“So what if I’m a Beatha?” Aggie was growing increasingly frustrated by everyone’s strong reaction to learning her family name, and not expanding on what it all meant.

Ines gaped at her openly, as the rest of the prisoners were abuzz at the news-, each one of them whispering curiously to their cell neighbors.

“You… Lady Beatha, you really don’t know?” Ines asked quietly, as she tried to hide the incredulous note in her voice.

“It is blatantly apparent that I don’t. What is it?” Aggie snapped louder than she meant to, making Ines pull back at the outburst.

“Sorry, it’s just, well you see-”

“What is Life Magick?” Aggie cut Ines off quickly, sensing that the Fey woman was about to have another bout of aimless sentences.

Ines closed her mouth, took a deep breath before continuing, and tried to sort out her words before attempting to speak.

“Life Magick is… it’s hard to explain really. It is another type of magick that pure humans can do, but only the pure humans in your family. No one knows why. The stories say that any town or village possessing the Beatha family, can expect abundance in good health, crops, numerous healthy births, and longer lives in general for everyone within leagues of them. Your family tends to give an abundance of life- including having large families of their own, which is why everyone was jesting about you keeping your legs closed.” Aggie blushed, but nodded encouragingly for Ines to go on.

“In more recent decades, the majority of your family were wiped out during the War of Kinds with the Thief of Souls. Others have mated with Beast Awares, and they have lost their magick. You truly didn’t know about this?”

Ines looked genuinely perplexed at how Aggie could not know such an important part of her history.

“Not at all… my father wasn’t all that forthcoming about personal or family matters. So how can I know if I have this magick?” Aggie’s mind was whirring.

“A new type of magick? Why had no one mentioned it sooner?”

“You would already know. Magick is an undeniable feeling.” Ines suddenly looked at the floor and frowned as new thought occurred to her.

“I mean… technically all pure humans, have magicks… it’s just dormant. The rule of 3 applies with passing it on though.”

“Rule of 3?”

Ines sighed and chuckled quietly.

“Goodness Lady Beatha, were you not taught a thing growing up?”

Aggie’s cheeks burned red, and she clutched her wrist, momentarily forgetting that it was bruised, until a sharp pain reminded her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel bad… it’s just your family has such an interesting history! Most people don’t know about your family, because these stories are as old as the hills around the North Kingdom’s Settlement. The only reason I know about it, is your family was known to even aid Fey women in conceiving with a member of our own kind! Amongst my kin, your bloodline is revered, and we don’t bow to humans ever.”

Aggie’s cheeks reddened again, but for a different reason- she wasn’t used to being considered someone worthy of awe or admiration. Particularly over her family’s heritage.

“So what is this about the rule of 3’s…” Aggie switched the track of the conversation, feeling incredibly self-conscious.

“Right, the rule of 3 is that odds are high after 3 generations of non-magic users that the next generation will be born with their magicks activated. It is thought to be particularly powerful after skipping so many generations. Your children will probably be remarkably gifted! It’s no wonder Lord Sean O’Farrell doesn’t really care about you abandoning…” Ines trailed off awkwardly, and cleared her throat.

“If I have children with another pure human, doesn’t that mean my children could also just inherit another one of the more common magicks such as being a Seer, or Mind Magicker instead of Life Magick?”

“It is possible, but your first babe would undoubtedly have the Beatha magick. Your second would probably inherit one of the other magicks. Though it is hard to say because no one really knows much about Life Magick. It is even more rare than Shield magick, which is why so few people know how to spot or understand those gifted with it. It’s one of the reasons James’ abilities are hard to detect.”

“The Captain is a Shield Magicker?!” Aggie leaned so close to the bars between her and Ines that she could smell the body odor coming from the Fey.

“Yes.” Ines whispered, her face suddenly tinged with sadness again.

“That’s how he was able to grab me away from the Minkies…” Aggie realized as she leaned back away from Ines, trying to hide her reaction to the fowl smell of the Fey.

“When you said that all pure humans have magicks, but that they are dormant, is it possible to awaken a person’s abilities?” The note of hope was hard to hide as Aggie thought about how she could potentially use such powers.

“In a millennia, it has happened at most twice, and the circumstances with which that happened were not clear. Essentially, you would need an ongoing magical charge to ignite it and keep it burning. It’s like you have the fire, but no kindling or wood to keep it blazing.”

Aggie nodded, somewhat disappointed at the response. She had hoped she could open her dormant magick and do… something.

“The magick of my family… it isn’t really good for fighting is it?” Aggie mused as she rubbed her neck that was growing sore from having it turned towards Ines for so long.

