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Untamed, Unbroken, Unbound [Rhi-Rhi]

Started by DragonSong, February 01, 2016, 03:12:50 PM

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DragonSong

The cool water probably should have woken her up a bit, but the shock of so much at once to her deprived system really only made her feel a little sick to her stomach, then fuzzy in the head. Blinking, she let her head tilt slightly as she looked at him and sipped, slowly this time, at yet another glass of water.

"Not anymore?" she repeated, brow furrowing slightly. "Did she...work off her freedom?" She'd heard that some slave owners worked out such deals, but she'd never actually seen evidence of one before.

Rhindeer

"No." Qismat filled the other glass and squeezed a lemon slice into the water. Lani still wasn't hurling. Good! He really didn't want to deal with vomit on his settee, even if it was all water.

He took a sip and cleared his throat. "She was never a slave under my roof. I got her out of a bad situation, bought her off a...not nice man in the market. And when she was well enough to take care of herself, I offered her a job if she wanted it or the freedom to leave. She chose the job." He gave a little shrug. "She can quit whenever she wants, of course."
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DragonSong

Lani stared.

And stared and kept staring.

"You..buy slaves," she said slowly, trying to reconcile what he was saying with every experience she'd had since she'd been brought to this gods-forsaken city. "In order to...free them?" She shook her head back and forth slowly, then snorted.

"You're either stupid or mental." Those were the only explanations she could come up with.

Rhindeer

On the plus side, at least he didn't have to wonder about what she was thinking. Damn.

Qismat narrowed his eyes, his lips pulling into a thin line. "So should I just let them rot instead? Just let them die? Or use them like everyone else in this city does?" he asked, voice calm and quiet despite the edge that entered it.

"You're welcome, by the way."
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DragonSong

Her eyebrows went up a bit. She'd expected him to be offended, but at the insult to his intelligence, not at the implication that she expected him to treat slaves the way everyone else did.

Ignoring the "you're welcome", she tilted her head slightly. "Why don't you?" she asked, genuinely curious now. "You live in this big fancy place, you've got servants and hoo-whatever... Why do you care what happens to a few slaves?"

Rhindeer

"Because it's not right," Qismat said simply.

"If I have the money to buy slaves, I have the money to pay willing servants to do the same job. Not to mention it's more efficient. Happy people make better, more loyal workers that will go the extra mile because they want to. People who are miserable and terrified of you make clumsy mistakes out of fear or spite or both and poison your food when you're not looking. But most importantly, they're people, and no one deserves to be treated that way."

Qismat rose to his feet and rubbed at his lower back, then stretched until it popped. With a relieved sigh, he looked to Lani. "Speaking of food, dinner should be ready by now, or close enough that it will be by the time we get there." A lifted eyebrow. "Have any room left after you guzzled all that water?"
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DragonSong

Once again she found herself staring at him, speechless. Of course to her what he was saying seemed obvious- she was just shocked that it was an Essyrni voicing such thoughts. Were there more people like him? Maybe not everyone in this city was a total bastard...

Shaking herself back into focus, she nodded and stood a few seconds after him. "Uh, yes, I'm hungry." Her stomach actually say up and begged like a dog at the mention of food. Cautiously, the words rusty on her tongue, she mumbled, "Thank you."

Rhindeer

Ah, so she did have manners after all. Qismat's lips quirked into a smile as he motioned for her to follow him.

"You're quite welcome," he said, and glanced over at her to give her a quick, sweeping once-over from head to foot. "I don't expect they fed you very well?"

She was muscular, so she hadn't been starved. That was a good sign, and meant she could likely handle the night's meal. Several slaves he'd taken in the past had been so starved they hadn't been able to handle rich foods and had vomited it right back up even though they were famished, and he was relieved to think he might not have that problem with her--especially since tonight's meal was going to be delicious, and what better peace offering was there than food?

And already as they neared the dining hall, the rich, savory smells of cooked meats (quite the luxury!) and vegetables and breads wafted to them.
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DragonSong

Lani shook her head slowly, trailing behind him a little warily, eyes darting around. "No. I mean, they had to give me enough to keep me in fighting shape, but..." She shrugged.

As they neared the source of that delightful smell, her stomach rumbled loudly and she ducked her head, scowling at what she perceived to be a sign of weakness. "That smells amazing," she mumbled, actually closing her eyes for a moment to let the scent wash over her.

Real food. Horse Lords, she was practically drooling.

Rhindeer

"Oh, wait until you taste it," Qismat said with a devilish smile. If she was practically salivating from smell alone, he was really looking forward to when she actually got to experience it.

He lead her into the dining room, where a long and low oval table was set out and plush cushions for sitting. He had always liked a more casual, comfortable set up. And as for the table itself? It was already teeming with hot, steaming food that the servants were still bringing out and arranging.

