The New Girl (I)
Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 7:41 am
The New Girl
Veriel looked up from the slob of a stew that she had been stirring mindlessly. It had been almost two weeks since she was incarcerated and she hated the food situation the most. The lumpy old bed hurt her back, but she had slept in the middle of the woods a million times before. Her cellmates had been decent and welcoming. Meanwhile, the food… she couldn’t even identify what meat they had chopped up and tossed inside it. The meals here had been painfully unappetizing.
Nonetheless, she supposed she should be grateful. The dawnmartyr had fully prepared herself mentally for all sorts of torture once she stepped foot on Imperial land. Veriel was not unfamiliar with pain and she had been determined to push through anything they planned for her. She expected them to extract what she knew about Novuril by whatever means necessary.
Yet, as the days passed, there was not even a passing mention of the legendary sword. Instead, the elven woman was currently sitting in the common area with dozens of other prisoners. The sounds of casual conversations filled the walls, harmonized by the clanking of spoons against their food trays. Everyone was minding their own business. The Kathar guards standing with their watchful eyes didn’t even pay her any particular attention - either they didn’t know who she was or they had determined her as not a threat.
All things considered, this might just be the best-case scenario for her.
“You rebuked some rich Imperial noble’s romantic advances, he got pissed, and decided to throw you in prison until you change your mind!” Siory said proudly.
Across from her, the orkhan woman named Hilda nodded eagerly. It seemed like they had come up with it together. The dark green-skinned figure was her second cellmate. Despite her imposing figure, the Ecithian had proved to be very kind but a very eager gossip. Beside the orkhan, Eissa, the last cellmate, wasn’t saying anything but still looked at Veriel with curiosity.
The siltori could not help but burst out laughing. “Is that what brokenhearted nobles do here in the Imperium? Seems rather unhealthy.” They had spent the past week trying to guess what Veriel had done to land herself in prison. They turned it into a game once they found that Veriel wasn’t going to share her story any time soon. So far, none of their guesses was even close to the truth.
Disappointed that they were wrong, Hilda clicked her tongue. “I just don’t get it. What could a pretty elf like you possibly do to earn a sentence and be here with us, the worst of the worst as far as the Imperium is concerned?”
Veriel shrugged. “I made a mistake and I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” That was basically the truth. She had gotten herself into trouble willingly and things took a turn that she could have never anticipated. Despite sensing that her newly made friends bore no ill will, the siltori would rather not go into details regarding her identity. It hadn’t taken long for her to discover that most of the prisoners here were people who went against the Imperium in some way - and that meant there were more than a few Dawnmartyrs. The thought of them figuring out who she was made her sick with shame.
Usually, the conversation would turn into another session of interrogation, but this time she was saved by the sight of a trio of Kathar guards walking to the middle of the room. A hush fell over the room as every pair of eyes turned toward them. This never happened before, but none of the people around her seemed surprised.
The dark-haired Kathar in the center started speaking. “We’ll be having all-female matches tonight.” He seemed like the youngest out of the three, but the mean smirk on his face was enough to explain the wariness of his friends as they eyed him. “The main event will be a Knockout match. The winner will get a new feather bed, the loser will do the laundry at night for the next two weeks.”
Veriel’s eyebrows knitted together. A match? What was he talking about?
“A mattress? It’s been almost a year since they last put that up as a reward,” Siory muttered under her breath, leaning closer from her right.
It barely took a second before a woman suddenly stood up. She was a human with brown hair shorn close to her scalp and an excited smile plastered on her lips. While she might not have the most intimidating figure, the muscles visible across her arms hinted at a warrior’s lifestyle. “I’ll take it,” she said, her voice thick with Zythuran accent. She started scanning around and people dropped their heads, avoiding her gaze. When her eyes met Veriel’s, she grinned viciously and pointed her finger. “And I want to fight the new girl.”
The dawnmartyr blinked in surprise, looking around to make sure that the woman really did mean her. When she was sure, the elven female started shaking her head as she realized what this meant. “I can’t fight, I don’t think…” She started trailing off as she saw the annoyance flashing across the Kathar’s face. At the corner of her eyes, she could see the other guards straightening and started inching toward her.
Beside her, Siory suddenly grabbed her arm under the table and exclaimed, “She’ll do it!” Considering her death grip, Veriel assumed the older woman would have a good reason for volunteering her this. So, she stayed silent and lowered her head. The tense moment finally passed and the guards started mentioning other rewards and more people raised their hands. In the end, they announced a roster of five fights for that night.
It was only when the guards were gone that Siory finally released her. There was genuine worry and fear in her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just- You can never say no to it. They’ll… hurt you. It’s better to get into the fight and get it over with.”
The siltori’s face darkened, but she nodded. She shouldn’t have been surprised. This past week she had been lulled into lowering her guard, believing that this might be a humane prison, but of course, it was not. This was the Imperium she was talking about.
“Nuala always does this to the new ones to get the privileges,” Siory said pityingly as she placed a reassuring on Veriel’s shoulder. All the other women around her looked at the siltori the same way, shaking their heads. This Nuala woman must be bad news. “They usually let her do anything she wants because she’s sleeping with one of the guards and gives people a good show. She’ll get bored and end it quickly if you don’t fight back too much.”
While Veriel had never been in jail before, she was quite sure that something like this shouldn’t be happening. Fights between prisoners were arranged by the guards and clearly encouraged. “So we just have to fight? Is this for real? Does this happen all the time?”
Hilda was the one who answered her, “Whenever the guards feel like it. If they’re bored, if they have anyone they want to punish, if they want to reward someone. They don’t keep a schedule, probably to catch us off guard.”
“He mentioned a Knockout match, what does that mean?” The other matches were described as Tap Out, so she already had an inkling of what it meant.
“They’ll only end the fight if one of you were unconscious. They’re probably feeling generous today, usually the main event is a death match,” the orkhan woman explained.
“To the death?” Veriel asked incredulously, but keeping her voice low. She could feel the guards’ eyes lingering longer around her. It seemed like her earlier refusal had garnered a bit of attention. None of her other cellmates corrected her, so she wasn’t hearing things wrong. “Won’t they have to explain how a prisoner just randomly died?”
Her cellmate shook her head beside her. “We’re worthless to them. Even if we die, they can just fabricate some story and I doubt anyone will bother questioning it,” Siory said quietly, her green eyes shining with resignation. “I know this is a lot to take in, dear. It won’t be pleasant, but I promise you’ll be fine if you listen to us. Everyone had been thrown into the cage at least once.”
Veriel leaned against the back of her seat and sighed. It seemed like she wouldn’t have much choice. She was only half listening as Hilda started describing the arena for their fight. Siory kept interjecting with reassuring words, but it didn’t sound convincing. Eissa was still looking at her intently, eyes unreadable. When Veriel looked around, her eyes met Nuala’s once more. The woman flashed an obscene gesture at her and laughed.
It seemed like the dawnmartyr’s true experience as an Imperial prisoner was just about to begin.