49th of Summer, 514 AV
"You are being very resistant," Adrienna spoke to her slave, arms crossed as she faced him. Beyond them, the store was empty. The door had been closed. It was in the twilight bell beyond the windows, and that meant that it was hometime for the Lynint and her slave.
In privacy, she had taken the moment to address the recent, and disturbing, trend of him being bold. She did not want her slave challenging her, not even in private. For him to have been doing so, and edging towards doing it publicly, Adrienna had to quell it before it flourished into something more.
Lucian stared at her.
Between them, there had been a childhood. A friendship, one could argue, but one that was ill-matched, for she had always been a Dynast and would always see him as a slave. Alexander Lynint had once seen it and tried to quell it, breaking the slave and alienating the girl, but they bared the burden.
Lucian was still a slave, though, and what affection Adrienna had for her oldest ally, would not allow compassion for his plight. He was a slave and she his mistress. She would no longer be disobeyed.
What she was doing now had been long in the coming. She'd grown frustrated with him, and earlier in the day he had blatantly contradicted her. In a moment of pride, she'd turned and struck him before sending him to clean the meat bucket, a task they both didn't enjoy.
"I have a mind to bring you to the Ackina and have you trained," the threat was honest and likely dour for him. It would cost her to have him conditioned to be obedient, but it was money she would gladly place if it made him compliant. She raised her eyebrows at him, sensing distress in his shifting and the way he angled away from her. "I have been lenient with you for a very long time. This will change, Lucian, if you give me reason. If you question me again, or challenge me, I will have you punished."
"I understand, mistress," the slave had spoken after a long moment. She could see he was not intimidated, not by her, but he'd been at the end of a whip before. He'd worked the fields and burned in the labour there. His lifestyle now was a luxury. Her threat promised to destroy that for him. "I will do better. Forgive me for my insolence"
Honestly, Adrienna found it pleasing. She didn't tell him so, but she enjoyed that he'd apologised. "Remember this next time you decide it wise to interrupt me, slave. Now, let's go." Resorting to addressing him by his station would not win her his love, yet that was no concern of hers. She jerked her head to the door and he went into motion, lumbering forward to lead the way out.
"You are being very resistant," Adrienna spoke to her slave, arms crossed as she faced him. Beyond them, the store was empty. The door had been closed. It was in the twilight bell beyond the windows, and that meant that it was hometime for the Lynint and her slave.
In privacy, she had taken the moment to address the recent, and disturbing, trend of him being bold. She did not want her slave challenging her, not even in private. For him to have been doing so, and edging towards doing it publicly, Adrienna had to quell it before it flourished into something more.
Lucian stared at her.
Between them, there had been a childhood. A friendship, one could argue, but one that was ill-matched, for she had always been a Dynast and would always see him as a slave. Alexander Lynint had once seen it and tried to quell it, breaking the slave and alienating the girl, but they bared the burden.
Lucian was still a slave, though, and what affection Adrienna had for her oldest ally, would not allow compassion for his plight. He was a slave and she his mistress. She would no longer be disobeyed.
What she was doing now had been long in the coming. She'd grown frustrated with him, and earlier in the day he had blatantly contradicted her. In a moment of pride, she'd turned and struck him before sending him to clean the meat bucket, a task they both didn't enjoy.
"I have a mind to bring you to the Ackina and have you trained," the threat was honest and likely dour for him. It would cost her to have him conditioned to be obedient, but it was money she would gladly place if it made him compliant. She raised her eyebrows at him, sensing distress in his shifting and the way he angled away from her. "I have been lenient with you for a very long time. This will change, Lucian, if you give me reason. If you question me again, or challenge me, I will have you punished."
"I understand, mistress," the slave had spoken after a long moment. She could see he was not intimidated, not by her, but he'd been at the end of a whip before. He'd worked the fields and burned in the labour there. His lifestyle now was a luxury. Her threat promised to destroy that for him. "I will do better. Forgive me for my insolence"
Honestly, Adrienna found it pleasing. She didn't tell him so, but she enjoyed that he'd apologised. "Remember this next time you decide it wise to interrupt me, slave. Now, let's go." Resorting to addressing him by his station would not win her his love, yet that was no concern of hers. She jerked her head to the door and he went into motion, lumbering forward to lead the way out.