The crowd on the dock watched as The Black Tide sailed out to sea towards the setting sun. None of them moved until it was so dark they could only see where the ship was because of the floating orbs of light coming from the lanterns.
Ilona stood on the deck of her ship and, for the first time in a very long time, felt completely at ease. This was it. This was where she belonged. Courts and dresses had been nice, but she had been born to be a pirate.
She breathed in deeply through her nose, smelling the salty sea air which was so much more robust the farther away from the land they sailed. The dampness in the breeze was already causing her thick brown waves to curl into little springs around her ears and face.
