After her first fight, Aggie’s following opponent had been Gent, a smaller Beast Awares with green scaly skin, a jaw that protruded too far outwards, soft brown eyes, and a couple yellow dull teeth that jutted out. When he was on all fours, he was half the size as Harold Schlinger, which had been how he had managed to beat the horned opponent. He had knocked Harold down by winding him in his middle.

When Aggie fought him, he had attempted a similar approach to the one he took with Harold, and had tried to kick her in the abdomen. However, he hadn’t anticipated her having any training whatsoever, and she knocked his kick aside, and before she could deliver the knockout punch, he surrendered.

Gent didn’t like fighting- unlike most of the prisoners whom had been picked out for their violent outbursts in seedy locales, and then stolen from their lives to participate in blood sport. Instead, Gent had found himself imprisoned after following the crew onto the boat after winning several rounds of poker with them. Not taking kindly to having their pays taken, the crew proceeded to drink Gent under the table until he remembered nothing but waking up in his cell.

As long as he wasn’t dead last, Gent would surrender after a few bruises, dearly hoping that the crew would grow bored of him and send him on his way at any new port.

Not having to relentlessly beat someone relieved Aggie, and so she was returned to her cell after the fight as more experienced fighters came on and battled.

Harold Schlinger was given a full week of rest before they forced him back onto the deck, but despite his eyes still going glassy on occasion, and him complaining about regular headaches, the crew deemed themselves ‘merciful’ in his recovery.

In the beginning, Aggie fought the smaller Beast Awares and won easily, unwittingly rising closer to the more experienced and dangerous Beast Awares. Nothing however, could’ve prepared her for the day she lost badly.

She was to face the Beast Awares named Reg, whom was a lethal combination of deer antlers, and fully muscled and defined at 6’2 in height.

Aggie had confidently dodged his initial punches, but she hadn’t been anticipating the sheer power of one of his blows. It was when one of his antlers had caught her off guard, and he wasted no time in pummeling her ribs until she coughed only blood and breath. He had then wrapped his hands around her throat until she was barely able to signal her discreet surrender.

He had spit on her after he had released her onto a heap on the ground, and after bowing with his furry arms raised to the cheering crew like a champion fighter, proceeded to snort in pride as he watched Aggie struggle to push herself up.

While laying on her back in her cell, trying not to think about how much it hurt to breathe, Aggie laid one of her battered hands on her chest.

Focusing solely on the feeling the relentless thrum of her heart.

Why hadn’t Arlen come for her yet? Why hadn’t he stolen a boat used his special speed or whatever it was- and taken her away from this hell? Wasn’t he supposed to protect her? To save her?

Aggie had been so confident in those initial days that he would come, but as she took shallow breaths, couldn’t help but feel the pressing fear in her throat.

“What if he never comes?”

Aggie had done her best to shut off her emotions, focusing solely on surviving each day, and studying each Beast Awares for weak points and strengths. She thanked Tork each and every day as she looked for joints that could be easily wounded, and strategized silently to herself before each battle.

Ever since Aggie had run away she refused to believe she had done the wrong thing. She wanted to be more capable, stronger, learn more about the world first hand, and she didn’t want to start changing that opinion, but as each day passed any glimmer of her former optimism dimmed.

Aggie closed her eyes after a painful sigh, and fell into a deep sleep with troubling dreams.

*

She stood in front of the mirror, a long white gown with a trail of at least 5 feet long behind her. Her long hair was brushed to supreme softness; her skin glowed in the light from the window in the chamber. While gazing at herself in the mirror, Aggie stared at the dazzling golden crown atop her head. Each of its 7 points rose up 6 inches; each of them were beautifully carved designs, with diamonds, encrusted into its metal. The crown was absolutely stunning, and yet as Aggie stared at it atop of her head, she couldn’t help but noticed it didn’t look like it belonged there.

Aggie stared at herself for another moment before finally looking around the room, and realized she was standing in a version of Sean O’Farrell’s bedroom. There was a plush red footstool that a seamstress normally was perched upon near her feet that she knew wasn’t normally there, but otherwise everything was the same.

Aggie took in a deep breath.

She was whole.

She wasn’t in pain, or dirty, or being bitten by bugs.

But she was alone.

Or so she thought until a voice whispered in her ear;

“It’s time to face our people.”

Despite knowing the chamber had been empty a moment ago, Sean O’Farrell was now at her side. Wearing his usual dower expression, and a magnificent crown atop his head.

Her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat, and she saw the small twitch in the corner of his mouth at seeing her shocked expression. Aggie immediately went to grab his sword that had been sheathed by his side, its hilt glittering with rubies emeralds and diamonds. She had it halfway drawn out before Sean shoved her to her knees, the plush red foot stool screeching against the stone floor as her body knocked it aside.

