Aggie’s eyes widened, too shocked to hide her true reaction.

“Half-blood? How?”

“Details of my birth are only known by my Aunt Harriet, and two others in this camp. Even my cousin does not know for my own safety.”

“Who is the Shield here?” Aggie demanded trying to think of the numerous Beast Awares she had seen.

“Interesting. It seems you have an understanding of what it would take to keep me hidden.” Borris smiled again.

“That part is obvious though. The Ruling Family has Seers working constantly.”

Borris wasn’t buying any of it.

“I am inclined to think more favorably of you Lady Beatha. You are protecting someone like me. Then again, perhaps it has less to do with the injustice of his having to hide his existence, and more about you being in love with him.”

Aggie’s blank expression fell flat before she rolled her eyes.

“I’m not in love with him, nor am I protecting him.”

Borris’ eyes glinted as he then gave her a slow smile.

“You don’t rise to my bait, which is a refreshing challenge. You don’t need to lie about shielding him though, I heard about how you slaughtered our recruits when they surrounded the both of you.”

“Was I protecting him, or myself at that point?”

“Very well, do you not want me to look upon you favorably?”

“I don’t want you looking at me at all.” Aggie muttered.

“So was it your mother or father that was a Servicer?” She tried turning the conversation, but it was apparent that Borris noticed.

“You want me to give you all of my hard earned secrets when you give me none?”

“Well you must want something from me as you were taking a sizable bet on my not blabbing about a half-breed Beast Awares Servicer.”

“Remember Beatha, I can always just kill you should you prove to be too much of an issue.”

Aggie straightened her shoulders, and frowned at him.

“Given what you said to your men outside, you keep your word. I don’t have to worry.”

“I’ve never had such a confident hostage.” The Beast Awares leaned back while crossing his ankle over his knee.

“As I said, you want something from me.” Aggie shrugged nonplussed.

“You’re right of course.” Borris leaned in then, his face serious.

“I want you to tell me everything about the Ruling Family and Servicers.”

Aggie blinked slowly before responding.

“You could always just ask Arlen.”

“Ah, so his name is Arlen. Well I do intend to ask him, but then again, it sounds as though we will be relieved of your company shortly. We sent the missive with your ransom earlier. Your Servicer has a long ways to go for his recovery, so I think I am speaking with precisely the right person.” Borris speculated casually, without a note of gloating.

Still kicking herself over giving the man information, Aggie remained silent.

“So, will you tell me about the Ruling Family and Servicers?”

He looked so serious and hopeful, that she was having a hard time coming up with reasons why sharing that information could backfire on her.

“What if I don’t?” She asked instead, trying to buy time to consider the offer.

Borris lifted an eyebrow while still looking incredibly serious.

“I could tie you back up to the tree in the middle of the camp naked.”

“I’ve had worse.” She replied offhandedly with another shrug and resuming her thought process of the deal- until Aggie witnessed the look of surprise followed by anger on the Beast Awares face.

“Were you by chance bluffing?” She was unable to keep the admiration out of her tone.

“I was. We abide by a code of honor in this group. We avoid killing when possible, but know the risks in thieving. Other forms of dishonor are generally forbidden.”

“That is quite interesting, because I seem to remember ‘Lenny’ threatening me to be passed around to the men if I didn’t have money.”

“It was to scare you into giving up any valuables.”

Aggie rolled her eyes again, and shook her head in disbelief.

“Did someone really do worse to you?” Borris’ voice was a soft growl.

“Don’t pretend to be so caring, it won’t make me do what you want. Everyone knows about my time aboard a certain prison ship.”

“No one fully knows, Lady Beatha. A lot of people are telling it as a beautiful maiden locked in a boat chamber. They know the South Prince had a hand in it, and that you allegedly died after seeking revenge on the Captain.”

That startled her.

No one knew?

How could they not, since half of the Southern court was present at the time?

Then again, peasants may not know or especially care, just like a certain group of thieves that lived in the woods.

Before she could consider her words more carefully, Aggie found herself spilling a rudimentary summary of her colorful experiences.

“It was a prison ship for beings that were to be executed. No one cared what happened to those imprisoned; the Captain of the ship used them for extra income by featuring them in blood sport with the audience placing bets. Meanwhile, the crew would abuse and creatively violate them when they were at sea for several days.”

“Gods… he made you watch that?”

“I wasn’t an audience member, I was the main attraction.”

The Beast Awares looked thoroughly sickened at her reply.

“I… I need to go converse with Harry. Stay here.” Borris slowly reached over, took the lead of the rope around Aggie’s wrists, and tied it to the tent post in the upper left corner of the tent.

“That is a pretty flimsy post.”

“If you knock it down, the lantern is still lit and might catch fire to the tent. I recommend not moving.”

Aggie glared. She knew the likelihood of that was low, but with her luck, she didn’t want to risk it.

