Emerald Seas II

Chapter 2

Black drops moved down from the heavens above, landing on the dark fabric of a cloak, then traveling down back into the ocean, mixing in with the saltwater that seemed just as black as the sky above. Some drops made its way down onto the skin of the man wearing the black cloak and black tricorn hat, dripping down into his neck where the icy cold made him move slightly and adjust his grip in the saddle of the horse carrying him.

Waves crashed against the hull of the small longboat where this large white stallion was tamed by the man inside the saddle. The large beast blew some of the cold drops from its nostrils. In the ocean, the oars were rushing down into the dark abyss underneath and pushed the longboats through the water in a fast phase. And what soon felt to be an abandoned beach was in sight, the sand just as pitched black by the storm that struck the island, the island of Port Royal.

About a two dozen longboats arrived at the beach, the small hulls piercing the wet sand where they aground. A handful of sailors tried with all their strength to pull the vessels on dry land. As soon as the boats fully arrived men wearing red coats and carrying muskets marched out of the vessels and quickly formed a line a few miles away from the surf.

There would have been the sound of the large white horse inside one of the longboats entering the beach with a graceful jump, but the hooves of the large stallion made a soft pound landing on the sand, which after its owner steered the animal along the line of men in position.

The town of Port Royal was taken, booted feet marched down the muddy streets, red-coated soldiers everywhere. Doors where closed and townpeople hit within their homes.

The destination of this journey came in sight. The chapel where the big wedding should have taken place was empty, the only sound came from raindrops tapping into the empty china teacups spread across a large table. The rain had destroyed everything, decorations came down by the strength of the water coming from above and the chapel that was supposed to be a place for celebration at this very moment, seemed almost like a funeral. The guests had fled and it only were the soldiers now entering the large chapel, that looked out over a cliff above the ocean, where the altar was awaiting.

Only one figure moved upfront inside the chapel, behind him the large group of soldiers came to a halt. Two black boots moved now too in its halt, just underneath the roof of the chapel where the rain couldn't reach. On the jagged cobblestones, one of the boots slightly higher up the uneven ground made the figure stand tall. His back toward the soldiers Cutler was looking out over the large cliff, with at the end the altar.

The same sight, the same sight Cutler had printed inside his mind. Thirteen years back when it had been his wedding and his love that was supposed to stand there, at the very end, at the edge of the cliff by the altar. But the female figure Cutler was watching at this very moment was not his beloved fiance he lost all those years ago. It was the daughter of a man who had done him great pain in the past. The man that had put everything into motion, with the death of Cutler's love in the end. It was all his fault, together with Jack Sparrow, Governor Weatherby Swann was going to pay for everything. He was going to pay for what had happened all those years back when it was Culter himself waiting outside the altar, just as Elizabeth Swann right now crouched down, waiting for her fiance that would never come.

'Governor Weatherby Swann, it's been too long' Cutler spoke with his voice echoing through the chapel. He had to hold back a grin by the sight of Governor Swann marching through the crowd of guests that had shown up again after Will Turner, Elizabeth's fiance, had been brought in by Cutler's men, shackled like a criminal. The Governor's face seemed pale, and the stress showing on his face was something Cutler recognized from the last time he had seen him, he had never been particularly good at hiding his nerves.

'My apologies for arriving without an invention. That cannot be your daughter, little Elizabeth?' Cutler spoke while watching Elizabeth who had earlier moved through the chapel in a fast phase and now stood tall next to her fiance. Her eyes seemed dark and full of anger, staring into his direction. And even though Cutler was sure she wouldn't recognize him from all those years back, he wondered whether she still remembered Kate, she had to right?

'Cutler Beckett?' Governor Swann's voice now echoed through the chapel, his eyebrows raised.

'It's Lord, now, actually' Cutler remembered Governor Swann not accepting Cutler's rank all those years ago when they crossed paths when he had only just become the director of the East India Trading Company. The Governor had known better but he had always felt like he could treat Cutler like dirt. This opportunity gave Cutler a moment to rub it in his face once more.

A moment later Mr. Mercer next to Cutler's side presented him the warrants Cutler had arranged months ago in London. The three warrants for the arrest of Elizabeth Swann, William Turner and James Norrington. All guilty of the freeing of Jack Sparrow nearly a year back. Cutler heard Governors Swann almost choke when he read the part of the punishment for his daughter, which was death. Cutler didn't feel any regret seeing the desperate eyes of the Governor hover from him to Elizabeth and Will, too stressed about the situation, but the young couple seemed more willing to fight. Especially Elizabeth didn't hide her sharp tongue.

'We are under the jurisdiction of the King's governor of Port Royal, and you will tell us what we are charged with' Elizabeth hissed in Cutler's direction.

Elizabeth wasn't the little child Cutler remembered from all those years ago and it amazed him with only the few words he heard her speak now right in front of him, how Elizabeth seem to resemble Kate in a way. The way she spoke without hesitance, her strong character and despite being in a room full of men she allowed herself to speak up and fight, just like Kate always did. It was one of the reasons he always carried such admiration for his lost fiance. Cutler wondered for just a slight moment if Elizabeth had learned these traits from Kate, in the few months she had traveled with her back then. And there it was again, that pinch, that pain in the bottom of his stomach as yet another memory of Kate passed his mind. But he tried to swallow away the pain and Cutler had mastered the skill of hiding his emotions over the years to well. And so his dark eyes raised to both Elizabeth and Will after he asked them for his next target for revenge, Jack Sparrow.

' "Captain" Jack Sparrow!' both Elizabeth and Will spoke up at the same time.

'Captain Jack Sparrow. Yes, I thought you might' Cutler followed.