“Just because you are wearing the crown, doesn’t mean for a second that anything is changed. You are still the brat who showed up soaked and snotty on my doorstep, and you always will be.”

Aggie could feel the fear and panic sinking in. She could feel the walls closing in around her. She could feel his pinching grip on her shoulder, and the stones digging into her kneecaps, and couldn’t stop the involuntary whimper from her lips.

He let out a single low chuckle at the sound.

She would do whatever it took to get out…

Anything to get revenge on him.

She saw the dagger still hanging at his side. The dagger he always wore.

“I’m not the same at all.”

Aggie grabbed his dagger before he could stop her, and plunged it into her own heart.

Hoping that he would be charged with her murder, and that she could at long last be free of him.

*

Aggie awoke with a jolt- sitting up all too swiftly, but was painfully reminded that she had recently lost a fight to a very pompous Beast Awares.

“You alright Aggie?” Ines’ pale worried face peered out at her from the bars.

Aggie opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted as the fluctuating tones of drunken singing drifted down the steep stairwell from one of the upper decks, followed by heavy footfalls.

Ines shrank back beside her cot and made herself as small as possible.

Aggie frowned.

What was going on?

Sailors drank, and they probably were just going to leer at them or-

The crewman with the long tail whom Aggie had taunted the day of her first fight named Ian, stumbled down the stairs to the prisoner’s deck with another one of the crewmembers named Pauly under his arm. Pauly was a 30 something man with a potbelly, a round face, and a vacant expression that was almost as frequent as his drinking.

The two men had an arm each wrapped around the other person’s shoulders for a mixture of support and affection, and they were singing very loudly.

Aggie wasn’t at all surprised to see them liquored beyond their daylights.

“Bully in the alley, so help me,”

The two men sang then paused to laugh before continuing;

“So help me Bob, I’m bully in the alley!”

They finished laughing. Ines was covering her ears, and tears were slowly dripping down her face. Aggie reached through the bars and gently touched her wrist, only to have Ines practically leap out of her skin and curl up even tighter.

With slow dawning horror, Aggie turned to stare at the 2 crew members, and watched as Pauly unlocked the door, entered, and dropped his pants while Ian leaned against the bar humming and chuckling to himself

“What do you think your doing?” Aggie called out as Pauly unsteadily squinted at the tiny quivering shape of Ines.

“S’noff your busn- busy- fuck off slag!” He finally managed as he reached for Ines and groped at her arm.

“Oh hell no! Crawl back up a bottle you ugly piece of shit!” Aggie reached through the bars and shoved Pauly away from Ines. He toppled over easily and struggled to get back up. She already knew what was going to happen, and she was ready.

When Ian unlocked her cell, she immediately kicked him in the groin, grabbed the keys, and shoved him in her cell.

She threw the door closed and locked it immediately.

As Pauly got to his feet, he stared confused as Aggie appeared in front of him, she gave him the same treatment, but went the extra mile of kicking his face as he was doubled over. This lead to him falling unconscious and Aggie kicking him as hard as she could in his ribs and groin multiple times.

Ines was probably trying to say something to her, but she could hear nothing over her racing heartbeat, and rage that surged through her in an unstoppable force.

Before she realized it, Pauly was a battered shuddering mess at her feet.

Aggie wasn’t even sure he was alive, and when she finally came to her senses, everyone was stunned. Not a single prisoner dared to breathe, and when Aggie turned and spotted Ian staring at her with his glassy eyes widened, and his mouth hanging open, she emitted a feral growl she had never heard herself make in her life.

She saw him flinch away in fear.

Aggie turned to Ines, and pulled the trembling woman to her feet.

“Ines come on, we need to get you out, you need to get to Tara. Come on!” Aggie had almost herded Ines out the cell door when the cold steel tip of a blade pressed into her neck.

She then was shoved into Ines and stumbled back into the cell.

When Aggie managed to turn around, she saw Captain James Murphy and his First Mate Ikes at his side looking eerily calm.

“We knew something was wrong when Pauly didn’t return to our card game after 5 minutes.” James explained coolly.

Aggie wasn’t feeling like being intimidated however. She still felt the ire dominating every cell of her being.

“You condone what that man was going to do to her?” Aggie demanded standing straight- despite her bruised ribs.

“Come now. Surely you are not so naïve Lady Beatha. Your father was a merchant, you must have known what it is sailors do.” First Mate Ikes purred his furry lips curling up into a smile.

“I only knew pirates to be such monsters.” Aggie spit on the floor, noting the way Ines was shaking behind her.

“You truly are a surprising woman. Though, I’m beginning to see why being a ‘Lady’ never would suit you.” James Murphy tilted his head as he studied her. “Being able to lie on your back and take it does seem unlikely given your nature.”

Aggie ignored him.

