The crossing back home proved to be a significantly different experience. James was anxious to get back to Por Royal and, while in all likelihood he had not trusted anyone with the new information received from The Admiralty, the rest of the crew had certainly noticed his change of mood.
He'd been investing almost every moment of his spare time attempting to strategize the most efficient way to comply with the King´s command's with the scarce resources he had at his disposal without risking the neglecting of Port Royal's welfare... A challenging endeavour, she gathered; at least from what she'd been able to appreciate while secretly spying on his rigid figure hunched over a table in the middle of the night with an immersed and sober bearing.
The evident struggle she witness made Elizabeth want to offer some assistance somehow, but had yet to produce anything that would actually serve of much, and the knowledge aggravated her. So she was constrained to watching over him, feeling enough frustration to mirror his. Particularly on the nights she would wake to find him completely missing from the cabin, an empty, cold bed her only company.
While she did not enjoy any of it in the sightless, it was much too clear that there would be no stopping him from the venture, not in the immediate future at the least. The man was rarely senselessly stubborn, but also surprisingly persistent whenever he decided to be.
After weeks spent in that manner, they had finally reached Caribbean waters. And it was then when it happened; barely having passed by Saint Vincent's island a few hours prior.
The sound was the first warning.
The booming echoes that disturbed the air were eerily distinctive and impossible to mistake. It was not an unfamiliar occurrence, and over the last year she had become fairly accustomed to them while on the ship. James was very adamant about keeping his men primed with the regular drills after all.
But the lack of rumble under her feet made her swiftly realize that the blasts were not originating from within the ship. Which therefore, could only mean one other thing.
Allowing no more time for additional considerations, Elizabeth leaped out of the chair -where she had been leisurely reading a book for the last few hours- and towards the entrance, reaching the main deck in a commendable short time.
The strong sunlight blinded her for a few seconds, but she fought to blink it off as fast as she could, shading her eyes with both hands.
All heads were turned in the same direction, all bodies still. She only needed to follow all those gazes to find the source of the sonorous disturbance.
Her eyes narrowed in an effort to discern what laid far ahead. Short bursts of yellow and orange flashed every so often to accompany the shots, but the columns of black and grey smoke around hindered her vision too much, only letting her discern a vague, dark mass.
Frustrated, she glanced around the deck instead, finding James standing near the taffrail over the starboard side. He was completely focused on what laid at the end of his spyglass, flanked by Gillette and Groves, who stood at the ready with ingrained composure.
"It´s a jonk." she heard him declare as she neared them.
The words made them all frown in confusion. Why a junk? What was it doing there?
"Pirates?" Gillette enquired.
Without even twitching a muscle James took another handful of seconds to assess the situation.
"She's not flying any colours" he confirmed drily.
"What are your orders, Sir?"
Composedly, James turned to look at his Lieutenant "Hoist all sails and haul away on the sheets." he ordered. "Prepare to engage, the other ship is flying the Union Jack"
The two officers' expressions sobered even further, but the they strode away to execute his command at the briefest, acknowledging her presence with a quick, deferential nod of their heads just before walking past her, not slowing at any point.
"Beat to quarters!" she heard Groves yell, promptly making all sailors and soldiers start mobilizing on deck. "Load and make ready!"
The moment she heard the warning bell start ringing, indicating they were to engage, her body began tensing in anticipation.
The scene was still at a significant distance to clearly see what was happening, but as all manner of orders continued being issued, The Dauntless gained speed almost admirably fast, continuing to breached the distance. And the closer they got, the clearer the two masses trapped inside the dark fog became.
The hazy shape of the two ships started clearing in front of her.
It truly was a junk. A rather opulent, imposing one.
James still had his eyes fixed on the battle unfolding ahead, a deep frown between his eyebrows. Suddenly letting out a low curse escape under his breath, he finally brought the spyglass down to his side.
"Do you recognize the ship?" she asked him, curious about his reaction.
His already rigid posture straightened even further as he glance her way with abruptness, looking completely displeased with her presence there. Instead of answering her question, he gave her a terse order "Go back inside the cabin, and do not come out under any circumstance until it's over, Elizabeth"
Her mouth dropped in indignance.
