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 Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:50 am
A chocolate colored lioness stretched in the cool night air watching her daughter sleep. Indu was her little blessing, and curse. The child was spoiled rotten and the lioness was at her wits end at what to do with her. Looking into the stars for the great moon she shivered, a new moon the great eye was yet again turned away from her.
"Indu, baby, one day you'll know better than I can ever teach you," Nerit murmured to the sleeping cub and closed her emerald eyes as a gust of wind pushed through the night.
"One day.." she hummed softly and stood taking off into the chilly night, her destination unknown. The slave had always loved looking up into the inky sky, but the omen that the great lion was not looking down toward the pride made her uneasy.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:46 pm
It was a dark and luckless night, but Unyezi was out on the watch. Most of the Mwezi'Johari lions spent the moonless nights safe at home, but that only made it easier for the guards to pick out strangers. Unyezi, still acting as a guard on occasion and always feeling like something was going to go wrong on the nights of the new moon, was out keeping an eye on things. He wasn't aware of just who was nearby, though.
His eyes were up at the sky just a little too long and he stumbled. Not wanting to actually trip right over, he came to a complete stop and just looked up. The sky seemed to dull without the moon, even the stars seemed to miss the Great Lion.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:56 pm
The sound of someone..or thing moving around her pulled the lioness out of her skyward trance. Startled by the noises Nerit hunkered down and her nostrils flared, who was out there?
"Who's out there?" She hissed in a low voice, perhaps not the best, but if she sounded more menacing than the supposed intruder. Nerit stepped forward slowly towards the source, hoping her dark color would hide her.
"Who's here, show your self!" she hissed again.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:21 pm
At the sound of a hiss calling out to him, Unyezi immediately felt two things. One, he was the king and no pride member should speak to him like that. Second, the voice was almost familiar despite the tone. Painfully familiar. He hesitated in responding, instead he tensed and turned his head towards the source of the voice. He'd been avoiding the slaves for a reason, he had no yet had a major reason to address any individual slaves.
"Be careful how you speak," he warned, finally. He kept his head high and his tone formal, it was the only way he could deal with this in his mind. If it was Nerit, she would know it was him. Anyone else, they would know. A stranger and they would be warned.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:31 pm
Adrenaline pumped through her veins and already on edge the brown lioness nearly jumped out of her skin as a voice responded, not that of a strangers..but his voice? Blood rushed to her face and she felt dizzy, why was she so foolish to hiss something like that at a stranger?
"I, I am sorry your highness," stepped forward until he was in her sight and she close enough for him to see. She lowered her head closer to the ground and kept her emerald green eyes away from his. Foolish, foolish, foolish! she scolded herself and waited for any repercussions.
She forced herself long ago to ignore her feelings but often they reared up and at inopportune times, they were in young love, and she was foolish to think that anything came from that. She'd been pleased to not be called upon directly by the royalty. Finding him out here..where they were both alone. What would someone think if they crept up on this?
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:46 pm
Unyezi watched the rustling grass from where the voice had come until the dark lioness appeared. He did not like seeing her like that, but she was a slave and it was her place. She was probably the reason he did not make regular use of the slaves, and the reason he was a rather sympathetic monarch towards them. Alcmene was a good little lioness, he didn't doubt she would have more justified kindness for them when her time came too.
He couldn't do the same as her and look away though he wanted to. Looking at her reminded him of the foolish choices he had made in his youth, and looking at her he knew he would do it all over again. That was not supposed to be how he felt. He had Aureole, he had his family.
"What are you doing out here?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:01 pm
"I could not sleep, I was walking to clear my mind," she answered softly but directly. She thought of Indu sleeping and decided she should have just stayed beside her little daughter and forced her thoughts away. The moon, or lack there of, always seemed to keep her awake.
She was at a complete loss of what to do or say, what more was there? They were not socially in the same class, they did not have the same day to day issues..it wasn't like they could just socialize. She stood still and quiet raising her eyes only slightly to see if he seemed angry.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:31 pm
He flinched ever so slightly again at the informal response she gave him, though at least she was being honest and that was a good thing. Or so he assumed. He doubted she was doing anything suspicious unless everything that happened and all this time of ignoring each other had turned into something vicious. Either way, there were reasons to want a slave to stay near home. She was alone, though, and had a young daughter. Not to mention she was the one who initiated contact. This was not an escape attempt.
He hesitated a bit too long and awkward silence filled the space between them. His overall expression and stance were not angry, but they were not comfortable or familiar. Unyezi was tense and caught somewhere between wanting to run away and.. something else. He wasn't even sure what he thought.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:05 pm
"Your highness," she bowed her head lower as she spoke, "I'm sorry for speaking harshly, I thought perhaps there was an intruder and meant to scare them away. I..I know we have guards for that, I was wrong to assume." Nerit fell silent trying to be formal. She had a bad enough time trying to live down the shaman's view of her insubordinate behaviors. Shira made it quite clear she would take her views to a higher source, and Nerit assumed Unyezi was that source.
She wanted to speak like when they were young, explain she would never leave she loved the pride too much and was a strict believer in the system. Her belief is also what stopped her. "If it pleases you I will go back to sleep." she kept her emerald eyes pointed to the ground trying to find the swiftest way out of this situation, it was awkward and getting more uncomfortable by the second.
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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:22 pm
The king fought a tremble when he realized how quiet and awkward he was being, clearing his throat as he did. He still maintained a regal and serious stance, and he let her speak. She was just another lioness, just like any other subject, just like any other slave. For all the mattered, she was the unusual brown and blue slave. Imagining that was slightly helpful, which he was grateful for.
"Guards are still quite scarce," he commented, glancing around them, "That is why I am not safely resting at home on this dim night. You would do best not to press your luck on a night without the Great Lion."
It was an excuse to send her back and end this meeting, but deep down he did worry about her. Slaves were a luckless bunch, they were not watched over so closely by the Great Lion so the higher classes did the job on his behalf. In return, they did as they were told. Or that was how he looked at it. Every superstitious lion was home on a night like this.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:49 pm
Well not this superstitious lioness the moonless nights made her restless. Raising her eyes she nodded, "As you wish, I will go back to bed." She had gotten her proper dismissal but lingered longer. He was no longer -her- Yezi but looking at him made a lot of the old days flood back and she almost stepped forward hesitantly she took a step backwards.
"Have a good night, your highness." She never knew properly whether or not she spoke out of turn, or if she should speak at all but Nerit loved speaking, and inside she loved Unyezi very much, enough to break a lot of rules.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 11:20 pm
Unyezi stood very still, feeling very numb very suddenly. This was extremely awkward and brought up so many conflicting emotions. He wasn't sure if his decision to avoid Nerit for all this time had been the right choice now. Had he made it worse or would it be just as awkward, just as.. painful.. if he had not made a point of avoiding her entirely? He would never know.
"Good night," he returned, the idea of her speaking too boldly never even crossed his mind. He did not move and instead waited for her to turn and make her leave before he would do the same.
Fin.
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