Skyla didn't even dare hope that Baen would just forget about the fight with Taktar and let her go unpunished. No, he would never do that.
It was so easy to underestimate the Novalian. Many slaves, when they first arrived, struggled to comprehend how someone like him could have ended up running a facility like this, with slaves and guards and more rare possessions than any museum in the galaxy. Not a lot was known about him, either, so this added to the mystery regarding his identity.
He had rich tastes, that much was clear, and he positively exuded arrogance. But it was a cold, steel-like arrogance that few understood. More than one person had looked at him and seen a rich aristocrat, overflowing with self worth and looking down his nose at everyone, someone who needed to be taken down a peg or two. But woe betide anyone who tried to bring him down, whether with harsh words or mocking comments. Those creatures never lasted long.
He was strikingly handsome, but didn't seem at all interested in using his looks to exert control over females (or males, for that matter). In fact, no-one had ever seen him with a lady of any kind; he was the 'eternal-bachelor' type. Indeed, it gave him more time for his work, ensuring everything was carried out to perfection and dealing with buyers of all shapes and sizes. Professionally, he was known as 'The Collector' because of his love of rare things. And he always got what he wanted, one way or another. Always.
Those who didn't know him well, mostly those who didn't reside in the facility, didn't know quite what to make of him...but never asked questions. His facility was top secret. Though his business with the swamp worms wasn't technically illegal, he hadn't gotten permission before setting it up. And the fact that he kept slaves and harboured so many rare forms of life (some products of which were sold highly illegally) meant that he kept a low profile were the government was concerned. His buyers were a mixture of rich businessmen who skirted around the law for their own pleasures, all the way down the ladder to common smugglers who sold on his wares to other galaxies. Nearly all of his clients were on the wrong side of the law and in this line of work, the less you knew of those you dealt with, the better.
However, you didn't have to know Baen long to discover possibly his most alarming and terrifying trait – he placed no value on life. That is, life that wasn't in his 'possession', and even then, that was limited to his 'rarities'. It wasn't that he killed for fun, he simply did not care about the concept of life in other creatures. Life, death, it was all the same to him.
New slaves often encountered Baen's detached side early on in their life at the facility. They were all warned about him, when they first came to the facility, but few took the warnings seriously. It was when they made a mistake that they came to realise how right the warnings were.
Executions were a rarity at the facility, but not uncommon. Baen wasn't above killing the odd slave to set an example, but he rarely did that. And he didn't just kill them whenever they slipped up, it was a waste of resources and they cost money to replace. So he devised a solution that served as the universal punishment for any crime. If you made a mistake that was big enough to cause problems for either fellow slaves or the guards, you were sent on the hunting party.
The hunting parties consisted of Baen's toughest, most battle-hardened guards, filled to the brim with muscle and steel. They were tasked with tracking down the adult swamp worms and harvesting the fluid in their heart sack. The jungles of Florana were extremely dangerous so they always took plenty of gun power to ease the job. But even then, luck was not always kind and every now and again, a creature was caught out and met a most unfortunate end. Some of the time, it was the worms themselves who claimed the victims, but more often it was the Pool Sharks who went in for the kill. They normally preyed on the Nabla Natives and the occasional Cyclophic Monkey (when they were stupid enough to go swimming), but the two primates knew of the sharks and had developed fast reflexes and tended to avoid crossing the waters by swimming. So the sharks always took advantage of the opportunity presented by the hunting party. Unfortunately, members of the party couldn't swing through the trees like the monkeys and had to wade through the shallow water. That was where the 'accidents' happened.
When you were assigned to a party, you were given a grade. Tail-runners followed behind the group, central-runners were part of the group and front-runners went ahead of the group. All were considered dangerous, especially when in the water, but it was widely accepted that central-runners were the safest, then tail-runners (if they didn't fall too far behind) with front-runners considered most likely to get eaten. If you were a slave in the group, regardless of grade, you received no weapon whatsoever. Guards who managed to get themselves assigned to a party (which was rare, but not unheard of) were given a measly gun and small dagger, which was barely enough to take out a Floranian Blood Fly, let alone a fully grown shark or swamp worm.
Your grade was given by the severity of your mistake. A simple slip up while working might earn you a central-runner position if it was serious enough, but if the action had a greater impact on others the grade was increased. When the action was deliberate, say an attempted sabotage or the like, you were immediately assigned as a front-runner. If you returned alive from the trip, the case was dropped and you went on with your work. If you didn't return...
