Bewitched, Bewildered, Beguiled [Possible M]

[DragonSong]

Nathara was beaten before she was dragged back to the cage. She'd expected that, really; she'd disobeyed, what else could she have expected?

What she had not been prepared for was to be led to a different cage from the usual, and that the exhausted tiger was thrown in with her. She skittered back to a corner of the metal bars and stared at the cat warily. She had grown up hunting the same jungle as this animal's kin, and she knew how dangerous they could be. Without the room to maneuver in the cage, he could easily kill her.

But the massive cat seemed too tired to put up a fight. He dragged himself into the opposite corner and stared at warily, but neither made a move to attack.

Eventually, cautiously, Nathara relaxed her stance slightly and tried to reach out with her gift. Snakes had always been the creatures she understood best, but her father had taught her that all beastspeaking was connected, in a way. She didn't expect to converse with the tiger, but perhaps she could convince him that she meant no harm.

She wasn't sure if it worked, or if the animal was simply exhausted, but after a few minutes he collapsed onto his side and slipped into sleep.

[SanctifiedSavage]

It took some time for Tadala to shake her friend, but she played nice. Apparently having connections was also important in the city, and though she didn't exactly like him, he was useful. They drank, watched a couple more fights where he showed off what she supposed were impressive creatures, and she said the appropriate words to flatter. The first fight was forgotten and they parted with her friend feeling like he'd come out the better in the meeting. Perhaps, monetarily, he had.

Tadala's cage was set far, and was larger than the others. Likely meant for creatures far larger than either the tiger or Nathara.

By the time she arrived, it was late in the evening. She was tailed by to short, scaled servants. She didn't know what they were, but she preferred them to the soft skinned, half naked women that seemed so prominent. They spoke in soft whispers and seemed to take to her as well as she, them. They carried a bucket of water, meat for the tiger, bandages, and brushes. Tadala set the lantern down near the entrance to the cage.

The tiger stirred, but he was still weak. On guard but wounded. She made a soft, cooing sound while she opened the cage, then gestured so one of the servants would go in. This one had the meat, which they led with so he could eat, and the bandages and brushes to tend to the rest of him.

That done, Tadala turned her attention to Nathara and gestured to the other scaled attendant. They shuffled forward and presented the water and linen bandages. "Should you need them," she said.

[DragonSong]

Nathara was jerked from a light doze by the sudden commotion in the cage. She shuffled back from the strange, scaled servants, but when she caught sight of Tadala her expression hardened from confusion to something much colder.

"I should've known it was you," she sighed, pressing a little more firmly back against the bars of the cage. "What do you want with me?"



@SanctifiedSavage

[SanctifiedSavage]

The scaled servant that had presented Nathara with the water and cloth bandages shuffled out and returned a moment later with a small stool for Tadala to sit on. He then moved to help his companion with the tiger, who tolerated their presence while eating.

Tadala adjusted the layers of robes she wore to sit, facing Nathara. "You say that as though it is a bad thing. I saved you and the feline." She gestured toward the cat without looking. "If you want me to return you to your previous cage and owner, I will, but you seemed unhappy with your previous arrangement." Her bright green eyes studied Nathara. "Have you given any more thought to my questions?"

[DragonSong]

Thara just stared at her, eyes cold and expression unreadable. "Why in the hells would I do that?" she replied evenly. There wasn't even really any anger in her tone; she genuinely did not see any point in her conversations with this woman.

This woman who, as far as she was concerned, had either pretended to be ignorant of the world and life Nathara was trapped within in some bizarre attempt at garnering trust or sympathy, or was genuinely too out of touch to understand it.

The gladiator honestly didn't know which one might be worse.

"What do you want with me?" she repeated, though this time there was the barest trace of a hiss to her voice; not the kind of hiss a human may add to their tone in irritation or pain, but a clear, scraping rattle in the back of her throat that betrayed a hint of her heritage.



@SanctifiedSavage

[SanctifiedSavage]

Tadala idly looked toward the feline, watching as the scaled attendants took care of the wounds. Ever careful, given they were dealing with a beast that eyed them just as warily.  When Nathara thought to respond, she looked back.

And sighed.

"You must have a very difficult time understanding when an opportunity has fallen in your lap. Perhaps it is this place. I am still learning how it all works, but you are still a puzzle to me. You are upset I speak with you and unhappy in your current situation. I free you from your previous cage and now you seem just as upset." Tadala waved a hand a little and gestured to the cage door. "If it is your freedom you want, go. Your disdain and distrust aren't worth the trouble. I do hope the city treats you better than I am."

Figuring this was likely the dismissal that the gladiator had wanted, Tadala shifted in her stool so she could face the tiger and the scaled servants. They had surreptitiously been paying attention but were dutifully not looking in their direction. The tiger, now fed and on the med, laid down to rest. With their tasks complete, the pair moved to Tadala and sat, waiting for what she might have of them.

[DragonSong]

Nathara did hiss then, a rattling sound that crawled up her throat and slipped through bare teeth as she glared at the woman.

"Oh yes," she spat, "forgive me for not tripping over myself in gratitude now that you have freed me from one cage only to place me in your own." She slammed her hand into the bars, making the whole cage rattle, and pushed herself to her feet. Her eyes glowed dangerously.

"You are either stupid, or cruel," she spat, towering over Tadala as much as she could manage. "If you do not know that I am marked, that I am a known slave, telling me to go is foolishness. If you do, taunting me with the prospect of freedom is cruelty." Her hands shook at her sides as she curled them into firsts. "So which is it, stranger? Will you kill me here, or let the guards do it if I try to run? Or do you simply prefer to watch me break?"

The hiss and snarl was thick in her voice now, doubled and echoed by the massive cobra that crawled his way up the side of the cage to slip inside, circling her feet and raising his head almost to waist height on the young woman, hood flared in a territorial display.

Nathara glared at the woman, her whole body shaking with rage. "I will not be your plaything," she spat. "I have submitted to domination in this place for the sake of survival, but I will not be manipulated. I will not be toyed with. You may beat me, stave me, kill me, but you will not break me."



@SanctifiedSavage