Reaching my top speed, I propelled myself up to the surface with a quick, powerful jerk of my tail.

As I exited the water, the music cut short, and the audience undoubtedly held their breath. Flying through the air, I caught one of the unlit rings, swung myself around it, then released and flipped through the air, spinning and twisting several times before landing back in the water with barely a splash.

The crowd erupted into applause.

One down. About five more to go.

Each time I did a different combination of turns and spins, sometimes landing tail-first, other times slipping into the water head-first like a diver.

Finally, it was time for my last pass.

I wasn’t sure why we had to save the flaming ring for last, because I was always really tired when it came time to it, and it was the only one that actually had any danger to it. As an added difficulty, I was hungry this time as well, which was never fun.

Trying to push the gnawing, hungry ache in my stomach away, I turned my attention to this last trick.

The water rushed by as I sped faster and faster around the tank until I was going at top speed.

With one last burst of effort, I leapt from the water. As the flaming ring approached, I realized, to my own horror, that I’d leapt from the water a fraction of a second too soon.

Arching my back, I managed to get my arms, head, and most of my waist through before I hit the ring. My costume came into contact with the special oil used to keep the ring aflame despite my splashing water all up around it, and it immediately caught flame.

A scream of dismay erupted from me, and the crowd gasped.

I could feel the flaming oil smear down my tail and onto my fin as I slipped out of the ring, plunging down into the water, my scales burning alongside my bodice. The costume wasn’t a big loss, but the fire hurt like hell.

As the water came up around me, the oil continued to burn, as it was magically waterproof so that the splashing of the water around the ring wouldn't put it out as I did my other tricks.

Filled with agony as the flames licked at my body, I did what I could to speedily rise to the surface.

Rowan, Irving, Serha were already there, undoubtedly having seen the disaster from backstage.

The flames burst fully to life as they met the air, and I screamed in pain. They tried to pull me out, but I couldn't really do anything to help them, and since I was wet, they struggled to get a good hold on me.

After a few horrible, painful seconds, there was a bright flash. Irving was suddenly an enormous gorilla. Reaching down, he hauled me bodily from the water. Serha threw a blanket over me, then she and Rowan beat the flames out, and scrubbed at the remnants of the oil on my body to keep it from reigniting.

Once I was out of the water, Irving and Karl had started to distract the audience, Irving using his gorilla form to swing above the tank of water, hanging by his feet and flipping around, avoiding the flaming ring entirely.

As Rowan and Serha got the last of the flames out, Karl announced the next act, and Irving flipped down from the rings, wasting no time in lifting me up, and carrying me, still wrapped in a blanket, down the ramp and backstage.

“What happened?1” Rowan asked, voice frantic with distress.

Tears poured down my face, “I-I was so hungry it distracted me, a-and I jumped a little too soon!” I gasped.

Pain shot through me as Irving laid me carefully down on the ground, and shifted back into his elvish form. Many of the other fey performers gathered around, cooing in sympathy and concern.

“When I said you should flash the audience, burning off your costume wasn’t quite what I had in mind.” the ogre told me, offering a weak smile.

I found that I actually appreciated his attempt at levity, but couldn't bring myself to laugh because of the pain.

“What was that?!” Bellows’ voice roared, and we all flinched.

Everyone except for Rowan and Serha scurried away, not wanting to face his wrath.

The dwarf stormed over to where I lay, miserable, on the ground. His short, dark beard partially quivered with rage.

“She was just hungry. Got distracted.” Rowan said in a calm tone, but I could tell it was forced. He wanted to shout, to scream, to pick up the terrible little dwarf that stood before him by his beard and spin him around over his head. Or maybe that was just me projecting…but something told me Rowan would probably enjoy it too though.

“It’s her own damn fault she’s hungry!” the dwarf bellowed, face red with fury. His name was very apt. Apparently Meeks had brought him up to speed about what I’d done.

“I-I know sir, I-I’m sorry!” I sobbed, hoping I’d escape without a beating, given I was already burned. Surely that was punishment enough.

