for ya."

"I know, Papa," she said displaying her feminine courage.

With that he took her arm and helped her as she climbed over the deck rail and into Bootstrap Bill Turner's care. Jack and his attendant followed with the chest. Once the four of them were seated, the other crew members lowered the boat onto the sea below. The row over to the island was done entirely in silence.

They arrived before Captain Darius, but his boat was nearly ashore. Darius arrived with two attendants, one for himself and the other for the girl who would soon be accompanying him.

Darius approached the Caribbean crew with a large grin on his face.

"The chest. The girl. You are very accommodating Mr. Sparrow," he said.

"The terms," Jack said, "I propose to be as follows: you can take the chest and all of its contents. I have not yet opened it and everything should be as it was found." He signalled his attendant to take the chest forward, placed right in front of where Captain Darius and his men were standing. "Then we all go on our merry way and forget that this whole thing ever happened."

"Ah, but you see, Jack, it is simply not enough. I will take the chest, yes? And I will take the girl which you have brought out for me so nicely. You will then ferry at least one thousand pounds in gold to my ship, else I will have no choice but to see you and your men sink to Davy Jones' locker."

In any other circumstance the terms would have seemed quite reasonable. There would still be much more gold left aboard the Roving Maid to appease the crew, but Jack could not account for Amelia in this trade. He could not bring himself to make the agreement as is, though he knew that he had to in order to save many more lives.

"I can agree to your terms, but on one condition," Captain Jack Sparrow said. Everyone listened attentively. "You must swear that the girl will not be harmed in any way, that you and your men will be civil and respectful of her at all costs, and that she should have no reason for fear or distress while in your care."

Darius put his hand over his heart and said, "I swear to it on my life as a captain, and as a pirate." He signalled one of his attendants to retrieve the chest and then extended his arm, beckoning for the girl to come to him.

Jack took Amelia by the arm and led her in front of him, making her walk towards Darius on her own. She walked firmly and when she was face to face with the man who would be her new captain, she could only finish his vow by saying, "and as a man deeply affected?"

Captain Darius laughed and said, "But of course," as though it were very much an afterthought. Then he made a motion to kiss her but Amelia turned her face away. He laughed again and then took hold of her chin, pinching her jaw, and forced a hard kiss on her lips. Amelia pulled away as soon as she was able. The captain laughed again, joined by his crew. Amelia, in distain for him and the humiliation she was enduring spat in his eye. The laughing stopped. There was no more reason to linger. Fiercely, Darius grabbed the girl by the arms, brought her close to him and then lifted her up over his shoulder to be carried to the boat, while his men walked in front with the chest in hand.

On the same signal, Captain Jack Sparrow and his men each pulled out their pistols which they had hidden inside of their shirts until now. A shot was fired, hitting Captain Darius, causing him to let go of the girl and to fall to his knees. The thing was, however, that the shot did not come from any of the three men's pistols. Amelia stood tall, with a smoking gun in her hand which she had managed to smuggle out of her garment - just as her father had instructed.

Darius' attendants turned and were about to reach for their own weapons when the three men cocked their guns simultaneously, aiming right at them.

"I wouldn't make any sudden movements if I were you," Jack threatened the men. Then, without even looking at her or the dead body, he said, "Amelia, check him. There should be a wooden figure draped around his neck, about the size of the palm of your hand."

Amelia obeyed her captain and knelt down at the body. She felt around his neck and found a string. Attached to the string was, as Jack had said, a wooden figure in the shape of the Sirin's figurehead. Although it looked like bulky wood, it was quite light in weight. As she went to remove it from the dead captain, one of his attendants openly protested.

"Hey! You have no right to it!" the man shouted. "As the first mate, all that the captain has goes to me!"

"Aye, my friend," Jack said calmly. "As the first mate you are entitled to full possession of the ship and all that's on it. A piece of eight cannot be passed down so superficially. Unless he presented it to you, you have no right over it, you'd not be recognized as a pirate lord, and a piece of eight is no good without the lord to accompany it. She made the kill, she's entitled to it by the code."

"And what would be keeping me from just doing her in right now and taking it for myself?" he growled.

"Well, there're two problems with that. The first," Jack explained, "is that who's to prove that you didn't just kill the captain yourself? My understanding is that this fellow here was quite the popular man with his shipmates. See, it starts the crew questioning you, then you've lost all respect, next thing you know you've a mutiny on your hands. Nasty thing, that. Very messy."

"And the second?" the first mate asked.

"Well, you try to touch one hair on her pretty little head and I'll see to it that it's the last thing you ever do," Jack said severely, aiming his pistol right at the man's eyes.

"You lie!" the man screamed, pulling out his sword.

Amelia up and ran towards her side, hiding behind Bootstrap Bill Turner, while holding the figurehead in her hand. The pistols were still all pointed at the attendants.

"You have a choice to make now," Jack said, ignoring the first mate's last statement. "As the new captain, you can start off well with your crew. We'll ferry you the gold, as per our accord, and to prove that we are honourable pirates of the code, you may follow our ship's lead to the Brethren Court, where I will see to it personally that this matter is taken up with the master of the codex, and that the piece of eight does not go ill placed."

The first mate thought it over, and then he asked, "What's in this chest that's of so much interest?"

The captain answered him honestly, "Don't know, mate, haven't opened it yet."

"Feels too light to be very valuable," the first mate said. "How much gold you got up on that ship of yours?" he asked.

"More than a thousand pounds worth, if that's what you're wondering," the captain replied.

The first mate thought it over. "If you bring us two thousand pounds worth of your gold, you can keep your chest and your woman."

"I will have my men round up all they can for you," Jack promised him.

Both parties slowly backed away from one another, not trusting the other not to shoot someone in the back. The captain's attendant walked up ahead to their beached boat. Bootstrap walked alongside his watch. Captain Jack Sparrow was the last in line. When he had noted that the Caspian party had also started to turn towards their own boat, he felt capable of taking his eyes away from them. The captain quickened his pace to catch up with those in front of him. When Amelia was within an arm's reach, he extended his hand to her elbow. Amelia's attention was his.

"You alright?" he asked her with great concern. "Are you hurt at all?"

Amelia slowed her pace until she nearly came to a full halt. Bootstrap did not pay much attention, continuing walking ahead since it was clear that the captain was with her. Jack's pace, of course, remained in time with the young woman's.

"I think I'm more startled than injured," she replied honestly.

"Aye," the captain replied, "I don't much expect anyone thought you'd be the one to do it."

Amelia stopped walking altogether, she held out her hand to give her captain the figurehead that she still had. He closed her hand over it.

"You hang on to that for now."

"Was it wrong of me, Jack?" she asked. "I mean, given the circumstances."

"Amelia," he said looking into her eyes, "if you hadn't of shot the bugger, I would have. It's just – I mean… I'm surprised that you did it. First of all, you always spoke well of him - too well mind you, but well enough. Wasn't really expecting you to turn him away so suddenly, let alone shoot the lad." Amelia tried to speak in her own defence, but at the first few words the captain cut her off. "Secondly, I have no idea where you could have hid that pistol inside that bodice of yours."

"Who said that it was in the bodice?" she replied slyly.

"Well," he said with a smile, "wherever it was, you used it well. I could only imagine what would become of you if you had been taken away," he said, more seriously now, but still longingly, brining his hand to her cheek.

Bootstrap turned to see if the captain was still following him. He saw Jack Sparrow stopped with Amelia before him. They were no longer speaking, merely staring at one another. He turned his attention away, knowing for certain what had now taken hold of the captain.