Fathoms Below: Captain Jack Sparrow

Chapter 34: The fourth Brethren Court.

"And I owe them all money," Jack muttered. I shot my eyes to his, rolling them dramatically at his usual antics. God help us once he got a drop of rum back in his system.

"It's magnificent," I said, still awestruck at the sight.
"Aye Ditty, tis a true beauty, much like yerself o'course," Hector beamed.
Jack immediately grimaced, curling his lip in distaste before raising his head to look down his nose at Hector in an almost threatening stance as he grabbed onto my shoulders, showing the other man exactly who I belonged to. Hector boomed with laugher as he limped away, pleased that he'd managed to wind jack's strings a little tighter.
"Go on, run!" Jack called out after him in a feeble attempt to win the argument and I could hear Hector's muttering from behind us. I jabbed his ribs with his elbow lightly and he huffed a little breath, still displeased at hearing Hector talk to me like that.

The rest of the crew and Tai Huang's crew that had sailed with us remained on the ship, with only myself, Pintel and Ragetti and both captain's going ashore for the meeting.
Lights guided our ascent up to the main atrium of the cove, the place of the meeting I assumed. We climbed high up the magnificent tower of buildings and finally reached a little alcove that shone brighter than any of the other entrances.

Jack and Hector momentarily squabbled as they each tried to go first into the meeting room, causing Mr Gibbs and I to side-eye each other out of ridicule at their antics, something we did very often. Hector managed to squeeze in first, looking proud as punch at his little defeat over Jack. Jack simply huffed and mumbled a number of choice words under his breath as he followed behind Hector, keeping me close to him by holding my hand.

As we entered the ginormous room illuminated by hundreds of candles, Hector suddenly brandished his sword and pierced the globe located at the entrance, straight through the area of the Caspian Sea, his given area of territory. Jack then did the same thing, piercing his sword through the Caribbean Sea, his own territory that he claimed as pirate lord.

Hector then moved to the head of the table, claiming his place as the host of the court. Jack held fire in walking closer, choosing to hang by the globe, keeping a firm grip on my hand, essentially anchoring me to him. Mr Gibbs then followed us a few steps behind, opting to stand with Pintel and Ragetti just to the side of us.

When I looked around, I saw so many different faces and different types of pirates. Some were fancy, almost French looking, and some were of Asian descent, no doubt from mistress Ching's crew. I'd read tales of mistress Ching back in London, she was notorious for brutal beheadings and the selection of brothels that she owned, a somewhat gruesome achievement for a woman who was known to be blind. As i looked around I could only see eight pirate lords- wait where was Sao Feng? Where was Elizabeth?

Suddenly, Hector pulled out a cannon ball and banged it on the table, attracting the attention of the whole room as they were efficiently silenced.
Jack looked uncharacteristically bashful as he gazed around the room, not saying much or attempting to draw too much attention to himself, for once in his life.

"As he who issued summons, I convene this, the fourth Brethren Court. To confirm your lordship and right to be heard, present now your pieces of eight, my fellow Captains."

With a nod of Hector's head, Ragetti began collecting the pieces of eight in a tray, from the pirate lords around the room.
I frowned upon seeing the items that were placed into the tray, they definitely weren't pieces of eight but rather nine pieces of crap that looked completely unimpressive, a far cry away from what I'd imagined since reading about it many years ago. A playing card, a broken bottle neck attached to some string and a pair of spectacles were just some of the nonsense items that landed in the tray.