PRINCIPLES OF COMPROMISE
- Dis/Claimer-
. Chapter Twelve .
During their walk to the docks, Elizabeth’s body felt weak and her mind was furious. She gave a restraining squeeze on the Commodore’s arm as they neared the towering ships, and he fell back in concern, leaving the Governor and Beckett a few more yards lead.
“Are you well?”
“He’s a disgusting man,” she spat lowly, burning a hole in the back of Beckett’s head with her eyes. “Damn him and his ‘generosity.’” Norrington was taken aback by her sudden burst of hatred.
“I admit he can be revolting, but I don’t see how you can blame this on anyone but yourself,” he reminded her shortly.
“Don’t you see what he’s done?” she asked, exasperated. “He’s going to have us married the day before Jack’s trial! We’ll be at sea and out of the way so that we can’t speak on Jack’s behalf at the trial!”
James slowed, casting her an unsure look. “We?” Elizabeth looked away guiltily. James stared at her. “You don’t honestly think he’s innocent, do you?”
“Yes I do,” she said without hesitation. “And don’t lie… I know you believe him innocent, too.”
“True enough,” he admitted against his will. He didn’t think Jack guilty from the start, but he was still too stubborn to admit that aloud. He pressed on. “But you know as well as I do that Beckett will never listen. He’s upset as it is that Jack even has a trial. He’s determined to see the end of him.”
“I know,” she groaned slightly. “That’s why he’s getting us out of the way… He sees us as a threat somehow… But we can’t just let this go. Condemning an innocent man will only condemn us both.”
Norrington would’ve rather not been involved, but he tried to make her see reason.
“I agree that the responsibility of Will’s death lies with another, but what is it that you exactly plan on doing to stop our wedding and see Sparrow off cleared? There is only so much we can do.”
“Then whatever it is, we must do it,” Elizabeth said firmly.
“First things first, darling,” James murmured quietly, eyes cautiously on Beckett. “We have to delay our wedding.”
“Obviously,” she whispered back.
“Though I don’t see how you will come up with a legitimate excuse to miss the wedding and still speak for Jack the next day-“
“Here she is!”
James and Elizabeth jerked their heads apart, looking up at the beautiful ship they approached. Lord Beckett curled his lip with a smirk before turning back to his two followers as they headed up the gangplank.
“The Heiress is a small ship of the fleet, recently retired from duty, but all the while seaworthy,” Beckett told them as they stepped onto the gleaming deck. “Her guns have been disabled, though I imagine you will steer clear of conflict as much as possible after the wedding.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but why disable the guns?” Norrington asked. “What if it so happened we could not avoid conflict?”
Beckett lifted his brow. “Surely, if you are a man of intelligent naval tactics, you will know how to assemble them again, unless that is giving you too much credit?”
Norrington averted his heated gaze to the towering mast before them. “No, sir.” Beckett smiled.
“Good! Now, I will go and retrieve the captain… We’re actually here early…”
As he strode up the deck, Elizabeth caught a whiff of something in the breeze. She made a face, attracting her father and James’s attention.
“Do you smell that?” she asked. After a moment of humoring her and inhaling deeply several times, Norrington narrowed his eyes.
“Gunpowder.” His eyes went about. “It’s very strong.”
“Now now, these are ships of war you are surrounded by, don’t forget. And merchant ships do carry a lot of stock sometimes,” the Governor tried to reason. “Perhaps it is best the cannons are disarmed if there is that much powder on the wind.”
Somehow, as the wind sent more of the strong scent of powder under her nose and Beckett returned with the captain, Elizabeth silently had to disagree.
x x x
The door creaked open loudly. Jack cringed at the horrific sound that he felt had drawn every eye in town to him, but thankfully, the only eyes that turned on him were that of Mary, the donkey. He stared at her for a moment, challenging her with his eye to make a sound. Mary did not, and so Jack stepped into the somber atmosphere of the blacksmith’s shop, closing the door and barring it.
“So, donkey,” he said, crouching down to the observant animal and looking straight at it, “humans seem to think that only other humans can be witness to a crime,” Jack stated. “But that is not true. You were here when Will was murdered, and you and I both know the truth that Beckett refuses to listen to.”
Mary went to whinny, but Jack put his hand on her nose to silence her.