“Now you won’t be able to perform, and I’ll lose money!” Bellows shouted, raising his fists into the air and stomping like an angry child. “You’ve been here long enough, you ought to know your place! Those measly burns will feel like being tickled after I’m done with you!”

Dread filled me. Of course the burns alone wouldn't be sufficient punishment in Bellows’ sick, demented mind.

The horrible little dwarf reached out to grab me, but Serha stepped in front of him, throwing her arms out, even though they trembled. “I-it was an accident, sir! Please!”

“Get out of my way!” Bellows roared, knocking the gorgeous selkie roughly out of the way. Unlike Meeks, Serha’s beautiful face didn’t give him a moment’s pause, but it was very brave of her to stand up to him like that on my account.

“Don’t hurt her or you’ll have two acts out of the count!” I gasped, rage surging through me alongside the pain. “Or are you so stupid you forgot that hurting her would cost you money too?!” My voice rose to a shout at the end.

Bellows roared again, calling me names not worth repeating. Then he grabbed me by the hair and dragged me from the tent, ignoring the cries of Rowan and Serha for him to stop and just think for a moment.

I screamed, hoping someone would hear my voice and come to check out what was going on, and maybe shame the terrible circus owner into not beating me senseless.

“Shut up!” he ordered. The runes on the metal band around my burned tail glowed, and my mouth clamped shut, keeping me from doing more than whimpering miserably.

The dwarf dragged me to a post, and tied me to it, then uncoiled the whip he kept on his belt at all times, and tore the blanket off of me, baring my back to the sky.

The whip cracked, and lightning burst across my back. But because of the order he’d given earlier, I couldn't scream.

Bellows struck again and again, until the pain swallowed me, and blackness overtook my senses.

-

Sometime later, I came to. My back and tail were seemingly both on fire.

That wasn’t right, only my tail had gotten burned…What had happened?

Vague memories of the whip cracking filtered back into my pain-addled mind.

Oh right. Bellows had whipped me.

“Careful, she’s bleeding.” Serha murmured.

“We need to get her to Pippa, she can use a little healing magic.” Rowan said, and I felt cloth drape over my back, then the sound of hooves retreating.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Right.” Irving’s voice muttered.

I felt magic surge, and then a pair of furry arms lifted me carefully. Being moved was agonizing, and I gave a weak sob of pain.

“Shh, it’s alright. Hang in there, honey.” Serha murmured, and I felt her cool hands gently pushing my hair back.

“Almost there.” Irving’s voice muttered. I suspected he was in gorilla form again, thus the furry arms.

I heard a familiar clip-clop as Rowan approached again. “Pippa is ready. Figured she’d be needed.” Pippa knew some healing magic. Not much, but it was far better than nothing.

“Good.” Serha’s voice was relieved.

Another sob of pain burst from me.

“Shh, sweetie. We’ll all have hell to pay if we wake anyone up.” Rowan murmured. “But it’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

“I-it hurts!” I sobbed, forcing my eyes open for the first time. Indeed, Irving was a gorilla. “Ugh, what an ugly face to see.”

“Glad you like it.” he gave a toothy grin down at me, and I grimaced.

Irving carried me swiftly up onto the fake rock platform of my tank, placing me down carefully on my stomach, and then turning back into his elvish form. The ogre paused to pull out the privacy screen from the rock as Pippa approached, followed by Serha.

“Need anything else?” Irving asked.

“No, go on.” Pippa shooed him away, “She won’t want you seeing her.”

“I wouldn't mind seeing her though.” Irving flashed a grin.

“Now isn’t the time, Irving.” Pippa snapped, her beetle eyes flashing angrily.

His smile disappeared in an instant, and he grimaced,“Sorry…I’m just worried.”

“Well, go on. You can come visit later.” Serha pushed him away as Pippa came to my side.

“Let’s have a look. I can’t do much, but I’ll do what I can.” the little firebug sighed grimly.

