The date of their wedding was approaching fast. Thankfully, most of the preparations were completed already and with her sanity largely intact.
Although that had been mostly thanks to James, she´d had to admit to herself.
While he really wasn't particularly good at helping with the decorative decisions, he had proved himself an incredibly efficient organizer.
Over the last few months she had developed an honest appreciation for how James' direct and pragmatic personality would result in quick, simple solutions.
Which, as a military leader, really should have come as much of a surprise as it had, she realized in retrospection.
But it never occurred to her that his tactical skills could be applied to wedding arrangements. Regardless she was grateful, his intervention had saved her plenty of inconveniences.
Like the one time she had been struggling with the seating arrangements for their ceremony.
What was left of his family all resided in England and he was not particularly close to any of them -or so he had said when he informed her none of them would be coming- and she only had her father left, so their families had not even been the problem.
No, the problem had laid elsewhere, on how to accommodate for all the annoying aristocrats of Port Royal that they were being forced to invite.
Surprisingly, James had turned out to be almost as unconcerned about inviting to their wedding all the supposedly high-ranking members of Port Royal society, as she had been. Unfortunately, her father had not.
"We cannot seat Mary Ansel anywhere near the daughter of Thomas Evans, she had an affair with Mary´s husband last year. If someone starts to gossip, the two of them will no doubt start a dispute" Elizabeth huffed, standing up from her seat on the chaise and dropping the parchments she had been staring at.
All the ridiculousness and pettiness were the exact reason why she had always hated planning events that involved people she wasn´t acquainted with.
Everything else had been mostly finished and the wedding itself was only a couple of weeks away. In the meantime, she had to keep reminding herself that after it was over she wouldn't have to continue arguing with the seamstress over whether or not the lace pattern on her gown was too simple or with the maids about the size of her bouquet. And all the unwanted advice from other ladies about what they thought she should be doing as a bride would hopefully stop as well.
"But there is nowhere else I can sit them anymore, and my Father asked me to invite both of their fathers!" she ended up complaining.
As soon as she stood up, James had lifted his gaze away from the book he had been reading from his place next to her on the chaise. He could see the exasperation drawn clear on her face as she paced the library of the Mansion.
Picking the discarded parchment he had stared at it with contemplation for only a moment before calmly offering her "Why don't you accommodate Miss Ansel and her father next to Groves? I´m sure he won't make any comments. There should be no problem there, right?"
His suggestion had made her stop her pacing, looking at him with mild surprise before realizing he was right. "That!" she had exclaimed, satisfied by the simple solution. And that was how her three day dilemma had come to an end.
But there had been many other similar instances, making her realize that -whether she liked it or not,- with the groom being the Commodore of Port Royal and the bride the daughter of the Governor, their wedding was inevitably meant to be a big affair.
One that everyone apparently wanted to attend, she thought with annoyance as she remembered the sudden increase of invitations for tea parties she had started receiving, with the thinly veiled intention of securing an invitation to their nuptials. Many of them had come from people that didn't even like her, just wanting a reason to gossip about her.
It had never been a secret to her that most people had been expecting her marriage to James to take place since she had her debutante ball four years ago. But she had really not known just how much, until the last tea party she attended a couple of weeks back; where a couple of the more blabbermouth women had made sure to inform her about the seemingly amusing -to them- fact that there had been actual money bets placed on how long it would take James to propose to her.
All while they kept gushing over his face and body. They really shouldn't talk about her soon to be husband in that way, to her face, she thought with resentment.
Although it wasn´t all bad, as she was able to continue using the planning as an excuse to her father to continue visiting James unsupervised, even if the preparations had been mostly finished within a few weeks.
Being able to spend so much time together had allowed them to grow quite familiar with each other, and it had been such a natural shift that she hadn't even noticed when or how it had happened. She had simply found herself wanting to spend her time with him and he never once voiced any displeasure about her presence.
What she did notice were other things; like the way his mouth would tug at the corners and his eyes would crinkle whenever he found something she did funny. She noticed the way his face would relax whenever he saw her enter the room. She noticed the deep affection behind every one of his gestures towards her.
She also noticed how her attraction for him grew into yearning and desire. She noticed the warmth in her chest at the thought of him, changing into something she had never felt before. And she noticed how happy she was having him around.
But it was a rueful realization for her, that in spite of knowing him for almost half her life, she hadn't actually known him. In all the years that had passed since they met, they had never actually spent much time together beyond the required social interactions, much less alone together.