“Ah ah… You know it wasn’t me. But seeing as you can’t communicate very well on a human level, you’re very little use to me.” Jack tried to keep eye contact with Mary, but she kept turning her head. Finally, Jack stood, walking further into the shop.
“Since you’re no help pleading my innocence, I’m just gonna have a look around if it’s all right with you.”
Mary made a sound between a snort and a sneeze. Jack raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll take that as a 'yes.'”
He stepped down a few stairs, looking around at the vast emptiness of the space before him. There was a chill about it that had nothing to do with the weather. He felt it envelope him and gave a visible shiver.
“You threatened Miss Swann…”
“You’re not a eunuch, are you?”
“Oi! Turner! Light a lamp or-“
He stepped in a wet patch of dirt and made a face, wiping his boot off on the dusty floor. He went to step around the muddy spot, but immediately, his boot collided with something heavy and solid on the floor. Jack looked down, kicking it lightly again in the pre-dawn darkness.
“Mr. Turner? You’ve left a sack or something in the middle of this bloody fl- Ow!”
Jack bent down to pick up whatever was obstructing his path, but his face fell into something cold and wobbly. He squinted his hurting eye, seeing the outline of an upright sword handle with the other. He let his eyes follow the sword blade down…
Mary whinnied.
Jack pulled out of his memory with narrow eyes where Will’s body had been several mornings prior. Everything looked in its place as if it had never been unsettled. The floor was unmarked, the stone wall wiped clean, the wood pile stacked…
Jack paused. A small gold glint in the dirt caught his eye almost hidden behind the wood pile. He moved his head slightly to the side, and the tiny object glowed brilliantly. Mary whinnied again. Jack’s narrowed eyes were physically drawing him closer to the woodpile. It was still as small as it was back by the entrance, and Jack stopped before it with a suspicious eye.
He reached down for it, picking it up carefully between his thumb and middle finger. He regarded it with curiosity. It was a small, gold cuff link. Very ornate to boot. Very sophisticated. Much to glamorous for even William Turner.
This cuff link was not Will’s.
And he knew it.
Jack growled in the back of his throat curiously eying the tiny weight of gold between his fingers while deep in reverie. The lovely swirls in the gold moved somewhat after staring at it for a time, and he blinked quickly, running on air out of the blacksmith’s shop and harboring his find. Mary whinnied again.
“I won’t tell if you won’t,” he said to the animal before slipping out the front door.
x x x
James and Elizabeth strode beside one another rigidly as Beckett and Captain Karmic showed them every inch of the Heiress that morning. The east winds brought the chill out of the water and to them directly, adding to the distractions Elizabeth was swarmed by. She and Norrington were impressed but suspicious with the ship, knowing that Beckett being involved was grounds enough for suspicion. She thought of Jack, wondering if she might again see him that night. She thought of Will and if she would be learning a new way to parry with a sword if he were still alive. The thought stuck in her throat thickly, mixing with the harshness of the gunpowder on the air.
After the tour of the Heiress, Elizabeth was vaguely aware of wandering into in the streets with her party as talks continued between her father, and Beckett. At length, they ended up stopping after crossing a small stone bridge that led towards the east side of the settlement. Elizabeth almost kept walking, but James halted in place, quickly and discreetly pulling her back towards him. She blinked repeatedly to escape her cloud of secluded thought.
“I think it’s a masterful work,” Governor Swann said in great favor of the ship. “An excellent vessel of good craftsmanship and quality, wouldn’t you agree, Commodore?”
“Marvelous, sir,” James said.
“And do you find it just as appealing, Miss Swann?” Lord Beckett asked carefully. “I would not want to bestow a gift upon you that you think of as less than suitable.”
“It is a stunning tribute,” Elizabeth assured him. “I find it quite accommodating.”
Beckett smirked. “Lovely.”
Suddenly, Mr. Mercer had appeared over Beckett’s left shoulder, surprising Elizabeth. She must have blinked because he was not there before. The man flashed the closest thing to grin at them, bending at the waist quickly.
“Good day, Governor. Miss Swann, Commodore.”
“Good day,” Governor Swann said with a short smile. Elizabeth held her silence as she held her hate for the man. Norrington seemed to be along the same lines, his face not even attempting to conform to a hint of an acknowledgement. Mercer took no time in turning to Beckett.
