"Come with me," I ordered, walking past him.

I needed to get the boys out of the bar, and send them somewhere I knew was safe. I didn't think they would be in danger being out on the ship. But where could I send them? Medusa would no doubt have my house being watched, or even searched by this point.

They needed a safe place and quickly. It would be too late when the storm fully hit. No safe places came to mind as I led Jacob to his brother.

Where can I send them?

Can they run in this weather without the bold sea swallowing them up?

If only I knew who Medusa was really after, I could be sure it wasn't them. If only I knew it was really me, the High Official wanted, then I wouldn't need to send them away. If only Medusa was as easy to read as the brewing storm charging with desires that were like when someone was hanged.

William looked up at our appearance.

Where do I send them?

I snatched George's raincoat from a barrel and tossed it at Jacob. I couldn't make them walk out in this storm, or have them risk running into the saylors. They couldn't return to my home, and I couldn't think of anyone else who would protect them.

Anyone else, expect for George. A almost laughed at the thought of hiding the boys in the ship, but it was the best idea. This did use to sail the high silver seas, and it was still a ship, even with the changes.

"The two of you will need to get through this hole." I worked on moving a few barrels, before I bent down in a tight space between two. My nails scratched the ground, my finger barely fitting in the hole. "Wait there until I come get you. You won't be found there by the people coming now."

I moved the panel, showing a hole that they would be able to fit through with a little difficult. I didn't remember where it led, but I knew it would have to make do for them.

"Who are they?" Jacob asked.

I looked at him. "No one you need to worry about. George and I have it from here." I patted Jacobs's head, even as I knew my words weren't completely trusted. "This coat should keep you warm but it shouldn't be too long."

"Will you be alright?" Jacob asked.

I smiled and moved so that they could get to the safe place. "Don't worry about me. Quickly now, so I can put this back."

Jacob guided William to go first. "We'll see you, won't we?" His question hit me.

"Yes." My voice didn't waver at the uncertain truth.

Would they see me? Or would this be where we parted ways forever? Was I over thinking why Medusa could be there?

There were too many uncertainties at that moment.

"Go," I said.

They listened, William going first, before Jacob followed. I waited until it was clear and covered the hole and moved the barrels back. They would be fine. This ship would protect them.

And whatever happened, it would be me and George facing it. At least, I hoped he would have my back. He always did before.

Running a hand through my hair, I slowly returned to the front. Medusa was already waiting inside the bar, with more saylors than I had originally counted.

I stood by the kitchen door, seeing George turn his head slightly in acknowledgment. He must have known something was wrong.

"I see much hasn't changed since I was last here." Medusa looked around with disdain before her piercing gaze went to George. "Are you going to make this difficult for me?"

I looked at the others standing behind her. Two of them looked familiar and their gray coats with badges on them showed how different they were from the other saylors. They were higher rank.

Warrant officers, or maybe even lieutenants.

"Depends on what you're planning," George said.

Her eyes cut to me. "Arresting her."

My heart picked up at that. My fingers dug into my palms as I grinned at her. Well, it looks like I was right about it being me.

"On what?" George's words were hard and cold.

Colder than I had ever heard before.

"Piracy."

That didn't come as a surprise to me. "What proof?" I asked.

Even if she didn't have proof, from the amount of saylors she brought and the look in her eye, it was clear she was going to arrest me that day. She had something on me. Either someone caved in; she saw me do something illegal; or Greedy James was trying to make another move.

"I don't need to show someone like you proof," Medusa stated. "Arrest Rachel Schmidt on the charges of piracy."

She was right about not needing proof. She followed a different set of laws compared to Greedy James. Her laws allowed this arrest because those were the laws of Carlisle. She was the one key that Greedy James always needed before.

Somehow, I could believe the two of them were in on it together.

"Now, hold on!" George's voice raised as he spoke. "You can't come into my bar and think I'll let you just arrest her, Medusa."

"I can and I will."

I looked at George, knowing that he wouldn't back down. Neither of them would back down and I didn't want him to get hurt because of me. He still had a family to get to one day.

"Piracy. How clever." I walked around the counter, each step feeling like a weight was being pushed against my chest. "Let me guess, Lieutenant Cook from the vessel Terminus, second to Captain De Berry, stepped forward with these charges."

I held my wrists up as I stopped before the saylor holding a pair of chains. If he couldn't do it himself, of course, he would take the chance to use someone else who could. Before I was never on Medusa's radar and if I had been she didn't make it known until recently.

"Yes."

The bar shook as the sky rumbled.

"He claimed that I, what? Murdered someone out in these high seas? Tried to steal a ship?" The chains snapped together, rattling the tone of a death march. "Or maybe," I looked at her with narrowed eyes, "he claimed I kidnapped Admiral Jennings' two missing children before smuggling them out of Carlisle?"

