This is the next big project, now that Ubiquitous is drawing to a close (and the sequel won't be for a little while). Loosely inspired by POTC, Black Sails – but not strictly a Pirate AU. Have at it, loves!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Vampire Diaries, The Originals nor any of its names/characters/places previously established. They belong to WB Television, The CW, respective creative minds. The rest belongs to, and is copyrighted to me. I write for my own pleasure and enjoyment, not for monetary gain – G.M. Portraepic ©, 2014.

PRICELESS

Prologue

She'd believed, once.

Not in stories, but in goodness.

Growing up in a world corrupt with piracy, bloodshed and fear had taught her to abandon such hopes. 'Hope' wasn't enduring; it was a weakness in the bold world she existed within. As a child, prior to sailing out to the Caribbean, she'd intuited that good people were rewarded, and delivered from evil.

But the world – the real world was a far harsher place than her sheltered life had led on.

Survival depended on wit, intuition and a strong character.

Not goodness; no one possessed the trait anymore – not even she; the jewel of her parents; a true beauty of the Indies, sought after by any respectable (and wanted by any non-respectable) man. She could not have anticipated what providence thrust upon her – and even she could not have foreseen how the absolute extreme would determine her response to that harsh world.

No longer was she the naive, porcelain doll. No longer was she trusting and courteous girl of rank. It had forever changed her; she was hard and damaged – the fiery, clever young woman she'd grown into, was a far cry from the girl she'd once been. Her own moral compass no longer pointed due north; the ruthlessness and astuteness she'd adopted made her own reflection unrecognisable.

'Goodness' allowed for absolution – and she'd lost hers. She'd accepted that it could not be reclaimed; that she was forever corrupt; that she was damned; that there was no hope for her.

But as he arched against her body, lips grazing her ear with caressing whispers of passion and love – as he drew back, pressing his palm against her mouth to stifle her cry, she'd stared into the blue intensity of her captor's gaze, and somehow...she'd seen it; in him.

In a tortured soul.