Slowly Borris left the tent, and strode over to where his aunt and cousin stood waiting expectantly.

“What was it you wanted to discuss?” Champ inquired his arms folded across his broad chest.

“I need to speak to Harry in private.” Borris remarked stiffly as his glowing eyes met with gazes identical to his own.

Champ let out an aggravated snort before slowly walked closer to the tent.

Once out of earshot, Borris turned to his aunt.

“Did she know he was a half-blood?” Harry whispered her eyes occasionally glancing over to her son.

“Yes. She is still pretending that she didn’t, but she was too calm when I confronted her.”

“What else?”

“The Servicer’s name is Arlen.”

“She really didn’t give you much hm?” Harry looked worriedly at the tent before continuing.

“She’s too clever. You know how I feel about clever people.”

“You can never rest when a clever person is around- I know. You’ve survived with me all these years haven’t you?” Borris smiled slightly at his aunt’s frown.

“Don’t I keep telling you how tired I am?”

Borris’ face turned to a grimace as he remembered what had promptly ended his conversation with the Lady.

“She told me about her time as a hostage on the ship.”

“Oh? I heard the Captain trained her to fight while she was his lover. Then when he dumped her, she stabbed him.”

Borris shook his head. There were so many rumors, it amazed him how far from the truth some of them ended up being. Despite the variance in the versions of the Lady’s tale told by others, Borris didn’t question what she had told him either. For some reason, when she had told him of her time captured, he had seen the darkness in her; a darkness that only came from witnessing great horrors.

“He made her fight in blood sport, and she heavily implied there were other violating acts.”

Harry frowned and turned her body so that she faced him squarely.

“What are the chances she made it up?”

“I sincerely believe that they are quite low.”

Putting her hands on her hips and glancing at the tent, Harry let out an angry sigh.

“Bastard got what he deserved then.” She spat as she referred to the Captain.

“Can we just steal her gold and send her on her way? They might give us more answers in thanks.”

“No. We’ll still hostage her, but, we’ll let her sleep inside, feed her right… Borris she still killed Lenny and three of his men. We also now have men missing hands and an arm. The recruits hadn’t been sworn in, but our duty is still to those sworn in.”

“I understand.” While he didn’t like it, Borris knew what his aunt said was true.

“She’ll sleep in your tent.”

“What?! Why mine? Why not one of the girls?”

“I told you Borris, she’s too clever, and I already have my hands full worrying about you stabbing me in the night.”

After making an aggravated grunt, the Beast Awares looked to the stars. He hadn’t meant to become the Lady’s prison guard, but admitted that at least she wasn’t like the other noble women he had met. If he was perfectly honest, the Lady Beatha seemed a rather pleasant change of pace, and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t still curious about her.

***

Aggie lay on the ground of the tent wide-awake. If Borris moved a muscle near her, she’d scream until his ears bled. They had brought in a heavy locked chest filled with their spoils, and tied her to it, while also keeping her hands and feet tied.

With a sigh, she opened her eyes, and listened to the night sounds.

Animals rustled in the woods, bats fluttered their wings as they hunted their dinners, and the occasional breeze fluttered the fabric of the tent.

It was growing colder as well. Aggie clenched and unclenched her muscles to try and get her blood to move and heat her cold limbs, when a large dark shadow flew over her.

With a yelp the Lady threw up her tied hands to knock it away from her, only to realize it was a blanket.

“Did you throw it off of you?”

“It’s fine.” Aggie mumbled as she tried to awkwardly grab the blanket from near her feet.

With a sigh, the large Beast Awares sat up in his cot, picked up the blanket that lay disheveled near the entrance of the tent, and lay it over her again.

“You are oddly chivalrous for a criminal.” Aggie couldn’t help pointing it out as her levels of discomfort steadily rose.

“It’s true we are a little unusual, but I think your recent experiences have made you think that most of the world is filled with monsters, when actually, most beings are decent.”

“… I ran away from my betrothed less than a year ago, and in that time, I have been attacked by a Cockatrice, kidnapped twice, rescued a kidnapped Prince forced into drug addiction by a corrupt businessman, forced to fight in blood sport, witnessed my best friend be slowly raped and poisoned to death, been violated, had my mother disclaim me with half the Southern court staring at me in a cell, stabbed to death, and now, I’m a hostage. Thank you for rounding out my list, but the world is full to the brim with monsters and little else, and meeting one decent thief isn’t going to change that.”

The silence was weighty.

Why had she just said all of that?

To a perfect stranger?

To someone keeping her hostage.

She hadn’t even told Arlen some of that information.

“So why… why keep going? Why didn’t you go to the North King when you returned and let him seek out justice on your behalf?”

“The only proper justice was for me to do what I did. As to why keep going? I want to fix it.”

“Fix what?” Borris’ voice was gentle, but inquisitive.

“I need to fix the world.”

Another lengthy pause in the conversation settled in.

