A Pirate's Life for Me

Chapter 18: Tangled Fates

Port Royal

Both Annalise and Elizabeth looked up quickly as they heard the fast staccato steps that could only belong to a young and impatient man. The first ruled out their father, and the second ruled out the guards to their prison – which left only one person.

The two sisters stood up as Will dashed down into the jail, pushing passed the guard on duty as he hurried over to meet Elizabeth at the bars to the sisters' cell.

"You're not... you can't be here." The guard protested, moving to try and stop Will, but Governor Swann – who had come down behind Will – answered firmly: "I think you'll find he can."

Annalise tuned their conversation out as she stood behind her sister, while Elizabeth and Will knelt before each other on each side of the bars as Will explained quickly what Beckett had wanted.

However, the more they listened the more incredulous the sisters became, and Annalise finally asked skeptically: "He wants Jack's compass?"

"What on Earth could he want it for?" Elizabeth echoed her sister's confusion, but Will shrugged as he answered: "Doesn't matter. That's not the main point."

He looked between the sisters as he continued his explanation: "I could – and I will – go find Jack, and convince him to return to Port Royal. In exchange, Beckett has agreed to pardon us... but only two of us."

The two sisters' eyes widened in understanding, and they exchanged looks; but Will cut them off with a raised hand before they could speak.

"However," he continued as he looked at Annalise now, "he has offered two sets of letters of Marque – one for Jack, and one for whomever Jack chooses."

"Is he betting on Jack saving Lisa?" Elizabeth asked, while Annalise's frown deepened.

"I think so." Will agreed, but Governor Swann interjected firmly after he'd sent the guard away: "No; we must find our own avenue to secure your freedom. Both of you."

He looked at his daughters, and Annalise and Elizabeth exchanged looks again while Will looked up at the two women's father as he asked with a hint of sarcasm: "Is that a lack of faith in Jack... or in me?"

Governor Swann pursed his lips, but he didn't rise to the bait.

Instead, he answered seriously: "That you would risk your life to save Sparrow's does not mean that he would do the same for anyone else. No matter the possible stakes."

His eyes flickered over to his youngest daughter, and Annalise thinned her lips but didn't respond. Her father, misguidedly satisfied by her silence, turned searchingly around as he muttered: "Now, where's that dog with the keys?"

He began whistling as he searched for the dog, while Annalise turned away to give her sister and Will some semblance of privacy as they gazed at each other lovingly through the bars.

"I have faith in you." Elizabeth murmured, stroking Will's jaw softly as Will held her other hand through the bars. "Where will you find him?"

"Tortuga." Will answered without missing a beat. "I'll start there and I won't stop searching 'till I find him."

He looked back at Elizabeth, staring her in the eye as he finished firmly: "And then I intend to return here to marry you."

"Properly?" Elizabeth teased, smiling, and Will answered with a small smile of his own: "With your leave, if you'll still have me."

"If it weren't for these bars, I'd have you already." Elizabeth answered as she leant in as close to Will as possible, and Annalise snorted – before hiding it in a cough – as her father broke off a candleholder on the wall that he had been leaning against before Elizabeth had spoken.