Pirates of the Caribbean:The Spanish Prisoner (Book 2 King's Messenger Series)

Epilogue

"They sicken of the calm, who knew the storm."

- Dorothy Parker

I did not return to London for three years. During that time, Hector and I heaped upon each other every tenderness and favour our affections could devise, and so well-matched were we that not a single cross word passed between us. We kept the small house in St Thomas for the time being, and it was there that Matthew took his first steps and delighted us with his childish prattle.

Elizabeth, Rufus and I embarked once more on our free-trading enterprise, making short runs on the Andromeda. As Hector had predicted, she proved an excellent smuggling ship and he even undertook certain piratical ventures of his own on her.

As a sense of peace settled round my heart, all my fears departed, and I had no more dreams of Orion.

One night after he had been totting up the profits from our various endeavours, Hector shut his ledger book and beckoned me to his lap. "Come and sit," he coaxed, a gleam in his eye.

When I was seated with one arm round his neck, he kissed me. Then he studied my face, half smiling before he spoke. "I was thinkin' today---do ye remember our days upon the Pearl? 'Twere a pleasin' time, eh, little bird?" He caressed the side of my face with his hand, drawing his thumb across my cheek.

He could hardly have found a topic more apt to stir my passion than the early days of our courtship, and our conversation was suspended as I worked my fingers under his waistcoat and nibbled at his ear. "It was heaven---each and every moment. I had never yearned for any man the way I did for you."

"There be no reason we can't make more journeys like that." His fingers traced my breasts through the thin cloth of my chemise as he murmured sweet suggestions. "A great cabin, all to ourselves, livin' like kings on the finest victuals an' wines... 'Tis only a matter o' money."

What was he getting at? We already had enough to live quite well, and expectations of making a great deal more. I concluded that I was being set up for something, and nestled my head under his chin so he couldn't see my face.

"Ye get more by plunderin' the bigger merchant ships," he went on, "but fer that I have need of a proper vessel with more guns on her, like the Troubadour." He buried his face in my hair. "Like...well, why not? ...like the Pearl."

So that was it. I shifted position and looked him in the eye. "Don't tell me you're still after the Pearl. She's bad luck for you---I feel it in my bones."

He set his jaw. "Ye should know me well enough by now to know what I think o' signs an' omens. I mean t' make us rich. An' I need a proper ship t' do it."

I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against his neck. Are we not happy as we are? I wanted to cry out. But I already knew what his answer would be.

Then inspiration struck. "I concede that you require a better ship," I said, "but it needn't be the Pearl. I can redeem the bank notes Lord Hervey sent, and give the gold to you---it should be enough for a fine ship!"

The idea evidently took Hector by surprise, and before he could argue, I outlined my plan. "I had a letter last month from my father. He's bringing the Troubadour to Tortuga for provisioning, then he's off to Ramsgate. I can sail with him."

Hector found his voice. "An' just who's to look after me son while yer away?" he demanded.

"Matthew will go with me," I replied. "It's time he had a glimpse of his own country. I want him to grow up knowing something of it, and you've talked about how my connections could be to his advantage."

"Devil strike me if I let ye take him!" Hector roared. "He stays here, where I have me own business t' look after!"

But I had held back my best card, and now I played it. "As you like," I shrugged, "only, he'll lose a chance to meet King George."

Hector fell suddenly quiet, as if he were trying to hear the distant squeak of a mouse. I suppressed a smile as I watched his face. His inclination to spend time with his son contended mightily with his appetite for social advancement---and lost.

He studied me with narrowed eyes. "So...if I agree t' let him go, ye solemnly promise t' introduce him to the King?"

"I promise," I replied, looking as solemn as possible. "But you must promise me you won't try to take the Pearl from Jack."

The corners of his mouth curled up the way they always did when he felt he had got the better end of a bargain. "Agreed, sweetheart," he purred. "We have an accord."

Within a month, I had made all the necessary arrangements to sail for London. And then, on the night before I was to board the Troubadour, my dream returned.

It began with the sound of Orion's dog barking, but Orion could not be seen. Instead, there was a ship on the horizon, a dark ship with a horribly familiar shape. It did not seem to be moving, yet it was not anchored. Run aground, perhaps? But I knew it had not been wrecked. Nothing could wreck this vessel. And there was a black-haired, bearded man in the water, a man who should be dead, swimming round and round it, laughing.

A great stab of fear went through my stomach. "No!"

I woke with a violent jolt. For a moment I lay nearly breathless, my heart hammering wildly, my body cold and rigid with fear. My shout was still ringing in my mind, but I gradually came to realise that only in my dream had I cried out.

Hector was sleeping peacefully beside me. The heady perfume of night-blooming jasmine drifted through our open window, along with the faint, bird-like peeping of tree frogs. My pulse gradually ceased to race. All was well.

I left the bed quietly and peered out the window. The night was warm and clear, with the first slow stirrings of a tropical breeze. Fair winds for our departure.

But I stared into the darkness knowing: it wasn't over. Not yet.

Not by a long shot.

THE END

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Author's Note: I hope you have enjoyed The Spanish Prisoner!  I am currently posting the next installment of the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Blood Moon (Book III of the King's Messenger Series) on Wattpad.