Just as she'd promised Badoura, early the next morning after their little chat, Miela made her way to the den of her new ... she wasn't even sure what to call them. Certainly they weren't her family, or her ... masters? The thought left a bitter taste on her tongue. Her new charges, maybe that wouldn't be such a horrible term. Her new home. She had to admit, the thought of her own den was enough to put a bit of a spring in her step and a smile to her face. A little privacy wouldn't be so bad, and the price she'd have to pay wouldn't be such a horrible thing.
Follwing the vague instructions she'd been given, Miela cleared her throat at the mouth of a rather well kept den and waited for a response.
It didn't take long for a silvery female to come to the entrance, mismatched eyes gleaming with something that looked suspiciously like excitement. Of all the things in the world that Miela had been expecting, excitement certainly hadn't been one of them.
"You must be Miela. Sakhr told me that you would be sent. I am Parmelia."
Miela took a moment to soak all of this in. It was a little more bizarre than she was expecting - she'd never thought that she'd have received such a warm welcome, but it was a pleasant surprise none the less.
"I am. Badoura chose me to become your personal thrall."
Parmelia made a sour face.
"I do not like the word thrall. You will just be here to help me about the den, keep me company. I do not have many friends, and Sakhr is gone throughout the day on patrols and the like. He has hopes of rising to the rank of Reaver, but we will see." She smiled fondly. "He has never been much of a fighter, in truth, so we will see how that goes. I would much prefer he take a rank of bard or lawspeaker, but he thinks they are silly duties."
Miela grinned, a lopsided affair that warmed her blue eyes.
"I heard that you hail from a pride far from here. What was it like."
Parmelia chuckled.
"In essence, the males did patrols and kept us safe. One male could have as many banu - a sort of wife - as he pleased, with one beybanu to watch after them all. The females were … well, they hunted, and birthed. A happy pad had a large family. It was what was important." She cleared her throat.
"After we became old enough to understand what it meant, Sakhr decided that we would leave. Neither of us wished to share the other, and so we left. His cousin came with, as well as my niece. I think it was the right choice to make. Now we are free to live as we'd like, with no worries of marital responsibilities and large extended families if we do not wish it."
Miela had been quiet the entire time that Parmelia spoke, the smile on her face never wavering. This had been a good choice. She owed Badoura a great many thanks. Kept thralls did not find themselves as harassed as the thralls in the general populace did, and for that she would be forever grateful to Badoura.
"And you?"
Parmelia's question shook Miela from her reverie.
"Me?"
"Yes. You! I hear you are an outlander, as well - and I just.. well, I'm curious as to how an outlander female finds herself in such a position."
Miela was silent for a long moment.
"Well, it is rather simple, miss. I was captured. My friend, Sabah, and I were traveling together after meeting up near her homelands deep in the desert. Captain Thorgrim and his sons caught us."
They'd caught her, really, while the brothers had fought over Sabah - but it wasn't her place to speak ill of those who outranked her. Especially not since Aesir had fallen, and his successor was friends with the Captain. Miela did not want trouble, especially when things were just starting to look brighter.
"A tragedy." Parmelia shook her head. "There were females brought back as captives in my old pride. In fact, a male had to go out and return with a female as a right of passage." She looked disgusted by the fact. "I suppose my own father was one of those males, however, my mother was born into the pride."
She wasn't sure if that made her feel prouder to have been in the pride she'd hailed from, but it made it a little bit easier to own up to it. It didn't matter, really, but to Parmelia, it made a difference. Silly, but the truth was the truth.
"It sounds as if that pride was not such a long stretch from this one," Miela said in contemplation, taking a moment to glance around the den.
"I suppose." Parmelia watched Miela, an easy smile breaking across her muzzle.
"Would you like to see where you will be staying? Sakhr built it himself. It is finely fashioned, and I think you'll enjoy it."
"Of course."
Parmelia rose to her feet and moved forward, working her way to the rear of her own den. A few large rocks had been moved together to form walls, and one larger rock had been shoved down from atop Parmelia's den to form the ceiling.
"If any holes are visible or bothersome, I'll be happy to help patch them."
Miela couldn't believe that all of this work had been done for her. It meant a lot, especially after living a life filled with collective dens shared between the thralls.
"It's beautiful."
"Good." Parmelia was beaming. "Spend the rest of the day setting it up as you like. Tomorrow we can continue getting to know one another while we work on cleaning my den, and perhaps after that we can find some more decorative rocks to set outside. Or maybe some flowers, I don't know." The silver lioness grinned.
"Thank you, miss."
"You're welcome, Miela. I hope we can become friends, despite our ranks."
"So do I."
Offering the dark lioness a final smile, Parmelia took her leave. Miela watched her go before turning her attention back to her new home.
Things were starting to look up.
WC: 1051