1Hey everyone, so this is NOT my first fic, but it is my first Pirates fic so be gentle...I'm trying to be historically accurate and I am so tired of all of these headstrong heroines. Lets be honest, most upper class girls in the early 1700s were not rebellious as our Lizzie, so I have decided to make my heroine a more subdued gentle girl.
I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, that pleasure belongs to Disney.
Also, the song used in this chapter is called, Ward the Pirate and was registered in 1680 by W. Onley. Here is a link to the tune. http/www. contemplator. com /sea/ward. html (Just remove spaces) as for who my girl will end up with or will she at all we shall see. I'll let you decide for yourself who you think she should be with after a while...but in the end, I already know. Anyway...thank you for reading!
Enjoy,
Syd
July 12, 1706
James wrote to me this week. He wants me to join him in Port Royale since Father is passed on and I have no husband to speak of. Being twenty-one, I am now officially a spinster. Bloody romantic dreams...if only I could bring myself to resign to a life with a man I do not love...if only...I shall go on the next ship with the young officers being sent as well. We leave tomorrow...it is not leaving England I fear but living with the brother I have hardly known these past nine years. I only hope to find happiness at least with family...he is getting married the day after I am to arrive...perhaps I shall sing at his wedding. I must pack...
Eleanore Norrington
It was warmer than Ella had expected as the Olympus docked in Port Royale. The weather was immaculate and to her delight, the water was a lovely light blue. She met the familiar blue grey eyes as she was helped off the ship by one of the younger officers. She held a parasol to shield her from the blistering sun and thanked the Lord that she had her rusty brown hair pinned up off of her neck. Their eyes were the same though she'd gotten a hint of their mothers green as well. He was just as she remembered him but older...a man. He smiled lovingly as he always had with her and took her hand.
"Eleanore...you're a woman..." He said, offering her his arm which she took. She smiled sadly and nodded.
"Pity...isn't it?"
He lived not far from the docks in a rather impressive house which would comfortably house her as well as his new wife to be and the servants. As she vaguely understood, James had been in some sort of confrontation recently with a pirate and she didn't want to intrude on his personal business so she spoke of the only thing that came to mind.
"Father called for you when he was dying." He looked up, loathing in his eyes.
"What would he have wanted with me?" He asked dryly and she bit her lip.
"I don't know...I suppose he wanted to apologize to you...for everything he put you through." A glimmer of pain flashed and he looked away.
"I don't want to talk about it Ella." She stared at him a few moments with her head tilted until he became irritated.
"What?" He asked and she couldn't hold back a snicker.
"That wig is hideous dear brother."
Ella met her soon to be sister-in-law over dinner that night and liked her immediately. Charlotte Mason was a bit uptight, but she seemed like a good woman. It didn't surprise Ella that her brother's bride was a year younger than she in the least. Over the past five years she had been forced to have countless suitors but each of them proved to be fruitless in earning her hand in marriage and in turn she received a reputation for being flighty. Not that she was, she just wanted to be in love rather than settle for a man of power. Ella Norrington was not a strong woman, at least she didn't think so. Her days were spent reading books and living vicariously through them since she had neither the courage nor determination to live them herself. She was introverted and soft spoken and often called starry eyed or dreamy. Wanting desperately to believe in fairytales, she dreamed of a handsome prince carrying her off on his white horse into the sunset. Cliche, one might say, but to her it was a fantasy.
Ella had almost made it through the dinner with Charlotte's family and her brother when Mrs. Mason asked her if she needed a sponsor for the upcoming season. She'd nearly spit her wine, having been through four seasons already.
"I...um..." Her brother's eyes pleaded with her as she stumbled for words and she smiled in defeat. "Actually I do..." She said sadly and the woman perked at the idea.
"I'd be delighted! Since Charlotte is getting married, it will give me something to do!" Ella looked toward the window as if there might be an escape and noticed the sky had turned terribly black...through the wind and the now falling rain, she thought she could make out the shadow of a ship in the distance.
As Ella brushed her hair for bed that night, a soft knock at her door started her. She quickly hid the romance novel she had on the vanity and called out for whomever it was to enter. It was James, of course.
"I wanted to thank you for your politeness and consideration of Mrs. Mason...she hasn't been taking the thought of losing her only child to marriage well...I know you must be sick to death of the seasons..." Ella held her hand up to silence him.
"Jim, I am glad to do it. If it will help you with your bride's mother, I will suffer through another season as the perpetual wallflower. I only hope you won't be too disappointed in being known for having the sister who is a spinster." James smiled at her, pressing a kiss to her temple.
"You, a spinster? Never."