Nevertheless, it was an extremely effective punishment as well as a deterrent and the majority of slaves only needed one trip as a central-runner to ensure they'd never make another mistake. Whenever one of Baen's business associates took a tour of the facility, they never failed to comment on how obedient the slaves were. The Novalian simply smiled and never replied.
Despite the hunting party threat that loomed over every slave, Skyla had never been on one. Baen valued her too much to send her out into the dangerous forest, and knew her too well to know that she'd cause trouble anywhere, without thought of the consequences. So he punished her in other ways for her wide variety of crimes, but they were never anything life threatening. Skyla was 'special'.
Other slaves often told her she was lucky she could get away with so much. But the reality was she didn't get away with anything. She was always, always punished for misdeeds, in an imaginative array of penalties. And yet she was never deterred. Jaymz asked her every now and again why she didn't just give up and behave. She would always shrug in reply and mumble something along the lines of,
"Why should I? They make my life hell, I simply return the favour." The Rilgarian could only smile at her answer. Deep down he wished he had the freedom she did, because then he'd be able to cause as much trouble as she did, possibly more. But he'd already been on the hunting party 4 times, once as a central runner, twice as a tail runner and the most recent time, as a front runner. He'd survived the ordeal, but only just. He still had a scar from where the Pool Shark had taken a bite out of his leg. If Professor Xavier hadn't been a genius with a needle and possess an amazing number of medicinal ointments, he'd probably have died from blood loss. That had been several years ago and since then, he hadn't caused trouble. He figured he was more use to others in a healthy condition, no sense in throwing away your life for nothing, though he still envied Skyla's freedom.
Skyla, however, didn't have that problem and caused trouble left, right and centre. She insulted the guards, attacked them (sometimes without provocation), sabotaged work instruments, and anything else she could think of. As she'd grown older, her attacks had been more calculated and less wild, but still frequent. And she'd never given up on trying to escape.
Once, in her early teenage years, she'd made possibly her wildest escape attempt. It involved setting all the animals in the complex free (with the exception of the more dangerous ones) and endeavouring to escape in the confusion. It had been a good plan as she'd carried it out in the evening, when everyone was having supper, and the pandemonium that had followed allowed her to slip away. But alas, she was caught. Baen hadn't been impressed. Her stunt had resulted in several of his possessions eating each other, leaving Skyla responsible for the total extinction of the Kerwaian Joo-Joo Beetle and the Pokitaru Green Sea Slug. The serious crime called for a serious punishment, in Baen's eyes. So he had her injected with the purified venom of a Sarathos Hooded Viper.
When used under normal circumstances, the venom was a simple neurotoxin that disorientated the viper's prey, enabling the snake to strike and kill. The toxin did this by enhancing the senses of the victim so it couldn't see, hear or smell the snake properly, so it couldn't escape. But it was only enough to disorientate a small mammal. However, in its purified form, the venom could be much worse. It amplified a creature's senses to an alarmingly high level. Every smell, sound, taste, touch, even sight was increased tenfold to the extent that the sufferer was in agony at the slightest movement or sound.
When Baen injected Skyla with the venom, she was instantly overwhelmed by everything. Smells clogged her nostrils, threatening to suffocate her. Sounds blared in her ears like a siren. Food tasted sickeningly sweet or sour in her mouth. Colours sprang out at her, almost blinding her with their intensity. Even things she touched felt all wrong, like they were too smooth or too rough. She couldn't even sit or stand without her body crying out in pain. The guards made her life all the more miserable, making loud noises every time she passed by, or knocking her and watching her reel. But she refused to beg for the antidote, her stubborn pride fuelled by the need to prove herself as a young, tough teenager.
For a whole week she had gone about in that state, throwing up several times a day as she couldn't keep down her food. Eventually, Baen had been forced to give her the antidote as she nearly died of internal bleeding in the ears and nose. He hadn't given the toxin to her since but it had been eleven months before she tried to escape again.
Aside from this punishment, she'd been burned, frozen, whipped, beaten, half drowned in an assortment of substances, and forced to consume disgusting foods that made her ill for days.
And yet she never gave up, refusing at any time to beg for mercy or release. Maia called it stubbornness, but they both knew it was more than that. It was a message – Lombaxes could take anything.
