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[Shayna]

6th Winter 513

The light of Syna was weak today, its rays pale as they shown on the streets of the city. Kenash was just as busy as usual, even though the work day was winding down. Slaves moved about their business, some of them running errands others leaving work, still others are heading in to work in their master's or mistress' shops. One such slave was heading to the river to await for her Mistress as she had been bid to every day. She would wait for Mistress Katherine to close up her Black Diamonds Cosmetics storefront, staying by the river so that she and her mistress could catch a boat to Blacksugar.

Her eyes were cast downward, today had been a trying day since the Lorak slave had came up killed and what the slaves were saying tortured. She wasn't sure if it were true of all slaves, but many of the ones she had met were worried enough to wonder out loud. Nothing about what they were really thinking, and Shayna still bore the still healing stripes from her time being questioned about the Rujaro that she too was loath to speak the name out loud.

So her eyes remained downward cast, her dark hair swinging forward to cover the triple pillars supporting a diamond branded onto her cheek proclaiming her a Morealis slave. Her clothing was simple and modest though the sleeveless blouse was a little more revealing then she liked, only because her scars from the whip showed on the back of one arm. Yet she was starting to become accustomed to this, though she was still trying to gain back her former confidence. She moved easily along the river, not watching where she was going in particular.

[Whist Askara]

Whist strode happily from the carpenter's at a brisk pace, holding his prize aloft. Blue eyes gleamed as he looked at the brand new polished dark wood perch for his prized Peregrine Falcon, Razor. It had cost a pretty Miza but it was more than worth it.

Large, well made hands held out the perch from every angle, admiring the gleam that shone brightly despite Syna's dim light. Impatiently he shook a lock of hair from his eyes and returned the penetrating gaze to the new perch. The young Dynasty born had waited a full moon for its arrival. He couldn't stop turning it this way and that, his fascination clear to any observer.

The old perch was splintering and breaking under Razor's sharp talons and she was long overdue this magnificent present. It was delicate but exquisite workmanship and worth every Miza, so worth the wait! Whist could see how content and preening Razor would be at this beautiful perch, finally worthy of her sleek, elegantly feathered form.

Although he didn't smile, his cerulean eyes were alight with pleasure. He was not a man that laughed out loud around people. His strider and his bird were another matter entirely. His falcon was one of the very few things in his whole life that made him truly happy and there was nothing he wouldn't do for her becau---WHACK!

Something small and fragile tangled into his legs! Fortunately he was near enough to six feet to not fall over at the impact.

A slight, dark haired female with skewed hair and a flurry of limbs didn't quite take the impact nearly as well as Whist--or his beloved new custom made perch. It lay broken in three pieces shoved in the dirt with splintered ends and fragments scattered along the ground!


Artistry by Haeli-

[Shayna]

Her first mistake was assuming that there would be no one walking along the riverbank, her second was not making sure by watching where she was going. She got a glimpse of a nice footwear a tick before her body collided with a very solid mass. Her body reverberated backwards, her heels for a just a moment digging into the soft dirt before her body toppled over and she landed heavily on her hip. Exquisite pain filled her head for a moment as her teeth clenched around her tongue, and she leaned over to spit bright red for a moment.

The metallic taste of blood in her mouth, Shayna looked up and as usual her first action was to check his cheek, neck, then his arms or hands looking for a slave brand or freeborn mark. Neither was present, so a Dynasty. Her face fell but she scooted back, "I am sorry M'Lord.." she started to say but her hand fell upon a broken shard of wood, and she realized it was a little more serious then a simple bump.

She let a soft sigh out, and twisted her body so that she was on her knees, picking up the broken pieces of wood. Once she had retrieved them she stands, unmindful that there was dirt and a little mud smeared on her skirt. "I am terribly sorry M'Lord." She repeats, holding the pieces out toward him. Her body was straight, her chin held high but her eyes stopped at around his shoulder level, not meeting his eyes.

[Whist Askara]

Whist glared and exhaled noisily, allowing only these as an outward expression of his rage. Apparently this little slave was a delicate thing if she got hurt so easily. He noted her dirty apparel, bloody mouth and scraggly hair with masked disapproval. The slave brands were as evident as her servile demeanor--but it didn't make the perch whole again.

