Prison of the Mind

A Change in Leadership

Sand lifted from the ground forming small funnels as wind snaked across the beach, sending soft whistling noises through the air. Palm trees swayed away from the shore, as though they were cowering in fear. Smoke still rose from the hut, intertwining with itself in a braid reaching up to the blue Caribbean sky.

Jack emerged from the jungle first, and the rising sun illuminated his bronze face. He stopped at the edge of the palm tree forest and laid the side of his hand flat against his forehead to block out the bright light.

"They're here," Elizabeth said, a hard edge to her voice.

He lowered his eyes to look to his right and gave her a curt nod.

"I am right once in awhile," he taunted, turning for a moment to gaze at her face.

He smirked when her cheeks became stained with the smallest hint of a blush.

"So, what is the plan? Are you going to orchestrate some kind of grand hijacking?"

Now he turned to fully face her, his long black hair framing his face. She recoiled as though she was remembering the last time she asked him to disclose his plans to her.

"No, I already told you, I work best alone. At least on matters like this."

She glanced over his shoulder at the ship that was growing larger with every passing second.

"I may have been sarcastic about suggesting that you involve the entire crew, but surely you don't mean to take the entire ship by yourself?"

He tilted his head in mild annoyance. "I can't tell if you lack faith in me, or if you are concerned for my well-being." Blasted woman.

"There are probably more than twenty crew on that-"

"No, most of them are currently rowing towards shore. Did Will never tell you how we managed to commandeer the Dauntless?" he asked, cutting her off. She looked like she wanted to shout at him.

"Bits and pieces. Never the whole story. Mostly he focused on how you managed to use your overinflated reputation to bluff your way through," she said tightly.

Jack raised an eyebrow at that and tilted his head in a challenge for her to elaborate.

"I think he believed that if I was told too much, I would reminisce about it," she added with a clipped voice, ignoring him.

"Will always did want to box you up into a neat little package. I fear that he was and is incapable of seeing you as anything other than 'Miss Swann'. Probably why he can barely look at you now."

Her mouth dropped open slightly. "Excuse me? I beg to differ. Will would have certainly been supportive of whatever it is that I had wanted to do-"

"Sure, as long as it meant sipping tea in corsets and giving him children. Did you know that he nearly tried to run me through when I revealed that his father was actually a pirate?"

The skin of her fist turned a splotchy red and white color as she clenched it against her vest.

He sighed. "Your fantasy of William being a pirate hopefully died the moment that you returned home after the Isla de Muerta business. That boy is no more a pirate than I am a chambermaid. Had I never fished you out of the harbor, I can guarantee that Will would have tried to turn you into a broodmare."

"How dare you! I would have never allowed him to-"

"Oh Christ, Elizabeth. I said he would try. I didn't say anything about him succeeding. Actually, I figure that you might have just left him before he ever managed to convince you to go to bed with him. And while we are on that topic, I highly doubt that you would have ever been satisfied with his-"