[POTC series fic] - KINGDOMS OF THE SWAN, Installment One, "The Ghosts at the Brink" - rated R

[writing_samsara]

Series: KINGDOMS OF THE SWAN
Installment: 1/???
Segment Title: "The Ghosts at the Brink"
Timeframe: Post AWE
Pairing: J/E, shades of W/E
Rating: R
Word Count: 6,444
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. All rights belong to Disney, etc.
Acknowledgements: Many, many thanks and squishes are owed to djarum99and piratemistress , for flawless beta,

Comments

[djarum99]

Huzzah, huzzah, for posting! So glad to see this up, love. Brilliant, every word.

This captures her desperation and uncertainty so well (how can she know how to safeguard her husband's excised heart?) -

She shivered, imagining him on the deck of the Dutchman, choking and sputtering in the open air as his heart plummeted beneath the waves. Or perhaps he would merely drift, untethered, if no part of himself was anchored in solid ground.

I love the dream, the vivid description of her room (The moon road high on the horizon, round and oddly lemon-bright. It cast a lazy, sterling spell on the books at her bedside, on the combs and brushes and pins strewn across the far table.) and her father, his reassurances that somehow don't mask the undertone of doubt, the subtle sense that she is aware this is fantasy.

And Jack, her temptation - perfectly drawn, love. Jack sly and bitter and wanting, and Elizabeth's torn loyalties. Elizabeth's love for Will is clear and strong as you describe it, woven through Jack's seduction, her realization of what she feels for him, and her struggle with chest.

I love the stories of the two rings - Will forging his himself, carrying it on a string, hope in his pocket, and Jack's mysterious acquisition of a token that would mean the world to her. A stroke of pure genius to have him offer it to her after her father's death - you've made their pain so palpable and with such a delicate hand. Lovely.

And this - You’re their king now, love, and you’ve got to be kingly, savvy? Something regal and stately and fit for all those storybooks of yours - for little girls in their canopies and for every scalawag on his deathbed what called himself pirate and whispered your name. - is fantastic, Jack's voice narrating her entrance into the future.

Thank you so much for this! Beautiful, beautiful work, and so wonderful to have you posting again - your voice is stronger than ever. Brava, love ♥

[writing_samsara]

Oh love, you are the ocean beneath my dinghy. :) Thanks so much for being there to hold my hand, prod me along, and put up with my thousand "does this suck?" queries. *hugs*

I'm so glad that Will came through in this piece despite not making an appearance in her dream. Poor girl is so lost at this point - family and friends dead, home a place she cannot return to (and perhaps wouldn't after so much sea-change), and then this loss of Will - probably her best, oldest friend, beyond being a husband. I really felt for her, along with the horror of figuring out the chest situation, she's sleep-deprived, hungry, and totally alone.

Really glad that you liked the rings. The story of how Jack got her father's ring is on the horizon.

Thanks for keeping me buoyant, and for leaving such detailed comments. It's a huge help to know what resonates, what works best.

Will be in touch soon.

*smooshes*