The sea had been still for three days.

No wind.

No gulls.

No waves.

Sean watched the black-hulled brig anchored beyond the harbour.

SEAN:

“Pirates voluntarily leaving a tavern before sunset.”

ELJARA:

“Terrifying.”

SEAN:

“Exactly.”

A priest had gone aboard that morning.

He came back alone.

The harbourmaster did not.

SEAN:

“What happened?”

PRIEST:

“They made a bargain.”

ELJARA:

“With whom?”

The priest looked towards the sea.

PRIEST:

“They don’t know.”

Months earlier, the brig had been dying.

No wind.

No water.

Sickness spreading through the crew.

Then something knocked against the hull.

Three times.

From below.

A bargain followed.

Wind.

Rain.

Life.

And one promise:

One day, the sea would ask for payment.

SEAN:

“And the captain agreed?”

ELJARA:

“His crew was dying.”

SEAN:

“He made the choice for all of them.”

ELJARA:

“Yes.”

SEAN:

“Would you have?”

Eljara watches the ship.

ELJARA:

“I don’t know.”

Sean turns towards her.

SEAN:

“You?”

ELJARA:

“Don’t spread it around.”

Then—

Knock.

Every sailor aboard freezes.

Knock.

The water remains perfectly still.

Knock.

Black seawater begins running from between the ship’s planks.

Letters appear in the timber.

Carved from the inside.

The captain descends below deck.

When he returns, he carries a sailor’s knife.

CAPTAIN:

“It wants one life.”

Silence.

SEAN:

“So now we know the price.”

ELJARA:

“No.”

SEAN:

“One life.”

ELJARA:

“We know the currency.”

“We don’t know the price.”

The captain turns the knife around.

Handle first.

CAPTAIN:

“I made the bargain.”

“I’ll pay it.”

The quartermaster does not take the knife.

QUARTERMASTER:

“And if it doesn’t want you?”

The captain goes still.

QUARTERMASTER:

“You offered a life.”

“You don’t get to decide what accepts payment.”

Sean looks towards the black water.

SEAN:

“That’s a rotten contract.”

ELJARA:

“He negotiated while his people were dying.”

SEAN:

“So he can refuse.”

ELJARA:

“Yes.”

SEAN:

“Walk away.”

ELJARA:

“Yes.”

SEAN:

“Then he’s free.”

Eljara looks at him.

ELJARA:

“Free to refuse.”

SEAN:

“Exactly.”

ELJARA:

“Not free from what follows.”

Another knock.

The quartermaster finally takes the knife.

Nobody moves.

The sea waits.

Sean looks at Eljara.

Eljara looks at Sean.

Then both slowly look towards you.

SEAN:

“They’d be dead if he hadn’t made the bargain.”

ELJARA:

“And now someone may die because he did.”

SEAN:

“He can pay.”

ELJARA:

“If the sea accepts him.”

SEAN:

“He can refuse.”

ELJARA:

“And discover what refusal costs.”

SEAN:

“He’s still free to choose.”

ELJARA:

“But freedom does not erase the debt.”

They wait.

SEAN:

“So what would you do?”

ELJARA:

“If the sea demanded the price that once saved everyone beside you…”

SEAN:

“…would you pay?”

BLACK FLAGS, DEEP WATERS

The sea remembers its bargains.

So does a living world.

Your choices are yours.

The consequences are too.

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