“My father was the Servicer, and my mother was Beast Awares. She was the identical twin of my aunt Harriet, and died giving birth to me. My father, I heard was killed during the War of Kinds.” Borris’ announcement immediately relieved any anxious feelings Aggie had been feeling before.

“Are you capable of feeling love?”

“Yes. I feel things like everyone else, though I’m told I am unreadable when I choose to be.” Borris began answering mechanically.

“Do you learn things incredibly fast?”

“I learn quickly, but not at the incredible speed of a Servicer.”

“It sounds as though you don’t have any Servicer abilities.”

“Yes, which is why I was surprised when I heard about your companion. Though it is possible that I am unable to use the Servicer abilities merely because I choose to remain unbonded.” Borris sounded weary, as though trying to figure out his abilities, or lack thereof had been a great weight his entire life.

Aggie pondered the new information for a while.

“Did you really die?” Borris’ voice broke the night sounds that had filled between them once more.

She chuckled.

“I did. Then my annoying Servicer brought me back.”

“How?”

“I have a theory, but I’m not completely certain.”

“Let’s hear.”

Aggie let out a small breath through her nose in quiet resolve; the conversation for some reason was helping her relax. Perhaps it had been witnessing his code of honor, or that he entrusted her with such a large personal secret, but she felt that the thief was easy company. Somehow, talking to Borris, especially without seeing his face, was lifting some of the ache in her chest that she carried with her.

“I was told that in my family is a power called Life Magic, and that in some cases they can come back from the dead. While I don’t have any magic, I have also heard that if someone gives a continuous magical charge to a person, their abilities can ignite. Arlen pulled me back using our bond, and as he did so, poured a lot of magic into me in that moment.”

“It could make sense. Especially if you two are sharing a singular bond.”

“A what?” Aggie frowned.

“A singular bond. Generally, Servicers and their Masters have several magical connections through their bond. Sometimes, they can sense vague emotions, locations, and maybe temperatures. Others can see through their Servicers eyes and vice versa if it is a singular bond. In your case, it sounds as though he can sense your soul, which is quite powerful. It means your soul is on a tether to him as he is always aware of you. For example, if someone tried to use Mind Magic to control you, it wouldn’t be as effective because of the singular bond. They cannot pull away your soul or mind when you are tethered to him, unless it is your desire.”

Aggie suddenly recalled the Cockatrice. She hadn’t been paralyzed for long when she’d seen its eyes.

Then again, why had Wonder with the Fey happened?

Perhaps because she hadn’t been opposed to witnessing their magic. They didn’t force her to do anything she was merely being… naïve.

“It sounds plausible.” She confessed silently after a moment.

“You’re being quite helpful to your hostage.” Aggie teased after another thoughtful in darkness.

Borris chuckled.

“Tell me about the Ruling Family.” His voice was quiet, but the same serious tone from earlier had returned, only this time, Aggie didn’t hold back this time.

“They’ve enslaved all Servicers and brainwashed them. They use Seers to determine whom will be a good fit, and force procreation by selecting breeders and pairing them with another Servicer.”

“I’m beginning to understand your view of the world.”

“You were very lucky to escape what you did.” Aggie lamented darkly.“You know… I’ve never thought of myself that way oddly enough. I have to stay within a two hundred foot radius with a Shield my entire life, or bring death to everyone I love.”

“Put that way, I see your point. Hopefully you like the Shield you have now.”

“He’s fine. I would’ve preferred a woman.”

“Oh?”

“If I have to be chained to someone, I would like them to at least be pretty.”

Aggie laughed.

“So what’s your type?”

“Strong, clever, and short. Maybe a tail.”

Aggie felt herself smile widen into the darkness.

“A tail?”

“An obedient tail could be interesting don’t you think?” Borris grinned while staring at the shadowed roof of the tent. He could tell she found him amusing.

“How about you? Do you prefer Beast Awares or Servicers?”

“Neither. I prefer a book, perhaps some ale or wine, and some quiet.”

“That sounds completely dull, and completely unlike you.”

“You met me hours ago and yet you know me, hm?”

“I’m a good judge of character. Plus you’re quite chatty at night.”

Aggie didn’t know why but she was laughing again.

“So what type should I be interested in according to your expertise?”

“Maybe Beast Fey for you? It’d keep things wild.”

Still laughing, Aggie slowly rolled over onto her side so that she fully faced the legs of the cot.

“Thank you for talking with me. This is by far the best hostage experience I’ve ever had.”

It was Borris’ turn to laugh.

“I’ve never heard those words in my entire life.”

“Good. I like surprising people.”

He smiled, and turned onto his side towards the edge of the cot.

“I need to sleep now. Are you warm enough?”

“I’ll manage.” Aggie closed her own eyes, her cheeks aching from smiling so much. She hadn’t felt so freed in a long time.

The irony of course being that she was tied up, but at that moment, there wasn’t any place she’d rather be.