They left the Inn quite early the next morning, James was adamant on presenting himself on The Admiralty as soon as possible. She had decided to accompany him and wait for him while he did whatever it was he was supposed to. But apparently, she was in urgent need to find something else to do in the meantime, as he had belatedly informed her no woman was allowed inside the building.
Although it wasn´t truly that surprising that those ancient military man would be scared of some dainty little ladies invading their precious quarters, the news had sparked her temper. Nevertheless she had refused to stay confined inside their accommodations, so she joined him on the carriage, riding along all the way to his destination.
In the meantime, the exploration of the city would have to suffice as entertainment while she waited.
"Seeing as I´m not permitted inside the building I so desired to inspect, you don't have a choice, Dear" she responded, letting just the smallest hint of resentment shine thru when he expressed his unwillingness to let her to walk the streets on her own.
"Please stop trying to torture me. You know I don't have a say in that regard" he argued tiredly.
"The city is big enough" she noted offhandedly while giving a quick look around the large building and wide streets. "I´m sure I´m capable enough of finding some interesting form entertainment while I see myself abandoned by you" she assured him when he asked her once more if she would be fine on her own.
James showed her a dissatisfied frown when he understood her clear remark, but did not answer back.
"You´re not familiar with the surroundings and the city is quite large, Elizabeth. I beg you, just promise me to remain nearby. Don´t wander past the Abbey, I´ll escort you wherever you want as soon as I´m finished" he promised earnestly.
As she looked at him, she felt a twinge of regret at her persistent jest. He appeared sincerely distressed by the idea of abandoning her on her own in the middle of the heart of London. And there was no reason to allow the primitive rules of some old, narrow-minded men to damped her mood.
It wasn´t James' fault, and he was stressed enough about everything as it was. So she took pity of him and grabbed onto his hand, squeezing it gently and offering more kindly "Stop fretting, I won't get into any trouble"
This time her words caused a small, alluring smirk to appear on his face. "I would trust you are aware that those words are only bound to heighten my restlessness, don´t you dear wife?" he asked, shaking his head in surrender this time.
Unable to contain it any longer, she sniggered mischievously. "How about I promise not to deliberately get into trouble of any sort?" she amended playfully, trying to appease his mind.
His posture relaxed further, but his feet remained firmly planted in front of her.
When she realized his expression was close to what anyone would consider sulking, her smile got bigger.
"You´re going to make yourself grey young. And we don't even have children yet" she quipped him. But then she held onto his chin and stared at him for a short moment, completely distracted by the idea of what his appearance would be like with some streaks of grey adorning his soft dark hair. "On further consideration, it might not look too uninviting after all" she mused with lips pursed in earnest consideration.
That did made most of his tension disappear from his body.
"I´ll go find you as soon as I can" he promised one last time.
"You already told me that. Stop using me as an excuse to not go inside" she meant to make him laugh, but his eyes flashed with real concern at her words, which made her feel guilty instead. Using a very gentle tone, she promised him "It's going to be alright, James"
"...Right"
"Stop worrying please" she demanded before leaning up and pulling on his uniform, giving him a soft, good-luck kiss "You should go inside now" she reminded him, pointing at the big building behind him with her head.
He followed her gaze for a moment, letting out a defeated sigh "It is likely I'll be indisposed for the next few hours. But if you were in need for anything... "
Elizabeth interrupted him with another short peck to his lips, pushing his chest gently towards the huge building behind them. "Stop dawdling"
Seeing as he had already stalled for long enough, James finally decided to give up and marched himself towards the imposing building where navy officers could be seen constantly entering and exiting the entrance.
Even if she wasn't that excited about it anymore, London was the biggest place she had ever been to and she was eager to find what laid inside. And determined to make the most of her time in London, Elizabeth decided that the best way to explore was obviously on foot.
James didn´t need to know, she had made absolutely no promises about the method she would use to move around, and thankfully, it hadn't occurred to him to try to attach escorts to her.
After ordering their driver to wait for her around one of the alleys of the adjacent roads close by, Elizabeth enthusiastically set herself to find out what the city had to offer. She had been young when she left the England and her memories of London were fuzzy and distorted. But it was not entirely different from what she did remembered.