People. He hated dealing with them but as a Dynasty born, it was unavoidable on a daily basis. His glacier blue eyes flicked over the broken remnants of what was once a prized possession and he looked away again swiftly. Seeing it shattered wasn't a mood lifter.

'Say something Whist. Slaves crave guidance and can't be productive if you don't give direction.' The long silence seemed interminable to him but it was only a chime or two in reality.

"Do not attempt to hand me the ten Mizas worth of garbage you just broke with your wanton behavior."

He decided to watch her freckled face instead of the broken dream that Shayna held so carelessly within her slim hands.

"What is your name slave, and what master or mistress has trained you so poorly? This cannot be your fault for you are merely a vessel of someone elses trained property. Even a juvenile fledgling is more careful of itself than you."

Whist waited for Shayna's answer, avoiding the rubble in her hands completely with his eyes. The man allowed himself to shift his weight from foot to foot, but only once. Anything more would seem like fidgeting and discipline was everything; especially in front of one's inferiors.


Artistry by Haeli-

[Shayna]

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Shayna kept her face impassive as he spoke, her hands bringing the broken shards of wood back close to her body. She wasn't sure what she should do with it now, dropping it back to the ground seemed almost disrespectful but she certainly didn't want to keep holding it. His words made her blood run cold, and visions of the day she spent at the Askara plantation -though she had no clue what Dynasty this one was from- filled her mind. It was only with her training was she able to keep her face from falling, keep her body from trembling though her face did blanch and even her freckles paled slightly.

"I am Shayna, I belong to Mistress Katherine Morealis." her words were rattled off, as if she were used to speaking them. Her eyes never raise to meet his, it wouldn't do to seem aggressive. "M'Lord I didn't see you, I am sure that my Mistress would replace...whatever this was.." Inside Shayna cringed, knowing that Katherine would not be happy with being forced to replace something her slave had broken. She remembered the last time she had broken something of Katherine's. She was going to have to learn to be more careful.

[Whist Askara]

"Morealis? Well how can that be? I hear no one trains their slaves better. The fault must lie within your character then, Shayna."

He paused for a chime, taking in her increased pallor. Is she always that pale because of her freckles? Was it pain or fear? He could only know by truly seeing her.

"Rise and look at me." Askara commanded simply, expecting nothing less than immediate compliance.

Her frame seemed to go rigid with the effort of stillness and he wondered exactly what treatment she expected of him. Surely not a whipping or beating? One didn't damage anothers valuable property without malicious intent behind it. His eyes stopped and lingered over the visible scars and it caught his attention like a trap. Hadn't his cousin captured a slave a little while back in connection with the Rujaro? Whist wasn't sure exactly because he'd had to spend a few overnight stays at the Aviary for a sick Falcon.

He could still hear Banjemen's voice claiming it was all in the name of safety and politics. It was ridiculous. Slaves only existed to obey someone's orders as they had not the freedom to follow their own will. In his mind, they were not accountable for obeying their master. It would be like scolding a hawk for attacking a pigeon when you''re flying them after a pigeon.

"If you did not see me then perhaps you need your vision checked at the healers. And when has sorry ever accomplished a single thing? Sorry does not mend a broken perch or make you unbleed."

Her eyes were light green with an extraordinary dark ring around them, making her timid expression even more so. He didn't see any stupidity in her eyes. Perhaps it was the lack of education that slaves endured, for she seemed naturally bright enough. This slave appeared to be a bit of an enigma to Whist and his gaze locked on hers.


Artistry by Haeli-

[Shayna]

Shayna finally lets the broken wood go, to fall at her feet on the ground. If he did not want it back, if it could not be repaired then let the wood go back to the ground it had came from in Shayna's mind. She was tired of holding it, though it wasn't really heavy, and her fingers ached to clench into a fist under his scrutiny. When he told her to rise, she only assumed he meant her eyes since she had already stood, and her eyes did move from his collar bone area over his chin, taking in the smooth features before briefly meeting his eyes.