Once she started spending so much time with him, it became obvious that they did not know much about the other. They weren't familiar with each other, with their likes and dislikes, their tastes, their interests.
He wasn't as talkative as she was, but he always took her words seriously and listened to her attentively. Even when she talked about inconsequential things, he always took the time to indulge her and answer her questions frankly, so she took great care in learning anything important he did tell her about him.
One of the times she remembered and cherished the most, hadn't even been a particularly special occasion really, it hadn´t even started as a serious conversation; just a trivial talk as they rested against the balustrade of the balcony, looking at the ships coming in and out of the docks, with the calming sound of the waves lapping against the shore and the creaking of the ships' masts as their only other company.
Until she had impetuously asked him with curiosity "Why do you hate pirates so much?"
At the sudden question, James´ head turned her way with a slight smile of amusement. "Why do you seem to like them so much?" he asked back.
"I asked you first" she reminded him with cheek.
His face turned into a brooding frown "What would there be to like, Elizabeth? They are uncivilized criminals that steal and plunder whichever way they go" he said with harshness. While it was clear his unforgiving tone wasn´t directed at her, it made her feel like there was more behind his words than what he was telling her, so her attention remained on his eyes as she waited for him to further elaborate "And they smell like hell" he added with distaste.
That made her laugh, but she was convinced he was trying to distract her.
"James" she chided him gently.
He appeared reluctant to continue with the conversation but he tried again "They have no regard for the law, or any sense of morality for that matter"
His voice wasn´t as stern as before, so she tried to reason with him "Some of them do"
"He helped you for his own benefit" he argued, clearly very aware of who she was referring to.
"But not when he saved me from drowning" she reminded him. "Is it so hard to believe that some of them might just be men trying to survive a miserable existence?" she asked him with honest curiosity.
He sighed softly. "And you believe that having a hard life justifies the damage they cause to innocent people? People like you Elizabeth"
"I can take care of myself!" she immediately disagreed with a small scowl.
James smiled at her determination, but he still wasn´t yielding "But not everyone else can. That's why it's my duty to protect them" he countered while bringing his hand up to stroke her hair fondly.
The realization that his words were true, made it difficult to contradict him. She knew that her encounter with them had been very brief, and even those short interactions had quickly taught her that pirates really couldn´t be trusted, even if some of them were good men.
And James was smart, and far more experienced with pirates, he had dedicated his entire career to fighting against them. That was the moment she decided that, if she couldn't change his mind, then she would have to trust him instead. As long as he left alone the pirates she cared about, there really was no reason to convince him otherwise, she concluded.
But then a vivid memory of a stoic looking young Lieutenant assaulted her, one of the first ones she had of him. What he had told her 8 years ago aboard The Dauntless, while they made the voyage to Port Royal, still rang clear on her mind. Clearing her throat, she quoted him with a snobbish tone and a poor imitation of his deep voice "A short drop and a sudden stop then"
He winced slightly, losing his serious expression and looking at her with a plea in his eyes.
When he reacted exactly like she thought he would, she felt herself fill with arrogance "My father reprimanded you for telling my innocent self that" she reminded him mirthfully.
"And I´m sure you must have suffered so much" he remarked with sarcasm.
They both knew his words had done nothing to scare or deter her from her interest in pirates.
"Well, I thought you were too young to truly understand what I meant" he added defensively.
She got closer to him, scrunching her nose up at his face "Well, I did. And you like to talk as if you were so mature, but now I am aware you were quite full of yourself when you declared you would see that every pirate in the Caribbean hung"
His face coloured a bit at that.
"I may have been a tad… overzealous back then" he admitted.
Shaking her head, she insisted "Not just back then, since then and even now, you have worked relentlessly to get rid of the pirates roaming the Caribbean." Taking hold of his hand, she pulled until his body turned to face her completely.
"You have always been adamant about getting rid of every pirate you come across, even when they don't deserve it" she reminded him, wanting him to admit it. "You don't dislike them, you hate them James" she declared confidently, looking into his eyes, hoping he would see she sincerely cared to know why.
He seemed at a loss on what to say. "Why are you so insistent about this?" he finally asked with confusion.
"Because it's about you. I told you before, I want to know you" she soothed, caressing his knuckles lightly.
At her words, his face offered her an expression full of affection and adoration.
"It is my job, you know?" He attempted to deflect her interrogation one last time.
"Most of the other officers are not nearly as dedicated as you, Commodore" she countered.
