Work Text:
After Elizabeth and the crew of the Empress had been taken to the brig, Norrington stood alone at the rail of the Dutchman for some minutes, trying to make sense of it all.
Governor Swann – his friend – dead.
And Elizabeth alive.
There was no doubt Beckett was behind the governor’s death. Norrington had been afraid for Swann, had understood the man’s despair and wild determination to hinder Beckett’s schemes, and had been utterly thankful when Swann had been released from service and sent back to England.
James had wanted to believe it.
He had ignored the signs that whispered otherwise, just as he’d ignored the remnants of conscience that told him that in regaining his uniform, his rank, his life, he had lost his soul.
How long had Beckett known that Elizabeth was alive?
Something came loose in James. In his hubris, he’d allowed himself to be played for a fool. But that was at an end.
The end of all things.
Later, James felt almost lighthearted as he made his way to the brig.
~.~