With Sebastian's cold response towards Josephine, Elijah pushed himself to his feet. "You would think, but you don't." Titles and rank went out the window suddenly as Elijah faced down the man he regarded as his father. "I have had to withstand beatings and torture like you wouldn't believe could happen right under your nose, just so I could prove myself to your men that I could be trusted." Clenching his swollen hands, he continued, "That I wasn't just there because I was your son. I had to earn respect in the language that your pirates understood." It was as if all of his wounds suddenly disappeared as he stood there, finally confiding something in Sebastian that he hadn't been able to for nearly ten years. "I couldn't tell any of this to you or else I'd lose all standing and end up getting beaten worse than I ever had." Gritting his teeth against the emotion that came along with his words, he turned away and ran a hand through his hair, all of his muscles screaming at the motion. ------- Nodding at the obvious dismissal by the other woman, Marabelle turned and left the room. Even she could take a hint that there had been a shift in their relationship, she just hoped it wouldn't end up destroying anything that they had built for the last twenty years. Cutting across the hall, she heard Elijah speaking to someone, but she could tell by what he was saying that he wasn't talking to Josephine. Stopping in the now opened doorway, she quietly watched the exchange as her son finally revealed himself to Sebastian. This was something that was a long time coming, but she understood why he couldn't say anything until now.