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 Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2010 4:46 am
 That horrible saleshound had ripped her off! The number of stones in her purse did not match up with what she remembered buying and in Haqikah's mind that could only mean that she had been short changed somewhere along the line. It couldn't have anything to do with her spending habits after all... She only bought the things she really needed, but then Haqikah had a peculiar definition of "need".
She might very well have been short changed, those things happened after all, but a very big part of her problem was that she was spending stones faster than she earned them. In fact, Haqikah hadn't done much to earn anything besides moving to Babylon and getting a settlement grant from the government. Oh, and getting to know that nice gentleman... Unfortunately progress was slow, and since it turned out that he didn't live full time in Babylon she hadn't had the opportunity to get more than a few free dinners yet. Not that free food was bad; his cooking slaves were talented in the kitchen.
Unwilling to accept what the problem really was, and not prepared to hunt down that dishonest saleshound she let out her pent up anger in the safety of her own home. In her home she did not have to keep appearances up, and with slaves in the house it was much more satisfying to rant about the injustices of life. They had to at least pretend to listen, and they wouldn't dare to blab about it to anyone later like a hound might.
"The nerve of some people," she exclaimed, pacing in a clearly agitated manner. Her slaves had witnessed some outbursts like this before and would know that the worst was yet to come.
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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 11:15 am
 Akil had adjusted rather nicely to his new life. He enjoyed doing his daily tasks and Haqikah, while sometimes unpredictable and full of whims, hadn’t showed him the sort of cruelty that the slave had prepared himself for at the black market where he often wondered about the kind of master he would get. The slave’s task fit him well and Akil felt as devoted to Haqikah as if she’d been the one to bottle feed him herself and whatever dubious traits she might have, Akil would always accept them with ease – find excuses for them even – and just generally consider the mistress’ right to do things the way she pleased.
The cat had been cleaning the kitchen counters, scrubbing away old stains that stubbornly refused to disappear. Nuri was working outside so the white and brown slave was alone in the hut when the Haqikah walked in.
“Welcome home, miss…” Akil started before he noticed the hound’s mood. The slave took one discreet step back – just to be safe - before continuing. “Is everything alright?” Well, he could tell something wasn’t but he figured the mistress wanted to talk about it so, obviously, he was more than happy if not downright proud to hear her out.
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Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2010 1:46 am
"Everything is most certainly not all right," she snapped, glaring at the slave as if this was all his fault, "The market is filled with dishonest people out to get my stones! One would think that they should be satisfied with what they've got instead of stealing hard earned coppers from a lady."
Never mind that some might argue that she had stolen those coppers herself. From her point of view Haqikah had all right to 'take care of' the stray coppers she had 'found on the street'. Given the same chance again she would have acted in the same way, but it was not very likely that something like that would happen again. She handed her carefully wrapped parcel to Akil for him to put away and continued pacing.
"Be careful with those," she said irritably, still with her fur bristling with anger. "It's a lovely set of tea glasses, so I don't want them smashed by clumsy paws. Now THAT would just complete this awful day!"
Finding coppers on the street again would be nice, but it was highly unlikely. And she did not want to be seen searching the streets for change like a poor dog. No, while it had been a nice boost to her economy she could not really expect coppers to fall in her lap like that. But perhaps... Perhaps she could instruct her slaves to pick up stones if they found them in the street. Discretely of course, she would be just as embarrassed if her servants behaved like beggars in public.
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Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 10:11 am
Akil hadn’t really figured out what the mistress did for a living or how she got her stones – it wasn’t his business to nag her with questions after all - but the thought of someone stealing from Haqikah really grated him on his nerves.
“Yes, miss. I’ll be very careful.” He said watching the new acquisition. He took the parcel and proceeded to unwrap and clean the pretty new tea set with great care. He, too, was bristling, though perhaps the cause was a little different.