Then, without saying another word and without even giving her the chance to argue, James walked away from her and towards the helm deck, delivering loud, authoritarian commands as he went "Mr. Jones! Run out the guns! Mr. Clayton! Increase the helm!"
It would do no good to distract him, but Elizabeth had no intention to go and hide inside. Instead she moved out of his sight, taking cover under the steps that led to the helm, keeping her eyes locked on the battle unfolding just ahead.
The movement on the deck never stopped nor slowed. Sailors kept moving about, but seemed to be making an effort to remain as silent as possible while they did; only the necessary commands were being issued as everyone worked.
"Brace the yards!"
Her new position did not allow her to see James nor any of the other officers on the helm, but she could still overhear him just fine, his commands continued echoing through the deck with resolute determination.
"Lieutenant. Aim for the rig, deck cannons only." she heard James say, "I want avoid the civilians casualties as much as possible, it would be inexpedient to finishing their job for them" finishing his instructions with "If needed, go hard and low on the hull. I don´t want to drag it out either."
The Dauntless continued its approach to the confrontation with steady speed, and surprising stealth for a ship its size. Now she could see the vessels properly, both of them.
The Chinese ship was large. An imposing black jonk, with battened, tattered black sails. The black flag proudly hoisted high up in the sky above its canvas made it impossible to mistaken its alliance.
The pirates had managed to grapple the galleon in place. Ropes had been thrown, planks had been drawn.
The vicious thing kept firing repeatedly against an even larger galleon that hoisted an English flag.
Unlike the pirates who maintained their steady assault. The galleon betrayed its lack of military might by being unable to coordinate an adequate retaliation in spite of its advantageous size and possession of two decks of guns.
Becoming rather evident that is was a merchant vessel instead of a military one. One with unproperly trained soldiers and a sizable cargo, if judged by the size of the hull, it was the only reason she could think of to explain why the pirates were not aiming directly at it yet.
Side by side, the two ships rocked as fire impacted on wood.
Over the decks, people ran in every direction.
The cannon blasts were no longer far echoes but thunderous roars.
"Stand by to fire!" James ordered, keeping his voice steady and terse.
"Ay, Sir!"
Her body now filled with nervous energy as she listened to him, already anticipating the next command.
On The Dauntless the long cannons were already loaded and aimed too. The redcoats stood in a line of defence, weapons aimed at the ready, merely waiting to engage upon reaching firing range.
"Fire!" James command travelled decisively through the air the moment the vessels entered their range.
Elizabeth braced, covering her ears as she watched the long nines start shooting. The potent, familiar and acrid smell of powder reached her nose as the floorboards trembled under her feet from the potency.
The metal projectiles careened towards their target, landing with unsurprising precision.
Wondering for a moment why they didn´t continue with the cannonade, Elizabeth realized it was because James was reigning in their might, likely because the other ship was too close within their range and it could easily become a casualty as well.
The junk finally seemed to realize the dangerous proximity of a new enemy upon them. And the return fire didn´t made itself wait; shots started coming at them, landing close, but not quite. Only one of them managed to land, taking a chuck of the taffrail with it.
But at least their savage barraging on the galleon had diminished as their efforts started focusing on repelling The Dauntless' advance, trying to prevent their further approach. Although it was too late for that now; they were so close that she could hear all the noises coming from the decks. Angry yells, the clash of metal... and the screams. Terrified, ones.
All combining with the loud waves that crashed against wood, created by the rocking.
"Lieutenant!"
"Heave to!" before Gillette even finished the command, the crew had already started moving towards the brigs.
The smell of salt water quickly mixed with the smell of gunpowder and charred wood that permeated the air.
They were almost parallel to the criminal vessel by then.
And now she could see.
Black figures running amok over the two decks. Cruel laughing faces. Even while being attacked, the pirates continued their raid on the merchant vessel, slashing down the crew. It was too easy to predict their graceless fall at the ruthless hands of their attackers if nothing changed.
The dissonant cacophony had become such that James' orders became sonorous yells so his commands could be heard properly over all the other noises.
"Fire!"
In almost the same breath and with no further prompt, the sound of muskets discharging joined the symphony of sounds. Becoming impossible to concentrate in any one.
