all the time in the world

black pearls

(Portsmouth, England, 1888)

It is a stormy night when Duchess Ashby's lover is murdered.

Tedros likes storms. No one comes to the sea when it's stormy. He can sit on the rocks and pet the seals.

And watch a murder.

A man, presumably the Duke, stands on the clifftop with his pistol angled at Captain Graves's head. His wife is a little further back from the edge of the cliff, held back by the Duke's men. She is not crying, but she is very still and tense.

For her credit, though, the Captain doesn't appear afraid. She stands with her hands in the pockets of her breeches, her greatcoat snapping around her legs, and watches the Duke.

"I have nothing to say to you, scoundrel." says the Duke, loading and cocking his gun.

The Captain's face is mostly shadowed by her hat, but it's clear she's grinning.

"You had plenty to say last week, your grace."

The Duke's nostril's flare, but other than that he doesn't take the bait. He's resolved to kill her, so he clearly feels he has no reason to respond. Tedros puts his chin on his tail, somewhat invested. He does not properly understand what they are saying, but emotions are clearly running high.

"Any last words?" asks the Duke.

The Captain's eyes shift to the Duchess.

"Nicola?" she says.

The Duchess looks tersely back at her.

"Yes?"

"You will address my wife by her title, witch." snarls the Duke. The other woman raises her hands in surrender.

"...ma'am, then. I wish that you would take this."

She reaches into her pocket and produces something. It's shiny, but Tedros cannot see it well enough to work out what it is. Some kind of human trinket. Sparkly.

The Duchess looks at the men holding her. The Duke sneers, but he gives them a signal to release her. Nicola rushes forward, breathless, and takes whatever it is into her hands.

The Duke is on the wrong side, so he doesn't see the Captain's other hand slip something else into Nicola's pocket.

"A necklace will make no difference, once you are dead." the Duke scoffs.

"Perhaps it will." says the Captain, letting Nicola clutch her hands. "Or perhaps it will not. Let go of me now, ma'am."

Nicola hesitates, looking between her husband and her lover. Then she looks down at the necklace in her grip.

With shaking hands, she releases the other woman's hands-- but not before she grabs her collar and kisses her.

The Captain kisses her back, for a brief moment, before breaking away and gently pushing her backwards.

Tedros hisses to himself, lashing his tail through the water. That is not fair. He does not like that, no, he does not...

This time, the Duchess doesn't resist, stumbling back to her husband. The Duke does not look angry. He knows there's nothing his wife can do about what's about to happen.

He raises the pistol and smiles at the Captain.

"Leave us." he says to his men, who troop obediently away down the hill. No witnesses to report an unfair duel. Then he turns to his opponent. "I'd say prepare to meet your maker, but I don't think you believe in God, do you?"