“Thank you.” I whispered.

“Here’s some water.” Serha put a cup near my face, and helped me lift my head to drink from the straw.

When I’d drunk my fill, Pippa and Serha peeled away the now blood-stained blanket that surrounded me, and I bit back a sob of pain.

“Oh sweetie.” Serha murmured.

Pippa took a deep breath, “Like I said, I’ll do what I can! Cleaning it is the most important thing, though, and that’s not going to feel good.”

“I-I know!” I whimpered.

Mud appeared in the gap between the privacy screen and the fake rock that Irving had left to serve as a doorway. “Mud has bandages and clean water!” He announced, his usually lighthearted tone grave.

“Thank you, love.” Pippa murmured.

Serha relieved the little goblin of the bundle of cloth strips and basin of water, and Mud scurried away, saying, “Heal quickly, Marri!”

The pain from Pippa cleaning the whip-marks and the burns was bad, but not as bad as living through them again, andI survived with minimal cries of pain.

“There! All done!” Serha assured me.

“Now the more pleasant part, okay?” Pippa promised. Her bug-y, clawed hands rested on my forehead, and I felt her magic surge.

The power pushed into me, and the pain lessened slightly. From agonizing to highly unpleasant.

“Any better?” she asked.

“A-a little.” I murmured. “Th-thank you.”

“Oh, sweetie.” Serha squeezed my hand gently. “I’m so sorry.” It looked like she was unhurt from Bellows knocking her down, and that gave me a small sense of relief.

“It’s my own damn fault.” I muttered.

“No, it’s not.” Pippa said firmly. “This is wrong. All of this.”

“Pippa is right.” Serha murmured.

It was quiet for a few moments.

Finally, Pippa sighed, “Now we have to get you bandaged up, girl.”

“Will that hurt?” I groaned.

“No, not really.”

“Good.”

With Serha’s help, and as much as I could also provide, they wrapped the clean bandages around my chest and abdomen so that my back was fully bandaged. They put some kind of burn salve on my tail and fins that tingled in a very cool, pleasant manner, and then bandaged the burned parts as well. Given I was burned on the front of my tail, but had been whipped on my back, it didn’t feel particularly good to lie on my back or on my stomach, so once they’d gotten me bandaged up, they helped me roll onto my side, and got my pillow from the storage rock for me to lean on.

Finally, the firebug and the selkie helped me slip back into one of my soft shirts.

“Do you think you’ll be able to get any sleep?” Pippa asked me. “That’d be the best thing you could do, now.”

“Probably not.” I muttered. “It hurts too much.”

“Hm…” Serha frowned, thinking for a moment. She stood, now excited, “I have an idea! Just a minute!” She went to the gap in the screen and called for Irving.

“Yes, my lady?!” He flew up as a bat, and there was a flash. He was immediately in his elvish form, and kneeling before Serha, hand over his heart, a somewhat soppy expression on his face.

“Could you sneak some alcohol in here?” she asked, tilting her head to the side and batting her dark eyes at the ogre.

A wicked smile flashed across his face, “Finally wanting to take me up on that drinking game?! Remember, you take off one article of clothing each time you take a shot as well!”

“Don't be stupid!” Pippa snapped, rolling her eyes. “It’s for Marrina! It’ll help her sleep!”

Irving grimaced, and his gaze flickered down to me. He managed a half-hearted smile. “Hey there, gorgeous. Are you feeling any better?”

“A little.” I told him wearily.

The smile widened a little, “I bet I can make you feel better.”

“Please, Irving. Not now.” I whispered, trying to keep the tears that had filled my eyes from spilling out.

He frowned. It wasn’t usual for him to frown, but I knew it meant he understood how much pain I was in, especially since he could probably see I was almost in tears. Just like he didn't usually frown, I didn’t usually cry. “Yeah, I can get you some booze. Hang in there, Marrina.”

There was a flash of light, and he darted away in bat form again.