"I have not been a slave with Mistress Katherine but for a season M'Lord." She said, feeling the need to defend her Mistress against his assumptions that she was poorly trained. "I was bred on the breeding farm near Riverwave.. M'Lord." She added the last honorific just a beat later then usual, as she turned her head to glance first up one side of the river bank, then to the other. She was looking for her Mistress who would be coming to meet her here. She was not entirely sure if she should hope to see the figure of Katherine or not.

"It is not my vision, I am not defective." A hint of outrage colored her voice, bad enough that she was short and freckled... she was not so inferior as to have poor vision. "I just wasn't expecting anyone to be walking along the riverbank, so I wasn't watching. "

[Whist Askara]

Whist flinched internally at the sound of the broken perch hitting the ground in several pieces, though he did his best not to show it. Yet another careless, irresponsible person he'd met in a very long list! His eyes were briefly drawn to the tiny fingers that twitched, barely within Shayna's control and he found her defiance more than a little displeasing.

First that slave breaks my perch, she's itching to strike -me-, then she makes excuses and now she is reluctant to title a superior?! Although brief, the hesitation of an honorific was a fine and flamboyant bitch slap to -him.-
A small muscle in his jaw ticked at her impertinent retort and he was sorely tempted to hit her. Very much so.

A single fine eyebrow arched in disbelief at the slave's unbecoming behavior.

"Indeed little freckled slave? So which is it? It takes more than a season to train you to be respectful? Or is it that you are unable to keep the brain power to pay attention to common things like a Dynasty born walking directly toward you? Should I have been looking out for clumsy, defiant slaves who don't know their place?"

Whist's temper was rising with each new mannerism the brazen slave exhibited. Not that it would take much to be pissed off, but the broken perch was the last straw in a very long, exhausting day. Before he even realized what he was doing, he'd cuffed her smartly on the back of the head as if dealing with an idiot child.


Artistry by Haeli-

[Shayna]

It does not take long for Shayna to realize that nothing she did was going to appease this man. It doesn't happen often, but occasionally she has ran into these types in the past that was looking for a reason to punish or berate a slave. She supposed it was the same thing amongst the freeborn or Dynasty when they get to drinking, just spoiling for a fight. The only difference was, a slave was not suppose to defend themselves because striking someone who was not a slave and not in defense of one's owners property was another punishable offense.

So Shayna immediately dropped her eyes, not just to his collar but to the ground, her tongue still smarting from where she had bit it but the metallic taste gone for now. His words sent a buzzing in her ears, her cheeks flushing but she doesn't speak, not until his hand comes against her head in a casual strike. Because it was not an outright blow she didn't lose her footing, but her head bobs with the force and a short cry slips from her lips. "I am sorry M'Lord, I don't mean to be defiant or clumsy." Her words are quiet, purposefully kept low in volume, her hands curl into her skirt but otherwise do not raise in defense. "I don't know how else I can make it up to you, but I am willing if you just tell me how?" Still she keeps her voice very soft, very submissive but she does step just a half a step back.

[Whist Askara]

The vast temper immediately drained from him as he realized he'd just slapped her. There was no excuse to hit someone else's slave over an accident. What was done was done, and hitting the reluctant girl wouldn't change a petching thing about the situation. Whist cringed inwardly at the display he'd just made, and glanced around swiftly to see if anyone had witnessed it. It didn't appear so, and he returned his attention to Shayna.

"I should not have struck out at you for an accident Shayna; it was ill bred of me to do so." It was as close to an apology as he could offer at the chime, his head still reeling.

Her posture and tone were submissive and reluctant which made him give a double take. For the first time in his life, he considered that maybe slaves didn't actually WANT to be slaves! It was a bizarre concept to be sure, especially from a self-confessed true bred slave.

It was a striking epiphany that she didn't want to be a slave any more than he wanted to be a Dynasty born. Whist needed to talk to this girl.

"You pretend to be submissive but it's only a practiced posture with you isn't it? You don't like being born who you are, do you?"

His thoughts swirled at the social ramifications and his whole world slanted to a new point of view. The tall man watched her intently, his scrutiny taking in her filthy clothes, assumed posture and reluctant voice.

Whist listened to Shayna now with an entirely different point of view.


Artistry by Haeli-