The wedding was lovely, as the foreboding weather had dwindled and given way to glorious sunlight. James seemed to be genuinely fond of Charlotte, though as to if he loved her Ella could not be sure. The governor was present at the ceremony as well as the reception but to Eleanore's disappointment, his daughter was absent. Elizabeth Swann was a girl she had known in England as a girl and who was a year younger than she. Still, she had considered the girl a friend and had been looking forward to seeing her again. Weatherby Swann hadn't changed a pinch and still had the kindly eyes she remembered from all those years ago. When they'd come to the Caribbean with my brother, Elizabeth had been twelve and Ella nearly thirteen. Immediately following James's departure, she was sent to finishing school to be groomed as the bride she had always been meant to be. Truth was, she hadn't minded a bit.
Elizabeth had always been different with her rebellious streak and her lust for adventure. Ella supposed that was why they were such friends since opposites do attract. Ella later learned while in school, James had been promoted from Lieutenant to Commodore and had taken Lizzie for a fiancée. Of course, she had been thrilled to death about the prospect of her old friend being her sister, but later found it wasn't meant to be and James had let her go. Terribly sad, but life does go on as he had met Charlotte Mason when he had been promoted again to Admiral, who had been the daughter of a rather ill doctor, who was on his last legs. He had since died and given James his blessing to marry his only child.
The reception proved to be a tedious interrogation by the women of society to Ella. They simply had to know if she was spoken for, or simply waiting for someone. Ella was impressively patient as she answered their questions and though she saw the disdain in some of their eyes, most could not help but like her calm nature and soft voice. To Ella's complete terror, one of her brother's friends suggested that she sing after James had boasted about her voice, which had been the product of her music lessons in finishing school. All proper ladies were to know some form of music and hers had been the piano as well as a surprisingly sweet voice. Ella sighed, knowing she couldn't very well refuse James after nine years of being apart from him as he was her only family left. She softly told the conductor the name of the song she wished to sing and stood uneasily on the small stage.
Come all you gallant seamen bold,
All you that march to drum,
Let's go and look for Captain Ward,
Far on the sea he roams.
He is the biggest robber
That ever you did hear,
there's not been such a robber found
For above this hundred year.
A ship was sailing from the east
And going to the west,
Loaded with silks and satins
And velvets of the best;
But meeting there with Captain Ward,
It was a bad meeting;He robbed them of all their wealth,
And bid them tell their king.
O then the King proved a ship of noble fame,
She's call'd the Royal Rainbow
If you would have her name;
She was as well provided for
As any ship can be,
Full thirteen hundred men on board
To bear her company.
'Twas eight o'clock in the morning
When they began to fight,
And so they did continue there
Till nine o'clock at night;
Fight on, fight on, says Captain Ward
This sport well pleases me,
For if you fight this month or more,
Your master I will be.
O then the gallant Rainbow, she fired
She fired in vain.
Till six and thirty of her men
All on the deck were slain;
Go home, go home, says Captain Ward
And tell your king for me,
If he reigns king all on the land
Ward will reign king on the sea.
By the time she had finished, all were laughing merrily and drunkenly at the old ballad of the Pirate Ward. She sighed in relief and as she looked across the room, three figures were shadowed by the moonlight against the water. She looked at James, who had stood immediately and tried to calm the uproar. I followed him as he made his way to the two people standing in the doorway. One was most certainly a man and the other seemed a lithe boy, but when the hat came off, it was obvious she was a girl. Recognition immediately passed through Ella's eyes as she exclaimed,
"Lizzie?" The girl looked like she had been to Hell and back and her friend, a young man with black hair loosely tied back and a beard seemed so exhausted he could hardly stand. Yet, Ella could have sworn there were three, but perhaps it had just been an illusion of the night.
Weatherby Swann had rushed through the crowd to his daughter, pulling her into a tight embrace. The room erupted in cheers for the joy of their governor's daughter being safe at home.
"Oh dear child, you smell of rum and sweat." The governor said, as he shook the young man's hand. Elizabeth cast a glance in Ella's direction and smiled briefly before attempting to talk to her father.
"Father..." She began as the man turned to everyone.
"A toast, for my daughter and her fiancé returning to us! May they get married and live many happy years together."
"Daddy..." She tried again and the man turned back to her.
"What is it?" She held up her left hand as did the boy.
"We're married. We've eloped." She said and the governor's mouth dropped, though he managed to contain his surprise rather well, Ella observed. She noticed James's face had fallen but as he'd looked at his own wedding ring, he sighed in defeat and offered the couple congratulations. After the excitement had died down, Lizzie went to Ella and took her hands.
"Oh Ella! Is it really you?" She asked, sitting beside Ella as her new husband merged with the governor and his conversation. Eleanore smiled at her, grateful to see a familiar girl.
"It's me." She sighed. "Lizzie, it has been so long...how are you?" Her old friend thought a moment before deciding on an answer.
