A Most Unusual Interest

A most unusual interest… Chapter Three (NC-17)

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A/N Goddess Foxfeather, Queen of Mad Plotbunnies, BUSIEST
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Myrtle fisted
her skirt in her hands, staring at her bare feet in a mixture of great dismay
at being so ill clad in the Governor’s home and sheer confusion. “I already asked him,” she muttered. “He said no.”

Governor
Swan smiled blandly. “That’s nice, Miss
MacLeod, but you are not the governor.
The request of the governor will not be refused…” The double doors to
the grand chamber flew open as if on cue and the small cadre of people swept
in, led by Captain Jack Sparrow, having slipped his royal escort’s grasp as
soon as possib “Ah “Ah…”

“Before you
ask…no,” the pirate said cordially, bowing.
“Now if you will pardon my brevity, I must be going!” He spun on his heel and ran right into
Will’s chest. “Good day, Will…”

“Hear him
out,” Elizabeth complained. “I’m sure
whatever it is will be beneficial to all involved…” The look she shot her father said It had better be… Her eyes found Myrtle in the shadows and she
gasped sharply. “Oh, my…”

Will winced
at the sight of the girl, cleaned up somewhat since her discovery aboard the
ship but still very much the worse for wear.
“Hasn’t anyone offered her a bath?
A change of clothes?” he spat at the governor. “This is disgraceful!”

Jack’s eyes
followed Elizabeth’s and his face became a study in neutrality. “I presume this favor has something to do
with what you asked me in the wee hours of the morning, lass…”

Myrtle
jerked her chin in a defiant gesture. “It
has everything to do with the crown and nothing to do with me this time. I asked out of love for my sisters. He asks
out of love for his position.”

A slow
smile crept over Jack’s face at the horrified silence in the room. “I see the lay of things now, aye,” he murmured. “And would it be the same favor in it’s
essence?”
“Similar.” She rose stiffly to her feet and ste
in
into the light. Her eyes were
bloodshot, rimmed by bruises and puffy from salt air and tears. Her throat still bore an angry red mark,
looking slightly infected now, and her hair lay in matted tangles about her
face. Jack was almost reluctant to look
lower. “They want to hang them. I want to kill them.”

Jack sucked
in a breath and regarded her more intently.
Her anger was palpable, washing over him as she moved closer still,
stopping within arm’s reach. “Killin’
won’t bring ‘em back, dove.”

Elizabeth
could not stand the tension any longer.
“What is the favor, Father?”

The mood
broke. Myrtle retreated into her shell
and stepped back into the shadows, her eyes downcast once more. Governor Swan cleared his throat slightly
and fixed a pained, false smile to his face.
“Yes, rather…The crown requests the aide of Captain Jack Sparrow in
bringing a halt to the murderous campaign this mystery ship… You will be
granted permission to ply your trade,” he trailed off invitingly.

Myrtle
gasped at this affront but Jack beat her to the words. “I’d sooner sell my soul than be privateer
for His Majesty,” he said pleasantly, but with a faint snarl in his voice. Will had the good sense to edge into Jack’s
line of sight, a silent reminder of their location and just how much he had to
lose.

Myrtle
licked her dry lips and said tentatively, “I think you can make him a better
offer than that.”

Jack’s
smile became genuine as Governor Swan snapped, “Mind your tongue, girl! Remember your place!”

“Her place,”
Elizabeth uttered fiercely, “is in safety.
She is not a figurehead for your private cause!”

The abused
girl frowned at this and edged forward again.
“He has a price on his head here, does he not?”

Jack
nodded, the beads in his hair clicking rhythmically. “That I do…a paltry one, but a price.”

She smiled
faintly. seemseemed almost proud of the
bounty on him in Port Royal. “Remove
it. Pardon whatever sins he has
committed here and offer him safety.”

Jack
laughed aloud. “I like this one!”

Governor
Swan looked severely outraged. “He’s a pirate!”

“Which is
nothing but an unapproved privateer!” Myrtle snapped, finding her fire once
more. She could hear her sisters’ shocked gasps echoing in her memories—she had
always had a quick temper and was forever being warned to mind it by those who
knew her. Now, she could not have cared
less if it got her hung for treason or worse.
At least, she thought furiously, she would be out of this mess and
pain.

Will
snorted. “She’s got a point, sir.”

Jack’s
smile was glinting in the light as he winked at Myrtle. “A codicil to that little plan, if you don’t
mind… My crew is welcome to these shores for a little…recreation…before we get
underway.” As an aside, he added, “ ‘Tis
Christmas, after all!”

“Fine,” the
governor growled. “That’s…fine.”

Myrtle coughed
gently. “I go with him.”

“What?” The
chorus of voices would have been comical had she not been serious as the grave.

“I have
seen these men. I have seen their
ship. I will go with Captain Sparrow
and identify them, otherwise I will withhold all information about these
fiends!”

Jack
stroked his beard in thought. “Nice
try, lass, but no. You are no
sailor. You would only slow me down.”

“How will
you find them otherwise?” she demanded, her bare feet slapping gently on the
wooden floor as she gained steam, walking steadily towards him. “I have witnessed these men kill an entire ship
of people. I have witnessed their
plundering, their raping, their…” she paused, sucking in a calming breath as
the memories flashed, all too vivid for a moment, before her eyes. “I have witnessed it all. I do not ask to be a pirate. Just to see justice served.”

“I’m no
hired killer,” Jack responded softly.
Even disheveled and beaten down, there was something oddly compelling
about this girl. Woman, he corrected himself. Her body might not be the first stare of womanhood, but she was
no simpering miss.

“Nor am I,”
she replied in kind. “But I will have
the head of the man who took my family from me.”

Elizabeth
and Will exchanged pained glances. “Come,
I will take you to my old rooms where you can wash and change. I still have some clothes here…” Elizabeth hurried forward and gently took
Myrtle by the elbow, leading her away.

Jack stared
out of the window for a long time, the silent men behind him present but
distant. “I will do this, but for a
price.”

“Name it,”
the governor sighed. “Name it and be
gone from Port Royal.”

“I’ll let
you know when I think of it,” he said with a faint grin. “Until then… Will, I’m feeling a mite
peckish!” Clapping his hat back on his
head, he nodded to the governor. “We’re
going to discuss this over a bit of bread. Good day, sir!”

Governor
Swan held in his groan until the door had shut.

 

“Who is
this?” Anna Maria asked suspiciously. “No
entertainment on my ship, Jack!”

“Anna Maria,
Myrtle. Myrtle, Anna Maria,” Jack
drawled, never slowing down as he boarded the ship.

Myrtle had
had three days to think about what she had done in confronting the governor and
the pirate. Three days to panic. Jack had not spoken more than ten words to
her since the meeting with Swan and those ten words had consisted mainly of one
syllable answers to her questions.
Insanely, she thought Willow and Hazel would never forgive me for
this, after all their worry! Out
loud, she said, “Hello…Nice to meet you!”

Anna Maria
glanced at the proffered hand and forced a smile. “If you’re no entertainment, what are you then?”

“A
nuisance,” she answered promptly.

The female
captain’s laugh rang over the boards. “Welcome to my ship, Nuisance!”

Myrtle let
out a breath she did not know she had been holding as Anna Maria spun on her
heel to shout orders to her crew as they got under way. She rubbed swea pal palms on her too-full
skirts and tried not to vomit as realization hit her: I’m doing it. I’m goin to be a pirate…