As she made her way through the bigger roads, she understood why the other ladies would spend weeks on end gushing about their visits to England whenever they met for tea.
The buildings were immense and dignified, all of them at least as big as the government office in Port Royal, one after the other they lined the wide roads of the city. They were beautifully designed as well, clearly aiming to display power and affluence, all painted in dull colours like white or grey; although she couldn't deny the magnificent of it all, it was all a little too pretentious for her taste and in spite of the continuous and interminable movement of transit, it lacked certain liveliness to it. And the air had a wide arrangement of smells, from very pleasant to downright disturbing ones.
London's weather was truly not something she could say she'd ever miss. Even with the sun up in the sky, everything looked somewhat dark, nothing like the vibrant blue of home. Her vision was diminished by endless white that she could still not determine as fog from the cold weather or the smoke coming out from the chimneys. It was probably a combination of both, she eventually determined.
At least it was no longer raining.
Truthfully, she couldn´t understand what the fuss about England was, it was a cold place and the people around looked stiff and angry. She much preferred the Caribbean´s inviting warmth.
The streets were packed with people and there were so many carriages bustling around that she found all noise to be a little distracting.
It was a pretentious place and she wouldn't like to live in, but she was impressed by the sheer abundance of it everything. Everywhere she looked she could only find stores with just about anything she could think of with a constant stream of people coming in and out of all of them
The roads crossed often while carriages went in every direction with surprising smoothness. It truly felt like a sort of labyrinth.
She entered as many shops as she could find, she didn't wish for anything in particular but it was interesting to notice the difference of goods available in the mainland compared to what could be found in Port Royal. Prices were significantly different for some of the items she had readily available in Por Royal, almost staggeringly so.
Although, curiously enough, the class differences between people were a little harder to spot than in Port Royal, although that was likely because the truly wealthy class people appeared to favour riding their carriage than mingling with the others. Most people occupying the sidewalks dressed like workers, even the women.
The one thing that had truly caught her interest all morning was a clandestine street performance in a small square she found purely by accident after she crossed a hidden alley, and it had mainly done so because it involved a duel and the use of weapons. Elizabeth leaned back against the wall and watched the spectacle with curious scrutiny, smiling to herself once she became convinced she would be able to take them both at the same time if she so desired.
In spite of still having to use some tricks in order to beat James; she was quite confident in her abilities after all the hours on end spent working on her technique. And she was basically undefeated against the crew of The Dauntless, she remembered with pride.
After all the months of arduous training she'd been doing with James, she easily recognized the two guys as mere performers, there was no real technique or practicality to any of their movements, only flair.
A choreography orchestrated to draw as much attention as possible, she decided.
It worked quite nicely, as the pair was surrounded by a significant crowd; although she lost interest after a while, so she made her way back into the busy main street while remaining completely immersed on her thoughts. Just as she made a turn out of the alley, her shoulder bumped against someone else´s, making her stop for a moment and turn with a courteous nod to the man she had bumped against, "My apologies" she offered shortly, turning back to continue her walk.
A foreign hand on her arm stopped her from doing so. The man quickly let go of her when she turned back with a sharp glare at his boldness.
On closer examination, she noticed the man was wearing a navy blue uniform.
He gave her a smile "My apologies lady, I didn´t meant to startle you"
Elizabeth did not care for the conceited tone he took with her. Likely a commissioned officer, it was her indifferent guess.
"May I introduce myself?" he continued. Before giving her the opportunity to refuse, he persisted confidently taking off his hat and bringing it to rest on his chest with a small bow "Member of the Royal Marines and Senior officer Andrew Hobbs, at your service, lady"
Such arrogant disposition for a mere officer.
Officer Hobbs did not seem at all discouraged by her lack of response nor interest, instead he kept talking as he took a step closer "And your name is…"
Marvellous, the man was really trying to court her, she realized with annoyance.
"Elizabeth Norrington" she answered simply, but trying to maintain her manners. He appeared to be around James' age, so it might be possible the man was one of James' acquaintances.
He paused for a moment, looking her up and down blatantly. "What is such an enticing lady like yourself doing here all alone, Miss?" his voice was laced with interested and his stare was lascivious. And then she really regretted trying to offer her courtesy; the expression he was giving her was one she was unfortunately familiar with, enough men had shown such interest in the past and each time it was as unwelcomed as the last.
