Belle was silent then, the glare nearly leaving her eyes. She clenched her jaw together once more, but this time was successful about keeping silent.
"May I show you something?" Commack asked politely, though he would not wait for answer. Instead, he stood up and walked around the table before grabbed Belle's arm and yanking her arm up before touching the small of her back and pushing her to the door. "Let's go. I want to show you something."
There was a sinister smile etched out onto Commack's smile that seemed to bother Belle to no end, but she ignored it. He ended up leading her to his ship's set of brigs, and what she saw there caused her to pull from Commack's grasp and coil her long fingers on the cool metal bars. Aaron! He was right there, a bruise on his face and his lip split, but he was there, he was in front of her.
"The infamous Aaron Donovan, the Robin Hood pirate of the Seven Seas," Commack announced, "will be hung promptly in two day's time."
Without looking over at the man, Belle asked, "What do you want for him?" Aaron had come up to meet her, afraid to speak lest Commack took his rage out on Belle, but curled his hands around Belle's and pooled his eyes into her own. She looked unharmed, from what he could see.
"If you, Arabella," Commack began, taking a couple of steps towards the woman on her right side. He wanted her to pay attention to him, but at the same time, he wanted her to agree to this so his plan could take place. "If you agree to marry me, I will release Aaron Donovan right here, right now."
"No," Aaron said quickly, snapping his brown eyes from Commack's frame over to Belle. They looked frantic, needing her to not agree to this proposition. He would be damned if Belle agreed to marry some other man just to set him free. He couldn't even fathom some other man being with her when he loved her so. "No. No you don't, Belle. Do not even think it. We can think of something. Don't." But he could read her eyes as clear as the blue sky outside.
Belle's eyes were misting up, but she refused to let any of her tears fall. Instead, she pressed her lips together, trying to contain herself. She mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' to him before cocking her head to the side so she could look at Commack. "All right," she agreed, her voice strained. "All right, I consent to be your wife."
Commack smiled, but in no way was he surprised. Of course she would consent to be his wife. It would seem she would do anything for that pirate. Who knew? Maybe she loved the man. He didn't know and wouldn't waste any time contemplating such notions. How could anyone fall in love with pirates was beyond him. He could understand childhood fantasies about exploring the Seven Seas and looting for treasure and fighting to the death. But the Royal Navy did such things to, and everything they did was legal. Pirates, on the other hand…
And what kind of pirate was Aaron Donovan anyways? Stealing from the wealthy and then dispersing his findings to the poor? How ridiculous that notion was! The wealthy did absolutely nothing to deserve such prejudice, and the lesson that was being taught here was that one didn't have to work to accumulate some sort of wealth for a pirate would surely ensure the poor was taken care of. It was preposterous.
But oddly enough, people seemed to look up to the man from all ends of the spectrum. He was the peoples' pirate, which made it harder to find him and arrest him because Aaron Donovan had a knack for hiding out in plain sight.
That didn't matter anymore, did it? Aaron Donovan was in his clutches right now, and that was what was important. So some woman thought she was saving him by agreeing to his deal. There was no way Commack would allow Aaron to slip through his fingers now that he finally had the man. He would be a hero for capturing the elusive pirate captain.
Suddenly, he nodded, and two men appeared on either side of Belle and pulled her away from the bars of the cell. Commack had to give her credit; the woman was not throwing a tantrum, something he had expected from her. But her eyes seemed to say everything she needed to say to Aaron, though Commack himself couldn't decipher the message, and to be honest, he didn't want to.
"I should probably tell you why Belle ran away all those years ago," Commack said, returning his gaze to the pirate before him once Belle had been taken back up to the deck. His eyes narrowed, and his face looked darker. "I took what was rightfully mine, and what she could give to no other man. And, just so you know, I loved every minute of it." He grinned again as though he was amused.
Aaron, to say the least, was absolutely furious. A slew of insults all pushed their way to the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't speak. His face glared at the man before him, and though Commack would never admit it aloud, the tall pirate intimidated him at that moment.
