Like a Lady
Serenica could not figure out how to play a really good game of pull the rye. She kept losing all her coins, and before losing them got too fun, she gave up. She had too many thoughts that mattered. Card games didn't matter on a grand scale at all.
She was still doubtful about whether they could truly hope to outmatch Kinley. The plan was outrageously desperate, but then again, Serenica had never really seen the crew in action. It was likely that they were efficient killers. After all, many were older than pirates and other men leading violent lives were supposed to be, most had a small fortune in gold hanging from their ears and necks, and above all, the muscles built by hard physical work were prominent on their wiry bodies. When someone dropped a piece of bread or a jewel, the object was quickly caught before it hit the ground, with reflexes that put the best archers of the crown to shame.
Serenica didn't want to underestimate these hardened men just because they were illiterate and liked to drink.
An opportunity arrived for the men to demonstrate their violent nature. Into the area poured a rival crew, belonging to a pirate captain who hated Spade's guts according to Gadfly. Those men were boisterous, they didn't tip the musicians at all and some even harassed them.
"That ain't the way things are supposed to be done," the boatswain said to Serenica. "I hope the healer doesn't mind if I teach them some manners."
"They're not my responsibility. Go ahead," Serenica said, grinning inwardly. She had always wanted to see Gadfly in action.
"I can see the deadrouser's suckling babes have found some poor wench to rail into!" a man from the hostile crew yelled. "Or is that a man? Wouldn't surprise me."
Gadfly had been sitting in a relaxed position with his legs wide apart, but now he tensed up completely and jumped up. On the other side of the area the Admiral got the hint and rolled up his sleeves.
The boatswain was a terrifying sight when properly angered. A blush of rage was on his cheeks. His delirious eyes stared straight at the belligerent man. He snarled and said:"You disrespect her, you get your bones delivered to your hairy mother in a matchbox."
"I just disrespected that tart and I ain't dead, not even sickly," the rude man said, grinning widely, obviously drunk off his mind.
Serenica began to get up from her seat, as she knew more than a few nasty curses that could indeed help fit the man in a matchbox, but Myorka stopped her with a well placed hand.
"Don't. Let them defend your honor. It will make you feel like a lady."
The first mate approached the verbal offender as well, with determination in his every step, but Gadfly took the lead. The drunkard seemed to become uncomfortable as he saw the Admiral, who was very tall, and neither did he seem to like the expression that the boatswain made. It was as if Gadfly was praying for escalation. He looked bloodthirsty, downright insane.
"Come on!" the man yelled.
His crew surrounded him quickly. Something was about to happen. A lot of people were going to be hurt.
Serenica decided to refrain from intervening. She didn't really know how to fight successfully without killing her opponent.
Gadfly struck the man with his right fist. A sickening noise of cartilage being rearranged was heard. Everything happened so fast that Serenica had trouble discerning who hit whom. She only knew that her boys were winning.
The Admiral didn't exactly use his fists as much as he wiped the street with a large Sennite. The man yelped, clearly in great pain after taking a bad fall. He didn't get up, he could only shield his head against possible kicks.
Gadfly was much more of a puncher. His opponent was already covered in blood from a broken nose. While the man was sturdy, merely staggering, he could not coordinate his defense anymore, let alone land a single punch on the agile boatswain. It was looking bad for the man with the sour mouth.
The rest of Serenica's crew were doing admirably as well. Heike defended young Seppei with an elbow to the eye of a much taller man, while Seppei himself managed to kick the knee of a bearded fellow, taking him down.
Serenica watched this gruesome show with Myorka and Spade, suppressing her healer sensibilities and trying her best to enjoy the lengths the crew was willing to go to for her sake.
She did, in fact, feel like a lady.
The crew of the Princess dominated the fight to such an extent that the other side decided to retreat rather quickly. Gadfly was too much into beating the first offender. He had to be physically torn away from his victim so that no one would die. The hostile captain, who had stayed on the sidelines, looked at Spade with hatred.
Captain Spade smiled widely and waved.
The other captain turned around and left without saying a word. He moved like some sort of a rodent, very much in panic, probably displeased by the knowledge of the witchcraft that Spade could wield against him. There was no messing with the Princess, but no one in their right mind would have even thought about starting a fight with its captain.
It was unsettling. After all, Spade just looked like a rich, fat man with a good dressmaker, yet he was the most dangerous criminal in the known world.
The other crew had suffered badly. They could even lose money because of their poor thinking, so bad had the beating been. The men of the Princess were almost completely unharmed. Serenica let out a sigh of relief. There was no work for her, which was good, as she didn't dare to smoke, and healing nearly always required a pipeful.
"Look what I took from him for you, Surmica," Gadfly said, panting with excitement. He was holding a long rope that looked very durable.
"Thank you, you are a gentleman," Serenica said, accepting the rope.
She had no idea what on earth she was supposed to do with such loot.