Katoma feigned embarrassment.
"You know? But if you do, shouldn't you feel ashamed?" He even gave a pretty batting of his lashes, which only made the man at the bars sneer. But it seemed Katoma just kept going on with his act, and soon the man was pissed.
"I said get away from your savage princess, Masked Tribesman! I ain't no fool. You think I'm here outta luxury? You're lucky you haven't hanged already! But the Adelan's want blood. So hangin' is too good a death for you. They want to cut off that head of yours and put it on a pike for all the other savages to see! Now keep that yap of yours shut as well! You grate me enough your death will be here and now!"
The distraction was enough for him to get the ropes started, loosened anyhow. And boy did these Adelans sure love to rub it in his face every time they promised him death! But really.. not one of these remarks was any more clever than the last ones he'd heard. And he simply gave a shrug at this point and scooted away from Jayari- who would feel the loosened rope easily. He just hoped she could keep playing along.
"You know, if I had a Adelan copper for each time one of you said such sweet swords to me..."
"I told you silence!" the man snarled, slamming his sheathed sword across the bars to make them rattle. Katoma was taken back, but part of the plan was to stoke the fires, and Adelans.. if there was one thing about them, it was that they clearly had fire in their bellies!
"But you also told me to get away from my savage princess.."
"Don't talk back to me, Tribesman! You might not have ever ran into me, but you owe my brother a left eye, and if you keep this up I aim on takin' that debt now!"
"But I can't help myself, us savages have such simple brains. And to ask of me to just leave my lover when she clearly needs comfort in this dismal cell..."
"That tears it!" The man was mad enough to eat his hat, which he now tore off his head and slammed onto the ground and grabbed a fistful of the keys hanging on a large ring at his side.
"You're losing that left eye, and your tongue!"
And it took only a few seconds for the man to fish out the cell key, insert it into the bars and-
BOOM!
The sudden energy of the swinging iron door had enough power it was like a canon going off, and the force sent the Adelan sailing and smashing into the stone wall of the prison hall. And Katoma stood there, simply posed and concentrated before lowering his hand and turning to face Jayari with a smirk.
"I think this is our cue to escape," he said, making quick work at the ropes remaining on his ankles and wrist, and he helped Jayari with her own and offered her a hand to help her to her feet.
"Now I'm going to need you to trust me, Jayari," he told her, eyes calculating the prison as he loosened the rope and chains that were around his throat. Tossing them to the floor, he gestured for her to follow him out of the cell.
"We need to move. Think light, like a cat. You can't hear them coming, but they move swift as the wind. That's what we're going to do to get outta here."