When Skyla was summoned the day after her fight with Taktar, she knew it wouldn't be pleasant as a Reaper escorted her to the lab. The lab was where all the nasty punishments took place as it housed all the chemicals and solutions. There, she found Baen waiting with another guard and an upset looking Xavier. Skyla studied the scientist's expression, trying to gauge how severe the ordeal would be. He looked miserable. That wasn't a good sign. The Novalian smiled at her,
"Thank you for joining us." His words sounded like for all the world he was welcoming her to a tea party, not a presumable painful ordeal. Skyla's eyes narrowed,
"Get on with it, Baen, I have work to do," she answered curtly, not in the mood for his games. Baen's eyes sparkled dangerously and Xavier gave a little sigh, shaking his head slightly.
"Do not take that tone with me, and this will only take a minute," Baen informed her coldly, his voice sweet and honeyed. He gestured towards the Professor and the Peluchian came forward holding a large syringe fill with what appeared to be small round balls. Skyla rolled her eyes,
"Another injection? What is it with you and needles?" The Novalian made no reply but indicated for the scientist to proceed.
"These are Veldinian Blood Wasp eggs," Xavier explained, "they'll be injected into your leg and remain there for seven days while they mature and then hatch." The Lombax looked at Baen,
"That is so sick!" she exclaimed in disgust, but obediently stuck out a leg for the Professor. He immediately knelt down and began rolling up her trouser leg. No-one said anything as the Peluchian inserted the fat needle into her calf and began gently applying pressure to the syringe so that eggs entered her leg one by one. Skyla didn't make a sound as she felt the objects embed themselves in between muscle and bone, instead glaring fiercely at Baen who didn't meet her gaze.
When a third of the eggs had entered her leg, Xavier stopped.
"Keep going, Professor," Baen murmured softly. The Peluchian's face spasmed slightly with pain and he looked up at Skyla with a distressed look. She smiled encouragingly at him and, bowing his head, he continued.
When Skyla had first arrived Xavier had refused to inflict anything on her. But after a trip on the hunting party he was visibly shaken. No doubt seeing his creations fully grown and hungry for blood had rattled his nerves. But he still hated having to mete out the punishments onto Skyla, who he had cared for deeply even as a new arrival. With this in mind, the Lombax had taken him aside in the early days and talked things through with him. She'd asked him not to refuse Baen again, as she knew what that would lead to. Although he'd been extremely reluctant at first, he'd soon given in when she pointed out that if he didn't carry out the order, someone else would. At least with him she'd know who she was dealing with and that they meant no harm.
Rather than push them apart, this agreement pulled them closer together in friendship as both were held against their will. When Skyla wasn't undergoing a punishment, she knew she could always rely on Xavier to advise her and provide a second opinion (the first coming from Maia, though the two nearly always ran along the same length). In a way, Xavier was like an uncle to her, and Maia an older sister. Skyla had no memory of her own family.
Once all the eggs had been implanted, the Peluchian drew back, looked utterly wretched. Skyla rolled down her trouser leg, ignoring the large lump that now stood out underneath the material. Baen nodded with satisfaction.
"You will report to Professor Xavier once a day for updates on their progress, and you will inform him of all symptoms you encounter. I don't think I need to tell you that if you try and remove the eggs or tamper with them in any way, the consequences will be severe. Any questions?" Skyla looked up at him, eyes ablaze with anger,
"Got to hell...please," she spat and he raised an eyebrow. Her mouth clamped shut and she bit back another retort. Baen gave a small, cruel smirk and then waved his hand dismissively,
"Get out of my sight."
As the days went by the implantation of wasp eggs rapidly climbed Skyla's list of most unpleasant punishments. Her leg swelled alarmingly ever hour after the injection until it was three times its normal size. Every time she moved she felt the eggs rubbing against each other inside her. It wasn't pleasant. But worse was to come.
The day after the injection, she came into first contact with the true nastiness of the eggs. As she was showering that morning, she'd suddenly felt unbearably hot and began sweating profusely. The hot water hadn't helped so she turned it down to a cooler temperature in the effort to bring her own temperature down with it. It did. As the water washed over her skin her body temperature had plummeted so she now shivered violently with cold. Turning the water up again hadn't made any difference.
Confused and shuddering she got out, dripping wet and dried herself quickly. Once redressed she left the community bathroom, hugging her arms about her. Maia had immediately noticed her quivering body and distinct blue tinge. Abandoning her breakfast, the Cazar rushed her friend to the lab where Xavier met them with a grim look.