And that's when he finally caved. Although reluctantly, he finally admitted "I suppose my early exposition to them might be the biggest contributing factor. I was shown from a very young age just how big of a scum pirates really are. My father taught me the importance of doing my duty by serving king and country while carrying the banner of civility and order" he said confidently, before adding with a small note of sadness "That's all I´ve ever known, Elizabeth"
And what does that mean?
Instead of continuing with the line of questioning that was going nowhere, she focused on a more intriguing matter "Your father?"
So far James had only mentioned his parents once, and it had been to let her know they had both passed a long time ago, after she had asked if they would be attending their wedding. He seemed to avoid any conversation about his parents, particularly his father.
He nodded "Lawrence Norrington, Naval Admiral" his tone was one of respect and admiration, but the way he said it was strange, as if he was talking about just another officer instead of his father.
"Is he the reason you joined the Navy?"
"I suppose you could say that" he was trying to sound nonchalant, but there was too much tension in his voice. "He sent me into service as soon as I was tall enough to be of any use aboard a ship" he joked, but there was absolutely no humour in his voice.
Elizabeth laid her free hand on his chest, stroking it gently and trying to get him to relax a little before asking "What about your mother?"
His smile was forlorn as he told her simply "My mother died when I was a young child"
"Like mine" she lamented softly, lifting one of the corners of her mouth when she felt his hand give hers a gentle squeeze. "Do you remember her?" she asked, trying to dissipate the gloomy mood she had provoked.
Her mind did her best to attempt to picture the face of her own mother, but she had been young and too many years had passed already.
Looking at him, she saw his eyes acquire a distant look as he answered "A little"
"And what was she like?" she questioned with curiosity.
"A proper, dutiful, meek English lady" he voiced with fondness.
"So, nothing like me" she pointed out lightly, making him laugh genuinely.
"I´m convinced she was just as beautiful as you are" he said charmingly as his thumb rubbed her cheek.
His words made her smile but she heard herself confess with sadness "I can't really remember my mother, even her face is hard to discern in my memories"
Seeing concern set on his face, she hurried to add "But my father always made an effort to compensate for her absence"
"Your father is an excellent man, caring and wise" he praised with a real smile.
"Your words make me worry you might like him better than me" she joked, stepping closer to him.
He shook his head "That would be truly unthinkable" he whispered with promise.
When his hand wrapped around her waist, she let her head fall against his chest, resting comfortably there for a little while. Before she couldn´t resist asking any longer "What about you? Were you close with yours?"
She watched in silence as his mouth opened but nothing came out, then as he closed it back down and finally as he gave a small gulp, before shaking his head slowly.
"No. He never did particularly like me. Truly, I was more of a disappointment." he finally confessed, staring at her with a miserable little smile.
It was truly surprising and upsetting to hear him say that. But even worse was how she could see an even greater sadness reflected deep in his eyes than on the day he discovered she had lied to him.
'Disappointment' was not a word she had ever heard anyone use to describe James. Even her father held him in high regard; he and all the old men would sing him praises every time he came back with The Interceptor after successfully capturing or defeating a crew of pirates.
She could not imagine a reason why his own father would ever regard him as such, but she hated the expression the thought had put on his face. Letting her hand slid up from his chest to his jaw, she held him still, making him look at her "But you know you´re not, don't you?"
"I would certainly hope so" he answered with self-deprecation.
"James, you´re not" she told him sternly "And he is dead, you don't need to live your life minding about what your father thought" she asserted as she returned his earlier gesture and caressed his cheekbone tenderly.
His eyelids dropped close while he buried his face on her hand, nodding against it.
"It doesn't matter anymore" she insisted with confidence.
Both corners of his mouth lifted at her perseverance, his eyes opened and his face closed in on hers until their foreheads were touching "It really doesn't" he agreed with a soft mumble.
The physical aspect of their relationship was progressing quickly, and quite smoothly as well.
They had quite the affinity for each other, or at least that's what it felt like to her. And while she had nothing else to compare it to, James always seemed to be enjoying himself as much as she was.
So it was confusing how he would hesitate sometimes, like now. The times when he got this close but wouldn't close the distance completely, like he was giving her time to reconsider and pull away... for some reason it upset her.
She had no desire to stop, quite the opposite in fact, being close to him felt wonderful and she always found herself willing for more. Thus, there was not a hint of hesitation in her movements as she closed the remaining gap and her mouth met his.
She was getting good at this, she thought conceitedly. And by the way his hands circled tightly around her middle and his throat let out a small noise of pleasure… she was sure he thought so as well.