Her sight becoming hindered by the heavy smoke.
Now side by side, the return fire of the junk was truly felt. The impact of the projectiles landing sent after shocks up her legs.
She burrowed even further into her hideout when shots started flying back. Feeling like the barrage was going to last for hours.
"Repeal boarders!" she heard someone yell, unsure of who was the one to issued such order.
Curiosity winning out, Elizabeth peeked her head out a little, catching men on both sides rushing to the edge of the ships, fighting to cross the gangplanks that had been drawn between The Dauntless and the threat.
For a while the redcoats did a fine job of repealing the pirates. But when some of them did manage to breach the defence and board the deck, the soldiers began scattering in order to give them chase, small fights broke out all over the main deck.
Watching the even unfold, her brain jumbled thinking of a way to help, wanting nothing more than to intervene. Still, she waited in place; right until the moment she heard a whoosh of air rushing towards her. That being the only warning she received before her eyes turned to find a cannonball directly in her line of vision, coming directly at her. Her knees bent without permission, barely managing to dropping her down to the floor before the thing struck her.
The little space she occupied filled with a thick cloud of black smoke, forcing her to crawl out of under the stairs and towards the main mast, taking shelter there instead. She scrambled up to her feet once again and made to grab for her sword but …she was unarmed.
Blasted...
At the untimely realization, her eyes instinctively raised towards the helm deck, but he was not there anymore. With eyes narrowed and head turning in every direction, she inspected the entire surface of the Dauntless' but he truly was no longer anywhere to be found.
Where was he?
Turning down to the side, her eyes focused in an effort to see over the other decks, beyond the dark clouds of smoke and moving figures.
It was horrifying chaos, all the movement was difficult to distinguish,
Don´t tell me that he had really...
The thought forced her heart to pick up speed.
Trying to distinguish foe from ally amongst the moving men was a difficult, there were too many people, her vision was poor and debris flew everywhere. The effort was already making them water.
She needed to find him.
With that one thought, Elizabeth made haste towards starboard. Coming across the prone body of one of the pirates on her way there, sword still laying in hand. A remorseless kick to the side assured her the man was already dead. Picking the now ownerless weapon, she climbed the gangplank into the enemies' territory.
Once she crossed the piece of wood, the metallic smell of blood saturated her nose. The fight was even worse there, she barely walked a few steps before encountering one of them.
Although she could clearly hear the menacing shouts of the pirate, the words were said in a foreign language she had never heard before and was not able to recognize. So she quickly disposed of him, and of every other opponent in her way; absently noting that they all had oriental features.
The smoke so thick she could barely see anything in front more than a few yards ahead of her; the sharp splinters flying in all directions forced her to keep and arm over her face in order to avoid being hit.
There were dozens of them, but also a few redcoats and what she suspected were members of the galleon crew.
Yet, she couldn´t find him there either.
She cared for none of it as she continued her advance towards one of the mast, sticking down every black clad man that obstructed her way. Focused on one thing.
The ship rocked unsteadily as it took fire from The Dauntless' cannons, but no one aboard seemed to have the time to worry much about it.
Maybe he'd crossed all the way to the galleon.
It was not too far away, she just needed to...
Being unable to locate James, added to the constant flow of opponents stalling her way was starting to make her intolerably impatient.
That´s when she saw him. The sinister figure dressed in black descending the stairs. The small hairs at the back of her neck raised as the cruel features of the man materialized, appearing even more disturbed by the arrange of crossing scars marring the left side of his face and head. Dark eyes betraying a dangerous lunacy in them.
His entire being forced her to reminisce of a different pirate, the one that kidnapped her, one capable of immense cruelty and merciless treachery.
Her grip tightened around the hilt, finding herself mindlessly charging forward when she saw the pirate about to impale a young looking boy that had stupidly rushed to brave him.
She attempted to strike him from behind, but instead of flesh, her sword met cold metal.
"Go" she instructed to the stunned lad between clenched teeth, not taking her eyes away from his opponent for even a second. But hoping he would be smart enough to follow her command without argument.
