Pirates — Law

Silas’s eyes widened.

Elara ignored him. "Article Seven. The captain's word is final in battle and division of plunder. But for crimes against the crew, the captain does not judge." She looked at the gathered pirates—a motley collection of cutthroats and runaway slaves, gamblers and broken nobles. "The crew judges."

"Why?" Silas whispered. "Why show mercy?"

Silas spat a tooth onto the deck. "You can't hang me, Elara. We're pirates. We ain't bound by no king's law."

"Because the Pirate Code is not about tyranny, Silas," Elara said, hauling him to his feet. "It's about order. Without it, we're just animals tearing each other apart. With it, we are the last free nation on the sea. And a free nation doesn't waste good men."

Silas sneered. "You'd never find a new navigator as good as me."

"That's where you're wrong, Silas," she said, her voice as cold as the deep ocean. "We are bound by a higher law. The only one that matters out here. The Pirate Code."