"Mrs. Norrington" she corrected tersely "and I´m currently waiting for my husband, so your concern is not needed"
The man´s expression soured slightly at her correction, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Ah, my apologies. Mrs. Norrington then. It is always a pleasure to meet a woman of such refined beauty."
Elizabeth forced a polite smile but inside she was bubbling with annoyance. "Right" she mumbled, turning her attention in the opposite direction and hoping that her dry answers would make him go away soon.
She had no luck.
"If you don't mind me saying, I can´t understand what was your husband thinking by letting such a beautiful woman wander on her own"
"I do mind." Elizabeth growled, pivoting on her feet. She wanted to leave, fast. "Well, if you'll excuse me"
Instead of doing the normal thing and walking away, Hobbs stepped in her path and lowered his nasal voice in what she could only guess was an attempt to be reassuring "I couldn't help but notice that you seem...discontent. Perhaps I could serve you as a pleasant distraction while you wait?"
Elizabeth's eyes widened in surprise and disgust, before narrowing in offence. Was he really suggesting what she thought he was?
"No thank you officer. James is only taking care of a small matter inside The Admiralty, he will be back shortly." she hissed warningly.
The man's eyebrows raised in recognition, and with a tone of incredulous surprise he asked "James Norrington?"
Elizabeth found it interesting that the man did, in fact, seemed to be familiar with James. Although it became apparent to her now that they would not be friends "Yes. James Norrington"
"That dullard got married?"
Just as she prepared to lash out at Hobbs, a cold voice intruded from behind her. "Hobbs, leave the lady alone already. We have more important things to do."
It was another officer; blonde with harsh, irritated eyes, and probably also the same age as James, but the scowl made him look older.
"Scarfield" Hobbs acknowledge the man. Then with a nod her way and a mocking smirk he added "You won´t believe who I just met"
The blond finally acknowledge her presence next to him, although with such disinterest it was almost more disrespectful.
"She says she is James Norrington's wife" Hobbs announced, still looking very amused, which was making her quite angry.
The blonde prick turned to look at her more carefully. This one also barely maintained his manners, he kept a single eyebrow raised as he examined her while disapproval shone in his beady eyes, but she thought she much preferred it over Hobbs' lustful stare.
"Is that so?" His condescending tone could not be mistaken. "Well at least he finally managed to find someone willing to deal with him"
Elizabeth was unable to maintain her impeccable manners any longer and with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms she demanded. "And you are?" making sure her tone conveyed just how unimpressed she was by the entire exchange.
"Third Lieutenant John Scarfield" he announced monotonously, but with a prideful stance.
If she hadn´t already been irked by him, the presumptuous pose and attitude he exuded as he introduced himself was enough to piss her off. "You both seem to be familiar with my husband, but your manner of speaking about your superior officer is much too impertinent"
They both turned her way instantly at that, but it was Hobbs who asked "Superior officer?"
"Quite correct" she smiled "My husband is James Norrington indeed. Commodore, James Norrington." she announced, adding with malicious pleasure "So, shouldn't the two of you show more respect when speaking about your betters?"
The insufferable blond narrowed his eyes as his skin reddened, his look of true outrage at her words made her smirk, as he clearly was displeased by the news. Still he maintained an unjustified proud stance.
On the other hand, Hobbs seemed to have been struck dumb as his eyes widened. "I-I'm sorry, I had no idea Madam. I didn't mean to..!" he stammered, sounding a bit daunted this time.
Elizabeth forced herself to temper her satisfaction when the man finally took a few steps back away from her.
"As I´ve said before, I am waiting for my husband and I don´t need an escort for that officer"
"Yes, of course!"
Blonde idiot turned to glare at the rake idiot, looking even angrier than before. "If you´re done flirting with the married woman, get moving" he ordered harshly.
A loud crash followed by lots of panicked shouting erupted nearby, interrupting Hobbs' reply and making the three of them turn their attention in the same direction.
The two marines dashed forward and turned the corner at the end of the road. Unable to contain her curiosity, and before she thought better about it, Elizabeth hurried to follow.
