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 Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:07 pm
Her new thrall had been the one to bring her the news, and Kazul had not really thought too much about why Grovar would know this before she did. She knew thralls talked frankly amongst themselves and overheard much that freeborn lions said when they ignored them. In fact, it was because she knew thralls overheard much that she believed what Grovar told her.
Ru was coming home. Apparently his band had been sighted several days' out from the pride's official borders. That was a good thing. At least in theory. In reality, Kazul was so filled with trepidation about his return that anyone would think it was not a good thing at all.
And that was because of the other bit of news about the viking that Grovar had brought her, and it was that second bit of news which had put Kazul into such a pique that she'd gone out and done something regrettable. Actually, she'd done someone regrettable. And now she was on her way home from picking certain herbs to mix into an abortive remedy, just in case.
Intent on keeping her humiliating mission a secret, Kazul was moving in a gait that could only be described as skulking. Her expression was a confusing jumble of anxiety, guilt, and defiance. This probably would be a very bad time to encounter her, but Kazul didn't intend to have any encounters. She was just going to sneak home and mix the herbs up and no one would be the wiser. Especially not Ru. Or her father.
That was the plan.
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 2:32 pm
Gaved didn't recognize the female immediately. Instead he recognized her shape and the rhythm of her movements: sidling, sneaking, and guilty.
It was irresistible.
The brown lion stalked over to her, making no effort to sneak. If she ran, he would chase her. She was surely up to no good, not walking like that. If there was one thing Gaved was good at recognizing, it was a lioness that wasn't eager to be seen.
He hadn't taken many steps towards her before he realized that it was the Warlord's daughter. The green one. Pretty. A bit softer than your usual lioness, but Gaved could appreciate that. He had never bothered to take much notice of the Warlord's daughters before. They belonged to a class of females he mentally designated dull and untouchable -- a class that included Captains' wives and daughters, relatives, old biddies and Bilijo. But right now, everything about Kazul reeked of vulnerability, and Gaved found it intoxicating.
"Well, well. What are you hiding, Warlord's daughter?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:44 pm
Kazul's ears flattened and she turned to face the lion who had surprised her. She couldn't believe he'd caught her by surprise. It was embarrassing. But not nearly as embarrassing as it would be if he found out what she was about. She bristled.
"Do I know you?" she asked.
He had a bully's air about him, but among the Stormborn that was hardly anything unusual. It certainly wouldn't help her to identify him. His coat color was more likely to help there. He sort of reminded her of one of the priestesses her mother worked with, Brynja. Maybe they were related. Mentally she reviewed the family lines there and came to the conclusion he was probably Gaved since he was too young to be Thorgrim or Erling and very obviously not Gunnar or any of his get.
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 9:41 am
The green lioness looked rather fierce. Interesting, given that he had obviously caught her in the middle of ... something. Hmmm.
It seemed unlikely that he could really entertain himself with this lioness. She was the Warlord's daughter, as well as being a Freeborn lioness, and he didn't fancy having his a** handed to him by a pissed-off Aesir. But finding what she was about sounded like fun, especially if it was something shameful.
"Gaved Thorgrimsson," Gaved said. He grinned at the lioness, rather nastily. "Of course, I wouldn't expect one of the Warlord's daughters to bother with every lowly reaver." He took a step towards her. "I wouldn't expect you to be sneaking around, either. Interesting."
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Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 3:50 pm
"Oh," she replied, letting her face show that his answer had somehow been a disappointment. Like getting a package in the mail and then finding out that it's just an invitation to a car dealership's "special sale." In fact, not only was in answer disappointing, it was boring.
She could be nasty, too. "I know of your father, of course, but of your own deeds I'm afraid I've heard nothing at all."
There was further nastiness waiting at the tip of her tongue when Gaved got around to mentioning that he'd noticed her sneaking. She did not want him talking to anyone about her sneaking. She did not want him even thinking about her sneaking.
"Well met, Gavin," she continued, deciding to ignore his nastiness for the time being and try just to be bland, and therefore boring and hopefully forgettable. "I'm Kazul Aesirsdottir."
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 5:23 pm
If the green lioness hoped to make herself boring and forgettable, she was going about it entirely the wrong way. Nothing of his own deeds at all? The stupid little b***h! Gaved felt his fur bristling out like an angry cat's.
