Alaniana ran, wiping tears out of her eyes. She knew Zack couldn't keep his promise to stay alive, so she decided to honor his dying breath as long as she could. She reached the main deck and didn't stop running. Every man was engaged in fighting. A plank bridged the gap between the ships, open water lapping underneath. Leyna began running toward the bridge between the two worlds."Now or never." she whispered, beginning to walk the plank. In the dark, the water looked like a passage straight to the center of the earth.

"There's a girl on the plank!" a pirate yelled.

"Get her!" a closer pirate yelled. Leyna was, by now, in the middle of the board, but made the choice to cross quickly and ran onto the pirate's ship.

Leyna ran down every hallway she could find, which was not that many on the pirate ship. Her skirts were lifted high above her running feet.

"Get back here!" the pirate chasing her yelled.

Two men stood at the end of the hall. One was dressed nicer than the other. Leyna assumed that he was the captain.

"I'm almost there. Almost there."

Unfortunately, her nightgown slid under her left foot, just as she set it on the board. Almost in slow motion, her left shoulder tipping into the deck. The bone hit the deck with a sickening crack and Alaniana's eyes flickered to a close, her last sight being her delicate hand fluttering to rest on a booted foot.

----------------------------------------------Author's Note-------------------------------------------

Hi Everybody!! Thank you so much for getting this far into the book! Sorry this is a shorter chapter than the others, but this chapter heralds the release of a related book, Beggar in Waiting. I hope you enjoy both books and if you have any advice for a future book, or a plot idea, drop it in the comments along with any questions about either book! Short chapters will be where I will answer comments and questions either in the chapter or just replying to them.

Thank you again!!

- Madison :)