“How does he get the booze?” I asked faintly. It was always something I’d wondered, but never really cared enough to ask.

“Buys it off one of the human employees on the sly.” Pippa told me, shrugging a little.

“How does he get his hands on money?” Serha asked, blinking in surprise. “I thought he just stole it or something!”

“He’s not a thief, I’ll give him that.” Pippa shook her head. “Sometimes he catches the eye of a pretty, wealthy audience member, and manages to sneak away after a performance and…uh…charges her for it. Meeks turns a blind eye to it, although I do think Bellows knows and just doesn't care because even if we had money, we couldn't escape, thanks to these.” Pippa plucked the metal band around her neck.

“Oh. Oh my.” Serha blinked.

“Yeah, it’s not great. But it is his decision, although I guess he feels pushed into it by his situation, which…again, is not great. But it does mean he’s able to get us things we might not otherwise have. Like these medical supplies. Once upon a time, we couldn't have even cleaned or bandaged Marri’s injuries, and would have just had to rely on what little healing magic I can do. Not that anything about this situation is good, as you well know. It shouldn't take him selling himself for us to get any kind of proper medical care.”

“No.” Serha shook her head sadly.

It was quiet for a little while as we pondered the horrors of our situation.

Then I heard footsteps on the stairs, and Irving was in the entryway of the makeshift room again.

“I come bearing booze, oh beautiful siren queen!” he announced melodramatically, kneeling beside me. He set a large paper packet on the floor, and pulled two bottles and a loaf of bread from the parcel. Dropping the buffoonery, he said in a more serious voice, “I also brought some juice to mix the booze with so you don’t have to taste it, and bread because I know you have an empty stomach, and we want you to sleep, not get blackout drunk and puke everywhere.”

The tears now spilled from my eyes in earnest. He might be a lecherous, dirty-minded idiot, but he was our lecherous, dirty-minded idiot. Reaching out, I caught his hand with one of mine as I wiped annoyedly at my face with the others. His fingers immediately curled around mine. “Thank you.” I whispered.

“Anytime, babe.” He reached out and put a gentle hand on my head for a moment.

“Don't ruin the moment by saying something crude, alright?” I told him.

“I won’t, doll. You eat some of that bread, then hide it away so you’ll have food tomorrow. Same thing with the booze and the juice so you can sleep again tomorrow.”

“Good idea.” I mumbled.

“Alright. Take care, Marri.” Irving pulled my hand to his lips for a moment, flashed me a bright smile, then left.

“He can be decent, huh?” Serha smiled a little.

“Yeah. The lechery is mostly just for his own amusement, I think.” Pippa nodded. Sometimes I suspected it was for our amusement too, because Irving really wasn’t as bad as he acted. He flirted so terribly and outrageously because he knew that we knew he wasn’t really serious, and it gave us something to roll our eyes at and momentarily forget that we were captives.

Serha poured some of the liquor into the cup, then mixed it with some of the juice, which proved to be a tart liquid I’d never tasted before, and hid the taste of the alcohol very well. I broke off a piece of bread and munched on it.

“Want one of us to stay up here with you?” Serha asked me.

“No, I’ll be alright now, I think. Thank you both so, so much. Tell Irving and Rowan I said thank you too.” I told them warmly, then added, as an afterthought, mostly because I knew it would make the ogre laugh, and he deserved some kind of repayment of his favor, even if all I could do was give him a chuckle. “But tell Irving that, under no circumstances will I ever be flashing him, even out of thanks.”

Pippa and Serha both burst into slightly hysterical giggles.

Once they’d calmed down a little, Pippa sighed, patting my head.“Alright, well, we’ll let you have some rest now.”

Serha squeezed my hand gently. “I hope you get some sleep.”

“Me too. Can you pull back the screen? I can sometimes get a nice breeze without it up here.”

“Sure!” Serha pulled the screen back and pushed it back into the rock.

After helping me get situated with my pillow and blanket, my two friends bade me goodnight, then headed towards their own beds.