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 Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 8:22 am
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The wounds of battle that marred the thrall's flesh had long since healed even if the turmoil in his heart was growing and teaming with every day that passed. He had quickly learned that any form of disrespect or outspokenness would earn him claws and humiliation and after a few days of trial and error, he had become the epitome of a perfect subordinate.
Except for the way his green eyes seethed in their sockets.
Sabia was not the foolish, angry impulse that had marked Katiti's wild daughter. She was calculated thought and fire, a female that would have made an Outlander proud if it weren't for her selfish vanity and power hungry ways. Perhaps if they had not met on opposing sides of a war, if his mother was not laying dying (or dead already) in a den he could not get to, if, if if..
It was what it was. She was a captor and he was a slave.
There had been rumors since the moment they stepped foot back in her stormy, rocky homelands. Rumors that he noticed made Sabia's skin crawl when she thought no one was looking, things that made her clench her teeth and scowl at turned backs when they walked away. All Kethiwe could do was sit silently beside her and judge her moods and so, over time, he became intimately familiar with the all the minute changes in her demeanor. She was unhappy here, he thought, even if she had been a proud and pleased lioness on the long journey back to her home. If he could use that to his advantage yet he did not know.
Today he had left early to join a hunt while the dark still provided them some camouflage and by the time they'd felled the prey beast and divvied out their shares, the sun was cresting the horizon. He strode into the den with a hefty flank clenched between his teeth - he was not pleased to be a Thrall but he was good at throwing his weight around to make the best of it.
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Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 10:15 pm
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Returning from the battle in the Outlands was bittersweet. Sabia'deimos had expected reveling in celebration and instead received news that not only was one of her closest friends slaughtered for her position, but she would also no longer be a Captain. For their part, her band was just as surprised. If she had receievd any defense or praise from them behind her back she would never know. And if they had gone out of their way she was sure that it would have been a waste of time. Warlord Ushindi seemed hard pressed on returning things to the 'old ways', but she argued with herself what those old ways were for.
Over time her children and other family couldn't look her in the eye. They'd hesitate to even approach her or dare to speak as it risked having her sharp, glaring gaze on them for more than a moment. Sabia did appreciate the times where Shi stopped by, but with children of her own now - even grown - she had plenty of parenting to do under this new regime. During one of those visits her daughter plead with her to not do anything rash, but in the same sentence wondered curiously what Sabia might do. 'I wonder that myself.' Had been her response that day, and days to follow.
Would she retire and become a wife? Ha. Thoughts like those brought Azadi to mind and she wondered where that lioness had gotten off too.
"You've returned, and done well for yourself I see." Sabia wasted no time on a greeting when Kethiwe strode in, their conversations weren't usually filled with pleasantries and although he played the part well, she knew there was a fire burning beneath that surface - those moments when she bothered to seek out his eyes in passing glances.. she would see some of it. "Come here with it."
She gave a rare smile to the Thrall. The thoughts of her return left her as quickly as they had come, but the lingering anger festered again.
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Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2019 1:08 pm
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Kethiwe had the fortune of a full mouth - he didn't have to answer her compliment, back handed as it was, with any form of false niceties. He didn't want to be nice to her, he didn't want to play at being pleasant or obedient or least of all happy in these lands. So he wouldn't so long as she would accept polite indifference, dosed with a little underlying loathing.
The hefty male stepped closer and set the flank down between them, then took a couple of steps back to allow her the space. He wasn't fool enough to think he could turn and leave and thus, his eyes remained on hers and his muscles were rigid as he locked his bones into a waiting stance nearby.
"Is there anything else you need today?"
Errands were infinitely easier to accommodate than lying around in silence just so she could observe (or torment) him like some prize. Those were the days he thought he might just rot here, a waste of his genetics and heritage, and there were others that he thought the ancestors would simply come down upon him as punishment for any form of complacency. Could they see him, so far away?
No, he would rather be busy.
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Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2019 10:06 am
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It was only a matter of moments between the hand off and his question, but the lioness had found herself deep in thought and silent. Her gaze had settled on something behind Kethiwe. It turned out that Shi had planned another visit, but upon seeing her mother previously engaged in conversation with her thrall had chosen to continue on with a passing glance offered at most.