Her glare was sharper and colder than any I could muster. But I also wasn't out for her blood like she was for mine. I had nothing against this cold, unmoving woman. She was only doing what she thought was right.

"Did you?"

"If I had, I wouldn't be caught by that idiot who didn't arrive until the morning after they were claimed to have disappeared." I shrugged, knowing the words I spoke would do nothing for me. "But he's an all and powerful Lieutenant, right? Have to take his word for it, even if there isn't proof."

The sharp sting didn't come right away as my head snapped to the side. A metallic taste filled my mouth. Spitting out the blood, I turned to glare at her.

"Oh, did I strike a nerve? Should I bow and apologize because you're also a High Official, who thinks they're never wrong? Are you like Greedy James, searching only to move up in power?"

"Rachel, stop." George's words were soft as he called out to me. "Don't make it worse. If there's no proof, nothing will happen."

I scoffed at that.

Since when did not having proof stop them? Since when did he think the law would be fair to someone like me? The second I left through those doors, my sentence would be locked into place.

I would be hanged. And that scared me.

"Do me a favor, George?" I asked, looking at him. "Tell Charlotte that I'm sorry I won't be able to join her on the seas."

Had enough time passed for the boys to make it inside the walls of Carlisle? Did I need to stall them longer?

"You're not going to be hanged," he said.

I couldn't believe him. Looking at Medusa, I knew she would do everything she could to make it so I was. Her eyes said that. Her actions said that.

The storm and chains sang the tone of what was coming.

"Is that right, Medusa?" I asked.

She looked at George. Would she answer him and tell the truth? Or would she lie?

"She'll be hanged for piracy." It was a cold hard truth we need to face. "For kidnapping." The words were like a sea monster that finally reared its ugly head. "For theft." Each charge only added a nail into the coffin. "For smuggling."

I looked at George, his face a mixture of emotions. Guilt. Pain. Anger. Sorrow.

I didn't know what to do to help him.

"It's easy to get rid of someone, isn't it?" I asked, looking back at her as I fought my own feelings. "With a snap of your fingers, you were able to do it. Who would dare question a Lieutenant of a well-known ship? Especially if that ship was respected as much as the Terminus happened to be?"

Two saylors grabbed me, both standing on either side. It was like they thought I would try to do something. I had nothing but my words to use.

"Do you know my hanging will be the last thing you do?" I asked.

"It won't." Such confidence laced her words and it almost made me laugh.

She hadn't done her research on my name, or she thought it was a simple coincidence. To her, it seemed she only wanted me to be a smuggler, but I was more than that. Maybe, it was because of that that this desire of me hanging, drove her to arrest me.

A smirk formed. I might die. I might never get to see the sea again or get the chance to see the family I hadn't seen for many years. But I at least get the enjoyment of seeing the fear that should appear before I was gone.

Even if I was wrong and no one stepped forward, that was enough for me.

"You're wrong." I looked at the two high-ranked saylors standing to the side, watching us. "I might not be able to get free of these false charges. I might hang until my final breath. I might die, but you'll be one step behind me."

It was strange that they were with her but didn't say anything. Who were they?

"Why do you think that?" she demanded.

"Because there are people who will demand your head unless you show proof. Proof that shows up more than a day before I am hanged."

"Who?"

Thunder echoed in the sky and through the room, like the waves pounding against the bar. Rain pelted from above, finally arriving. Sooner than I thought.

Was I right? Would they care? My family had always been a strange lot, so maybe it was only those I thought of friends that would do it.

With a hard swallow, I said the three names that I knew would at least feel something for my death. Names that meant something in the world Medusa was part of, that I was a part of.

"Captain Charlotte de Berry of the ship Terminus. Captain Miguel Seminario of the ship Golden Roger." I turned back to her at the last name. "Admiral Scarlet Jenning."

The tinge of fear I expected appeared but it didn't last long. She thought I was lying. I didn't blame her for that. While I might have known Charlotte and Miguel well without seeing them often in the last few years, it was the Admiral who might just let me hang.

"She'll be cheering for it once she learns you kidnapped her children," Medusa spit out.

"If you're so sure about that, we best hurry back to the gates of hell. Because Jones is going to be expecting two passengers before the end of this storm." I gave her a toothy grin. "I'm not afraid, are you?"

"Get her out of here!"

They pulled me away as Medusa turned, hiding her face. My smile fell as I was tugged to the door, watching as it was opened to show a gray and dreary world. Rain pelted against the bridge, spiderwebs of lighting filling the sky.

George called after me but I couldn't look back. I couldn't bear to see the pain he was in. Or how heavy my heart felt as I knew it was my fault he was in it.

Wasn't it just a few days ago we were talking about this? Who knew that my time for hanging would come so soon.

I was sure I still had a good year left.