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It was the stranger in the carriage that told him, not all that unpleasantly, to grab unto the side. There was a place to stand there, and a rail for holding unto. Although he wouldn't be sitting down comfortably, he wouldn't have to try to keep up with the horses, either, and they could move faster.

Unless Arril resisted or complained, and unless Sih was spotted, their journey should bump along at a nice clip until they reached the first outpost designed for travelers such as themselves. They rolled past grazing livestock and small fighting practice groups that partially obscured the view of big buildings in the distance, buildings that marked the center of compounds on either side. The road seemed to mark the border between the compounds, and if so, they were coming up on a point where three compounds met. A small collection of businesses had cropped up there, forming a rambling outside marketplace that almost deserved to be called its own village. As they approached the outermost buildings, small shacks and leantos, they stopped to rest the horses and eat.

The place they ate at was rather small, as was the market in Cheryl's eyes. She would likely never come here for provisions, unless out of dire necessity. There just wasn't much to chose from, and she held the small-time shopkeepers here in contempt, just like she did so many other things. This became clear as she spoke briefly to Arril. They sat at their own table, up against the side of the building itself, shielded from the road. She had talked to the carriage woman at length before they had gotten out to eat, and the way that they sat at a separate table gave the impression that they were again separate parties.

"You are lucky," Cheryl said quietly to him, "that people are so afraid to embarrass one another around here. Propriety should serve us awhile yet, if you keep as still and quiet as you have been." She smirked, adding, "one might almost think you grew up here." To her, he was a wild animal and a heathen. Yet she must appease him to some degree by giving him a reason to stay with her for this last leg of their journey;

"There is a man that you will be very interested in meeting. He deals with people like you." It would depend on the extent of Arril's curiosity, and his willingness to extend that into voiced questions, whether or not the rest of their journey would be smooth or difficult, for or against his benefit.

"If you are so upset, show yourself now and be done with it," she taunted with narrowed eyed. "You might even manage to kill me, but you will again be on the run in a society you know nothing about, by your own admission. They will hunt you down like a rabid dog and be done with you." She stared at him, offering no further information that might be useful to him.

"It is clear that you do not appreciate my help," she said in a haughty sneer. "Have it your way." With that, she stood up and attempted to move away from the table. It was clear that she had no intention of giving him further information.

A big man and a tall woman came out from the small kitchen. At their appearance, the patrons began moving away, towards their carriages or towards the road. The man stood somewhat in front of the woman, protecting her as she spoke.

"We will not have troublemakers on our property. Leave with your mistress, or we will find you the proper place for disobedient slaves," she threatened. "Your mistress' leniency is no excuse for your behavior. The authorities have already been called on her, and you look to suffer her fate."

Cheryl was practically already out of there, so that Arril spoke to her retreating back. She wasn't one to hang around for a mess like this.

The tall woman didn't even glance to where Arril pointed. Her concern was Arril himself, and nothing else. Clearly the man was insane, as sometimes happens even to the best of pets, and probably abandoned on the road to find trouble where he may. Poor women sometimes did that if they could not afford to pay for the consequences of an out-of-control slave.

Although the big man seemed to be the one readying to fight, it was actually not him at all that Arril needed to worry about. He was there just in case, in case Arril jumped at his mistress unexpectedly. With such an obvious fight like this brewing, she could take care of herself, and she wouldn't be standing for the upstart's nonsense. Yet the big man did not smile nor give any indication as to what was coming up. He didn't like it when this sort of thing happened, but neither could he predict exactly what his confident mistress would do, nor when she would do it.

She could take care of herself, you see, because she was one of the women with the Feretris magic. Although outwardly she appeared to do no more than stare at Arril, in the realm of the invisible she immediately inflicted great pain in him. The pain concentrated at his knees and in his chest, as if some vile creature was eating its way out in each place. As his brain began attempted to compensate with a rush of adrenaline and other hormones, she lay her second blow, at the base of his skull. This had proved most effective for rendering dangerous slaves on their knees, or even unconscious, due to the fact that it was the place in the brain that controlled many necessary but involuntary functions, such as breathing. A slave could die if hit there without care, but it was worth the risk for one who appeared to be so violent.

Although the pain radiated moderately throughout his body, his tail remained strangely untouched, if Arril had the ability to notice, simply because the woman did not know it was there. Similarly, the snake was also unharmed, as she was not the object of the attack.

(bwahahaha!)

The pain was partially withdrawn a moment or two after his request. A faint pang remained in his knees, as a reminder and a warning. "Don't get up," the woman added. She couldn't be much clearer than that.

"Rigal, retrieve the serpent. Such a pet should not be let loose." Some time during Arril's collapse, they had caught a glimpse of scales. Perhaps it had been Sih, or perhaps Arril's own twitching tail gone unminded by its master in the uproar.

Unfortunately for Arril, Feretris women were not in the habit of explaining their plans to slaves, especially rebellious ones. In contrast to Cheryl, though, this woman did not seem all that excitable, and acted as though things like this had happened to her before. She began giving orders to other slaves who had come out to stand in the doorway to the building; go fetch the carriage, prepare restraints, and find a large container for the pet.

Meanwhile Rigal approached with a plodding step, and leaned down slowly over Arril. The last thing that he wanted was to upset a slave who might be insane, or to spook a snake. "C'mere," he coaxed Sih, as if he were talking to a dog. "Sure we got some nice rats for ya back at the compound."