"You're fighting. Get in the ring."
"Fighting?" Shuyin's voice was roughly cracked, defeated, "I can't fight! I've never... I don't know how to..."
"That's not my problem." The guard shoved her toward the stained circle.
Shuyin stumbled forward, her chains clanking. The crowd's roar grew louder, more frenzied.
As she stood there trembling in the center of the stained circle, Shuyin's eyes adjusted to the harsh lights.
That's when she saw them, not just inmates filling the tiers, but others too. Men in expensive suits sitting in a separate upper section, drinks in hand, cigars glowing. Rich people.
Outsiders who had paid to be here, to watch women destroy each other for entertainment.
Money was already changing hands. Guards moved through the crowds collecting bets, their pockets filling with cash and tokens.
"Twenty on the new girl!" someone shouted from the inmate section.
"Are you crazy? She can't even stand straight!" another voice yelled back.
