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The lion who had captured her, Tallskog Gavedson, had used the time she spent recovering from the injuries he had given her to instruct her in her new duties. And to use her body however he saw fit, occasionally giving her new injuries that kept her in his possession longer.

Finally her master had decided that she was fit to be gifted to his betrothed. And she was thanking the gods to be given to someone, like property. There was still a portion of her mind that was incredulous, but mostly she was genuinely grateful. Whatever else her new mistress might do to her, she would not rape her. Thank the gods.

As she followed him to meet her new mistress Sekai prayed that her new mistress would be kinder than her betrothed. Please. Please, please, please.

Outlanders were more fragile than Stormborn. Tall had always known that, but he had not realized how fragile they were until he had one living with him, easily cut and bruised and slow to heal. Had she been quicker to heal he would have given her to Naaja weeks ago, but he wanted his gift to the warlord's daughter to be pristine. Keeping her that way was hard though, because she was very difficult to resist.

Now she walked behind him, walking with an upright gait he'd had to teach her to show off her fine figure. He was proud of what he had made her into, and he was certain Naaja would be pleased with this gift. If he was extraordinarily lucky, he would be able to speak to Naaja without that b*****d thrall of hers around to screw things up.

"Naaja," he called into her den. "It's Tallskog. Will you talk to me?"

Naaja had known that Tallskog had gone viking to find her a present, but that had been weeks back, and he had not yet put in an appearance with her gift. She had begun to wonder if he ever intended to do the right thing. In the meantime, she had been doing what she could to ensure no rumours about her and Burzum spread.

Since her brother had stopped by for a wholly unpleasant talk, that had been much on her mind. She had been afraid that one such rumour had reached Tallskog's ears and been the final thing to convince him not to go through with their marriage, which she now felt she needed for the sake of her reputation. Hearing his voice outside her den was a welcome relief. She was glad that she had sent Burzum away this morning.

"I will," she said, stepping into the weak sunlight.

Sekai could hear that the lioness, Naaja, was joking. It was obvious in her tone. Even so, she could not stop the shiver of terror that raced down her spine at the thought that Tallskog might decide not to give her away after all. She did not think she could take too much more, living as his thrall. He had not beaten her, much. It hadn't been necessary. He had other, more effective means of coercion that he derived more pleasure from.

Gods, she prayed silently, don't let him change his mind.

She was very careful not to think about the fact that when Tallskog and Naaja married they would share a den and she would once more be living with him, and so she would also be available to him to use as he saw fit. That was how he had put it. Instead she fixed her thoughts on the idea of being so pleasing to her new mistress that Naaja wouldn't want to be without her, and so Sekai would never have even a chance solo encounter with Tallskog.

Tall smiled in a manner he hoped came across as blithe and charming, since that seemed to be the tone of the conversation. If he had hoped for more effusive praise, he gave no sign. In truth, he was still relieved that things seemed to have been mended in the time since he and Naaja last spoke, and he didn't particularly care if it was because her family had put pressure on her or she had relented on her own or she was actually appeased by a gift. He would no longer be in trouble with his family now that things were back on track.

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I've brought her for you. I would have brought her by sooner, but I wanted to make sure she was completely trained." He carefully avoided using the phrase broken in. Some females, particularly the more sensitive ones, took issue with the means by which thralls were broken.

The last part of Naaja's joking, about them sharing thralls once they were wed, reminded him that he would eventually be able to claim ownership of that white b*****d of hers. That thrall he was determined to see broken, no matter what Naaja said, even if it meant he had to destroy the b*****d body and spirit. It was a very pleasant thought.

"In that case, thank you so much, Tallskog. I truly am delighted. It will be wonderful to have a thrall to tend to the den and prepare food and the like. I'm afraid I have only passing skill in those areas, so I hope you've instructed her as to how you like things, too."

She smiled, but behind it came the sudden thought that Tallskog might well have instructed the slave in other ways he liked to be pleased as well. It was common knowledge, after all, that rape was a tried and true practice for subduing captured thralls. She wasn't sure how she felt about the idea of owning a thrall who had had sex with her husband-to-be before she did, but she was certain she would not be doing anything premarital, regardless. Ladies didn't do that sort of thing.

"And what is her name? I hope it's not too foreign-sounding. Lyti's thrall has the most impossible name. No one can pronounce it, but she refuses to change it."

Tallskog had not mentioned to her that there was a possibility her very name could be changed. Names had meaning where she came from, and the thought of having that last comforting bit of familiarity stripped away from her had been momentarily terrifying, so it was another relief when Naaja decided that she could keep her name. For the time being she did not think about how wrong it was that she should feel grateful for something like that. It was easier all around if she gave as little thought to her former life as possible, she had already discovered.

Things seemed to be going well, but Sekai was only too happy to obey her mistress and retreat into the den, which was far more spacious than she had expected. It also smelled strongly of a male lion that was definitely not Tallskog. Was her new mistress being untrue to her fiance? Was that acceptable in the pride? She decided it would be better not to ask, and took a seat in the very center of the largest area so that she would not accidentally touch anything. There she waited.

"I'm glad that you're pleased," Tall replied. "I hope this means our arrangement hasn't changed?"

It was true he had been significantly less than thrilled when first informed of it, and he still wouldn't be totally averse to being released from the engagement, but he did not want that to happen because he had been found wanting in some way. That was a matter of pride. Besides, he had done some asking around and it seemed he really was fortunate in the lioness that had been selected for him.

"Assuming things haven't changed, I suppose I ought to ask if there is anything I can do to make things easier between us, now and in the future." He hoped she wouldn't come up with anything too demanding, but it might not be so bad to have a quest or a goal to complete. It would be something he could brag about later.

"As far as I'm concerned, our arrangement remains unaltered," she told him, stalling for time.

Naaja had not actually wanted to have the serious "how shall we make this work" conversation right now. She had no illusions that it would be an easy conversation and she wanted time to prepare for it by deciding what she wanted, what she was willing to be flexible about, and what she would not budge on. Mostly she knew those things already, so maybe she just didn't want to spoil a meeting that had gone well so far.

"I think we should save that discussion for another day. I would rather we say goodbye on a pleasant note today. But if you want some project to work on in your spare time now that you've finished training Sekai, you could always become a captain." Somehow she managed to say it playfully even though it was something she felt strongly about. It was a trick she'd learned from Lyti.