Rosalind|| A Pirates of the Caribbean fanfic

Chapter 70: Kings & Queens

Hi!

I just wanted to add a note here to say a huge thank you for your continued support throughout this year. It truly means more than you could ever think, and it makes me indescribably happy to know that 'Rosalind' is loved by so many.

I hope you all have a safe and happy time celebrating the new year. Here's to 2022!

Much love, and happy reading

❤️

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The fight had been rolling for quite some time by the point Rosalind, Jack, Hector, Elizabeth and the crew had become tired of watching pirates trumping other pirates.  It was then that Hector rose to duty and climbed to the table top, gingerly stepping over beaten allies as he waded to the centre and raised his pistol to the air; firing a single shot and demanding the end of their scuffle.

"It was the first court what imprisoned Calypso! It should be us that sets her free! And in her gratitude, she will see fit to grant us boons!" He boomed, as Rosalind winced at his words. A pretty coat of sugar, it would do well to thwart the sour taste, she thought - but pitiful lies nonetheless.

"Whose boons? Your boons?" Implored Jack, readying himself too, to make a tour of the table. Hector groaned in anticipation, but lowered himself from the table with an impressive bout of patience. "Utterly deceptive twaddle-speak, says I." Jack continued, eliciting an eye roll from Rosalind and Hector the like.

"If ye have a be'er alternative. Please, share." Urged Hector, no stranger to the Devil's advocate himself. Jack thought for a short while, carefully selecting his speech, deceiving the others with his silence before he finally spoke.

"Cuttlefish!" He began boldly; brows furrowing with confusion all around. "Let us not, dear friends...forget our dear friends, the cuttlefish. Flipping glorious little sausages." He continued, landing first on Mistress Ching's men and eliciting stern gazes from them all as he defended his words. "Pen 'em up together 'nd they'll devour themselves without a second thought...human nature, isn't it? Or-or fish nature, rather." Then, resting his hands on the shoulders of Mistress Ching, continued bravely. "So, yes. We could hole up here well provisioned and well armed, but half of us will be dead within the month...which looks quite grim to me whatever way you slice it."
Moving to Gentlemen Jocard's men, he stopped as a tall deckhand blocked his path, becoming instantly intimidated as he stumbled over his tongue. "Or, as my learned colleague so naively suggests, we release Calypso! And we can pray that she will be merciful...I rather doubt it." He spoke, inching closer to Villanueva until, in his reception, painted a distinct expression of disgust on the lord's features. "Can we pretend, in fact, that she is anything other than a woman scorned like which fury hell hath no?! We cannot! Res ipsa loqitur, tabula in naufragio, we are left but with one option! I agree with...and I cannot believe the words are comin' out of me mouth...Captain Swann. We must fight!"

"You've always run away from a fight!" Interjected Hector quickly.
"I have not."
"Ye have so."
"Have not!"
"Ye have so!"
"Jack, you have so." Added Rosalind snobbishly.
"Aye, ye have so and ye know it!"
"Have not! Slander and calumny! I have only ever embraced the oldest and noblest of pirate traditions. Here now, I submit that this is what we all must do...we must fight...to run away."
"AYE!" Boomed Gibbs with enthusiasm Rosalind could not quite remember seeing from him before. Nevertheless, the rest of the room seemed to agree.

"As per the code, an act of war, and this be exactly that, can only be declared by the King!" Hector added smugly.
"You made that up!" Jack protested hastily.
"Did I now? I call on Cap'n Teague! Keeper o' the code." Rosalind's smile stretched wide across her lips. Remembering the days in which Hector had been quick to profess his distrust of the old Captain, she couldn't quite believe he was calling him so keenly on that day. Jack, on the other hand, looked more than disappointed in the prospect. And so did another lord at the table.