Norrington's Darling

Bartering

POV: James Norrington

Come morning, I still wasn't totally sure of Zuri's plan. It was a risk that put way too much on the line. But as much as I didn't like it, I trusted Zuri with my life. I could certainly trust her with her own...I hoped.

I fidgeted nervously as I waited for Beckett to finish whatever nonsense he was doing and look up at me. He continued muttering to himself, his quill scratching against the paper. I wondered vaguely if he knew I was even here.

Quietly, I cleared my throat, making it sound like a small cough. I waited five minutes, then did it again. Beckett gave no reaction. A knot of nerves squeezed tighter in my stomach. I wondered if he knew what Zuri and I were up to.

"Lord Beckett," I said, my voice barely more than a whisper. "Lord Beckett."

Still, Beckett continued on, muttering and frowning and sighing and writing. Just before I was finally about to throw a fit in front of him—just to see if he'd go on ignoring me—he looked up.

"Ah, Admiral Norrington," he said. "I've been waiting for you."

Annoyance rolled through me. If I hadn't been so nervous, I might have snapped at him that I'd been standing in his office—right in front of his desk—for at least a half-hour and he'd never once took notice of me.

"I was not aware of that, sir," I said after clearing my throat, hoping I didn't sound as nervous as I felt. "What was it that you wanted to see me for?"

"Oh, no, please. State your purpose for coming here in the first place."

As much as I knew Zuri would leap into action and take him up on the order, my voice died at the thought of voicing the plot we'd come up with throughout the night, trying to tweak it just so. "I'm afraid, sir, that I cannot. Your needs are primary. My requests are trifles in comparison."

A smirk twitched at Beckett's lips. "Hmm." He cleared his throat, his hand drifting to a paper at the corner of his desk. "Admiral, would you mind reading this? Aloud," he added.

Frowning, I accepted the paper. "Of course, sir." My confusion cleared up the moment I started reading it. "The East India Trading Company has lost three ships, each of them believed to be sunk by notorious pirate Jack Sparrow and his sister, Zuri Sparrow. These ships were the Tradesman, the Harpoon, and the Dutch Lady, each of them hauling cargo from the Caribbean to England. Only a skeleton crew from the Harpoon survived and the captain of the Dutch Lady. The admiral on board the Tradesman at the time of the attack was picked up by another ship, the Eastern, but died shortly after reaching land to confirm the Black Pearl had been the ship to take him down. The Company has lost vital supplies and will need to double the amount of cargo they lost on a new journey to England in order to pay for the lost cargo." My eyes found the bottom. "It is signed by the king and bears his seal in wax." I looked up at him, frowning. "But, sir, Zuri is here and Sparrow is dead..." My eyes found the corner of the page, where the date was scrawled. "Ah. This happened years ago."

Beckett nodded. "Yes. Shortly after Sparrow disobeyed my orders to carry slaves." His eyes were piercing when they found mine. "I trust Zuri has told you of what happened between us?"

A sour taste filled my mouth. "Ah, yes, sir," I replied awkwardly, shifting. I could already feel my face heating up and I wished for the stubble that had once hid my embarrassment. 

Beckett pursed his lips. "I thought so." He stood and walked to the balcony, the sea as turbulent as the look in his eyes. "You wouldn't look at me with such disdain otherwise."

It took all my effort not to jump as a jolt went through my body. "Sir?" I had thought I had kept my expressions so neutral, so unreadable...

He waved it off. "Not to worry." He spun to face me. "Though I do wish you to know that I was not the only one at fault. Zuri never once raised a hand to stop me, never spoke up. I thought—" His voice broke and he forced his gaze away from mine. "I thought she loved me the way I loved her. But the next thing I know...she's working against me." When Beckett met my eyes again, there was a terrible fire in them that forced me to stumble a step back. "Be careful, Admiral Norrington. Zuri can wrap a man's heart around her finger like that." He snapped his fingers. "Be sure she does not do the same to you."

I cleared my throat. "Actually, sir, that was what I came to talk to you about..."

"You came to talk to me about Zuri?"

"In a way." Deep breath, James. "Sir, I came to ask if I may borrow a ship and a crew."

He stared at me. I pushed on before he could object.

"I want to take Zuri out to sea. She wants to pay her respects to her brother and I..." I swallowed hard. "I want to propose." Okay, that was not in the plan Zuri and I discussed, but it was the truth.

Beckett's mouth dropped open. "You...want to propose."

"Yes."

"While she's mourning."

"...Yes."

Beckett stared at me. "You, sir, are a man of either extreme stupidity or extreme courage."

I gave him a tight, wan smile. "I like to think it's somewhere in between, more towards the courageous side of that."

"Don't we all," Beckett muttered, more to himself than to me. He sighed heavily. "Admiral, did everything I just say mean nothing to you?"

"Pretty much," I admitted. "I've wanted to marry Zuri since..." I blushed. "Well. I can't remember when. For a long time, though. When I first saw her, I thought she was insane but beautiful. As I got to know her..." I shook my head. "Let's just say she grew on me."

Beckett made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a wheeze. "Ah, well. I'd know that feeling well." He glanced up. "Even before she was a pirate, Zuri held some...strange and unusual notions." He nodded to me. "Some that men would even call insane."

"She's too damn smart for insanity," I said with a laugh. "She and her brother both."

Beckett raised a glass of brandy he'd poured himself moments before. "Hear, hear." He threw the shot back and cleared his throat. "So. You want a ship."

"Yes," I said, nodding. "I estimate we'd be out for a week or so. Fifteen days, at the max."

I could see the gears turning in his head, thinking it over. "Five days," he said eventually.

"Thirteen."

"Seven."

"Eleven."

"Nine."

"Ten."

Beckett nodded after a moment of consideration. "Any more than that, however..."

"The only reason we'd be gone longer was if we got caught in a storm." I flashed back to the hurricane that had destroyed my beautiful ship and I shuddered. "Which I pray we do not come across."

"For your sake and for my own, I'm afraid I must agree with you." He threw back another shot, which made me wary, considering Zuri's story. He nodded. "One ship. Ten days."

"Which ship?"

He spread his hands. "I'm feeling generous. Any of your choosing."

I bit back a smile. "Your generosity is appreciated. I will tell Zuri to pack her things. I'll be off to give Groves my request."

Beckett scribbled something down and handed it to me. "For when he objects," he elaborated off my raised eyebrow.

"Ah," I said, nodding. "Thank you, Lord Beckett."

With a grimace, he said, "The pleasure is mine." As I left, he tossed back another shot. From down the hall, I could hear him slam it back onto the table and I flinched.