Pirates Of The Caribbean Fan Fiction ❯ Mirror, Mirror ❯ Arrangements ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter 13

 

Ayse stood in a tailor's shop in the business district of Port Royal examining bolts of very costly silk imported from China and India. All were white or cream-colored with intricately woven designs and all were beautiful. Alston had sent over his butler to accompany Ayse as she selected the material of which her wedding gown would be made.

“I suppose I shall pick this one,” she finally said, pointing to a pretty cream-colored swatch with little flowers patterned over it.

“Are you certain this is the one, Madame?” the butler asked.

“Quite,” she responded.

The tailor cut a small sample off the bolt and handed it to the butler. He then took out a tape measure and began to take her measurements. Alston had instructed that there would be no cost spared and that the gown was to be specially made just for Ayse. The bride, however, felt horribly that Alston would be spending a considerable amount of money on this one day, and the fact that she was planning to jilt him made it that much worse.

She left the shop with Alston's butler and did a few more errands in Port Royal before he drove her to her home. Ayse came into her room and tossed her brim hat aside before she flopped onto her large bed and sighed. She glanced at the closed lid of the pocket watch on her nightstand and reached over for it, opening the lid.

“So you're back it seems,” James told her. “How did everything go?”

Ayse shrugged. “Mm…not badly, though I didn't know there was so much bloody planning to a wedding. Good Lord, you have to pick out fabric for a gown, find a church or some other suitable spot for the occasion, send out invitations, and so forth.” Ayse lay on her stomach with the watch in front of her and rubbed her temples. “The whole thing wouldn't be such a damned headache if I were marrying someone I loved.”

“I know, Ayse, but you only have to bear it a little longer,” James reassured her.

“And the cost…” Ayse went on. “Do you have any idea how much Alston is spending on this one special day? If it were up to me and if I were wedding someone I loved, I'd just say to hell with the ceremony and go directly to the magistrate.”

“Now, Ayse, you've really been using more harsh speech than I am accustomed to hearing out of you,” James lightly chided.

She sighed. “I apologize for my crass tongue, but I am just very annoyed and frustrated. I can't leave here soon enough!”

“Try being in my position,” James pointed.

“Touché.” She picked up the watch and rolled over onto her back. “So Lieutenant Groves is supposed to meet us here tonight. Pray tell, how is it that you trust him so?”

“We have been through much together. Though he has a habit of exercising his wit at inappropriate times, I couldn't ask for a better officer or friend.”

“Did he see the cursed pirates and Davy Jones, too, then?”

“Indeed. That is one of the reasons why I know I can trust him,” James responded. “Theodore is a very kind and compassionate man. He would do anything for anyone.”

“You rather make me wish I were marrying your Lieutenant rather than Alston,” Ayse admitted.

James couldn't hold back a scowl. “Is that so?”

“Are you jealous, James?” Ayse teased.

“Of course not!” he huffed. “If you want to marry Groves when we get out of this mess, then that's your business.”

Ayse snickered and put James back on her nightstand. “Well, you needn't worry about my getting married off to Lieutenant Groves, though he is charming and humorous. I'm certain that whoever does wed him will be one very fortunate woman.”

 

 

Ayse hung James's pocket watch around her neck, put on her cloak, and blew out the candle that illuminated her bedchamber. The sun had gone down hours ago and now she waited in the dark seated on the side of her bed waiting for the grandfather clock in the foyer downstairs to chime ten o'clock.

The moon was not even out tonight, and she could smell rain lingering in the tropical air that flapped through her open window. The decisions Ayse was making began to weigh heavily on her mind - the people she would be hurting and the people who would be angry with her for what she was about to do. Yet the light that stood out in all of this darkness was James. How joyous a moment it would be when he would become human again and she hoped desperately that James really meant it when he'd promised her that he would take her away from Port Royal.

The clock chimed downstairs, and she quietly rose to her feet, clutching the watch tightly in her fist. Ayse first closed her bedroom window and carefully tiptoed downstairs, taking care to skip the steps that squeaked when they were tread upon, and quietly, she opened the door and gazed out into the dark of the moonless night.

“Groves?” she whispered.

There was no answer, and Ayse ventured further out of her home as she quietly shut the front door all the way.

“Theodore!” she hissed a little louder.

“Right here, Miss Thomas!” his voice whispered back. He stepped out from behind a nearby bush and illuminated Ayse's face with a lantern he held in his hand. On his arm was a small bundle which Ayse assumed to be the promised clothing. “Sorry…I wanted to be absolutely certain we would be alone.”

“You needn't worry about that,” Ayse told him. “No one in my home suspects a thing.”

Groves glanced out toward the sea and noted the lightning looming in the distance. The waters were beginning to get choppy as the wind began to pick up into gusts.

