A Shopping Trip (Kiya)

[Samantha Slate]

Apparently Kiya had no idea how to get them out of this, either. As soon as Samantha had made it clear that she wanted Kiya to give it a try, the Kelvic looked at her as though she were mad. I suppose I am, Samantha thought, Expecting a child to keep that beast of a man away... The girl looked to be half Samantha's age, for gods' sakes! It had been wishful thinking, Samantha supposed. If Samantha, a grown woman, was out of ideas, Kiya surely had to be in an even more difficult position. “You're a woman, aren't you?” the Kelvic whispered in return, “reason with him.” The over-emphasis in Kiya's words, plus the meaningful look in her eyes said it all. The girl obviously wanted Samantha to 'distract' him from beating them bloody long enough for them to get away. Or perhaps she wanted her to go through with something entirely revolting? In either case, there wasn't much choice. Samantha certainly wouldn't carry out any actions that would demean her, and even implying them convincingly to the man would be difficult. Still, there was little choice. Samantha's eyes dulled to a sickly greenish color that resembled the scummy algae in a swamp as she gave the girl a glance--one that was partly a glare--and nodded once. "Think of something quickly," She mouthed, her expression one of pleading. Acting lustfully--even in order to defend herself--was something she found nearly unbearable. If the wizard weren't sure that she would be murdered, she would have taken a brutal beating over this without hesitation. Another instant of summoning courage, and she was off, swaying towards Jem with her best sultry expression pasted on her face. Samantha's disgust, mirrored in the woman's eyes, was neatly hidden behind her false expression. Instead, her act seemed one of a cheap street whore, poorly practiced and entirely unbelievable. As she neared Jem, his expression of wariness transformed into confusion. The woman's eyes gave her face an unpleasing and sickly pallor, and Jem had noticed it. He was uncertain, however. Determined to do better, Samantha approached closer and gave a smile that seemed almost a grimace, "I'm afraid we don't have much money," The woman said in a voice that she meant to be as smooth as velvet. Instead, it sounded more like a hoarse, uncertain whisper, "Maybe I could pay you in something else?" She let the question hang in the air for the thug's slow wit to consider. Samantha had to fight the urge to look back at Kiya and demand for the girl to find some way out of this mess. Fortunately, Teff was still on the ground. Kiya might notice that his left eye had been punctured, if she took a glance in that direction. He was done writhing on the floor, and was only moaning quietly. It was good luck that the man had a low tolerance of pain. Otherwise, he might have gotten up and extracted a very nasty revenge on them.

[Kiya]

Kiya was somewhat amused by Samantha's display; it was clear that the woman was not at all happy about what she was doing and, if they ever got out of this, Kiya would make sure she apologised for making her do something so demeaning and utterly ridiculous.

But, the wizard had managed to get the man's attention and keep it. Without thinking much about what she was doing or where her actions would lead her, something the kelvic did far too often, the young girl bit into Jem's hand, the one that held the blade in hope that the man would drop the weapon then perhaps Samantha could grab it. Kiya could handle being hit or knocked down, but she was not sure how either of them would go against the sharp sword, so they would have to get rid of it as soon as possible.