A/N- Ok! So this is where the story begins haha. Now- I wanted to just explain why I'm going to change the storyline a bit in regard to the curse of the Devil's Triangle. To cut a long story short, although I am indeed aware that Salazar and his crew were probably trapped for decades, I am reducing this time to about 9 years (meaning that Constance is now 28). Now I have genuinely thought long and hard about this and think it's the right decision so I hope people won't be too bothered by this change as I know that it will mess with timelines. Anyway, I'm hoping for the best and I hope that you guys can still enjoy the story. If anyone is particularly confused- please don't hesitate to private message me and I can try and help. So enjoy this chapter and I should upload soon!
Chapter 20
Constance laid on her bed which was decorated in an assortment of silk sheets and twirled a long lock of her pale blonde hair thoughtfully. She looked at the ceiling above and listened for any sounds from the rooms below. Her servants were all asleep as it was almost four in the morning and she didn't blame them being asleep. Most normal people were after all. With a sigh, she had stared at this ceiling for over two years of being in the house that was in London. It was a stark contrast to the house she had lived in with her parents but that all felt like a dream now. In fact everything of her younger years felt like a dream.
Slowly, she began to move and carefully pulled on some trousers from under her pillow which had seen better days. Next, she knelt onto the floor and quietly as possible, lifted the floorboard to reveal a small bundle of cloth. As though she was handling a baby, she unwrapped the cloth to reveal a white shirt and a silver dagger as well as a crumpled piece of newspaper that she quickly hid inside her sock. The dagger glistened in the light of the moon which had managed to creep into her room through the small hole in the curtains. She felt her hands shake as she touched the shirt and after throwing her nightgown off and shoving it on the bed, she allowed the white shirt to make contact with her skin and she felt a shiver run up her spine. It had been 9 years since she had worn the shirt and she was thankful that in that time her figure had relatively stayed the same, although her frame was slightly longer than before and her youthful child-like features had been replaced with a more mature appearance. Her hair however was still as pale which matched her completion.
She gave a small sigh as she placed the dagger into her sock, hoping that it would be safe. Constance was running out of time and knowing that she had better get a move on, she crept out of her room, silently cursing the wooden floorboards for being so loud as they groaned under her weight. Grimacing with each step she couldn't help but release a massive sigh of relief when she exited the house she had often regarded as her prison. Her escape from the house was not as hard as she had imagined and before long, she was scurrying down a number of alleyways, getting closer and closer to her destination.
As she was walking rather quickly and keeping her eyes open for any dodgy figures who lurked in the shadows, her mind went over what had brought her to her current situation.
When she had returned to England those 9 years ago, she had been able to play the victim quite well, as after all she was kidnapped by pirates. Like her Captain had promised she had been able to make her way back to England and she received a lot of attention concerning her little adventure. Her parents had been worried sick and she had tried to ease their minds by telling them of the handsome Spanish Captain who had protected her. Of course, the idea that she had been in male company for a period of time came with speculation from her family and she had to spend a few nights convincing them that the Captain was very gentlemanly to her. Her father had finally accepted it and even mentioned in passing that he would like to thank him personally for saving her. At the time, this had been a reality for Constance and she had told them of how he was coming to England and that they would get to meet them.
Yet there was also the situation of the man who had been courting her. The man who had wanted to marry her had not been there upon her arrival home and a week later she was given news that he had died out at sea. She had been slightly sorry for him as after all, she didn't wish death upon people. But with him gone, it meant that she was ultimately up for auction. For months, she managed to keep proposals of marriage at bay by pretending that she was ill, or that she was still traumatised by the events of her kidnapping. But as the months passed and she had little word from the Captain she loved, her attempts at stopping her marriage were dwindling. Her mother had become seriously ill and on her deathbed, she had told Constance to find happiness and that she hoped the Captain would meet her. She had not been expecting this since her mother had been a main player in marrying her off but she was happy that her mother obviously knew of her feelings. Soon after when her mother passed she had been devastated and her father actually allowed her to stay unmarried for a long time. But she was digressing.