The pirates' deformed features transformed into confused surprise when he registered his newest opponent's appearance; grinning scornfully down at her once he realized Elizabeth was a woman.
She hear soft rustle before loud steps dwindled away. Convinced the kid had left, she disengaged her sword and backed away a prudent distance, keeping her sword raised between herself and the pirate.
The man stared at her for a long moment, looking undecided on whether to laugh or get angry, before finally speaking in a heavily accented English "What a brave little lady you are"
She didn´t respond to the taunt, instead assessing all possible escape routes available, she could feel the danger that the man posed and she was not keen on facing him unaided.
"or perhaps, just a foolish one?" he mocked her, tilting his head slightly to the side.
His insult did manage to incense her enough to respond drily "I´ll show you exactly what this foolish lady will do to you" she warned, charging at him in a decisive leap.
Their swords crossed a couple of times before locking again. Elizabeth could tell how skilled the man was just from those few strikes. The end of his sword curved, wider than the rest of it, making his strikes heavier, especially whenever he leaned his weight down on her.
As she retreated a couple of steps, her heel caught on the edge of her own dress, unbalancing her for a moment, which the pirate used as an opportunity to slash at her middle. She managed to avoid it, but her already precarious balance made her tilt backwards, falling on her back with a painful thump.
The pirate simply laughed at her, showing her rotten teeth as he advanced towards her with an almost lazy stride.
Her left hand found a small pile of dust near it, her palm immediately making a fist around it.
"Would you like to surrender now? If you do, maybe I'll let you live. I would allow you to serve me." the pirate offered condescendingly, bringing the point of his sword to her face while maintaining his confident demeanour.
When the pirate walked close enough she swung her arm and threw the contents of her hand at his face, blinding him for a moment and making him back away from her. Taking advantage of it, she hurried to stand and threw herself forward, striking once again.
His quick reflexes saved him from having his head severed from the neck, but her sword pierced thru his skin, leaving a bloody trail across the right side of his face.
This time she was the one smirking once his hand raised to cover his injured face. Pulling his hand away, he stared down at the crimson stain for what felt like a life. He looked confused, as if unable to understand what had unfolded; but then his fist clenched as he let out and angry growl. Face raising to look at her, no longer holding any trace of his former amusement, but incredible fury.
"This will cost you dearly, wench" he declared, pointing his sword with a murderous glint on his eyes.
Elizabeth readied her stance. "Try it, pirate" she answered firmly, not allowing herself to be intimidated by him. At the same time her brain searched for a way to help her defeat him.
But before either of them could make a new move, a dull shot echoed nearby.
The pirate clutched at his shoulder immediately after, turning in the direction the bullet had come from, looking ferocious.
She followed as well, finding James pointing his pistol in their direction. Barely allowing her enough time to sigh with relief, he pulled another gun from his belt and pierced the air with a new shot.
Unfortunately, the pirate was ready this time. He crouched out of the way, dodging the bullet, but also moving farther away from her.
James tried to run to her, but he was prevented from it when a new pirate charged at him from the side.
Remembering her own enemy, she pivoted back to face him, sword raise and ready. But the pirate had already disappeared.
Her body did not have time to relax, as the ship gave a violent lurch. Then hearing James hollered with urgency "Up!"
Instinctively, her eyed followed his command and lifted towards the sky, in time to see a large piece of wood careening down right above her, about to crush her. Her reflexes allowed her to jump out of the way in time to avoid the collision; to her luck, the planks she landed on gave way and caved under her weight, making her world immediately tilt to the side and her eyes squeeze close in preparation. Without really knowing what was happening, she felt her body jerk and change directions, her head smacking harshly against something hard as she fell.
An unexpected wave of dizziness stunning her momentarily.
The first thing she registered after was the solid weight surrounding her. Solid but pliable.
And then a muffled sound over her, right on her ear. It took her what felt like hours, but when she was finally able to concentrate, she distinguished the words being spoken as they started making sense again "...are you alright? Elizabeth, answer me" the voice demanded, maintaining the urgent quality to it.
It was James.
Finally forcing her eyelids to part, she found herself in a dark encase facing down the floorboards. With some effort she managed to turn her head over her shoulder just enough to find James crouched on all fours directly over her body, pressing her against the hull.