“That storm will hit land before we can get out of it if we don't hurry, Miss Thomas,” Groves remarked, taking her by the arm.

“Agreed.” She paused. “And you don't have to be so formal with me. You may call me by my first name, Lieutenant.”

“And the same to you.”

Theodore and Ayse scurried along the mostly empty streets of Port Royal, only taking to the alleys and staying away from the taverns. The storm out at sea was growing ever closer to the town, and Ayse began to feel the occasional raindrop and then the sprinkling of water from the clouds. Theodore knew a shorter route to James's house, and he led Ayse quickly along until they arrived at the familiar red door of James's house. They paused beneath the awning of his doorstep as the heavens opened up and sent forth a downpour that would have surely soaked them had they wasted any time. Ayse stooped over and took out the key from beneath the loose brick under which she'd found it the first time.

She turned the key in the lock and opened the door. Theodore hurried Ayse inside and closed the door behind them. He set the lantern on the floor, removed Ayse's cloak and hung it up on the coat hook just beside the door. Then he removed his hat and dark blue coat and hung it up as well.

Ayse opened the lid of the watch and gazed at James. “We've arrived at your home, James. What shall we do now?”

James took a quick glance around the foyer. “It's just as I left it…” he trailed nostalgically. He cleared his throat. “Perhaps the best place to do this would be my study.”

Ayse led Groves into the study and placed James on the library table. She sat down in a chair and took out a sewing kit from her pocket. She nodded toward the bundle that Groves had placed on the table.

“Are those my things?” Ayse asked.

“Y-yes,” he responded, opening up the package. “I hope these will work.”

Ayse took out a pair of black breeches and held them to her waist. Theodore appeared to have a rather trim waist as the article appeared to need only a slight taking in.

“I think these will work,” she remarked. Then she grinned. “You really should eat more, though. I could almost fit into these without taking them in!”

Theodore blushed. “The food I consume on my ship while out at sea hardly makes a complete meal, Ayse.” He paused. “That and it isn't as though I have a wife to keep me well-fed.”

Ayse glanced at the watch just in time to catch James rolling his eyes. She snickered under her breath, remembering how snidely James had seemed to react to the idea of her marrying Groves. She smirked, shook her head, and pulled out a shirt, a waistcoat, and a coat from among the articles of clothing as well.

Theodore had taken to lighting the candles in the study, and he brought a candle holder to her. “Here, Ayse. I thought you might be able to use this for your sewing. Will the things I brought you do?”

She nodded. “I think they will do just fine, Theodore. I thank you for bringing these articles.”

He pulled out a set of rolled up maps and seated himself in the chair opposite Ayse. “You're welcome, and I brought a set of maps to show you the islands of the Caribbean. There are many of them, some that have not yet been explored, and others you must take my explicit warning to stay away from.”

“Why?”

“Cannibals,” James answered. “Some islands are populated by tribes that engage in the consumption of human flesh.”

A horrified look crossed Ayse's features, and her jaw dropped. “H-human flash? Why in God's name would they do that?!”

“Some kind of voodoo ritual or form of god worship most probably,” Groves told her.

“Either way, it's really quite savage!”

“In any case,” Groves continued, “those islands are to be avoided. Here they are on the map.” He pointed to a tiny cluster of islands, and Ayse nodded.

“And just where are we going once James and I take to sea?” Ayse asked.

“I have been thinking about that myself,” the lieutenant admitted. “If it's Calypso you want to find, then there is only one person that I can think of that would best be able to help you. The problem is that he is a pirate…”

“Oh, God, no,” James groused. “Surely you're not suggesting him.”

Ayse glanced from Groves to James. “Who?”

“Jack Sparrow,” Groves deadpanned.

Ayse's blue eyes grew wide, and she looked at James. “Does he mean the Jack Sparrow?”

“You've heard of him?” the lieutenant asked, surprised.

“Yes, James told me all about him when he was relating his story of how he'd gotten into that looking glass. Do you really think he can help us?” She paused. “Actually, will he help us?”

Theodore shrugged. “He probably will if you convince him somehow, but first you have to find him.”

“Where do we find him, then?”

Lieutenant Groves stood up and shifted the map in front of him. He pointed to an island. “Tortuga.”

Ayse leaned over to look at the small island at the tip of Theodore's index finger. “Tortuga?”

“It is a pirate controlled port,” James explained. “It is a dangerous place full of scandal, fornication, and villainy. Even honest merchants are drawn to that modern day Sodom and Gomorrah.”

“What if Jack isn't there?” Ayse asked.

“If you cannot find Jack Sparrow, you might be able to find his mate Joshamee Gibbs,” Groves told her.

