The Hidden Swann

Chapter 28 - In Which the Story Comes to an End...For Now

Author's Note: 

I cannot believe that it is over. After more than a year of working on The Hidden Swann, it is actually over. I don't feel as ecstatic as I though I would. I am more nostalgic and sad.

I remember when I first started writing this story. It was such a long time ago. My ideas were endless and my imagination ran wild. Although this story needs some major editing, I will leave it be for now and let it sit for a while. I need to clear my head of this story before coming back to it. 

I am actually considering making a sequal but for now, I will continue working on a couple other stories that I have, including Barbarian and another one that I will hopefuly be starting soon. 

I hope you have all enjoyed this story and I hope that you will voice your opinions as they are very much welcomed and wanted. 

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"I am going to miss you." Lizzie says, taking a seat on my bed. The afternoon sun shines in through the open window, the slight breeze just strong enough to rustle the few papers sitting on the vanity. Father had the maids start my packing but I took over, feeling strange to have others serve me in such a trivial way. 

I look down at my open luggage, before taking out a thin, flowered skirt.

"No, you won't." I reply lightheartedly, replacing the thin skirt for a thick woolen one. "You have your wedding to plan. You will be kept so busy that you won't have the time to miss me."

"You know that you're wrong," Lizzie says. "We haven't been apart since I was kidnapped and even before that, we were always together."

"So you're saying that your kidnapping was practice for a time such as this?"

She giggled. "Well, maybe a bit. But that was different. Neither of us made the decision to be apart. You're choosing to leave now."

"How many times do I have to tell you?" I sigh. "I am not leaving you behind. I am just going to start a real life. So are you. With Will."

"But we won't see each other for a long time."

"I'll be back for your wedding, I promise. And the ship will be here at Port Royal sometimes."

"Yes, but it isn't like I'll be able to talk to you about any troubles I have."

"You have Will for that now," I point out.

"It isn't the same." 

I turn to her and sit beside her.

"I am going to miss you as well. But to be perfectly honest, I won't have too much time to think of it either. Being a merchant's apprentice isn't exactly a job that gives much time to think of anything but navigation, prices, demand, supply..."

Elizabeth wraps her arms around me. "My little sister is all grown up."

I pull her off of me. "I am only an inch shorter than you." 

"Even if you grow to be a giant, you'll always be my little sister." She replies, patting my head. 

"And that is one of the reasons I am leaving."

Elizabeth pulls back and furrows her brow.

I try to smile reassuringly and motion to the open window at the sea-salted town."Here, I am just Elizabeth Swann's younger, rambunctious sister. I may be your friend, a mischief maker, and Father's thorn in the side. But my identity is not my own."