"I promise," Aaron began, his tone low and articulate as his eyes narrowed into Commack's, "that she and I will get our just revenge on you. Mark my words."
"Consider them marked," Commack murmured, as though he did not take the pirate seriously. But he was shaken.
Chapter XXXVIII
Belle was led up the wooden steps of Dustin Commack's ship. She was going to collect her bearings and start thinking about what she could do to escape when the men who had led her out of the brig turned around and both grabbed one of her arms. It mirrored the way the Navy men did it to her back when she was arrested back on New Providence.
"Excuse me!" Belle exclaimed, her eyes narrowing at the pale hands clenching on her shoulders. "I'm not sure if you were present or not, but I just made a very significant deal with the good commodore. You should not be treating me this way."
One of the Navy men tilted his head back and laughed at Belle's statement, only causing the young woman to flush as she felt her anger increasing. "You're not marrying the Commodore, you wench!" the man exclaimed, as though it was the most amusing thing he had ever heard. "He never intended to marry you. He just wanted you to think that he did so you would turn yourself over willingly." He grinned, though it wasn't very friendly. "Now, Commodore Commack has both you and Aaron Donovan. He will bring the two of you to Port Royal and he'll hang the two of you together, to give a warning to all those couples who think crime can be romanticized."
With that, the other man forced her to turn around and forcibly led her back down to the brig.
---
"Ah!" Commack said with a grin. "There you are."
Aaron noticed Belle struggling against the men holding her and his black brows furrowed slightly. He tried to meet the young woman's eyes but she seemed to be intent on getting free from the men who were holding her.
"Make sure you put her in this cage over here," Commack said, indicating the unoccupied cell across from Aaron's. "We don't want them to conspire together, do we? Aaron is notorious for escaping, and who knows just how successful he might be with the help of Belle? No, put her in the empty cell. A house divided will soon fall, hmm?" He glanced over at Aaron, his lips curling up, though the look on Aaron's face was anything but amused. "But we shan't worry about that, will we boys? Those that engage in the acts of piracy together will soon die together. I say, it's pretty romantic, is it not?" He glanced over at his men. "You had better see if you can find her sister. Let's hope piracy hasn't tainted her…" He let his voice trail off before locking eyes with Belle. "…purity."
Belle growled, slamming her hands on the bars and tightening them around the cool metal. "Don't you dare, Commack!" she exclaimed, her whole face entirely red and her murky green eyes flashing dangerously. "I swear, I will track you down. You will not harm her, touch her, in any way."
Commack laughed such a barking laugh that the men surrounding him couldn't help but join in. They were afraid of what would happen if they didn't.
"Listen to this, gents," Commack said as he headed over to the entrance of the brig. "Apparently, she thinks she is much stronger than we are just because she is a pirate. Bloody stupid thinking, if you ask me. Send Streep down here to take the first watch of the prisoners…" With that, he and his men headed back up the stairs, leaving Aaron and Belle alone momentarily.
"What's happened, darling?" Aaron asked in a low voice, throw
ing his gaze over at the obviously distressed woman. "I thought –"
"It was a trick," Belle said flatly, looking back over at the pirate with a defeated look in her eyes.
"A trick?" Aaron asked, not understanding.
"They only wanted to catch me defenseless," Belle told him. "They wanted both of us together all along. They want to hang us." She sighed almost desolately, her eyes looking out the dank, dirty floor beneath her feet, her hair falling in her face to prevent Aaron from staring at her.
"Love, don't look down," Aaron said, hoping his voice would be somewhat reassuring. "We can escape."
"And how exactly do you propose to do that?" Belle asked, lifting her head up, though only slightly.
"Why," Aaron said with a dark smirk, "we'll walk right out of the brig and onto the deck."
---
Without warning, Belle began to shriek. Streep, a junior member of the Royal Navy, and barely twenty, was currently assigned to stand guard over the two prisoners. He was still somewhat naïve, and very intimated to be looking over one of the most prominent figures in criminal history. So for the first fifteen minutes of his shift, he looked at his feel or the walls; anywhere, really, where the pirates were not in his line of sight.