“It would take a very nasty hound to do that to a lady like you, miss. I didn’t think anyone would want to take your stones.” Obviously, Haqikah’s words had led him to believe that a hound had tried to forcefully take the mistress’ stones… a thief! It was inexcusable. “Miss, please take me with you next time. I won’t let anyone steal from you again!” his eyes left his work for only a second as he gave his mistress a determined look, honest eyes shining like beacons.
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 2:53 am
"You better be," she growled, but could find no flaw in the way he handled the delicate glasses. They would be great for a tea party once she got this hut cleaned up a bit, she mused. She should perhaps invite Chione, even if her home was embarrassingly small at the moment. But if she invited her friend she might feel the need to return the favour, and it would be nice to spend a couple of days in her home in Caspia... She was sure her friend would be very sympathetic once she heard that Haqikah had been robbed!
Akil's indignation on her behalf only served to fuel her anger and further cement her belief that she had been wronged. A very nasty hound indeed, even if she wasn’t sure which of the merchants it was that had tricked her. Despite her foul mood she smiled when her servant indirectly offered to protect her. It was a cruel smile, but nevertheless a smile.
"You want to be my bodyguard now," she asked with obvious amusement, "I'd have to send you to the Colosseum to toughen you up first..."
It wasn't fair to mock him for such an honest proposition, but Haqikah was in no mood of being fair today. Sending a servant slave to the Colosseum... Hah... The unnameable dog she used to live with had spent a lot of time grooming his precious warriors for the Colosseum. As far as she remembered he even won some money now and then. Would that be a solution for her problems? No, Akil wasn't a fighter. But the seed was planted and tucked away as another possible scheme to get some stones for her necessary expenses. But it would probably be more productive to order him to liberate some stones from the pouches of the hounds in the watching crowd than to ask him to fight. Now that would be a sight! But she was just being silly now, and it interfered with her anger. Perhaps she should give Akil a good whipping for ruining her mood.
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Posted: Thu Oct 07, 2010 5:57 pm
The Colosseum.
Akil gulped at the thought of the slaves fighting each other or some gigantic foe for the amusement of their masters. He’d never participated and he was quite sure he would’ve been completely obliterated in seconds if he ever had but he’d watched the ugly spectacles plenty of times with some of his former masters. It often turned into a gruesome sight – much to the hounds’ delight – but Akil hated to see his fellow slaves in pain and got rather anxious and depressed with every visit. True, at times it was a beautiful show, when slaves worked together to bring down a large prey animal, it was exciting to see how some of them could cooperate and turn something violent into a sort of graceful dance. But Akil had also seen slaves die in the arena, booed by the whole crowd and even their own masters and those incidents left a very bitter taste in the brown and white slave’s mouth.
Still, he was Haqikah’s personal servant and he needed to be able to protect her. He spent more time with the mistress than Nuri (and she was a girl…) so it made sense that he’d be strong enough to protect Haqikah… at least until she bought a stronger slave.
“I am your servant, miss. I must be whatever you need me to be.” Akil said softly, eyes firmly set on the objects he was cleaning. “If I need to be stronger in order to protect you, I will get stronger. If I need to fight to protect you, I will do it without hesitation. I will do anything you need me to do.”
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Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 5:10 am
Haqikah cocked his head, puzzled but pleased by Akil's devotion. He didn't appear to be lying just to please her, and she had met plenty of slaves that had tried to and suck up to her so she figured she should know. She knew how to spot a lying slave, but he wasn't lying, and that was strange. Haqikah couldn't quite understand why he would willingly want to put himself in harms way for her, and it made her curious. How far could she push him, really? It was new to her to own a slave that didn't need violent persuasion to take on dangerous and unpleasant tasks.
In her opinion a slave should do whatever its master asked, but she unconsciously expected at least some... unwillingness. Some hounds she had known took pride in their whipping sessions, but she rarely needed to punish Akil with more than words. This was something else... He was smart enough to know that it might be dangerous to fight for her, but wanted to do so anyway. Haqikah studied her slave like an educated hound might study a rare specimen, and you could almost hear her think about the possibilities.