"We should go for a walk." The lioness was beginning to feel cooped up. "What have you heard about what is going on?" She left the flank where it was, Kethiwe could deal with it later, and she stepped around him. The pair of them were large enough that the den entrance was becoming a tight squeeze and she felt a slight tug at her garments, but pushed past nonetheless.
"There had been so many rumors, but none have to come to me directly." Sabia was speaking with saying much. She had heard about the restless females that had bright futures, but had been cut down in their prime. She had been fortunate (and ruthless) enough to fight her way to where she was, but as she stood now it was all for not. The time she had sunk into her goals wasn't wasted, perse, rather she was temporarily set aside. "It seems thing have grown a little quieter recently." Her pace was slow, purposeful, and her gaze didn't linger in one place for long. Below her calm exterior lay a molten rage that had been set to erupt at that passing glance from her daughter. Her daughter, who, for some reason saw herself either to busy or beneath a thrall to interrupt. Of course it could be either of those reasons, but Sabia couldn't help, but wonder what might come of other young females in the same position.
"What have you heard?" She returned to her original question, having realized that she had been rambling on since.
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Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2019 12:08 pm
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Kethiwe wanted to groan at her continued effort to toy with him. After all, he failed to see the request to go for a walk as anything but some attempt to lord her command over his existence. He could not sleep when he wanted, eat when he wanted and now, as she was proving, he could not even walk or leave as he wanted. His hulking frame stilled as she squeezed past him pointedly and then with a grit to his teeth that he sincerely hoped did not show on his face, he turned and followed her back out into the dusky light of the day.
A question fell from her lips and as his brows furrowed and he trotted quietly behind her, considering it, she stopped him from answering for a time altogether. It was unlike her to ramble, least of all to him, and his acidic eyes rose to the back of her head curiously as he waited for the opening he knew would come again.
"Just the grumbling. I won't pretend to know anything about your pride but it seems while you were busy someone showed up and ousted your leader - and now there's some issue with females being handicapped?" He ended it on a question because, while he had certainly heard all the talk, it had not been directed at him. It was bits and pieces, information dropped when others thought he wasn't listening or when they didn't care about a thrall's presence even if he was.
He didn't have to fake the sour look on his face, though. The captive Prince couldn't speculate on their culture or why they thought females were better served in the den than on the battlefield. The more he learned about the Stormborn the more he came to assume that very little about them was centered around honor. They were a pride of blood and scars but they were as far removed from his ancestors as Mufasa himself; proud warriors or not, a lack of honor meant there was nothing here to admire.
The bright green eyes slid away from Sabia and ahead of them, to the horizon and the aimless direction they seemed to be wandering toward.
"That is all I've heard. Not much of it makes sense to me and I don't bother sticking my nose deeper than I need."
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Posted: Sun Aug 04, 2019 1:18 am
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Sabia'deimos kept her pace, not daring to glance back at the thrall, she knew he would follow her. Despite the rage that boiled beneath the surface and the side glances she caught from time to time that suggested murderous thoughts he had proven his devotion (whether he meant to or not).
"You're holding back." Her tone was short, and sharp. Sabia listened to his response in hopes that he would have something fresh, something new. Or maybe something specific, but she hadn't actually sent him out on any mission to seek out this information. "Nevermind." She growled the word, growing angrier. She simply couldn't believe that he wasn't poking his nose deeper, that he wasn't soaking up the information and readily passing it along. A captive prince.
The pride was in a weakened state. Sabia alongside many other females, could see it.
She just didn't dare to say it out loud, didn't dare to spread those words herself. Arguably the Warlord was leaving a good portion of guards at home as well. The females were fierce and loyal- or most were. Some were filth, she had seen them herself.
"Females aren't handicapped. Though the fool leading them is." She mumbled beneath her breath the most treasonous words. They hadn't meant to leak out, but her chest puffed out a little more because of the act. "I need you to pay more attention, gather some insight on these folks that deem it necessary to speak out against the Warlord." Her words were quieter now, meant only for him. Kethiwe would be a useful tool in a plan she hatching.
Felyn Here we go. A crappy tag. xP
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