“Ah, what a shameful downfall,” James remarked. “Gibbs would have made a good officer.”

“I take it he was a naval officer as well?” Ayse asked.

“Yes, and he was under my command. He was discharged from the navy because of his constant state of inebriation. Since his dismissal, he has turned to Tortuga and piracy as his means of living. Such a waste indeed.”

“You should not be so judgmental, James,” Ayse lightly admonished. “Given your current position and how you got there.”

He bit his lower lip, remembering his own disgrace. “I see your point, Ayse.”

“Anyway…so Tortuga will be the way to go, and a merchant ship will carry me there?”

“Yes,” Groves confirmed. “Once you reach Tortuga…what happens next is entirely up to fate to decide. Your goal right now is simply to get to Tortuga and find either of the aforementioned men.”

Ayse nodded. “Then it's settled. Tortuga it is.”

She picked up her sewing kit and began to take in the waist on the pair of breeches Theodore had brought for her. She pinned her adjustment in place and threaded her needle by the candle's dim light as the rain came down hard outside and the sky rumbled and flashed.

“Looks like we won't be going anywhere for a while,” Groves remarked.

“So it would seem, Lieutenant,” James agreed.

Theodore was content to pick a book from the shelf as Ayse sewed the adjustment into place with her needle. Though not much conversation passed between the three friends, Ayse's thoughts refused to quiet down. She kept thinking about the repercussions her little stunt was going to have, and she thought about how much she would be hurting Alston by jilting him at the altar when he was paying for nearly the entire ceremony as well as her wedding gown. But most of all, Ayse thought about her father and what he would have to say to all of this. What could he say? She did know that he would not be happy with the fact that his brother had arranged and engagement for his niece that she did not want. She knew that if her father were here, he would most definitely help James and she wouldn't be in this whole mess at all. But he wasn't and now Ayse was suffering for that.

A sudden loud clap of thunder made Ayse jump in her seat, and the needle stabbed her index finger drawing forth a bead of blood.

“Ouch, that really hurt!” she complained as she put her finger to her mouth to suck on it.

“Did that startle you?” James asked.

“Yes, it did.” She glanced toward the window where the rain still continued to beat down. “Theodore, what is the time?”

The young man took out his pocket watch and glanced at the face. “It's nearly half past one in the morning.”

A worried expression crossed Ayse's face. “Dear me, I hope this storm doesn't last much longer.”

Theodore stood up and stretched. “I'm certain it won't.”

Ayse put down her project and rubbed her tired eyes. “My word, I am so tired. I'm not used to being up at this unsightly hour.”

“Why don't you go lie down and sleep until the storm passes?” James suggested. “If you like, you may sleep in my room.”

“In…your room?” Ayse trailed. “Oh no, I couldn't do that.”

“Well it isn't like he's using his bed at the moment, Ayse,” Theodore pointed.

“I suppose you're right, Theodore.” She picked up her companion. “Thank you, James. I believe I will take you up on that offer.”

The Admiral glanced at his former lieutenant. “I believe you know where my guest room is located. See to it that you rest as well.”

Ayse and Theodore went upstairs and separated into their own rooms. Ayse put James down on his bedside table and climbed into his previously untouched bed fully clothed. The thunder rumbled low and ominous outside, and Ayse blew out the candle she'd carried in with her.

“James?” she whispered.

“Yes?”

“Are you afraid?”

“Afraid of what?”

“Afraid that we won't be able to find Calypso?”

“Of course I am,” James admitted. “I don't want to be like this for all of eternity. At least not until I am ready.”

“I don't think anyone is really ready to die, James,” Ayse told him.

“I think I would have been had I had a full life.”

“James?”

“Yes?”

“I'm…I'm afraid, too.”

“Of?”

“The consequences that I will be facing if and when this is all over with.”

James remained silent for a moment. Then, “Ayse, I have a feeling that this will all work out in the end. Please don't begin doubting yourself or I shall do the same. You've been my strongest support in all of this and my only support. And in return you have mine. I thought I had made that promise to you clear.”

“You did, but…”

“No,” James cut her off. “No buts and no doubts. We have to see this through together, come what may.”

Ayse bit her lip in the dark and fought back her tears. She was touched by James's sincere words, even though she could not see his face at the moment. It was hard not to grow fond of someone when you're with them nearly day and night, and Ayse could tell that her affection toward James was rapidly beginning to bud into something alarmingly more. Perhaps, she reasoned, that this affection or whatever it was, had to be the reason that she was working so hard to free him - for the sliver of hope that he would be her life's chosen mate. And he was right: they had to see this through no matter what.

Her lip quivered, and she swallowed hard, nodding resolutely. “Together, then.”