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Nadja scowled at the bald patch on the inside of her back left paw. She had been testing something and too lazy to fetch a thrall to test it on since she was certain it would work the way it was supposed to. It was a tried and true recipe. Unfortunately, she had either remembered it wrongly or mixed it mistakenly, because the result was not reddened fur, but no fur at all in that patch. It was a small patch, but irritating nevertheless.

"Perhaps," she mused as she put the tools of her trade away, "I should see about acquiring a thrall of my own, rather than grabbing a thrall here and a thrall there to test things on."

It would certainly eliminate her concerns about a thrall talking to someone and giving away her secrets. A thrall that was all hers would learn quickly that there were perquisites to being loyal to her, and punishments for disloyalty.

Turisas did not know that he was inadvertently bringing Nadja exactly what she wanted. He just figured that a thrall would be a nice way for him to show that he was a strong and fierce lion who could bring her things. That was the usual way to go about earning favors from lionesses in Turisas' book.

"Now, look," he said, looking over his shoulder to make sure his newly-captured thrall was listening. He was so silent, it made Turisas a little bit uncomfortable, though he would try to make it sound like an advantage when he presented the thrall to Nadja.

"The lioness I'm going to give you to will own you. You are completely dependent on her for food, shelter, and protection, so I don't recommend doing anything to jeopardize those things. Obey her no matter what, and treat her respectfully. She is a priestess, and that makes her important."

Nadja looked up at the sound of heavy paws approaching. The reavers of the pride may have been capable of stealth when they were out viking, but she had noticed that they rarely bothered when they were at home in the stronghold. It was sort of endearing, in a way.

Her warm, fuzzy feelings vanished almost immediately when her witch pale gaze settled on the red and black figure of Turisas making is way to her den. If he thought she was in any sort of mood for his flirts, he was absolutely mistaken. She was tired and grouchy and partially bald, by the gods. She didn't want to see him today.

"Turisas, I'm not in the mood to be bothered by you today," she said as she arranged herself so that the bald patch by her hind paw would not show. She may not have been in the mood for banter, but that didn't mean she wanted to be seen at anything less than her best.

"Don't be like that, Nadja," Turisas said as he joined her outside her den. "I brought you a present."

He gestured indicating the thrall he'd captured and beckoning him closer. So the thrall was abnormally silent. Turisas had already decided he would treat this as an advantage. He was, after all, reasonably certain that he was not truly dealing with a moron, which meant that the thrall was self-contained and maybe a little proud. That was not a bad combination for the thrall of a priestess.

"I didn't think to ask his name, but whatever it is, I'm sure he'll learn to answer to anything you decide to call him." He put the barest hint of a growl into his speech, obviously intended for Lazarus, not Nadezhda.

Nadja cast an exasperated look at Turisas. She wasn't surprised that he hadn't bothered to ask the thrall for his name since it was not an uncommon practice to rename thralls, but it still irked her a little. The whole practice did. It was supposed to be a way to disorient the things and keep them from feeling even a little secure, but Nadja had found that the connection people felt with their names made it more worthwhile to keep the name they were born with.

"Thrall, tell me your name," she said, taking a few steps past Turisas to look the purple and brown lion in the eyes. This was as much a test of the thrall as it was an attempt to learn his name. She wanted to know how he would take commands.

She was aware of Turisas shifting somewhere in her peripheral vision and making himself larger and more threatening looking and rolled her eyes mentally. Exactly who did he think he was impressing anyway?

Turisas wisely did not caution Nadja against getting too close to the thrall he'd brought her. He knew she was an independent lioness, or liked to think of herself as one at any rate, and would take umbrage at such a warning. Besides, she was a Stormborn from an old line. She could easily handle a thrall like this one if he suddenly decided to get uppity.

That didn't stop him from positioning himself in such a way that he would loom over Nadja's shoulder when she addressed her new thrall. He wanted it to be very clear in the thrall's mind that there would be consequences for misbehavior and that Turisas considered Nadja his (even if she did not yet share this opinion) and the thrall had better not make any moves on her.

He kept all this nonverbal though. Nadja knew what she was doing. She was a scary, sexy priestess who made poisons.

"Lazarus," Nadja repeated. All right. It was a foreign name, but that was hardly a surprise. She wasn't going to re-name him. But, "I may shorten that to Laz on occasion. When I do, I am still addressing you. Do you understand?"

