The bells were ringing across the harbor.
Sean:
“Celebration?”
Eljara:
“Peace.”
Sean smiled.
Sean:
“Then that’s good news.”
Eljara didn’t answer.
She was watching the sea.
A battered brig was entering the harbor.
Her crew crowded along the rails.
Men waved their hats.
Some were singing.
They had survived.
They had won.
They were home.
Sean noticed the soldiers waiting on the quay.
His smile disappeared.
Sean:
“Why are they here?”
Eljara:
“The brig captured a merchantman six days ago.”
Sean:
“They’re privateers.”
Eljara:
“They were.”
Silence.
Eljara handed him a proclamation.
Sean read the date.
Then read it again.
Sean:
“The war ended three weeks ago.”
Eljara:
“Yes.”
He looked toward the approaching ship.
Sean:
“They don’t know.”
Eljara:
“No.”
Sean:
“So when they attacked that merchantman…”
“…they believed they were still serving the Crown.”
Eljara:
“Yes.”
The gangplank struck the quay.
The captain stepped ashore.
A little girl ran from the crowd.
Girl:
“Papa!”
He dropped everything and lifted her into his arms.
Then he saw the soldiers.
An officer approached and handed him a document.
The captain read it.
His smile slowly disappeared.
Sean watched him.
Sean:
“There.”
Eljara:
“What?”
Sean:
“That’s when he became a pirate.”
Eljara shook her head.
Eljara:
“No.”
A pause.
Eljara:
“That happened six days ago.”
“This is only when he found out.”
Sean stared at her.
Sean:
“Yesterday’s hero.”
Eljara:
“Today’s criminal.”
Sean:
“Same man.”
Eljara:
“Yes.”
Sean:
“Same ship.”
Eljara:
“Yes.”
Sean:
“Same cause.”
Eljara watched the captain slowly remove his sword.
Eljara:
“No.”
Sean looked at her.
Eljara:
“That’s the one thing that changed.”
The captain handed his sword to the officer.
Behind him, his daughter began to cry.
Sean watched the soldiers lead him away.
Sean:
“He carried the king’s fire across the sea.”
Eljara nodded.
Sean:
“And while he was gone…”
“…the king stopped needing it.”
The church bells continued ringing.
Peace.
Peace.
Peace.
Eljara watched the prison door close.
Eljara:
“That’s the danger of borrowing someone else’s flame.”
Sean turned toward her.
Sean:
“They decide when it should burn?”
Eljara:
“Worse.”
She looked toward the abandoned brig.
Eljara:
“They decide when burning makes you a criminal.”
🜍 THE KING’S FIRE
A war can end with a signature.
Hatred rarely does.
Yesterday, the Crown needed him.
Today, the Crown arrests him.
But if another person can decide whether the fire inside you is noble or criminal—
whose fire were you carrying in the first place?
🏴☠️ Black Flags, Deep Waters
A living Pirate Borg campaign where kingdoms change, treaties are signed, and the world does not wait for your ship to come home.
👉 https://startplaying.games/adventure/cmpms9fi200f5if04i70p6741
Want to go deeper?
Explore the research, history, lore and ideas behind Mythveil Chronicles.
👉 https://www.patreon.com/MythveilChronicles