However, when Belle started screaming, his blue eyes snapped up.
"Oh, there's a rat!" she said, her cheeks flushing. "Will you please get rid of it? I know it sounds rather silly, but I am deadly afraid of the vermin." She fluttered her eyelashes and offered him what she hoped was a charming smile before coiling a golden strand of hair behind her ear.
Though Streep knew this woman was an accomplice to acts against the Crown and almost certain she was Donovan's lover, he was transfixed by her beauty, and without thinking clearly, reached for the keys hanging from his belt and started to open it.
"Oh thank you," Belle said, once the man stepped inside. "It's just over there…" She pointed gracefully to a corner of her cell shrouded by shadows.
Streep walked over and bent down, his eyes trying to search the darkness for a familiar silhouette of a rat, but she must have been mistaken because… It was then that Streep felt Belle slowly ease the keys off of his belt, but before he could react, he felt her foot against the small of his back, kicking him forward… And then everything went black.
Belle wasted no time. She eased out of her cell and slammed the door shut so the poor Navy man, currently unconscious, was locked inside. Aaron grinned wolfishly at her, finding the way she tried to flirt with the boy quite humorous. It took a few tries due to the many keys littering the key chain, but after a long moment, Aaron's own cell door was opened and both were free, at least for the time being.
"We need weapons, doll," Aaron drawled, going into planning mode. It always fascinated Belle to see how easily Aaron could switch from lover to criminal mastermind in a manner of seconds.
The brig happened to also be where the Navy kept a slew of their weapons, and before Belle knew it, she had a cutlass in one hand and a pistol in the other. She wasn't sure what was waiting for them up on the deck, but one thing was for certain; she was prepared.
"Stay behind me, love," Aaron instructed her as he eased his frame at the foot of the stairs. "And be careful."
"Always," Belle murmured in response, causing Aaron to smile a small smile.
He waited for a long moment before finally heading up the stairs. He paused, reaching the top steps, but surprisingly, this side of the ship was deserted. If Belle could guess, Commack and his men were probably celebrating their double-capture in the galley, drinking an excessive amount of alcohol. For whatever reason, this seemed to relieve Belle because there would be no confrontation. When she looked at Aaron, however, she realized he might have wanted a fight to break out, if only to give him an excuse to do bodily harm to the man.
"Now what?" Belle asked quietly, for even though she couldn't see anyone, she did not want to tip them off.
He gave her a flat look over his shoulder. "You always seem to underestimate me, my darling," he murmured in return, his tone taking on slight offense. He tilted his head up so Belle could see a row boat floating a safe distance away with two familiar bodies. Aaron then grabbed Belle's wrist and led her up the banister of the ship. He turned to her. "We need to jump off to reach them," he informed her. "Are you ready?"
Belle glanced over at him and took his hand in hers, before nodding. Aaron smiled at her, and then, simultaneously, the two stepped off the edge and fell into the sea. In a manner of moments, the two broke for air, and without any formal warning, Aaron pressed Belle into a passionate kiss. It felt so good to have her in his arms again, to taste her lips. She giggled through the kiss, and even he couldn't help chuckling. The two were safe, at least for now.
"Oy!" Rick called from the rowboat, before rolling his eyes at the scene in Brylee's direction. "How about the two of you stop getting intimate in the ocean lest you want to get caught again!"
The two pirates finally broke apart from each other, Belle blushing, and started to head over to the boat.
They were free once again.
Epilogue
Brylee looked at herself in the full-length mirror, frowning a bit as she tried to push the worries she was currently fretting about to the back of her mind. She pressed down on the white beaded bodice with shaky fingers, cocking her head to the side. She was trying to study herself in the mirror, trying to make sure she looked classic, beautiful, stunning, especially since it was supposed her big day. Her eyes glanced over at the large balcony window, staring into the sunset-painted sky almost wistfully.
