Testing the waters with this. 

EPILOGUE

Cheers came from the crowd of citizens. Familiar faces that I hadn't seen in a long time came into my vision. The chains clicked as they weighed down my arms. 

My feet dragged on the ground as I followed behind Captain Velwyn. The others who were caught, who were arrested, were behind us. 

The guilty would be hanged. 

The pirates will be hanged. 

I searched for that face I knew all too well. Hoping that he wouldn't be there. Hoping, beyond anything that the time that had passed made him forget. 

Up a set of stairs I went, the three steps making it clearer that this was a one-way trip. As I turned, I felt something like relief that he hadn't been there. 

He wouldn't see it. 

Three ropes hanged. Three ropes for the twelve of us. 

Three at a time. 

I stopped in front of the second rope. 

"It's okay, Rachel." I didn't know who Captain Velwyn was reassuring more. 

Him or me. 

We both knew that it wouldn't be. But I had always known it would end up like this. 

"Right, this is just another adventure after all. I guess I really will follow you anywhere you go, Captain." 

I turned to face the cheering crowd. I stared with what I hoped was an empty face. 

Familiar faces stood mixed in them. People I knew. Friends. Family. 

Oh, what my family must be thinking. My real family. They would be ashamed that I had gotten caught. That I had picked this life and hadn't found a way to get free. 

The rope was placed over my head, scratching against my neck. Tears stung my eyes but I refused to let them fall. 

"Velwyn Macrina, your crimes are the following: Murder of a high commander; robbery; going against orders; burning down the City of Giants; Stealing a warship. What do you have to say about these crimes?" 

The woman stood to the side as she read off the list of things that happened years before. 

"Not guilty." 

"How do you plead to be bringing a group together to rebel with." 

"Not guilty." 

"For these crimes, you have been sentenced to hang. Do you have any final words?" 

"There's no getting rid of the devil." 

A snap told me it was done. A shiver ran down my spine as a tear escaped. 

"Rachel Macrina, your crimes are the following: Kidnapping; murder of Thom Jenning; assisting in stealing a warship; smuggling; Kidnapping of Post-Captain William Kyd and Commodore Gustav Adolf Skytte; treason. What do you have to say about these crimes?" 

"That you're missing a few." 

I couldn't turn to look, knowing I wouldn't be able to handle seeing how Captain Velwyn hanged there next to me. Knowing that it was going to be me next. 

"How do you plead to helping bring a rebellion group together?"

"That there's more to it." 

"Please, say guilty or not guilty." 

"Guilty." 

The chains grew heavier. 

A bell sounded somewhere in the distance. 

"For these crimes, you have been sentenced to hang. Do you have any final words?" 

I stared at the crowd. 

"I." It became harder to breathe with each passing second. I forced the words out as I stared at the crowd. "I had a dream that never got to be finished." 

My eyes locked onto his as the ground disappeared. 

The name couldn't leave my lips as I raised a hand out to him. His eyes had widened and he started forward. His words, they rang a dull echo as the darkness surrounded me. 

"Rachel!" 

It reminded me of the day I had become a pirate. He was pleading with me back then too. 

I'm sorry... George.