"I'm so sorry, Sky, that's what they do. The eggs release chemicals that will increase or decrease your body temperature at random. It's to do with the gender of the larva, and though it isn't life threatening, it's not at all nice. There's nothing I can do, I'm afraid".
Maia had been furious, but there was little she could do either. She tried to order Skyla back to bed but the Lombax knew she couldn't do that, Baen expected her to work no matter what her condition, and going back to bed would be a sign of weakness. A contest of stubborn will had taken place between the two friends, but eventually Maia had to relent. But she insisted on carrying blankets around with her all day, putting them on Skyla when she got cold and taking them off when she got hot.
This went on all week, with the temperature changes becoming more extreme and erratic with each passing day. Maia and Jaymz did everything they could to help their Lombax friend, keeping her away from bored guards and completing her chores when she couldn't herself. Xavier reported that the eggs were flourishing and would definitely be out in a week.
"But I must warn you, they will hatch under your skin and burrow their way out. The moment your leg starts to hurt, come to me and I'll get them out as quickly as I can. It will be very painful," he told her dejectedly. Skyla nodded, she expected no less from Baen.
The day they hatched she was in the artefacts room, polishing with Maia. She'd nearly dropped the priceless medallion (made from a crystal no longer found in the universe) as pain shot through her leg, causing it to buckle. Maia had caught her and replaced the medallion before hauling her away to the lab. Skyla refused to cry out as she felt the things moving under her skin, instead gritting her teeth.
When they reached the lab, Xavier had dropped what he was doing (quite literally as Cornelius had to catch the vial before it smashed) and rushed to help her. He gave her something to bite on and, opening up her leg, began extracting the newly hatched larva. He deposited them in a nearby bottle and Skyla saw for the first time what had been growing inside her. What came out could only be described as black, blood soaked maggots, about an inch in length and with visible jaws full of needle like teeth. When they were dropped in the bottle, they stopped wriggling and curled into spherical balls, lying still.
One by one they were removed until finally, Xavier pulled the last one out. Skyla was left with a large hole in a mutilated looking leg. A lesser creature would have fainted from the pain and blood loss but Skyla refused to acknowledge both. The scientist set about cleaning the wound and sewing the bloody gash together.
"Congratulations, my dear," they all turned to see Baen standing beside them. No-one had seen or heard him enter. He smiled at Skyla but it didn't reach his eyes, "you've just helped a near extinct species by incubating their young." Skyla's temper flared violently but she couldn't move from her position without dislodging the Professor's work.
"Remember when I told you to go to hell? I take it back. Hell's too good for you," she snarled. The Novalian's eyes came to life briefly with a glitter of mirth,
"Indeed."
Xavier finished the bandage he was wrapping and tied it off tightly,
"There we are. It should be alright in a few days...no scar," he added, glancing at Baen. The Collector never approved of scars on his possessions.
"Good. Now follow me," Baen addressed Skyla.
"Sir, her leg..." Xavier began to protest.
"It's alright Xavier, I'll be fine," Skyla assured him. Ignoring the gathering pool of anxiety in her stomach, the young Lombax began limping after the Novalian, Maia close behind. They left the lab together and Grignak didn't bother searching either of them. No-one in their right mind would try something under the Collector's nose. Baen walked ahead a few paces before turning back with a raised eyebrow. Skyla glanced at her Cazar friend,
"You go have lunch. I'll see you later." Maia glanced nervously from the Lombax to the Novalian. She squeezed Skyla's hand,
"Be careful...please." The pleading in her voice was not lost on her friend whose lips pursed, but she nodded obediently,
"I'll try," she answered. Knowing that Maia wouldn't move until she did, Skyla started to make her way towards Baen, doing her best to walk normally even though her injured leg protested with each step. He turned away as she approached, striding off towards the nearest holo-lift. Once there he called for it and waited for her to catch up before getting in. Skyla stood as far away from him as she could as the lift began to rise. Not a word was said when they reached their destination and the doors slid open. To Skyla's surprised, they weren't at Baen's quarters, but rather at the very top of the facility. Baen walked out and she followed, not entirely reluctantly as she'd only been on the roof twice before. It was a flat plateau in a rough rectangle shape, with railings to stop you falling off the edge. Of course, if someone decided to push you at the right angle, there was little you could do.