As she ran, her body tensed in preparedness but once she reached for her sword, she felt the urge to wallop herself. Her side was devoid of a scabbard, that's when she remembered she was wearing a dress and her sword was safely tucked inside James' cabin on The Dauntless.
Every thought of reproach and regret fled from her mind as her eyebrows shot up in astonishment at the scene unfolding in front of her very eyes.
She really wasn't sure what it was that she had been expecting to find, but it was far different from anything she could have imagined.
What waited at the turn was chaos. People on the street ran in every direction trying to get off the road. Then an enormous ball of fire passed right in front of her at full speed, dropping in its way dozens of what looked like crates on fire; all of them exploding as they made contact with the ground, setting the street ablaze.
It took her a couple of seconds to realize it had been a wagon and by then it was gone.
A huge wall of fire quickly erupted, blocking the path and becoming more imponent as it caught every manner of fabric available, including the triangular flags hanging above the street.
So diverted was she, that when her ears cautioned her to the growing sound of hoofs approaching, she barely had enough time to avoid the horse that barrelled past her and jumped over the growing obstacle before it could close completely, making her miss a step and fall back against the brick wall.
The horse and its rider where galloping so fast that she only caught the blurred sight of a man with dark hair.
And then more hooves followed.
It was the King´s men this time, who wasted no time in making their presence known. A few of the ones riding horses managed to pass before the path completely disappeared, but the rest of them were forced into an abrupt halt by their beasts. Some of them struggled to reign their animals to avoid trampling on bystanders, while others were simply being thrown off, forced to fall on top of each other. The ones on foot moved in frenzied panic, attempting to dodge the remainders of blazing fabric that continued to fall off, the rolling barrels and their own comrades.
There were so many things happening at once that it was difficult to concentrate in one single thought.
Absently, she couldn´t help but observe that the two mannerless imbeciles from before were nowhere to be seen, they'd probably managed to pass and were currently giving chase to the ones responsible for this mess.
The entire street was starting to lit ablaze, and the heat was becoming so unbearable that all civilians were forced to flee from the scene. As people hurried in her direction, Elizabeth was forced to back away with the flow of the moving crowd.
What in the heavens had just happened?
The crowd remained agitated; as some men tried to put out the fires, most others huddled together and watched.
Her ears perked, fighting to overhear as many pieces of the conversations going around as he could, although most seemed as confused as she was.
"Did you see that!?" one pompous looking lady cried out next to Elizabeth, in such a shrilling voice that it made her wince "How could the guards allow such criminals to run amok and torment the good people!?"
"Utterly barbaric!" the other girl she was together with agreed, fanning her face with one hand.
"I hope they get captured soon."
Ah. So that was an attempted escape?
Elizabeth covered her mouth to muffle the snort that left her throat. As reprehensible and shocking as it had been, the frenzied it created amongst the people... was sort of entertaining as well.
She swiftly concealed her amusement once she noticed no one else shared her spirit.
It was a bizarre retreat, too audacious and provocative. No sane person would make such an imprudent spectacle during an attempted escape. Whomever orchestrated it was certainly uncommon.
Elizabeth started to walk away, but the girls continue talking.
"Were those real pirates!?" the second girl shrieked, looking scandalized.
The first girl nodded, lamenting with dismay "This is too much strain on my nerves!"
Her feet halted mid-step as her eyes turned in the direction all the remaining guards ran towards.
Very few pirates would dare set foot on English soil in the first place, less alone venture into the heart of London. It was complete foolishness...
Perhaps...?
It was not a completely unfeasible possibility.
Suddenly she was filled with the need to ascertain whether her hunch was correct or not. Her feet hastening in the direction of the fleeing disaster.
Figuring out the path was too easy, all there was to do was follow after the trail of blazing destruction, so she followed confidently for almost ten minutes, waiting to catch a glimpse of the runaway ball of fire, but there was no hint of it anywhere. The next turn she made took her into a narrower street, much darker and less transited; that´s when she realized her steps were getting far away from the heart of the city.
Glancing around she noticed the buildings around were smaller, shabbier.
In that moment, doubt creeped into her mind. What if she was mistaken? What would they be doing here in England in the first place? And what was she trying to do by following them? The thought finally occurred to her that if she happened to happen upon the ones responsible and it turned out not be them... then she would be walking herself into a perilous situation while unarmed and without James being aware of her whereabouts.