When was the last time she had seen her sister, or Aaron for that matter? It had to be at least a year. Brylee was now almost twenty-two, and Belle's late November birthday had recently passed a couple of weeks ago. The place Brylee now called home was none other than Port Royal. She had left Aaron's crew a few months after the whole situation with Commodore Dustin Commack, but she didn't leave alone. Rick decided to accompany her, and soon afterwards, he proposed. Because of the length of time he spent with Aaron's crew, he accumulated a great deal of wealth and could easily pass for a merchant from the Americas. Her parents loved him when they first met him, and when they saw how in love with him she was, it suddenly didn't matter that she wasn't marrying Commodore Commack.
They never mentioned Belle.
After Brylee had left, Belle had gained notoriety alongside her pirate lover, accompanying him on each and every mission. She was wanted as a pirate, and if she was caught, she would no doubt be hung. However, despite the warnings, Belle and Aaron would occasionally visit Port Royal, checking in on Brylee and Rick, and stopping by her grandfather's grave site every year in order to honor the anniversary of his passing.
Brylee was constantly worried about her sister's safety, and it always relieved her when she saw Belle. Rumors were running rampant in the streets of Port Royal about how Aaron and Belle were killed, were captured, had escaped, were dining with His Majesty, that Belle was pregnant, that the two were going their own ways, that they were getting married. Brylee tried not to pay attention to them, but occasionally they would get the best of her and she would take the time to get all of her emotions out. She couldn't go to her parents, for even though they loved their eldest daughter, she was the reason they had fallen out of the King's favor.
"Not tonight," Brylee said, rolling her eyes up so the tears currently gathering on her eyes' edge would not fall. "Please, just not tonight."
It was an odd thing, to get married at night, but Brylee hoped that it would dissuade a number of people from coming. She was especially hoping the Royal Navy didn't come, because even though both Rick and Brylee had been cleared of piracy charges, Belle and Aaron hadn't. The Navy might assume Aaron and Belle would come to the wedding which might cause the Navy to ruin her wedding.
Would they come?
Brylee wanted nothing more than for her sister to show up, but at the same time, she hoped Belle would stay far away. She would never
be able to forgive herself if her wedding was a prelude for Belle's capture and resulting death. But still… Her eyes darted over to the window once again before she pulled them back to the mirror.
She sighed through her nose, rubbing down transparent wrinkles on her dress.
Oddly enough, Brylee wasn't nervous about getting married, taking the final step, as people say. She knew she loved Rick with all her heart and knew that he felt the same way. In fact, now that she allowed her mind to relax, she could think about what would be taking place in the next few moments. She felt her lips curl into a smile, looking forward to spend the night with Rick, enjoying their wedding night and living in a euphoric haze for the next few weeks.
"My, Brylee," a familiar voice murmured from behind her. "I don't think I've ever seen you look so beautiful. Rick is a very lucky man."
Brylee's face immediately lit up and she turned to see her sister standing there, giving her a coy grin. "Oh Belle, you came!" she said with a delighted smile, wrapping her arms around her sister and pulling the older woman against her tightly.
"I cannot stay for the wedding, Brylee," Belle murmured, taking a step back and looking at her sister. "Aaron and I are to be leaving soon, going who knows where, but I needed to see you."
"Oh Belle, I've missed you so much," Brylee replied, her blue eyes pooling into Belle's. "I am so glad you came, even though it must be a great risk to you and Aaron." She furrowed her brow. "Speaking of which, where is the pirate captain?"
Belle smiled wistfully at the mention of her lover, but her murky green eyes rolled up to the sky before returning to Brylee's. "He is probably invading Rick's room the way I am invading yours," she said. "No doubt with the intent to give him some advice about marriage though Aaron has absolutely no experience when it comes to being betrothed to someone."
"And what about you, dear sister?" Brylee asked, obvious curiosity imbedded into her voice. "Are you and Aaron going to take the next step? Are you two ever going to get married?"
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