Within minutes five shackled pirates were brought to the deck, battered, bruised, and bloodied but full of hate and fire as they had been since the moment they were taken.
Stephan steeled himself for what was to come as he marched down to stand before them.
“You are here charged with the high crime of piracy and treason to the crown and King William the Third,” Stephan shouted. “How do you plead?”
“f**k you, naval pig dog,” one spat.
“Your sentence is death and will be carried out here and now, for I refuse to suffer your existence any longer,” Stephan hissed, pulling his dagger and ramming it into the man’s chest.
The pirate struggled for a moment before death stole his strength, and he fell to the deck, his last breath escaping him in a sputter of blood.
In kind, Stephan stood befo