"All right then," she said after some consideration, "I will enter you in the next tournament."
It was a test and she studied him closely to gauge his reaction. He wasn't lying when he said he'd do anything to protect her, but every creature had limits. Would he chicken out and beg her not to? That's what she wanted to know.
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Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 11:12 am
Akil stopped cleaning. His paws were shaking a little so he decided to put the precious object gently down before any accidents happened.
The next tournament? That was… so soon. He wasn’t prepared for it which didn’t necessarily make him any less willing but it was still such a sudden request. He honestly didn’t know how to react. He looked over his shoulder to meet Haqikah’s stare, silently considering her last words.
“The next one…” he started quietly, expression suddenly devoid of any clear emotion though a tiny frown betrayed a certain uncertainty at the very least. It was easier to accept an indiscriminate challenge set for a distant future. It was not as easy to take on a possibly deadly task in just a few days.
Hopefully he’d just have to fight small animals, he could do with a time challenge. It could even be fun! Haqikah wouldn’t sign him up for a fight to the death against another slave, right? No, Akil didn’t believe she would – after all, it’s not like she could afford it and the hound didn’t look to him like the gambler type. Akil took a deep breath, a small smile slowly forming as he faced his mistress.
“Right now, I don’t believe I can win against a slave that is being groomed to fight.” He started slowly, somewhat apologetically but pretty soon he was smiling again, eyes narrowing contently. Akil picked up the next cup and resumed the careful cleaning. “But I need to start somewhere. I won’t embarrass you, miss.”
Maybe Nuri wouldn’t mind practicing some evasion moves with him. He had to start training right away.
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Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 4:22 am
Haqikah's ears were pointing up and towards Akil, and she didn't take her eyes of him for a single moment. Yes, this would be interesting... When he put the cup down she almost expected him to crumble. But no... She tried to figure out what he was thinking, but his face was unreadable to her. It didn't look like he'd refuse, and if he didn't back down she couldn't very well be the one chickening out. In a way she now felt obliged to enter him in the tournament just to save face, even if she didn't have high hopes of him winning. She had picked him specifically because he was not a fighter... But he had surprised her before.
"Of course you couldn't," she said, secretly pleased about his self insight, "I'm sure there are different skill levels for entering slaves."
She remembered tournaments with several different fights to warm up the crowd before the big final battle between two famous fighters. Everyone had to start somewhere so she figured there would be other rookie fighters. She almost wished she had listened more closely when the more battle interested hounds were discussing Colosseum strategy, but at the time she had found it mind numbingly boring. She was slightly more interested now, but only because she would have her own slave in the fray. Not just the nameless and very replaceable fighters her former mate had owned.
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Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 1:16 pm
He got the distinct feeling she was testing him a bit but Akil figured it was to be expected. Both mistress and slave were still getting to know one another and just generally adjusting to their new relationship.
“I’ve watched it a few times but never actually participated…” Akil started, the idea quickly growing on his mind. “I guess I should start practicing…?” he actually laughed this time thinking of what the slaves in the easiest category would have to fight. Certainly not bunnies, that was sure. Well, it probably wouldn’t be too hard considering his near-zero experience. He could probably get away without too many bruises if he practiced evasion moves with Nuri every day now.
“Would you like anything to eat, miss?” he suddenly remembered Haqikah had just arrived home, she could probably eat a snack or two.
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Posted: Sat Oct 16, 2010 3:13 am
"Hmm... Yes, probably," she said absentmindedly, the test was over it seemed. "Just don't neglect your other duties."
Thinking about the Colosseum unfortunately meant thinking about him. She hadn't been very interested in the fights at all back then, so when Omari and his friends had talked about slave fighting she had mostly just zoned out or left the room. In the rare cases she tried to join the conversation it was clear that she was there to be pretty, not to have an opinion. Haqikah wasn't pleased about it at the time, but she made an effort to behave like a lady and didn't let her irritation show. The fact that she wasn't very interested helped. She wondered what he would say about this whole thing, and she figured he would probably laugh at her for entering her servant. Her face hardened, and just the thought of him laughing made her even more determined to go through with this. b*****d.