But -- no. He would hardly intimidate a snooty b***h like this by standing here hollering at her. She could all too easily run back to her Daddy. Gaved's lips drew back in an angry sneer as the lioness condescendingly introduced herself -- getting his name wrong into the bargain.
"Well met, Kazul," Gaved said. He was angry, but he hadn't lost the scent. This Kazul was hiding something, ashamed of something, and Gaved would just love to exploit that somehow. "So tell me, Kazul Aesirsdottir, what are you about?" His eyes shone. "Humor a poor reaver."
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:24 am
A poor reaver her a**, Kazul thought to herself. She knew who he was. It wasn't just that she knew all the old bloodlines. She knew who Gaved was, specifically. It was known that he was a nasty lion who treated females abominably. Likely he wouldn't be stupid enough to try anything with her, but she really didn't want to test it.
"Women's work. Gathering herbs," she said, taking care that she tell him the truth, if not all of it. This was a sticky subject and getting caught in a lie would prolong the conversation and cause it to take an unpleasant turn. Not that it had started off so well anyway.
"My mother and sister use a lot of herbs and sometimes I help them replenish their stores." Also true, but in this case totally unrelated to what she was actually doing. So now it was time to stop and change the subject, because saying too much or babbling would as good as give away that she was hiding things. Best to keep him bored.
"Isn't someone in your family getting married soon?" she asked. "I think I remember hearing something to that effect."
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 2:43 pm
Gathering herbs. It sounded likely enough, and the topic was enough to bore Gaved almost immediately. He was still suspicious, though. She had been sneaking, he was sure of it. Sneaking and looking quite ashamed of herself.
How to get her to admit it was a sticking point. Gaved's instinct was to keep hammering away at the same weak spot until it -- an opponent, a prey animal, whatever -- gave in. He didn't know how to deal with Kazul's bland responses, and didn't know what line of questioning to try next.
Hmmm.
That remark about marriages irritated him. It seemed everyone in his family was getting married, including, unfortunately, him. Once he was married, his days of fun would be over. Gaved bared his teeth at Kazul. "Lots of marriages happening these days, yes." Curse the lion that thought up marriages in the first place! And curse Kazul for bringing it up!
It occurred to Gaved that he might be able to have a bit of fun before his marriage after all, if this Kazul was amenable. She did have a temptingly plush figure. He took a step towards her, doing his best to loom. "I know what you were really doing," Gaved said, knowing nothing of the sort. "I might forget about it, if I had a distraction." He ran his eyes over her, making it clear just what sort of distraction he meant.
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:41 pm
Kazul couldn't quite believe that blandness was succeeding where nastiness would not have. It was like she had suddenly channeled her mother or something. This was much more her mother's sort of solution than Kazul's, whose problem-solving had been more like her father's from the time she left Tomi's tutelage as an adolescent. It felt surprisingly good to be clever.
And then he was talking about marriages, and all at once he was looming. Kazul looked up at him and refused to be intimidated. Who did he think he was dealing with? She was Aesir's daughter. She had grown up with the most intimidating lions in the pride coming around to dinner all the time. Gaved may be a mean b*****d, but he wasn't as scary as all that.
"Oh, sure you do," she said. He knew nothing. Males never knew anything about herbs. "And what do you think you know, that you imagine I'd be desperate enough to...distract you?"
Kazul was treading on thin ice here, and she knew it. But a part of her was a little flattered that Gaved would even be interested in blackmailing her for sex. Maybe she should let him blackmail her. It would maybe make her hurt a little less. And besides...in for a penny, in for a pound.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:32 am
Maybe he should have prepared a comeback before starting down this path, but Gaved had always had a problem with looking before he leapt. Oh, well. He would just have to think of something. Herbs, herbs ... if Kazul was banking on him not knowing a damn thing about herbs, she was spot on. Balls, Gaved thought irritably.
No choice but to forge ahead blindly.
Whatever Kazul wanted to hide, Gaved had a pretty shrewd idea that it had something to do with an assignation. What else would a Warlord's daughter be ashamed of? Fighting? Killing? Aesir would probably be thrilled to hear about his daughter murdering someone, bloodthirsty old b*****d that he was. Treachery, some sort of contact with the pirates? Gaved considered this briefly and dismissed it. He knew that females had soft constitutions and could likely be turned traitor, but he didn't think a treacherous female would have the guts to return home ... even if she was slinking around like a thief.
It had to be something scandalous, but if he got the details wrong Kazul would likely tell him to ******** off.