“I thought you would make Ines only yours. Why let the crew do these-”

“Why would I let a Fey bitch run and ruin my life?” James had entered the cell, and it was in the faint light of the moon in the cell window and the lantern First Mate Ikes held that Aggie saw the crazed glint in James’ eyes.

“Do you know what the Fey can do to you? How they can ruin a person? How they can steal you away? Past a good fuck, stay the fuck away from the Fey. When this thing declared her love, I knew this was my only choice.”

“Killing her and raping her?” Aggie asked dryly. “The Fey aren’t allowed to hurt us. You’re being-”

“They didn’t used to be. Not when there was Pure Humans around to counter their magicks.” Aggie frowned. She hadn’t heard of any Fey preying on humans- aside from their political and mating agendas.

“No matter. Beatha, it is time for your punishment. You have beaten a member of my crew until-” James stopped and stared at the lump of man on the ground. “Well I doubt he will ever be fully functional again.”

Aggie continued staring at James’ calm face, and waited for the blows.

But he didn’t move.

Not at first.

First, Ikes released Ian from her cell. Then the Captain approached her, gripped her at the back of her neck, and guided her back to her cell.

He didn’t hurt her in abundance or lose his composure for a moment. He placed 3 blows on her bruised ribs that made her yelp in pain, and as she lay on the ground, he then pressed her to the floor with his boot crushing down on her spine between her shoulder blades preventing her from moving.

He grabbed her oily hair, and held her face so that she couldn’t turn away.

Aggie then watched as First Mate Ikes dropped his pants, and proceeded to suppress and rape Ines as she cried and tried to squirm away from his touch. Any time she tried to look away, James would increase the pressure of his boot hell on her spine.

So without a choice, Aggie watched.

Despite it taking a matter of minutes, it felt like eternity and any time Aggie tried to open her mouth to speak the Captain pressed her face harder into the boarded floor, nearly forcing her jaw out of place.

When it was over, and James released her, Aggie didn’t move from the floor.

Ines lay on her cot, and was curled into a very still ball.

“Anytime you misbehave again Beatha, I’ll be down here, and your Fey friend will pay.” James murmured. He gently stroked Aggie’s hair, and after several moments Aggie felt something warm hitting her face.

Only it didn’t smell like urine.

Ines would explain the next morning what it was, and Aggie would pass her meager crust of bread through the bars, too sickened to eat.

The men had left silently, despite having to haul Pauly out, and their fellow prisoners remained silent.

*

As Aggie lay on the cell floor in the following days, she noticed that there was a measure of fear in the crew’s eyes when they stared at her. They all unconsciously shuffled their knees closer at the sight of her-, becoming protective of their groins.

Apparently at the next port town, Pauly was going to stay with his sister. He no longer possessed the ability to spawn pot bellied children according to the tidbits of gossip Aggie heard, and she felt nothing at hearing the news, and had several broken bones.

Aggie spoke in short aggressive sentences to anyone except Ines.

When it came to her Fey friend, she spoke softly, occasionally making the Fey woman laugh, and even Ines admitted that the crew members seemed to be paying her less nightly visits.

They weren’t able to switch Ines’ cell given the specifics of her requiring iron bars, and every other Beast Awares was either too big for Aggie’s cell, or so small that they could slip out through her bars.

So there was the understanding amongst the crew that it was a 2 person sober job to fuck the Fey woman, which was far more hassle than they wanted.

Otherwise Aggie would fight the 2nd crewmember viciously, knife or no knife. She received the occasional stabbing, but mostly they were scrapes. The crew needed her to be able to fight for the port towns they were approaching. Nothing drew in an audience like an unusual fighter, and a runaway Lady as a fighter?

She was an easy commodity to sell tickets for.

If the crew did manage to suppress her, she would say such derogatory comments to the crew to the point they found it hard to concentrate.

It was a whole lot of work to combat Aggie, and the crew eventually lost interest.

Ines eventually began to perk up again, despite her complexion becoming grayer every day, she smiled more easily, and there was a small spark in her eyes- not of hope necessarily, but of relief. It was the only evidence of a pain of the soul being eased.

Aggie was changing too, but not in a positive direction. She lost what little fat had been on her body, and it was replaced with sinewy muscle from the exercises she forced upon herself that Tork had taught her to build strength.

She found that after a couple of weeks she was able to move faster, and when she hit, the damage dealt was heavier than what she issued previously.

Despite the changes, she felt very little.

The only change that really registered with her was her obsession about killing Captain James Murphy. She fantasized about a slow torturous death, right before she would set about castrating First Mate Ikes.

She kept these ideas to herself however, out of growing concern for Ines who was becoming so weak that even the small Beast Awares she fought would beat her. In no time at all she would be last place, and then she wouldn’t even be able to rise from her cot.

