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It had taken more conversations with uninteresting lions than Solvslips usually cared for, but at last he had learned the name of the petite lioness with the dark grey pelt who had caught his eye the other day. Actually, it had been his ear that he caught as he heard her cry out at another lion's abuses. He had wanted to throw the other lion bodily off of her and claim her as his own in that moment but he had resisted the urge because he knew it would start a fight and while he didn't mind fighting, he did mind being touched by people.

He had not discussed the thrall with his brothers, thinking it would be more fun for him to just bring her home with him. Consulting other people wasn't one of his fortes. He liked to be the one in charge and making the decisions, as did his brothers. The only way they really managed to get by without killing one another was an unspoken agreement not to interfere in the others' doings. This particular act bordered on interfering since he hadn't consulted with Daska and Rovstik before selecting her, but he knew they would like this little lioness, too.

Little Hiimatayt of the desert.

Tay looked up with just her eyes when she heard the sure steps of a lion entering the den shared by the pride's unclaimed thralls. The heaviness of the footsteps made her quite certain that the lion coming in was at least a freeborn, but more likely a reaver, and experience had taught her that it was better not to attract the attention of such lions with sudden or overt movements. Doing so tended to result in Tay crouching beneath a larger lion while he took his pleasure in her and left her aching, bruised, and sometimes bleeding depending on how roughly he took her.

It was difficult to see much with the lion's form silhouetted as it was, but she thought he might have a dark pelt. He was definitely on the leaner side for a lion born into the pride, but he may have outlander blood that made him slighter than others in terms of build. She wondered who he was looking for. It would probably be easier, she thought, if he would say something.

It would certainly have been easier if Slips had been willing to say something, but he was a solitary lion, with the exception of his brothers and the subs they kept, and naturally taciturn. A word from him was worth its weight in silver, and was just about as hard to come by.

He continued to look around, his dark eyes piercing the dim cavern with preternatural powers of observation. If asked and inclined to answer, he could tell you how many whiskers each cat bore, and what the sum of all the whiskers in the den was. Slips was a lion who noticed everything and everyone and everything about everyone, except those things and people who were beneath his notice.

At last his gaze fell on the lioness he had come here seeking. A slim lioness with comparatively short and thin fur that was an appealingly dark shade of grey. He knew her name and he might have called her to him, but that wasn't his intention. Instead he moved across the den, deftly maneuvering to avoid less interesting thralls until he stood beside her.

"Come with me," he murmured.

Tay watched the lion approach and came to the baseless conclusion that his coat was dark, like hers. It was impossible to tell in this lighting, of course, but she didn't mind. She had always liked dark lions. Her first love, Sutekh, had been grey with beautiful blue-violet eyes, and then there had been the young reaver who had found her, Ruzanski, who was black with startling green eyes. He was a captain now, she knew, and involved with the daughter of the former warlord, except he had been sent on an impossible quest and the daughter had died in childbirth.

Since he had brought her back to the pride and left her with Kjar she had not been able to find anybody among the pride's males that she might love. A very small part of her wondered if Captain Ru, as he was generally called, might come to love her when he returned and found that his former love was dead, but she shied away from horrid, hateful thoughts like that. She had not been brought up to think that way.

Perhaps this lion who stood beside her and told her to come with him would be the one. She stood up, silently obedient, and waited for him to take the lead.

Slips was inwardly gleeful at the way the lioness asked him no questions and barely glanced at him beyond a quick, startled peek. It was as if she was already partly trained in the behaviors of a sub. Not that breaking in new subs was such an onerous task, but Slips enjoyed a nicely trained sub with whom he could relax and just take his pleasure without having to ruin the moment with reminders not to ask questions or look at him or any of the other small nuisances one found trying to turn Stormborn lionesses into decent subs. Outlanders were much easier to train, being generally less warlike by nature, but the awful colors they came in. Slips preferred his lions to look like his mother had. It made the experience so much more satisfying.

He led her outside and away from the thralls' den toward the cliffs. He didn't want anyone to overhear the discussion he intended to have with her and the pounding waves would act as effective covers, he knew from experience. It would also give him an opportunity to see how well she could bear up under uncomfortable circumstance, since many outlanders were uncomfortable by the cliffs for one reason or another.

"Have a seat by the edge, Hiimatayt," he directed her.

The spray from a wave striking the base of the cliff was already beginning to make Tay shiver, but she had grown accustomed to the idea that the only time she would ever be properly warm in this place was when she was sleeping in the thralls' den with other thralls pressing close on either side of her. She was more distressed by the command to sit at the edge of the cliff since she imagined he would want to talk to her, which meant she would have to face him, which meant that she would have to turn her back on the water. The idea was a little terrifying for the desert-born lioness, but she did as she was told.

Once she was seated she dared another look at the lion. By the light of day she was able to tell easily that she had been correct in her guess about his color. He was a very dark grey, almost the same shade she was. Between the two of them, the only color which was not a shade of grey came from the purple streaks in her tail tuft. He was undeniably handsome. She wondered what he could possibly want from her.

"My name is Solvslips Grei. You belong to me now. You will live with me and my brothers in our den and obey the three of us without hesitation or question. There will be other lionesses living with us, some thralls and some freeborn. All of you are our subs. You will learn more about what that entails later, but so that you can think about it on the way I will let you know that 'sub' is short for 'submissive.'"

It really kind of tickled Slips how effortlessly the lioness behaved in a manner appropriate to a sub. She must be a natural submissive. Those really did not occur in the Stormborn very often, even in families that had been thralls for generations. Only outlanders seemed to possess that particular trait, but many of them had other bad habits to be trained out of. He began to hope that in Hiimatayt he had found someone who would not need corrective training.

"Say that you understand."

Tay wasn't quite sure what she had gotten herself into, or how she had managed to do so, but she was cautiously hopeful that being claimed by this lion, even if it meant belonging to him and his brothers, would offer her a measure of protection she had not previously enjoyed. She fantasized that she would never again endure an unwelcome touch or be forced to bear the unwanted amorous attention of any lion who fancied her. She would be safe from Kjar and Solvtorn.

"I understand," she murmured, glancing up at him before lowering her gaze quickly. There was something about this lion, something dark and tormented inside him that made her want to help him and heal him even though he was apparently a lion who was very comfortable with himself and the way he lived. She didn't know why she thought he might need her, but she did.

"There is one other thing. When you address any of us directly, you will refer to me and my brothers as 'master.' There is no need to use our names when speaking to us."

As he spoke Slips did not fidget, but his thoughts went to the silver bands around his forepaws and how he would enjoy putting them on her and using them to bind her. She wasn't a virgin and she had obviously had rough sex before, but by the time he was done, she wouldn't know what hit her. So to speak.

"Come with me. Tonight I will see how well you will serve, and that means you must first be cleaned. I do not want you to carry the scent of any other male when you are with me. Even my brothers. Do you understand?"

Things began to make a lot more sense to Tay, but she still couldn't bring herself to feel upset by the change in her life. It wasn't quite a change in her fortune, as it seemed she would still be serving as a sex toy to more powerful lions, but at least she would know the lions and there would be other lionesses to share the burden.

Who knew? Maybe it wouldn't be a burden. Her master seemed soft-spoken for all that he was fit. Maybe he would even be gentle. His sternness made her think that might be a possibility.

Before she moved to follow him Tay spoke three words she thought he might like to hear. She didn't need to pause or add extra significance to the final word. She would be using it to address him for as long as she served him. Maybe even for the rest of her life. It would not be a special word in her lexicon.

"I understand, master."