It had been only a month later after her mother's passing when she had heard from her father that there was an interesting article in the newspaper regarding a Spanish naval ship which had gone missing. It was thought to have been destroyed in a rather obscure place and Constance had grabbed the newspaper from her father and fainted right there when her eyes glanced over a few of the officers who were on the ship. One of them was Captain Salazar.
For Constance, the idea that the man she loved so deeply had died was too much. For at least two years she grieved deeply and in a rather unfortunate way people were under the impression she was grieving her mother. And to some extent that was true as well. In less than a year she felt as though she had lost almost everything which was important to her.
Constance suddenly snapped out of her thoughts as she saw what she had been waiting for and taking out a small pouch of coins, she gave it to a rather lanky man who gestured for her to quickly get on board the large ship. It was being prepared to go out to sea and she had caught wind of it from her fiancé who had unwittingly divulged that the English navy had given a fleet of ships to an ex-pirate. It was a perfect opportunity and she refused to miss it.
As she snuck around the rather empty vessel which would be alive in only a few hours, she managed to find a small hiding space, glad that the English Royal Navy had spent so much on creating a ship with so many rooms. Once she had managed to get relatively comfortable, her thoughts returned to where she had left them.
For years she had not married and that was partially due to her father who had been one of her biggest defenders when it came to people wanting to take her away. But even that didn't last as she long her father as well and she found herself being engaged to an awful Captain of the Royal English Navy who happened to be a distant cousin. This engagement was a long affair, longer that it was meant to be and she was beyond happy that every time they were set to get married, fate came to her rescue her and sent him off on some sort of business trip for months. He did not love her in the slightest and she suspected it was mixture of greed and lust that made him want her. She was thankful that he loved his job as if he didn't, she would most certainly be both married and with children by now. A thought that made her feel sick.
To her few friends she had made by moving to London under the idea that she was to live with her fiancé in separate rooms until marriage, they were always so sympathetic to her and hoped that she would get to marry soon. Little did they know that she prayed every night that she would avoid it. But during those nine years, where she was separate from her love, she started to doubt his death. In the darkest nights, she would stare at the ceiling and consider the possibility that he had somehow survived and had been unable to get to her. She had nothing now to keep her in England and she decided that she would rather die trying to find out what happened to her Captain than spend another moment in fear of being married. So, for a year she had waiting till the time was right, until she was mentally stable enough to go and find her Captain.
She had listened to every word her fiancé, Humphry, had said in an attempt to find the perfect opportunity to find the Captain and the crew she loved so much. And here she was, on a ship and ready to make her dream come true. After so long of being heartbroken and begging to God for Armando to come back to her, she had taken fate into her own hands. She would die trying as she had decided that life was not worth living if she could not be with the man she loved.
With a determined look on her face, Constance took out the newspaper which she had stuffed in her socks and with the little light managing to come through the cracks of the wooden ship walls, she read over the passage again and again. She didn't know how misguided she was to think he was still alive but after nine years of keeping herself for him, she couldn't just give up. She had never given up on her dreams of being with him and she couldn't see that happening now.
Carefully, she placed the newspaper back into her long socks and began to plan her next moves. She was hoping that once they were out to sea, she would remain undetected for a considerable time and have a chance to get off the ship without being detected. Her main plan was to go and ask questions about the Devil's Triangle. It had been the last place he had mentioned to her and she had a feeling, a rather bad feeling that is was most likely the last place he was.
With tired eyes, she listened to the sound of men load the boat and they sounded more jovial than officers of the Royal Navy. But after all, the ship was being run by an ex-pirate. From what she had heard his name was Captain Barbossa or something to that affect. She just hoped she wouldn't have to meet the man as she had a feeling he wouldn't appreciate a stowaway on his ship.