Tough's Come a'Callin'

Writers: Aaron, Curious
Date Posted: 9th October 2022

Characters: Ã‡'pier, Saedyna
Description: Pierce does his hardest job yet from Ay'ell.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 3, day 17 of Turn 11
Notes: Content Warning: Assault

Pierce did not take as much time, perhaps, as he might have liked to scout Saedyna's freetime routine. Ay'ell did not appreciate tardiness. But he had a fair idea of when she would chance to be alone long enough for him to gag her and carry her to a storeroom, where he could... interrogate her.

Pierce took as many precautions as he could manage. He stashed a change of clothes in another room, whose lock he had also managed already to open, and he wore an outfit he had acquired and saved for just this sort of occasion â€" one that as far as he knew no one in the barracks had seen him wear. He carried a knitted mask he could don and doff quickly.

The window for doing this without getting caught would be narrow. But Pierce had plenty of practice when it came to not getting caught.

When the moment came, he emerged masked and ready from the dark side corridor and fell into step behind Saedyna. He seized her, pulling the gag firmly into her mouth. He quickly tied it off and then moved to wrench her arm behind her so he could steer her where he needed her.

Saedyna hadn't seen it coming. Maybe she should have, given her circumstances, but foresight had never been one of her strengths. The young woman failed in Pierce's arms, her attempts to scream foiled by the gag. She resisted his attempts to steer her at first. When she capitulated, it was only reluctantly, her bright blue eyes narrowing into daggers.

Pierce shoved the girl through the proper door, already slightly ajar so there was no need to turn any knobs or handles. He closed it behind. The room was dimly lit was glows, but the stores cast ominous shadows as Pierce closed the door behind him with his foot.

He kept Saedyna facing away with her arm still wrenched and ready to sweep her leg out from under her if necessary. Nevertheless, he slouched to conceal his true height.

When he spoke, it was in a Bitran accent that could fool most any Southerner and maybe most of the North besides.

"Yer behind on what ya owe," he said. "Mayhap yer thinkin' ya can lean on Master Ay'ell's good graces a little harder than ya ought, but ain't no way to go on helpin' the poor, unfortunate souls such as yerself if ya canna be true to yer word to pay him back." He wrenched her arm harder. Any harder, and he might injure her.

"If ya pay up square tonight, I'm sure all is forgiven. If no, well. I can find ya again. Ya get me?"

Saedyna squirmed for a moment longer, muffled sounds of anger or fear spilling out from behind her gag. It was when her captor began speaking that she finally regained hold of her senses. She used her free hand to pull down her gag. Pierce hadn't even finished his final question when she spat out, "I don't _have_ any money." The young woman squirmed again, trying to turn around to face Pierce. He would be offered a glimpse of a fair freckled face framed by curly blond hair. "I'd pay him back if I could, but I can't. Can't he... Can't he just..."

Her voice, which had been rife with ire when she first spoke, began to die off into something more subdued and mournful. "Can't he just mark it off as a good deed and forget about me?"

"If he coulda fronted that kinda handout, he wouldna asked fer coin to start with," said Pierce. From one of the shelves, he retrieved a hammer he had stashed for just this occasion and gently tapped his palm with the head.

"What did ya think was gonna happen?"

Saedyna swallowed heavily. Tears built in her eyes as she went still. A few heartbeats were allowed to pass before she lurched forward in an attempt to break out of Pierce's grasp.

With only one hand still holding her, he did not struggle to keep her restrained this time. Instead, he lifted his foot and gave her a good shove on the backside from behind.

"Master Ay'ell needs ya to do what ya said ya would. Doesn't seem like too much to ask."

Saedyna let out a sharp cry as she fell to her knees. It was followed by an exclamation of, "I _can't_! You have to understand, I _had_ to get out. My husband, he was... I was desperate, and I thought..." She looked up to level tear-filled eyes at Piece. "Ay'ell is a _dragonman_. I thought he'd be better than this."

"He got ya here, didn't he? Did just what he said he would? What better were ya thinkin'? Did he promise ya anythin' he hasna delivered?" asked Pierce. "Mayhap I should truss ya up and Master Ay'ell can fly ya back to yer ol' man's side if ya were lyin' to him about payin'."

Her words did cut, but she could say anything, and nothing said it had to be true. After all, if she lied about paying, she was no stranger to deception. Pierce had a job to do. It was just business.

"Koaz will _kill_ me if you send me back!" Saedyna cried. "He would have killed me if I stayed! I... I didn't..."

The tears broke free from her eyes and began flowing freely down her face.

"I knew it wasn't Ay'ell's problem, but I thought he would be better than to send some _thug_ after me!" A fresh starburst of anger erupted over Saedyna's face. The tears still flowed, but she squared her jaw in defiance as she said, "I can't give him marks that I don't have."

"If he'll kill ya, I'd'a thought ya'd'a been in a little more of a hurry to get right with the one what saved ya," said Pierce. "Before he had to send some thug after ya to see where the feck ya'd wandered off to."

"Well. What ya don't have in coin, I can always take in blood if ya canna think of anythin' else."

Fear flashed across Saedyna's face, followed closely by disgust. "What else could I _offer_? I'm not going to let you... I'm not some..." She shook her head. A sob threatened to wrack her chest, but she fought it down enough to choke out, "Beating me won't get you anywhere, you know? You're just helping Ay'ell. If he goes down, you'll go down with him. But this gets you _nothing_."

All it would do was hurt her.

Oh Faranth, this was going to _hurt_. At least she was no stranger to beatings.

"Out to take him down, are ya?" As he spoke, he crept forward as silent as he could manage. Best if it was a surprise. He did not want to hurt her, but she was dead set on claiming she had nothing to give. It was none of his business what Ay'ell might work out with her if she tried but she just was not trying.

"I bought what I bought," he said, "and I pay what I owe. If I go down, well. That's the price. Ya could stand to learn it."

He brought the hammer down. Not as hard as he could. But hard enough to break a thumb.

"I'm not out for anything!" Saedyna hurried to exclaim. "I just want him to leave me alone. I know I made a deal, but I... I..."

She was desperate.

She hadn't had any other options.

She would have done _anything_ to get out, including making deals that she couldn't uphold.

And then she was in pain.

Saedyna curled in on herself with a sharp cry, her wounded hand and shattered thumb held close to her chest. It was a reflex. A second later, she grit her teeth to get ahold of herself and glared up at Pierce. "Heartless bastard," she spat.

"I got my own bills to pay," said Pierce, "and my heart donna pay 'em." He knew these were the very things that would happen to Blue if he did not fulfill his end of the bargain he made, and he cared a whole world more for Blue than he did for this woman he did not know. "When I make a deal, I keep my word. Ya gotta find a way to do the same, cause I donna wanna have to see ya again. Ya might say my heart canna take it."

He tossed the hammer into the shadows, slipped out the door, and closed it behind him.

Saedyna was left staring at the hopelessly at the closed door. She truly didn't have the money or the means to save anything significant.

But what would happen to her if she didn't pay?

She supposed she could try to tell on Ay'ell, but assuming that the Weyrwoman even believed her, what would become of her then? Surely the Weyr wouldn't take kindly to a woman who had lied to them. Would she be returned to her husband to face a terrible fate? Or perhaps Ay'ell would decide to take care of her himself for her betrayal.

At a loss for what else to do, Saedyna slumped slumped against the closet wall, closed her eyes, and wept.

Last updated on the October 30th 2022

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Tough's Come a'Callin'