STACY:
“The key is right there.”
CAELWYN:
“Aye.”
STACY:
“And tomorrow they hang him.”
CAELWYN:
“Aye.”
STACY:
“Then why doesn’t he take it?”
Caelwyn looks through the bars.
The privateer sits on his cot.
Beside him lies the Letter of Marque that once made his violence lawful.
CAELWYN:
“Because you’re asking him to escape a prison.”
STACY:
“That’s rather the point.”
CAELWYN:
“He thinks you’re asking him to betray himself.”
STACY:
“The king he served is going to kill him.”
CAELWYN:
“And he still believes himself the king’s man.”
STACY:
“Then that’s not loyalty.”
CAELWYN:
“What is it?”
STACY:
“Obedience.”
CAELWYN:
“And the difference?”
Stacy thinks.
STACY:
“Obedience asks what you were told.”
Caelwyn nods.
CAELWYN:
“Loyalty asks why you followed.”
The privateer looks at the key.
Then at the royal seal on his Letter of Marque.
STACY:
“If he stays, he dies loyal.”
CAELWYN:
“Perhaps.”
STACY:
“If he runs, he becomes a pirate.”
CAELWYN:
“In the eyes of the Crown.”
STACY:
“The same Crown he still wants to serve.”
CAELWYN:
“Aye.”
STACY:
“So if he stays, the king kills him.”
CAELWYN:
“Yes.”
STACY:
“And if he runs…”
“…he has to kill the king inside himself.”
Caelwyn looks at her.
CAELWYN:
“Now you see the prison.”
The privateer finally reaches through the bars.
He takes the key.
The lock turns.
The cell door opens.
STACY:
“He’s free.”
CAELWYN:
“No.”
The privateer returns to the cot.
He takes the Letter of Marque.
Folds it carefully.
And puts it inside his coat.
STACY:
“He’s taking it with him.”
CAELWYN:
“Aye.”
STACY:
“Why?”
Caelwyn watches him step through the open door.
CAELWYN:
“Because opening a door…”
“…doesn’t mean you’ve left the prison behind.”
BLACK FLAGS, DEEP WATERS
A living Pirate Borg campaign where loyalty has consequences, kingdoms change their minds, and freedom may demand becoming someone you never intended to be.
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