"I'm… fine" she croaked out, cradling her head with one hand and bringing it to her face to check for blood. It was unusually dark all around her and she had to blink a few time in order to make her vision focus. Her head was pounding from the hit and her ears rang uncomfortably, but everything else seemed to be otherwise intact.
James' gaze darted around her face a few times, looking completely disbelieving.
It was difficult to catch her breath properly, trapped as she was. So she attempted to wiggle free from the small space he had given her.
"Wait a moment" he ordered her, just as she felt a hard jerk and the surface underneath her palms start to tremble even more.
She felt his body go rigid, and his movement become rushed, hearing him grunt with strain as a heavy creak sounded next to them.
Finally feeling the oppressing confine become less so. Elizabeth rolled onto her back, wincing by the sudden return of light when she did. She stared at James as he continued to shove away one of the walls that had them pinned down in place by leaning all of his weight against it; only to realize it wasn't a wall, but the mount of one of the cannons that had come loose, said cannon still sitting on it.
He was on his feet and pulling her along soon as he did. It was only a flash, but she caught the flinch on his expression and pained grimace on his mouth as he did.
Before she could voice any concerns, the ship gave a new jerk.
Her hand grabbing onto the taffrail to avoid falling. Her eyes darting around, frantically trying to determine what was happening.
She watched as the pirates exchanged angry yells with each other in that foreign language. All the rest of them who were still on the other two ships started charging back towards their own ship.
They were trying to flee.
Apparently, as soon as they realized their disadvantage, they suddenly became cowards.
James took her arm and gave her hand a firm pull, drawing back her attention.
"Elizabeth, move" he ordered, gesturing to the closest gangplank with a nod of his head at the same time he rushed her along. In almost the same breath hollering a commanding "Return to The Dauntless!"
Although she noticed that almost none of his men remained on the ship, the few soldiers that did, scrambled to follow his lead.
Once her feet landed solidly back on the deck The Dauntless, James pulled her away from the edge and towards the first stable surface he found, shrugging off his coat and putting it around her shoulders without a word. His attention immediately returning to the enemy.
She needed to pause for a moment and gather back her wits, not having realized how fast she was breathing until that moment. The dizziness was potent, her muscles were worn out, and her legs were doing her best to keep her upright.
Shots from muskets continued, but the pirate ship was rapidly gaining speed and they were out of range before long.
Groves appeared next to them, looking tired, tousled and dirty but uninjured. "Should we give them chase, Commodore?" the officer asked tersely as both he and James stared at the aft of retreating ship.
Instead of giving him and answer James asked "What´s our current condition?"
"We are still conducting the inspections of the lower decks, but there doesn´t seem to be any perforations; only a couple of dents to the hull and upper decks have been found. No large damage anywhere else"
James nodded in understanding, then looked across to the galleon. "And what about theirs?"
"The hull seems to be holding fine," Groves reported, hesitating for a moment before adding "but the mast sustained significant damage, and there are numerous injured on their side, Sir."
Her husband remained quiet for a handful of seconds as his frown deepened, before sighing with impatience and finally deciding on his command. "Concentrate our efforts into repairs and assistance to the survivors. See if the mast can be temporarily fixed, or if we´ll need to haul them. I calculate it will take a little over a week or so to make out way back if that were the case."
As he spoke, James moved his glance around the deck, a new thought seeming to capture his interest when he spotted the few bodies littering the deck of The Dauntless "Did we managed to capture any of them alive?"
"The ones that boarded The Dauntless were all killed, Sir. But I saw a few of them being subdued on the other ship"
Groves was nodding along as James continued with his instructions when the Lieutenant and the other deck officers finally gathered. James continued speaking, but now he was looking at all of them "Secure all the prisoners in the brig once we board the galleon. I want them interrogated as soon as we´ve returned to Port Royal."
A few of the officers appeared slightly surprised by the order. One of them even daring to start questioning him "But what about the..."
"You heard me, Mr. Bowles" James interrupted in a biting tone. "And do make sure to inspect the lower decks thoroughly for perforations"
"Sir!" they all responded in unison as the moved to comply.