“M’lord, I require a private word,” he says pressingly.
In her mild dismissive state, Elizabeth looked around, taking note of small details around her. The wrinkles of her fine rose dress and James’s stunning navy coat messed together where their elbows were linked. The fabrics and hues of the colors contrasted greatly, but somehow in her current state of mind, they looked just fine side by side.
Her father’s wig was slightly off-center by maybe half an inch, but it was still very bothersome to her eye.
Beckett looked thoroughly annoyed and ready to lose his temper as always. His calm façade seemed to be slipping, but it was nothing new. Potentially dangerous, but not new. His eyes were dark, and his appearance was very professional and masculine. The deep orange of his coat seemed to heighten him almost, especially with the delicate gold stitching embroidered around the neck and down the length of it…
Mercer was speaking in a muffled voice close to Lord Beckett, something said about meeting later on the matter they were discussing. Her eyes fell to the ground wearily, noting the position of their similarly fashioned boots in the cold dirt. Her eyes gradually traveled upwards; Mercer’s coat was shorter than Beckett’s, and he had wonderfully elegant embroidery on his as well. It swirled in a rectangle as the bottom of his sleeve, two brilliant gold cuff links gleaming dully in the shade. She blinked as the other hand crossed into her view, and she narrowed her eyes curiously.
The other sleeve was identical, but she could only she one golden button. Perhaps it was only the sun playing tricks on her tired eyes…
Her eyes were so heavy…
Things blurred together slightly. She was even still seeing things. One missing gold button, two barrels where there should only be one, and Jack in th-
Jack in the alley??
She blinked, setting her head high and taking a slow breath. Then, she looked back towards the alley. Was it Will’s ghost and not Jack? The fact that it was midday did not matter; the alley was still shadowed, like the bottom of Jack’s eyes…
Finally, when Jack was in fact motioning to her, Elizabeth acknowledged that it was him. She tried to look over few and far in between, but the curiosity of him just being there was distracting. She felt detached from her father, Beckett, Mercer, and James. An urge to go to him was not relenting. She did not know why, but who was she to fight it?
When she looked back up, Mercer was departing. She looked to address her father.
“-business that shall be left until later.”
“Terribly important?” Governor Swann asked Beckett.
“Oh no, just an item that requires more attention that work on my part, don’t worry over it-“
“Father.”
The three men looked to her attentively, so much that it surprised her.
“Yes, Elizabeth?” The governor narrowed his eyes. “Dearest, are you all right? Your eyes look dull, are you ill?”
“Just tired,” she replied. “I had a long night.” She glanced up at James. “Apologies, but I was wondering if I may have the remainder of the afternoon with the Commodore?”
James cast to her a curious expression from the side. Beckett lifted is brow as well, the mechanics of his mind trying to decipher Elizabeth’s request.
“Now?” Governor Swann asked. “We are in the company of Lord Beckett for you, I don’t know if it is entirely courteous-“
“Poppycock,” Beckett responded. “Our tour of the ship is over,” he said with intense eye contact to Elizabeth. “I would not want to be responsible for keeping them just for more wine and naval chatter. “
Swann looked back to Elizabeth with a thin smile. “Well, if it is what you wish.”
“Thank you for your gallant hospitality, Lord Beckett,” Elizabeth said to him. “The ship is positively remarkable, and I thank you again for the arrangements. Your company was uplifting this morning.”
Beckett smirked. Empty words. They both knew it. He just smiled.
“As was yours, Miss Swann,” he replied. “Thank you for accompanying me. You as well, Commodore.”
Elizabeth stole a glance back at Jack in the alley when Beckett let go of her eyes. He was still there.
“Thank you for everything, sir. It is indeed gracious of you.”
As Elizabeth rejoined the group with her thoughts, she nodded he father and to Beckett respectfully (though she had nothing of the sort for the man) before looking up to James with a tired smile.
“Shall we?”
He gave her a suspicious look as they turned to walk up the street. He was curious.
From the alley, Jack bit his lip as Elizabeth walked away with Norrington, not sure what to make of it. Then, if he had blinked he would have missed it; Elizabeth winked at him.
He smiled. When would he be able to make an honest pirate out of her?
He stayed put, standing back into the shadows more until she came.
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