“Well not really, but they do say that the most powerful Beatha’s, on top of having extended lives and long lasting youths, in some circumstances they could come back from the dead. Which could be useful in battle I suppose.”

Aggie’s eyebrows shot up.

Coming back to life?

That was pretty interesting…

“Oyy! Lady! Beawa- whatever your name! Have you ever been in a fight? We’re all trying to hedge our bets!” The Beast Awares in the cell across from Ines called lazily. He had antlers extending from his human head, black eyes, and while the rest of him was shaped as a man, was covered in white and brown fur.

“Short bar brawls.” Aggie answered resignedly.

“A Lady in a bar brawl?! Ha!” The Beast Awares turned to his cell neighbor and the two of them began chattering in a very animated manner.

“Lady Beatha-”

“Aggie.” Aggie snapped. She was already high strung, and she already hated being called a Lady. Though when she looked at Ines’ openly hurt face, she immediately felt a pang of guilt.

“Sorry, Aggie, why aren’t you at Sean O’Farrell’s side out of curiosity? Are the rumors true that you ran away with a servant you were in love with?” Ines whispered, clearly curiosity getting the better of her.

Aggie rubbed her face with her hands slowly, and took a deep breath, then immediately regretted it as the wall of sour smells filled her lungs.

“I… It honestly sounds so juvenile now when I say it, but he was a cruel man. I… I am pretty naïve and inexperienced, and I was grossly overpowered. I have always been kept under someone’s thumb- whether it be by family or now a fiancé, and I wanted to be free. So I ran away with my Servicer.”

“You have a Servicer?!” Ines squeaked in surprise.

Aggie didn’t respond, instead she began rubbing her eyes, and began biding her time. Soon she would be fighting someone, and she had no idea how skilled they were, but she sincerely hoped she wouldn’t have to kill anyone…

Unless of course it were Captain James Murphy.

Him she felt no guilt at wanting to remove from the face of the Earth.

***

The ring of steel rang through the mountains as Servicer and man circled each other, each placing well timed attacks and defense blows as though in a synchronized dance.

Arlen relinquished the sword in his left hand, as it became compromised by his opponents broadsword, and proceeded to gift a sharp blow to his opponent’s liver, and then head butted at his face.

Arlen’s opponent stumbled back by a foot, but otherwise didn’t falter as he brought his sword down heavily onto Arlen’s, forcing him to release his weapon.

Without a weapon, but still within reach of his attacker, Arlen grabbed the arm holding the broadsword, and proceeded to twist in, and flip the man over his shoulder.

The fight ended when Arlen placed the heel of his boot over the man’s throat.

“Gobshite.” Arlen removed his boot and stared grimly down as Mek lifted his wooden mask, and stared up at Arlen breathlessly.

“You and your bloody Servicer magick. How can you have learned to beat me after only training with us for a month and a half?”

“Your question is redundant.”

Arlen walked away from his fallen opponent, and brushed passed the Minkies Queen whom was watching him without any trace of mirth.

“Servicer you aren’t done training.” She called over her shoulder as he stopped in his tracks, his posture ramrod straight.

“I beat Mek.” Arlen replied shortly.

“You have, but this time, I’m not going to subdue the pain.” Arlen turned slowly, then walked back until he was standing toe to toe with the Queen.

“I’m not always going to be there, and you need to experience combat even with pain in the background.” The Queen stared levelly at the Servicer whom had been in an absolute beast of a bad mood since Aggie’s disappearance.

He didn’t argue or agree verbally, as he turned to where Mek was already standing at the ready with his wooden mask down, and his sword in his hands.

The masks Arlen knew were used more for a scare tactic with enemies, than for practicality. The Minkies would most often discard their masks once their battles had started, but always had their faces marked in the black charcoal to mask their identities.

Arlen picked up his two swords, and waited for the return of the blaring pain in his body.

The Queen didn’t release her hold on his pain slowly either, one moment it was a small annoying headache, the next it roared through his being as though every muscle was torn throughout his entire body.

Mek attacked, and with a wince Arlen lifted his sword in defense.

His defenses and attacks were slower, more laborious, and it wasn’t long before Mek had him panting on the ground.

His body was shaking.

He had never felt Aggie so terrified before.

Gritting his teeth, Arlen stood again.

He had to learn. He had to be better. He had to be able to save Aggie.

***

They had shackled Aggie and dragged her upstairs to the top deck of the ship, along with a handful of other prisoners, who had apparently won the privilege of watching the initiation fight by winning their own battles.