"Tired really...exhausted even, but happy now. I can't believe you're here in Port Royale..." She said, her eyes full of question.
"Yes, well...Father has passed and James thought it best..."
"Oh dear. I am sorry Ella." She replied and Ella nodded.
"Thank you...but I think we both know there is not much grief on James's part. I can't help but be upset. He was the only father I had...our mother died so long ago. Even though Walker Norrington was a wretched man, he was our only family..." Elizabeth's eyes were full of sympathy as the girl mechanically recounted her father's death for what was surely the millionth time. Deciding to change the subject, Elizabeth said,
"Are you to participate in the upcoming season?" She asked and Ella nodded.
"Of course...though as usual I suspect it will be pointless. I've reached status as a spinster. Aren't you proud Lizzie?" She laughed and for the first time since Elizabeth had known the soft spoken girl, she detected a tone of bitterness.
"Surely some man will..."
"No. It's too late for me now. I've accepted the fact...but I will participate simply because it is the right thing to do." The tone in Eleanore's voice matched the despair Elizabeth had felt pondering the life she would have with a man she did not love. In fact, she was so worried over their union being interrupted again, that as soon as they had been on their way back from the ends of the Earth, she had begged Jack to marry them. Of course, it had been a drunken rambling ceremony, but it had been theirs and she would remember it, particularly since Jack had told her he was proud of her for her trickery in chaining him to the ship as the Kraken swallowed him whole. The thought of being in the belly of that monster was enough to make her shudder even now when it was dead.
As the reception went on and Lizzie joined the side of her new husband, Ella felt more and more like she was suffocating and decided to walk along the sea as she had always longed to do. James and Charlotte had left already for their honeymoon suite and there was no one to chaperone her. As the warm night air hit her face, she began to remove the stabbing pins from her hair and let her chocolate tresses flow in the breeze coming from the ocean. In all her life she had never seen anything so incredible. The light from the silver moon hit the dark waters like a thousand diamonds glittering. The sudden need to feel the sand beneath her feet found her stooped to unbuckle the slippers she wore and remove the knee high stockings from under her skirt. The sand felt warm and soft and like nothing she had ever been allowed to feel before.
As she came back up the interested odor of alcohol and tobacco filled her nostrils as she sniffed. When she turned around, she nearly fell out of her skin for as if one of her books had come to life, there in front of her stood a pirate if she ever saw one. A red cloth was tied around his head, as long black dirty hair fell from under it. He had a beard and wore a coat and boots and a hat which indicated he was a captain of sorts. She pointed at him, wondering if she had fallen asleep on the sand and was simply dreaming this or if she'd gone completely mad.
"You...you're...you're a pirate." He grinned.
"Aye...you were expecting someone else?" Her eyes widened in disbelief and a bit of fear.
"W-what do you want?" She asked, hugging her arms around herself. He held his hand up to calm her.
"Actually, I was headed back to my ship but I wanted to tell you I much enjoyed your song...tell me love, why choose a song about a Pirate?" She looked at her hands, unsure of whether she should answer him or run the other way. James would be livid.
"I...read about them and they are fascinating..." He was amused, Ella could tell and she suspected he thought of her as a funny little chit.
"What else do you read about love?" She blanched at the endearment and jumped when his finger crooked under her chin. Her eyes, the color of the Caribbean ocean met his uncertainly. They were dark, almost black in the moonlight and glittered with the mischievousness of a child.
"I...um...romance...princes...fairytales really." She trailed off as his hand cupped her cheek.
"Go on..." He said and she gulped, her knees feeling as though they would give out from under her with fear and something else. Something she didn't know...
"Adventure...treasure...victory..." He seemed closer than the moment before as he nodded.
"My kind of story..." He said and licked his lips. "I wonder love, have you ever been kissed?" Her eyes opened fully but she did not move.
"Yes," She said her voice quivering. "I have." His eyes twinkled as his lips moved closer. The rum on his breath was evident and sweet and intoxicating.
"By a pirate?" He went on and she shook her head.
"No...not a...pirate..."
Before another word could come out, his lips were on hers, his hands in her hair, his tongue probing gently into her mouth. It was the complete opposite of what she had imagined a pirate would kiss and taste like and, to her horror, her tiny hands were clutching the lapels of his coat and a warming sensation crept from the top of her head to her toes as she felt the blood rush to her cheeks. A sharp male voice made her jerk back.
"What in the name of God are you doing to my sister, Sparrow?" Terrified she forced herself to look at her brother, who had returned to say goodnight to her. She followed his gaze to her abandoned shoes and stockings on the sand beside them. Her face went from a flushed pink to red in moments. The pirate only stood casually by and said.
"Captain Sparrow if you would, please."