The rchants began their last sales for the day, it was the last market day so every trader was eager to sell off what they had before the day ended.
Jenna was out too, despite the hardships she’d faced the past two days. She wasn’t one to give up easily, she cried and wiped her tears to push forward the next day with a smile. Jenna didn’t believe in hurting people around her because her life was difficult, it wasn’t the world that made her miserable.
That was how she had been able to survive all these years, locking away her bad luck inside and stepping out with a little positivity that everything was going to be alright and when it wasn’t alright.
Jenna cried.
"We have good salt," Jenna stood outside her stall, calling for patrons. It was a shaful thing to be done by a lady but she didn’t have enough options to choose from.
"Good sir, what do you wish to get from us today?" Jenna asked a man that glanced at her once and passed by.
If her ex-husband should see her at the mont he would throw his head back and laugh. He would mock her until Jenna withered, reminding her how her stubborn nature had brought about her downfall.
"My lady," Percy began, "You should rest, we can seek for patrons," he suggested, feeling people’s judging gaze on them.
Jenna waved it off, "That’s silly Percy, if we all can call for them together, why not?" She gave him a wry smile. "Now move, go stand over there."
Percy sighed, his mistress was that stubborn. Most days, he imagined her being born as a man. Compared to other ladies of noble birth, she was fiercer and more independent. She knew just how to get things done.
"They’re here!" Lady Collette shouted, "Those n, they’re back!"
Everyone turned at the woman’s loud voice, Percy was the first to see the n that had beaten him up the previous day. Fear gripped him by the neck.
"My Lady, we have to run," he suggested. "They threatened to do worse today." A high sense of urgency in his voice.
He was worried about his mistress as well as his safety.
"Jenna, you’re in trouble again eh?" the rchant chief asked, rubbing his beard, "Those n hate stubborn won the most, their pride must have been hurt."
Jenna rubbed her clammy palm on her shirt, she wanted to stand up for herself since she hadn’t done anything wrong at all but she knew it was going to cause her even more trouble. And she had servants that would get hurt because of her stubbornness.
"Mistress, what do we do?" Mabel asked, worry laced in her tone. The young girl was beginning to panic.
Jenna turned around and ran back to her stall, "We...we should pack up and leave for now," she rushed her words, her anxiety increasing every ti she looked at her servants’ faces. They were all panicking.
All of them, except one person. Who was standing by the door, his dull eyes on Jenna’s worried features.
"’Scuse ma’am," a man tapped Jenna’s shoulder.
Jenna held her breath, she knew already it was one of the ruffians. They had finally arrived.
"You all should stay here," Jenna mouthed, before she slowly turned. Gingerly stepping out of her stall.
Other rchants gathered around, prepared to watch Jenna get humiliated again. It was a pleasurable sight to so of the n who had begged to sleep with her. Watching her disgraced was sothing that soothed their bruised egos.
"What do you want from ? I can’t pay you if—"
Jenna stopped talking when the n dropped to their knees, their foreheads touching the scorching earth.
"What are they doing?" soone whispered from the crowd.
Jenna turned to look at her servants, then the ruffians. She still had her guard up, thinking they were trying to mock her before they destroyed her goods.
"I haven’t sold anything, I can’t afford to pay you every ti you co here," Jenna continued, her brows suspiciously raised.
Lady Collette scoffed, "You think that would cut it? You have been too proud," she tutted, shaking her head in what was supposed to be pity for Jenna.
The collective breathing of everyone in the market was a blanket for the silence that followed.
Finally, one of the ruffians stood up, raising his face for the crowd to see.
"What in the—" Percy gasped.
The man’s face was swollen, his eyes almost folded, covering his iris. Even his mouth now looked strange, his upper lip swollen, his lower lip shifted to the side like he had been hit so hard or stung by a bee.
"Milady," the man mumbled, saliva flowing down his mouth. It was clear as sky that speaking was difficult for him.
Others stood up, and when they raised their faces, so even looked worse. It kept getting worse, their disfigured faces and broken jaws.
"Milady, we’ve been proper daft. Can ya give us another chance? We promise not ta be such blaggards." They bowed in unison, their heavy accents killing their words.
Jenna opened her mouth, then closed. She didn’t know what type of joke this was, but it wasn’t funny.
"Milady, we’ve been proper daft. Can ya give us another chance? We promise not ta be such blaggards." They chorused again with a deep bow.
"What is going on?" Lady Collette asked, her tone a disappointed one as what she was seeing wasn’t what she had expected.
"We promise ta be better, ta listen more, my lady." The n chorused again, this ti even louder.
Jenna was beginning to get worried, she rubbed her brows. "For...I an...why?" was all she could ask.
The leader of the ruffians sighed, filled with sha for what he was doing. When he raised his brows, and noticed Jenna move, he flinched. Fear and dread filled his swollen eyes.
"Milady, we ssed up bad. Didn’t an ta hurt ya, but we did. We’re askin’ fer yer forgiveness. We’ll spend years makin’ it right, provin’ ourselves ta ya," their leader began, his lips trembling as he spoke.
"We don’t often et a bird like you, milady. You’re a right treasure. We should’ve treated ya like the queen ya are, not hurt ya. You’re a gift from the heavens, an’ we’re the scum who shouldn’t’ve laid a finger on ya."
The brute spoke like he was reading from sowhere or had morized it overnight.
"A goddess in di..." he rubbed the back of his head and turned to look at others. They whispered to him. He nodded and continued.
"You’re a bloody diamond, milady, an’ we’re the fools who didn’t know it."
As he was speaking, one of the ruffians fell and passed out.
"Is he okay?" Jenna asked worriedly, she wasn’t sure what was going on but she was worried.
The leader nodded, "I swear on own life, milady. I’ll never hurt ya. If I break promise," he shivered as if rembering sothing.
"I’ll walk into the waves an’ let ’em drown us."
Percy widened his eyes, his expression similar to that of everyone gathered.
"Get yer head down, lads. Bow to the lady or I make sure ya do," the leader instructed and they all bowed again.
From the back, one of the brutes took out a large sack containing every stolen gold and coin. He dropped it in front of Jenna, bowed before returning to his position.
"We’ll be payin’ fer the damage, milady. Every last bit. An’ we’ll be back, ready ta face the consequences fer our stupidity. We’ll take our dicine like n, an’ make sure we’re never such bloody fools again."
The leader raised his hand, others bowed. As they turned to leave, they dragged the one that had passed out cold along with them.
Jenna was yet to recover from the n bowing to her, they had also left her with all their loot.
"Okay, what just happened?" Mabel broke the silence, asking the lingering question on everyone’s tongue.
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