"Gillette" James called back to his officer before he could disappear with the rest. Expression completely sober he added "Be through, I don´t want any more surprises for the day, nor any undesired guests showing up aboard"
Gillette's expression mirrored James' as he nodded once in compliance "Sir" he offered seriously before walking away.
Elizabeth looked in the direction the junk escaped, but it was no longer visible.
Then her eyes shifted back to James, his back was to her, hands clasped together tightly as he looked over the work of his men, but there was something off about his stance, which made her frown.
Pulling away from her provisional seat, she moved to approach him, resting a palm on his lower back as she asked him softly "Are you alright?"
Her action made him turn her way so quickly that the motion made her stagger back a little. But his hands darted out to hold her arms and steady her.
"Elizabeth" the way he said her name made it sound almost as if he was surprised to find her there beside him. "Are you alright?" eyes filling with concerned of his own.
Her mouth opened to say something else but then the throbbing pain became sharp and stabbing for a second, forcing her to clutch onto his forearms and squeeze her eyes. The sudden crash of energy leaving her feeling weak. After a moment her eyes were able to open again, still feeling the remains of the pain as it decreased as fast as it came, she nodded gently.
"I´m alright" she responded dismissively when she saw his mouth open again, making his frown deepen even more.
"You need to lay down" he stated drily "Go down to my cabin and try to rest alright? I'll be down later."
"I don´t need to"
Her response made his eyes narrow angrily. "I swear to god Elizabeth." he warned with an exasperated growl "Do not test me more than this. If you don´t listen to me, this time I will strap you to a chair myself if necessary. I promise you" he threatened her lowly, looking entirely serious.
Her nails dug on his arms at the harsh, menacing glint in his voice.
Looking down to his chest instead and pressing her lips together unhappily. She nodded once more, suddenly feeling depleted of energy.
Hearing him sigh again, gentler this time.
"You look pale, Love." he appealed more delicately, bringing one hand to her face and moving the mat of tangled hair out of her face. Even if his behaviour was rough, his touch remained tender. So she allowed herself to relax, flinching a little when his fingers brushed near the place her head hit the ground.
He notice, hand moving to the base of her chin instead, trying to coerce her to gaze up.
"You should go lay down"
Elizabeth relented, but only so she could scowl at him. Eventually agreeing in reluctant compliance. "Fine"
His expression relaxed and he nodded in gratitude "Go down to my cabin, try to rest." he repeated "I´ll send the surgeon to examine you as soon as he becomes available"
She fought the urge to repeat she was fine, sighing in defeat while moving away from him.
Catching her wrist before she did, he dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "I´ll be there as soon as I can." he promised, sounding a lot more like himself.
Hoping to help reassure him a little, she offered him a tired smile, breaching the gap between them while leaning on the tip of her toes so she could brush her lips against his neck.
"Thank you" he whispered very softly, walking away from her before she could respond.
Her eyes tracked him as he briskly climbed the stair to the helm deck, returning to his captain persona "Bring us next to that ship, Mr. Clayton"
As soon as he got her assent, he let go of her and began yelling commands once more "Mr. Groves! Where is my report?"
For a little longer, she watched as some of his men worked to direct the ship within boarding distance of the unlucky vessel that had attracted the pirates interest, while the rest worked to remove the debris left laying around after the confrontation. Until the feeling of an impending headache became too prominent to continue ignoring it, prompting her to seek refuge inside the quiet cabin.
As she settled down on the bed, body completely worn out, she couldn´t prevent the tiniest of a smiles from ghosting her lips.
She had managed to hold her own against those pirates.
The Dauntless had sustained some cannon damage to the hull but nothing significant enough, and thankfully the only further delay was due to them having to drag the battered merchant ship back to shore. The unfortunate galleon had been left in very rough shape, having to stay moored for weeks on the port while it underwent reparations before it was seaworthy again.
Amazingly, most of the crew and passengers managed to survive the ordeal. The captain of the ship had been so grateful to James that he even offered him a reward, which her husband had politely, but vehemently refused.
For his part, James had been working without rest since the attack, constantly monitoring the repairs and supervising the watches to prevent any further attacks while on sea. He had barely rested, and they had barely been alone. Therefore, she had remained utterly and neglectfully ignorant of his true condition for the better part of a week.