She stood with her back against one of the 3 masts of the ship; with the shrouds holding several cheering crewmembers just above her, and whom on occasion would call out obscenities. The rest of the crew stood in a thick circle around the 2 opponents.

Aggie had gleaned that the worst fighter of the prisoners was punished by then being the first one to fight every night, and the most often.

He was also the introductory initiation fight, and as Aggie stared at the Beast Awares named Harold Schlinger, she recognized why he was at a disadvantage.

He was perhaps 3 feet tall, and built like a solid brick, with a wide furry face and snout. His single advantage were the gargantuan horns protruding from his head that looked as though they were too heavy for his tiny body.

They curved sideways and up by an extra 2 feet, and were as thick as Aggie’s fist.

After glancing at his wild red eyes, Aggie realized this Beast Awares was desperate to no longer be the worst fighter. She saw in the way he foamed at the mouth, and one of his two cloven feet pawed at the ground waiting to start.

They had been told to wait until everyone had filed their bets, and the Captain was standing on the quarterdeck, leaning forward against the railing with an elusive smile on his face.

Aggie locked eyes with him, and didn’t look away as the First Mate sidled up beside the Captain, and whispered in his ear.

Her fists clenched.

The crewman that had thrown her the crust of bread earlier, appeared between Aggie and Harold Schlinger, holding a cooking pot and wooden spoon. As he did so, 2 other crewmembers stepped forward, and unlocked and removed the shackles from both Aggie and the Beast Awares.

“Ye’ll start once I bang the pot 3 times!”

“You can count that high?” Aggie asked dryly. To which the crewman cracked her over the head with the spoon.

“At leas’ I know not te’ bother an armed man!” He sneered back wielding the spoon as the crowd laughed.

“A weapon as sharp as your wits I see.” Aggie glared at him, and as he threw down the pot and lunged at her, 3 of the crewman from the crowd leapt forward catching him.

In the ruckus of laughter and threats that spewed from the crewman who looked ready to murder Aggie himself, Captain James Murphy appeared, and picked up the pot.

With one cold look everyone on the deck went silent.

He turned, and stared at Aggie with great composure, not saying anything, and instead letting the only sound be the hot sea breeze rustling the sails for several moments.

“Know your place Lady. You are a prisoner aboard my ship.” He chastised coolly.

“Yes, and I’ve been meaning to ask you; What is your grand plan with me, hm? Once you return me to Sean O’Farrell, I will be a woman of great influence who can destroy your career.” Every eye turned to the Captain. Some of the crew smiled mysteriously, while others looked perplexed. This revealed to Aggie that more than half of his crew hadn’t been with him very long.

“You honestly think Sean O’Farrell will take your word? The slut who abandoned her betrothed, over the account of a seasoned and respectable Captain from the Southern Kingdom? See, what I’ll tell him is everything you say about me is a lie due to you being angry about being caught. Who do you think he will believe?” James Murphy cocked his eyebrow in question.

Without batting an eye, Aggie responded;

“Sean O’Farrell won’t live forever, and I am quite persistent about some things.” She calmly stared at him. She wasn’t sure how in the world she was able to hide her fear so well, as the men around her gawked, and she felt every inch of her innards quaking.

She couldn’t stand his bullying though.

She couldn’t just let them make her feel small and insignificant anymore.

So, she forcibly reminded herself that she had to demand the respect she wanted.

Much in the way her father had built up his own reputation.

Calm at all times, straight posture, unflinching eye contact, and a commanding tone.

The Captain’s lip curled as though he was enjoying her sparring.

“That man will live at least another decade, and by then, I plan on being massively wealthy and retired. You think I plan on being easy to find? You think I don’t have my own connections?” He asked drawing nearer to her.

Everything about him was dominating, but Aggie didn’t flinch away. Mostly because she felt that if she did take a step back she’d fall into the crowd of crewmen.

“I’m not afraid of burning bridges to get what I want. I will be the end of you. I swear it.” Aggie and the Captain glared at each other for several more moments before a purring throat clear from the First Mate brought them back to the present.

“Might we begin the fight Captain? We all still have our duties after lunch.” First Mate Ikes was now standing at the edge of the crowd behind the Beast Awares Aggie was meant to fight, making the poor fellow jump nearly out of his skin.

“Indeed. I think this Lady needs to redirect some of her abundant energy.” Captain James Murphy gave Aggie one last calculating dark look before turning from her, and striding back up to the quarter deck with his First Mate.

As he faced over his ship with all the airs of a King, he then raised the pot and spoon, and struck the steel bottom 3 times.

Time to fight.