"I know that sometimes females can be ... tempted, to do things good Freeborn girls shouldn't," Gaved said, grinning at Kazul. Oh, he hoped this worked. She really did look like a fun lay. "If you tempt me for a bit, I'll never breathe a word."
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 1:06 pm
Had Kazul been privy to Gaved's reasoning she probably would have laughed until she peed. He was spot on about her father being proud of her for murdering someone. And then, figuring that the b*****d had probably deserved a good murdering, Aesir would probably ask her mum to reanimate them or something so he could kill them, too, for provoking his daughter. Her laughter at the thought of her being a traitor would have had a mean edge, a precursor to that murder he'd considered.
Kazul met his supposition with a blank look as she spent a moment trying to list all the things that could come under the heading of Things Good Freeborn Girls Shouldn't Do. It wasn't a terrifically long list, but it was fairly varied.
"Um. Statistically speaking, I probably have. But it's nothing like that." Fortunately, Kazul was not one of those lionesses who considered recreational sex out of wedlock to be inappropriate for a freeborn. Or anyone, really. It was just sex. Unless you were in a relationship. Then there were problems. Kazul really wasn't sure whether she was in a relationship or not at this point, so her sense of guilt wasn't really kicking in about the sex. Just about the uncomfortable possibility of pregnancy.
"By the way, that is also the least romantic proposition I have ever heard. Do you talk to your fiancee like that?" She smirked.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 1:29 pm
This was most dissatisfying. He knew she had been up to no good, he could practically taste it. But nothing he said seemed to work! Freeborn females were altogether too sly and tricksy for his tastes.
Her smirk brought a scowl from him. Any mention of his cursed fiancee was sure to irritate him. Kazul's reference to romance put him over the edge, though. Who did this b***h think she was, taunting him? She was infuriating, dancing around his questions, deflecting him effortlessly. His anger rose, and as always, his desire with it.
"I'm not the romantic sort," Gaved growled, moving closer to Kazul. He was careful to maintain a slight distance, just enough for her to dodge out of his reach if she felt the need to. Although tempting, he wouldn't dare force himself on her...and he didn't want her to run off shouting that he had tried. "You don't look like the romantic sort either." No, you look like a raving b***h.
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Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:19 pm
She nearly choked as she attempted to swallow her laughter. There was no reason someone so foul ought to delight her, but Kazul couldn't help being amused by him. It probably wasn't him delighting her, she decided. It was the fact that she was outsmarting someone.
"Honestly, I don't care how many people you tell that you saw me gathering herbs," she told him. "I don't think you'll hold your listeners' attention very long that way anyway."
She didn't move away when he came closer. She never did when people tried to get to her by invading her personal space, even though she actually had an enormous personal space bubble that she hated to have invaded. Power and mind games. Kazul could play them, too.
Leaning in closer she whispered, "But if you ever tell anyone that you and I had sex, I will personally remove your balls and shove them up your a**."
Let him make of that what he would. Warning or invitation. She had no problem with him coming up with either interpretation.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 1:33 pm
Gaved lashed his tail angrily, frustrated by the lioness's nonchalance. He would almost swear she was laughing at him. And she was right, unfortunately; people would think he was an idiot and a dullard if he tried to tell tales about her picking herbs. He was regarding her with a cheated, miserable scowl when she leaned in to whisper to him.
The dark lion bared his teeth at the threat, but did not snarl or lash out at her. There was more than a threat in her words. There was ... hmm. A suggestion.
His anger cooling, Gaved mock-growled at Kazul. Badgering her to possibly humiliate her had been entertaining (if fruitless), but this promised infinitely more entertainment. It would be a balm to his wounded ego after being repeatedly verbally lacerated by Dalla, as well. "I accept your terms, Kazul Aesirsdottir."
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 1:56 pm
Kazul nodded once, sharply.
A part of her knew that this was not the sort of lioness she was cut out to be, but she hurt and angry and there were limited means at her disposal for avenging herself. This was one of them. And Gaved was certainly a well put together lion, if one could ignore his personality.
"Not here," she said in a tone that implied an unspoken obviously. It would do no good to have him sworn to secrecy if someone came across them in flagrante delicto.
She also didn't want him in her den, though. She knew that she would not want to have to smell his scent later, or lie to her thrall about it. Hyenas had such damnably sensitive noses, and Grovar was definitely the sort to remark. Sometimes Kazul suspected she was not as cowed as she seemed to be.
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