“Oyy, Baller,”

A pet name the prisoners had named Aggie after her near escape with Ines.

“I think they’re putting you against Reg again tonight!” Aggie sighed softly to herself before turning to Ines.

“I’m pretty sure I just have to hurt his pride to get the advantage.”

Ines giggled softly.

Reg had been the Beast Awares with antlers that had given Aggie her first beating, placing her back in her ranking with the smaller Beast Awares.

“I heard that.” Reg sniffed indignantly from across the aisle of cells.

“I don’t care.” Aggie replied blandly.

“You know Lady, we all have to fight you with the handicap of not being allowed to hurt your breeding box and your weird face.” His sonorous voice boomed out amongst the prisoners.

“I’m not sure why you’re talking to me as though I’m your enemy. Hating a fellow prisoner instead of the monster that keeps you here seems rather dim of you.” There were a few confused chuckles amongst the prisoners. Not all of them had followed what she said- the novelty of her point was a tad bewildering for some of them.

Reg didn’t say anything for several moments as he glared at Aggie.

“Lady, Beast Awares hate everything about royalty. Especially Southern Royalty.”

“Still not a Lady Reg.” Aggie began rubbing circles around her temples. Reg could be an incredibly draining conversationalist.

“Another reason I detest you.” He boomed again as though intentionally trying to give her a headache. “You could have changed the world from your position! You could have made things better if you were-”

“Yes yes yes, if I were better, smarter, so on and so forth. I’m surprised I need to remind you Reg, women are generally just the baby makers. We can’t change anything as royals.”

“It is people like you who are the problem.” The hiss of Lady Venom joined the conversation. She rarely spoke from her cell, but whenever she would, Aggie always got shivers up and down her spine.

The Beast Awares was just plain creepy with her many eyes and legs.

“I’m so glad I could be here to be the scapegoat for all political follies.” Aggie rolled her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. It would be a long day.

It was already roasting in the boat, and there was no sea breeze rolling through the window.

“You are the betrothed of Lord Sean O’Farrell! The future King of the Southern Kingdom you-”

“What?!” Aggie’s eyes flew open. She hadn’t heard anything about Sean becoming King.

Lady Venom’s black eyes all blinked slowly as she stared unfeelingly at Aggie.

“What do you mean future King?!”

“You didn’t know? The North King is lining up a campaign for your betrothed to rule the Southern Kingdom. After the War of Kinds, the North and South have not seen eye-to-eye, so they are seeking to place a more suitable ruler on the throne.” Reg explained carefully.

“How the hell did you hear about that while being locked up?!”

“Lady Venom here told me. Her tribe lives in the mountains, but they came across an unfortunate messenger on his way back to deliver a note to the North King from a Southern Lord.”

Lady Venom continued watching Aggie in a most disconcerting manner. It was painfully obvious that the Beast Awares was studying her closely.

However, Aggie was too shocked by the news to even notice.

She tried to think back to her brief stay at Sean’s keep. She remembered overhearing people saying that he would be traveling a lot in the summer, and he seemed hell bent on getting her educated for her role as his wife…

“You will be delivered to your fiancé by my calculations in just over 1 months time. Will you run away again?” The condescension in Lady Venom’s voice was as disguised as a burning house in the middle of the night.

“If I’m lucky.” Aggie held up her crossed fingers.

“Idiot. You only care about justice when it comes to your friends. What of the rest of us? Who will fight for us? Beast Awares are persecuted unfairly everyday- especially in your homeland the Southern Kingdom. Who will be the one to make things change?”

“No one.”

It were as though someone had been slapped. The blow of Aggie’s words rung out in silence, and no one dared to even breathe afterwards.

“It’s your own damn jobs, haven’t any of you realized? No big royal Lady or Lord or King or Queen will come rescue you. We save ourselves and that’s it. Stop thinking it is someone else’s job. It’s yours. It’s why we’re all rotting here.” Aggie snapped finally, wishing she could close her eyes and sleep without them chattering at her.

“The day I’m handed back to Sean O’Farrell, I just continue rotting in a different prison. I’ve been a prisoner my whole life, it’s just the cells that change.” Aggie locked eyes with Reg and Lady Venom whose faces had become unreadable, but they no longer argued with Aggie- sensing that something had been lost in her

No one spoke after that. Everyone felt that there was a level of truth to what Aggie said, but they all couldn’t help silently wish that a champion of all could rise to help fight. Despite the North King making his own land a place of peace and welcome, he had little impact on the Southern Kingdom, and even in the North they had far to go to be considered equal to others.

They needed someone ruthless, powerful, and fair, and after seeing the way Aggie had treated Pauly the crewman, they all began to have begrudging hope that perhaps the Lady would fight for the rest of them.

If only she accepted the husband that came with the power.