There was falafel and hummus and flat bread, stuffed grape leaves, baked eggplant teeming with the scent of garlic and spices and cooked with onions and spicy peppers. There were even kebabs made from lamb--a luxury in Essyrn--and a savory meat pudding, and a tray of local fresh fruits topped it all off. A more elaborate meal than what he normally took, but he did have a guest.

And at the center of the table were pitchers of wine and even a carafe of hot coffee with smaller bowls of cream and sugar.

Looking over at Lani, he smiled. "Dig in," he said, motioning her to sit.
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DragonSong

Her eyes widened and she stopped dead. "Horse Lords," she breathed, simply staring at the food.

It was like a dream. She actually pinched her arm to make sure she was awake. When that produced a quick yelp, she looked over at Qismat incredulously.

"I- I can eat any of this?" she whispered, expression a mask of almost childlike wonder.

Rhindeer

"Any of it," Qismat said, biting back his laugh; he didn't want to embarrass her. "All of it, even, if by some miracle you can manage that! But!"

And his smile turned playful as he took a seat upon one of the cushions. "Be sure to save some room for dessert, of course."
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DragonSong

Lani found a wry grin slipping over her face. "You really shouldn't have said that. I love a challenge."

Hesitantly, she took a seat, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye all the while as she reached for the first thing that caught her eye- a piece of fruit- as if she expected her new master to suddenly tell her she wasn't allowed to eat after all.

Rhindeer

Qismat watched her with a raised eyebrow as she so cautiously reached for the fruit, already in the middle of piling his plate high with falafel and meats and bread. Such a modest first choice. He had expected her to go for the more exciting things first--though it was also possible, he realized, that she hadn't seen much fresh fruit.

Or that she still didn't trust him, which he thought most likely.

He took a bite of stuffed grape leaf, sighing at the explosion of spices packed into the rice and peppers. "Have you had this before?" he asked, and casually plopped one onto her plate. A sort of subtle nudge that it was okay for her to eat! "My chef cooks up miracles in that kitchen, I swear."
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DragonSong

"Um, no." Lani eyed the leafy thing, then picked it up an sniffed it. Cautiously, she took a small bite.

Her eyes widened, then fluttered closed with a satisfied little groan. "Oh dear gods," she mumbled, taking another bite. "That- what is this?"

Rhindeer

"Stuffed grape leaf! It's filled with some concoction of rice and pepper and spices my chef will take to her grave, no doubt. Family recipe, she claims. Oh, but it's not even the best part!"

Reaching over, he plucked up a kebob packed with lamb meat, peppers, onions, and tomatoes and set that on her plate, followed by a hefty serving of falafel and a scoop of that eggplant dish. He sat back again and took a bite of meat pudding, trying hard to hide his smile.

"It's honestly hard to pick a favorite."
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DragonSong

Still cautiously, but with growing confidence Lani started to take little bites of everything he put on her plate. She gave soft sounds of appreciation with every new taste, even the ones she normally probably wouldn't have been fond of.

Gods, when was the last time she'd eaten good food? Especially this good...probably never.

Suddenly pausing to breathe, she looked up at Qismat and and swallowed. "Um...thank you. For the food. And...everything."

Rhindeer

Looked like food was indeed the way to her heart! Thank Hakeshna for that. He completely understood her fear--he had seen it in many faces--but selfish as it was, it would be nice the day she eventually stopped looking at him like he might hurt her.

He smiled, taking a sip of wine after pouring himself a glass. "It's really no problem. I'm just glad I was where I was," he said, and held the bottle out to her in offering.

"I know this all must be very...awkward and overwhelming for you right now."
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DragonSong

She snorted quietly, cautiously accepting the wine and sniffing at it before pouring a small glass for herself. "That's a bit of an understatement," she muttered in agreement.

Mustering up a genuine if rather small and brief smile, Lani added quietly, "For what it's worth, I think I'm glad you were there too."

Rhindeer

"I'm glad to hear it," Qismat said, smiling over another sip of wine before he set it down and cocked his head curiously. Sniffing her wine? Did she honestly believe he might poison--oh. Perhaps not poison her, he realized with a sympathetic, sickening pang, but drug her.

He bit back his grimace and kept the pleasant smile on his face, even though his body had tensed at the realization, the knowledge of just what sorts of men a slave--especially a woman--might deal with. Hakeshna, he hoped she'd escaped that, at least, for he'd housed his share of women who hadn't, and had seen first hand the effect it had on them.

It went even deeper than that.

He quickly pushed those darker thoughts from his mind and took another bite of falafel to cool his head. Another sip of wine had him feeling leagues calmer, and he looked back over at Lani as he swirled his wine absently.

"All that aside, I'm sure the biggest question on your mind is, 'what happens next?' Am I correct?"
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