As it turned out Akil had no intentions to ditch his duties and run off to practice fighting in the alley behind the hut. Haqikah hadn't thought about food since she got inside, since her anger had drowned out every other feeling. When Akil asked her stomach answered for her, with a very unladylike little growl.
"Yes please," she said, "That would be lovely. Do we have any of the good tea left? I'd like to try out the glasses."
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Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 5:15 pm
“Of course, miss.” Akil agreed at once. He’d never consider neglecting his duties. It just wasn’t in the dutiful slave’s nature.
“We still have some, yes. Enough for a week unless you’re planning on entertaining visitors at the house, miss.” He wondered if she did. Even though Haqikah’s hut was much cleaner and just generally presentable now that the hound had two slaves to do the chores, Akil had a feeling his mistress wasn’t too pleased with the size of her current home. Nuri had picked up some nicely scented flowers that certainly added some life to the place but there wasn’t much else as far as decoration went. “With some biscuits perhaps? The vanilla flavored ones?” The brown and white cat asked as he prepared the tea water and a tray, humming softly under his breath as his thoughts drifted. The Colosseum, hum?
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Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:53 am
"No, I will not be entertaining visitors this week," she said, "I will let you know if I change my mind."
She just nodded at his suggestion of vanilla biscuits and her bushy tail started to wag slowly. Vanilla biscuits were one of her favourites, but the jar she kept them in was starting to look boring. Perhaps that would be her next purchase... A better looking biscuit jar. She had to start looking for it next time she went to the market. You could always find those selling basic jars and she could easily go out now and get back with as many as she could carry. But since Haqikah wanted something special she would have to watch and wait until the real quality earthenware appeared. Some of those craftshounds were real artists with the clay. Or their slaves were... Ah... Same thing.
"I think I need a new biscuit jar," she said to Akil, "The old one is chipped, isn't it?"
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Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:14 pm
“Chipped?” Akil didn’t remember it being so but he inspected the jar carefully just to make sure. “There is a small scratch here but I’m sure it can be masked.” A scratch or a small defect. Either way, the jar seemed to be in good enough condition though perhaps the mistress’ standards were just a little higher than that. “I do know a slave that makes beautiful jars though, I often see her master selling them at the market. She says he overprices them but if they have a small defect, the price can go down a bit.”
“I’ll need to fetch some more biscuits next week. Would you like the same kind or a different flavor, miss?” And there was always the possibility she’d want to taste them for herself before buying. He got the feeling he was talking too much but he was feeling a little giddy for some reason and he found it hard to stop. “By the way, mistress… did you like the flowers Nuri picked for the house?”
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Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 2:10 pm
Oh, he was no help at all. Haqikah had decided she needed a new biscuit jar, and she didn't really need any validation from a slave before doing so. It would have been nice, however. It might be wise to preserve the resources she had and avoid unnecessary expenses, but the words "small defect" made her twitch. Ugh, poor people bargain shopped.
"Defect," she asked and wrinkled her nose, "What kind of defects?"
She did not like being overcharged, but the prospect of buying damaged goods on purpose went against everything she believed. Luckily Akil talked so quickly and so much, so she soon had something else to think about.
"Um," she said, momentarily sidetracked by biscuits, "I like the vanilla ones, but if you can find ginger biscuits you may buy a little bit of both. And maybe some fishmeal for slave biscuits..."
She had a vague recollection of a rather nasty smelling treat her mother used to have her slaves make from dried and ground unidentified fish-parts. Haqikah had never tried them but their slaves liked the treats as far as she could recollect. But she hardly had time to finish that thought before Akil pointed out the flowers.
"Ah, they're very nice Akil," she said, "You may tell Nuri that. You know, we could use the old biscuit jar for flowers when we get a new one."
This was an exciting thought. It was frugal, while still making room for shopping and improvements. She was sure the jar would look slightly less boring with fresh flowers in it.
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