To say she had been angry once she discover it, was an understatement. Especially because her dumb husband had taken great care in dragging her home as soon as they made berth, calling for the physician -even though the ship's surgeon had previously assured him she had only suffered a mild head injury- and accosting him into carefully examining her.
Even while she had felt quite disgruntled at being forced into further bedrest at James insistence, she had not felt nearly as outraged -or as distraught- as she felt after discovering what laid underneath his shirt once he took it off at her own insistence. Even the physician had looked startled by the collection of dark bruises painting his right side.
Dismissively declaring that he had already been examined onboard.
Three broken ribs, several contusions and a dislocated shoulder had been the physician's verdict.
She'd been unable to contain her fury after that. Soon as her concerns about the dangers to his health had been settled, the anger had taken it´s rightful place. The bloody idiot had failed to voice any sort of complaint or discomfort through the duration of the return and he hadn't even taken proper rest while he supervised everything else but his health. All while having the audacity to worry over a bump on her head.
Furious at him and his lack of sense, she spent the next few days unwilling to talk much to him, even as she diligently watched over his recovery in his stead.
But now, as she watched him struggle to finish dressing without exacerbating his pain, she couldn't help but forgive him. Most of his side still displayed a bluish hue that contrasted jarringly against his pale skin, but his body was healing up properly.
Although he still had trouble moving around freely.
"You're going to give yourself wrinkles." he joked, once his eyes lifted and met hers "I'm alright" he repeated for the umpteenth time.
Elizabeth simply glowered harder. "No, you´re not. You´re injured. Seriously so" she answered him with mutinous anger "And I'll worry about you as much as I please." Still holding some resentment towards him about the whole thing.
Nevertheless, she raised from the bed and covered the distance between them, swatting his hands out of the way so she could finish buttoning up his waistcoat for him.
When she rested her palms on his chest, she felt the small flinch of his muscles at the added weight. Her lips pursued with displeasure as she quickly took off them off of him. "It's only been a week, you are supposed to be resting still" she reminded him drily.
"The trials need to take place. And the Governor needs my assistance with the procedures. It's my duty."
"They don´t speak any English" she reminded him, annoyed. Thinking of all the different ways he could avoid attending said trials if he really wished to.
James shrugged his left shoulder a little. "Then it will be a quick proceeding." he offered nonchalantly.
She frowned at him with dissatisfaction at his dumb response. "You should be resting" she repeated tersely, for lack of a better argument.
"I will. After the trials" he promised.
"My father would not be pleased if he found out."
One of his eyebrows lifted, amused at her veiled threat, raising his left hand to her waist and tracing her side softly with a thumb "But you're not telling him." he declared confidently, making her nose crinkle.
"You are daft. Your ribs are broken" she reminded him with exasperation, looking down at his middle, brushing it carefully. It was especially maddening to see him leave the house and walk around all over the city, pretending that nothing bothered him when he couldn't even sleep comfortably at night.
"Yes, I´m aware."
When her face lifted to look at him again, she found the corner of his mouth raised in a playful smirk.
"What are you smiling for?" she demanded almost aggressively, feeling affronted he would find humour in his current condition.
It only made his smile widen. Leaning forward with some difficulty and a small grunt of pain, he managed to reach her cheek for a peck. "I enjoy your fussing over me" he murmured against her skin.
Against her will she snorted at the comment, bringing her hands up to hold the sides of his neck. As annoyed as she was, his words made her stomach flutter pleasantly. "You are insufferable." she accused him, moving to nudge her nose against the side of his. "The only reason I care at the moment is because I can't have sex until you´re fully recovered."
Her silly words, made him let out a loud laugh, clutching onto her sides to hold himself straight. "You are such a romantic soul, Love." he praised her with another chuckle, stopping with a sudden wince "But please don´t make me laugh," he pleaded "my flank burns when I do."
With a small hum, she burrowed her face on the hollow of his neck. "Of course I am concerned." she relented with a conceding mumbled, cuddling closer to him while avoiding pressing on his front. "I love you." she whispered on his skin, only barely able to conceal her distress.