A/N: Okay, it's a sorta sucky chapter but there's a better one coming soon!
She made sure she was ready when they came for her.
When they hauled her upright and shoved the sword in her hands, she refused to look scared. She lifted the (ridiculously heavy) weapon and stared at her opponent challengingly, as ready as she could be and feeling totally unready.
Her defiant stare was ruined by the single tear that traced its way down her cheek.
She brushed it away hurriedly and barely got the sword up in time to block the pirate's first blow. She had already surpassed the other three women. All three of them had failed to use the sword from the start, and all three had been tossed into the ocean like unwanted jetsam. It made Reyna furious. Not that she had ever felt any emotional attachment to them, but the pirates' disregard to human life just struck a nerve she couldn't identify.
Her opponent—attacker, rival, adversary—looked surprised that she, deemed the weakest of all their prisoners, had done anything at all.
But she had more for him yet.
With a yell, she slid her sword out from under his and stabbed toward his chest. He lunged out of the way and slashed toward her legs. She jumped and whirled under his guard, taking a piece out of his shirt but not injuring him. He stumbled backward in shock.
Some small part of Reyna's brain acknowledged that she was succumbing to her anger, but the majority told that bit to shut up.
The pirate attacked in earnest, and Reyna's burning fuel vanished. Her heart turned to stone. She was inferior—kilometers, miles, astronomical units outmatched. The battle-hardened pirate was more seasoned than an eleven year old girl, and even though she was faster, there was no where to run.
With one quick swipe she was on her back on the wooden boards. The pirate planted a kick in her ribs and stepped back.
The long strides of the pirate captain thrummed through the boards under Reyna's ear. His footsteps were languid, unhurried, and growing closer by the second. Reyna flipped herself onto her back and jumped up, determined to meet the man standing.
The captain kicked her back down and she landed on the deck again, this time in a much less flattering way, although there wasn't really a flattering way to fall backward.
The menacing man loomed over her and Reyna waited for someone to grab her and throw her overboard. No one moved. The captain stared at her, judging her, trying to compute how their weakest prisoner had become one of the strongest. Then he threw something to her.
"Earn yer keep," he ordered, before stomping back toward the quarter deck. "Back to work!"
The pirates all jumped up, dispersing across the deck and tending to the ships, adjusting ropes, climbing ladders and vanishing below decks. Reyna glanced at what the captain had thrown to her. It was an old fashioned scrub brush, the bristles of which were bent from obvious use. She dropped it on the deck next to her and sat up, ribs sore. None of the pirates paid her any attention now, moving around her like she didn't exist.
She stood, and found herself face-to-face with Hylla.
Emotions exploded in her chest.
She was elated that her sister was alive, but against her will she found that annoyance was rising in her chest. Hylla hadn't trained. She hadn't done anything, but here she was! Alive and well, and having past the pirate's test! She felt as though the universe was giving her the finger.
"You're alright!" Hylla gasped, and grabbed her up in a hug. It wasn't tender and Reyna actually found it pretty awkward, but she stayed still.
"You have to work," Hylla whispered to her. "You have to scrub the deck and you have to keep your head down, understand me? You have to stay conspicuous."
Then she was down on her knees, swiping away at the boards with a scrub brush nearly identical to Reyna's. Now she noticed the former prisoners. There were only half a dozen of them, hunched over on the ground or maintaining ropes. One was mending a massive piece of cloth that could only be a sail. All were wearing the tattered remnants of the clothes they had been brought on board in, but the heavy make up had worn off their faces, replaced with dirt and grime.
There were two communal buckets the seven former attendants were using to wet their brushes. Reyna bent down and joined them. She hadn't taken Hylla's advise in a long time, but now she followed it willingly.
The work was back breaking. For most of the day Reyna was on her hands and knees scrubbing one of the multiple decks. It was one of the best chores. When she wasn't being Cinderella, she was cleaning out the cabins on the lower levels, often accompanied by another of the former sap attendants. She noticed that they liked to move in pairs. Unfortunately, because there was an odd number of them, she was often left solo.
They were given what was akin to a proper cabin. There was only one with a few hammocks for the seven of them, but it was better than the hard floor of what some of the prisoners called 'the brig'. The only hours they spent in their "room" were from nightfall to sunrise, trying to chase whatever sleep they could. They were given one meager meal when they woke in the morning, and one just after noon, leading them to spend the nights hungry. It was miserable. But it was better than before.
Reyna adapted to their new life like she had before- without a fuss and without struggle. It was how she had learned to stay alive. She could handle being a slave. She could deal with it, at least until she had the chance to exact some form of revenge. Hylla shared her enthusiasm; she could see it in her sister's eyes when she watched the habits and patters of the pirates' behavior waiting for an opening.
It was less than a month before they had their plan.