When she thought of James, she remembered the promise she had made just that morning. Her steps halted completely, instantly losing all desire to continue her impromptu persecution, and with a hint of disappointment, she finally made herself stop and turn back around.
A sensation of anxiety and unease made home on the pit of her stomach, and so she walked herself back to The Admiralty, determined to wait nearby until James came out.
When she arrived, Elizabeth decided to lean against the iron gate guarding the building and wait there. Many of the officers that passed in front of her gave her looks that ranged from disapproval to surprise and curiosity, but no one said anything.
The news of what happened earlier did not seem to have reached them yet, as the demeanour of all men entering and exiting was rather calm. sit on a bench on a small park across from the building, enjoying the view of the rather ostentatious fountain and staring at all the activity going around the place. Naval officers going in and out of the building and crossing the courtyard. The ruckus from before did not seem to have reached them yet.
Elizabeth wasn´t conscious of how long she stared forward at the road as people and carriages passed in front of her, but she started becoming drowsy... Hopefully it wouldn´t take him much longer.
"What are you doing here?" the unexpected voice that spoke right above her, accompanied by an arm going around her waist, jerked her out of her reverie.
Before she had the opportunity to form a coherent thought, she whirled to the side, ready to let her fist fly. Only to be met with surprised green eyes looking at her.
She was almost as surprised as he was, and had to lock her entire body in place in order to avoid landing a punch on her husband's face. Staring at him for a couple of seconds, her mouth finally reacted and blurted a rushed apology "I´m sorry"
He seemed amused by her reaction at first but as he stared at her face closely his eyebrows met with concern and his thumb reached to brush her cheek "Are you alright?"
Her face mirrored his at the question, which made James pull his thumb away from her face to show her it was stained black.
Her cheeks warmed and her hands reached up to rub her cheeks a little forcefully. Had she really been walking around with soot on her face?
James held onto her wrists to stop her "It´s all gone" he promised.
Elizabeth could only sigh tiredly, "You surprised me, it´s all" she said grabbing his hand in hers and leaning her face against his palm.
"That was clearly poor judgment on my side" he agreed with a subdued smirk, but then he frowned some more "You've lost your hat" he remarked while moving his hand to the top of her head and brushing her exposed curls softly.
Her hand followed after, landing next to his and noticing for the first time that she had indeed lost her hat. The realization made her scowl. She had favoured that hat.
"Elizabeth, are you truly alright?" he asked again, looking at her features a lot more carefully.
"I am" she assured him, leaning forward and resting her face against his front "But I´m tired and my feet hurt" It wasn´t a lie, she was dazed and exhausted. Walking was usually not a problem for her, but she had been on her feet for hours and the distance she covered was significant, besides her shoes had become too uncomfortable by that point.
Her attention was caught when a group of officers passed by them. Surprisingly James made no attempt to put a proper distance between, which immediately improved her mood. Then her eyes darted to the side, towards the entrance of the building "What about you?"
When he didn´t give her a quick answer she straightened in his arms so she could look at his face. He clearly understood the meaning of her words, as his features had fallen into sobriety, but he still didn´t answer her.
"Did you find any trouble?" she asked, feeling the unease return and staring at him with a serious glare until he answered.
"I had to testify in front of a military court"
Her fingers twitched at the news. She did not know much about military proceedings, but she knew what 'military court' meant.
"They court-martialled you!?" she screeched indignantly.
"Calm down" James pleaded, glancing around at her outburst and frowning again "This is not the place, Elizabeth. Why don´t we return to our accommodations before discussing this matter?"
"Did they court-martial you?" she repeated stubbornly. She wanted to know now.
James sighed and finally answered "Not quite" he looked calm, but his tone was barely concealing his own anger.
Her temper was starting to flare at his evasive answers. "James, I´m not understanding!" she complained impatiently.
"Alright, I´m sorry." he apologized, holding onto her hands and offering her a small smile "I'll explain anything you want to know. Just not here, please"
With an unhappy scowl, she nodded her agreement and let him pull her towards their waiting carriage.
P.S.
Sorry it took me longer than usual, I´ve been really sick lately, but hope you enjoy this one. Also, I´m taking a break during the holidays. 😁
So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! See you next year!