Standard thrall-training dictated that it was essential to establish these sorts of things early and to demand understanding. This was also the time to insist on personal preferences, like being called master or having verbal acknowledgment of any command given. Nadja didn't really need those things, as long as her commands were obeyed.

She didn't know for certain, not yet, that Lazarus was not going to voluntarily speak a great deal, but she suspected he was either sullen or naturally silent. If the former, he would get over it, if the latter she wasn't interested in changing his personality.

"I will also require that you speak to no one about me or my work. If I find out that you have done so, or even suspect that you have, you will have a miserable time coming. Do you understand?"

Turisas smirked behind Nadja as she mentioned what a miserable time this Lazarus would have coming if he revealed something she didn't want spread about. He'd been on the receiving end of Nadja's vengeance in his youth. It had been memorably unpleasant.

There wasn't too much else he really felt he needed to do or say here, but he wasn't going to leave just yet. He was hoping she might still have some thanks for him, as it seemed she had accepted the thrall. She wouldn't be establishing ground rules for him if she didn't plan to keep him. That meant some thanks were due him, right? Not necessarily sexy-times thanks, but thanks.

He sat very still and kept up the looming as he waited. Even if Lazarus wasn't outwardly impressed, Turisas was certain the thrall was aware of the threat he posed if need be.

"That's good," Nadja said. "I work with poisons when I am not fulfilling my duty as a priestess. Sometimes I will test nonlethal doses on you. I do not want you dead, though, so you must let me know if you think something is wrong. I will explain to you what ought to happen before I do it."

She took a moment to consider what else the thrall would need to know. She hoped he remembered to inform Kjar who owned him, or else he would be subject to Kjar's treatment for new thralls, which was effective but brutal and not something Nadja wanted for her thrall unless he proved impossible to handle.

"I did not expect to acquire a thrall, so things may be a bit cramped until I am able to rearrange things to fit both of us as well as my tools. Until I have done so, you will sleep with the unclaimed thralls of the pride and report to me in the mornings, unless I tell you to arrive at another time. Make certain the lion in charge there, Kjar, knows that you are mine."

Turisas wanted to snap at the thrall for his nonverbal responses to Nadja's ground rules, but Lazarus was not his thrall and it was bad manners to discipline someone else's thrall without their knowledge and permission. He didn't know if Nadja would be disciplining this thrall, but he was certain that if she decided it was necessary she would take care of the discipline herself rather than asking him to do it or taking the wayward creature to Kjar the Breaker.

"I am pleased you like the thrall, Nadja," he said, reminding her as subtly as he was able that she still had yet to thank him for bringing her this gift, and that if she really did like it, this would be an ideal opportunity to express her gratitude. If she felt so inclined.

When she didn't seem like she intended to do more than nod in acknowledgment that he'd spoken Turisas shrugged mentally and began walking away from the priestess's den. It might be a little more difficult to woo Nadja with a thrall always hanging about, but she could send Lazarus out to gather plants or something when Turisas came to call. He liked that idea.

She could tell that Lazarus was not comfortable with something she had said, but she wasn't sure which part of it had upset him. The poisons, probably, but his grunt hadn't come until she'd mentioned living arrangements, which was a bit belated. She took a guess that it was something about being with the unclaimed thralls that bothered him. Was he too proud for that? The idea amused her.

"It's not ideal," Nadja admitted. "But I am accustomed to living alone and there is not much room in my den for other people at the moment. I will need time to arrange things."

She was not going to apologize for the way things were or make other plans. If Lazarus really had a problem with sleeping around the other thralls, he could always find somewhere else to bed down. But then he would have to deal with the consequences of being found by someone who didn't want him there as well as the consequences of being difficult for her to find when she wanted him.

"Turisas," she called after the retreating red and black lion. "Will you talk to Kjar?"

Turisas turned when Nadja called his name. It was out of character for her to do so, and he did not know what to expect. He did not expect her to fling herself at him in gratitude, and so he was not disappointed when she didn't do that.

In response to Nadja's request he offered the priestess a nod and a grunt. He could do that. He didn't like the idea of Nadja going around Kjar anyway. That lion was truly unpleasant, and even Turisas was sometimes made uncomfortable hearing about the things he did to unclaimed female thralls.

He did not linger.

The thrall's persistent silence was beginning to become frustrating, but Nadja reminded herself that she would grow accustomed to him and he to her, and at that point they would likely get along quite nicely. She would just have to get through the settling-in period. Both of them would.

"Go with him," she instructed Lazarus, guessing what he asked more by luck than astuteness.