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Chapter 20
Silence swelled over the deck as he disappeared. A lonely, incomplete silence that merged with the bitter chill of the night surrounding Lily. She felt like she would melt into the wood beneath her now that he was gone.
Squeezing her tired eyes shut she drew her knees into her chest and rested her head in her arms. She knew she'd have to go back to her 'chamber' before the sun rose – which would be any minute – but she found herself unable to move.
He did care. That much was painfully clear. He cared for her. Otherwise surely he would not have reacted so strongly, and she could no longer fool herself into thinking she did not return those feelings.
Lily clenched her fists until her nails bit into her palms, the sharp pain making her shudder. The exact moment of realization she could not say; all she knew was that she was completely and irrevocably in love with a pirate.
The captain's son.
And with that one, simple, swift thought, her life became a whole lot more complicated.
-000-
The sun rose considerately slowly that day, shedding it's wheaty light on the ship and all its reluctant inhabitants. Samuel awoke to the varied groans and curses of his shipmates as the watchman shook them all awake. He himself didn't feel like he had slept at all so it was no major sacrifice for him to swing his leg out of his hammock and stand. In fact, he welcomed the change. There is only so much tossing and turning and thinking one can do without wishing for a change of scene, after all.
After a few deep breaths he began to get dressed, ignoring everything around him – his mind was once again playing through what had happened in the night.
What had almost happened.
He ground his teeth together as he pulled on his boots, fresh anger seeping into his mind. Surely he had enough to think about what with being in love with the enemy's daughter and all without worrying that she would do...that. He muttered darkly under his breath as he threw on his shirt and buckled his belt, glaring at anyone who stared at him longer than he deemed acceptable. Not once during the whole time he was dressing did he admit to himself that the real reason for his anger was fear: fear of what could have been, that she could have died. The fear of it was driving him mad, eating at him...but in his heart of hearts he knew.
He just wouldn't admit it.
Resolutely he started up the stairs only to be met with his father who looked less than happy.
"You're free from guard duty for a while boy, take this to the girls brother instead," Barbossa barked, pushing a hunk of bread and a tankard of musty water at Samuel.
Samuel blinked and opened his mouth to ask why but his father just growled and held out the items. Slowly Samuel took the bread and water from him but started after his father when the man turned and began to walk away.
"Wait! What's going on?" he asked, his piercing eyes searching the identical ones of his father.
"We're being followed," Barbossa snapped, "and I need answers." Seeing the look on his sons face as he realized what he meant the captain sneered: "don't worry yerself – I'll ask her nicely."
With that he turned and strode towards Lily's room, not knocking before he slammed the door open and went inside, leaving Samuel to stare.
This wasn't good.
He climbed the rest of the stairs and hesitated at the top, torn between doing as his father had ordered and going to help Lily. He decided on the former option, simply because he knew his father wouldn't relish him interrupting.
That and he didn't feel ready to see her again.
Not yet.
As he trudged towards Will's cell Samuel thought hard about his actual feelings towards Lily and realized they didn't make any sense. One minute he was angry with her, the next laughing with her, the next shouting at her, the next trusting her, always recognizing her beauty but not always her goodness, sometimes misjudging her, sometimes understanding her completely.
As he reached the cell he sighed; it was all too complicated.
It was this sigh that alerted Will to his presence and the young man sat up from where he had been lying, squinting at Samuel in the mild light.
"Your food and drink," Samuel grunted, his mood made considerably worse by just how much Will resembled his twin – the last person he wanted to be reminded of.
"Thank you," Will said slowly, wondering what could have happened to make his sisters guard so upset. "Is Lily alright?"
At Lily's name Samuel growled, shoving the bread and water through the bars. "Your sister's mad," he replied, plunging his hands into his pockets and scowling.
"I know," Will said, his voice light and even slightly amused, "it's what makes her charming."
"If you call jumping off the rigging into the freezing sea at dead of night charming then yes, it does," Samuel snapped, sarcasm dripping from his tone. He began to regret his hasty words, however, when Will's face became ashen and drawn with worry.
"What?" he demanded urgently, standing up shakily so his face was level with Samuel's, "what was she thinking? Is she okay?"
"I have no clue and yes, she's fine I assume," was Samuel's bad tempered reply but the worry remained etched into Will's face.
"But why would she do something like that?" Will said frantically, the mere thought of his twin putting herself in such danger tormenting him.
"To escape?" Samuel said like it was obvious, though in truth he'd spent all night asking himself the same thing. But Will, who knew her best, was adamant.
"No. She would have done it before – ages ago," he said confidently, "it will be something that happened recently."
After those words something clicked in his mind and he looked curiously at Samuel, wondering if...possibly it could have been something to do with Samuel. He had seen that she liked him, after all, and that he was probably in love with her.
The same thing was dawning on Samuel as Will thought it through; what if it had been because of him? Because she'd thought he was using her and had betrayed her?
"Did anything happen?" Will asked cautiously, "between the two of you?"
Images of Lily flashed through Samuel's head: her sitting cross-legged on the bed, how vulnerable she'd seemed and how angry when she accused him of making her care for him and betraying her, Lily in a white slip, about to jump, the moment when he'd thought she was dead.
He flinched but didn't speak and Will sighed. "I knew it," he muttered.
Samuel looked away, passing a hand through his hair. He couldn't seem to get any words out or look at the other young man – he looked too much like her. It was a reminder that maybe he only had himself to be angry at, maybe it had been his fault that Lily had...
"Do you need – anything?" he asked eventually with extreme difficulty, still looking anywhere but at Will.
Will raised his eyebrows, watching Samuel curiously. "Some paper and a quill wouldn't go amiss," he said slowly, still trying to figure out just how smitten the lad was.
From the looks of it, he was pretty smitten. Past the point of no return, in fact.
Samuel blinked, finally looking at Will. "Not...food or anything like that?" he clarified incredulously.
"Words are my sustenance and it is of them that I have been deprived," Will said honestly and Samuel nodded slowly.
"I'll see what I can do," he said gruffly, unused to such flowery talk.
"Thank you." Will leaned against the wall, still watching Samuel carefully and observing as the young man turned and walked quickly away.
"Curiouser and curiouser," Will said quietly with a small laugh, rubbing his tired eyes. He'd seen dozens of men – good and bad – fall for his sister but had never seen her fall in return.
Let alone jump.
-000-
The subject of Wills musings was sat on the chair that had always been Samuels, the father of whom had been staring at her menacingly for the last few minutes.
Eventually Lily broke. "What?" she snapped, irritation clear on her face.
Barbossa chuckled, walking round the back of her chair, deliberately making her uncomfortable because she could no longer see him. Lily shifted in her chair, repressing the urge to turn around.
"News is, we're being followed," Barbossa said, placing a hand on the back of her chair.
It was no accident that that hand held a loaded pistol.
Lily tensed, feeling the weapon brush against her shoulder.
"Oh?" she said, keeping her voice light.
"Aye, followed. And you know by whom," he growled.
Lily made herself keep staring forward, showing no outward emotion.
"I'm afraid I do not," she said truthfully. She knew who she wanted it to be. In fact there were several pleasing options: her father, her mother, the navy...
"Well maybe this'll jog yer memory." Quickly Barbossa produced a folded piece of parchment and dropped it in Lily's lap, walking round so he could see her reaction.
After a moments hesitation Lily unfolded it, smoothing out the creases as she saw a sketch of a flag.
Governor Hanley's flag, to be exact. She'd seen him fly it many times.
She stared blankly at the page for a few seconds and then it clicked.
Thomas.