Most of the roof was actually made of thick glass as it formed the ceiling of the hydroponics chamber. This design meant that the maximum amount of light entered the chamber for the plants to soak up.
Baen moved over to the railings and leaned on them, a slight breeze playing about him and whipping his hair and clothes. Skyla stayed where she was on the roof and looked down. It felt weird seeing what was beneath your feet, and she felt like she was about to fall. All below her was a rainbow of colour from all the life present. Movement that resembled the scurrying of ants told her the workers were hard at work tending the various plants who had specific needs. At least 25 slaves worked in the chamber on a daily basis to look after all the plant-life. Skyla watched as she saw a Markazian climbing the Giant Bezebo Bamboo that grew over two metres per day and needed regular trimming. The Markazian was using her tail to balance herself on the thick boughs as she cut the smaller branches before attacking the main trunk. Skyla's hand wandered to her back. She wished she had a tail. She'd heard male Lombaxes had one, or had had one, but she guessed she'd never know. It'd be a great thing, though, to have a tail. The things you could do...
The sound of someone clearing their throat made her look up and she saw Baen looking at her, one eyebrow raised in a mock inquisitive gaze. Skyla's eyes narrowed slightly as she grudgingly moved over to the edge, remaining several feet from his position.
"Why have you brought me here?" she muttered from the corner of her mouth, forearms resting on railings, her hair waving gently in the wind. Baen looked out over the forest that stretched before them luxuriously, a never ending field of green.
"What do you see?" he asked. Skyla's brow furrowed,
"What do you mean?"
"What do you see?" he repeated. Skyla followed his gaze over the greenery. The height of the roof held them above the tree canopy line and Skreeducks could be seen flying some way in the distance.
"I see trees...a forest...freedom," she replied slowly, the last word leaving her lips with a somewhat wistful sigh. Baen chuckled lightly,
"I'll tell you what you see. You see my trees, my forest...my freedom. The roof you are standing on belongs to me, the room below and every life in it belongs to me. This facility belongs to me."
"You don't own the forest," Skyla pointed out.
"On the contrary, I do. I own all the creatures that dwell in it...and if I wanted to I could kill them all and burn down every tree in sight. And who could stop me?"
"Let me see...the government?" Skyla muttered sarcastically.
"No, not even they could stop me, because I own it all," Baen confirmed with a small, secretive smile, "and when something I own breaks or malfunctions, I have it fixed, one way or another. And sometimes, the best way to fix a problem is to get rid of it. Nothing happens within these walls without me knowing of it, because if you don't know your own possessions, then what do you know?" Skyla rolled her eyes,
"Is there a reason for this lecture? It's a little tedious."
All of a sudden she found herself pinned up against the railing by her throat. Baen's eyes remained calm as he applied pressure, forcing her steadily back against the rail. Skyla gagged and struggled but his grip was like iron. He put his head close to her ear,
"I own you," he whispered viciously, making her ear twitch violently, "and if I wanted to, I could tip you over the side and end your pathetic life. I should do that, after all the trouble you've cause me over the years, the fights, the insults, the escape attempts. You are my biggest problem...and I should kill you," he paused and his hand tightened. Skyla, who'd been trying to hold her breath, began to choke as her oxygen was completely cut off. She tried thrashing about but he held her in place with careless ease, her spine bending over the top rail like an arch. It felt like her neck was being slowly crushed in the grip of some great snake, the walls of her throat slowly buckling under the pressure. Spots began to dance before Skyla's eyes and his face swam in and out of view as she was bent further back. If he let go now, she would probably fall backwards and to the ground far below. But if he didn't let go, she would suffocate.
Then all of a sudden he yanked away from the railings and threw her to the ground where she landed with a thump. Skyla gritted her teeth to stop from yelling in pain and she lay on the ground gasping like a fish as she struggled to regain her breath. She turned onto her stomach, coughing violently as she gulped in air, her leg crying out in pain. Strong arms grabbed her shoulders and she was hauled upright like a lifeless doll. She fought against him but he was too strong and his hands closed like shackles around her wrists, drawing her up to face him. Skyla felt the breath freeze in her throat as she looked into the darkness of his eyes.
"But I won't kill you," he murmured, his voice like black velvet, "because if I did that, the Lombaxes would be truly extinct and I would lose my crown jewel," he ran a hand over her cheek in an almost caressing manner, and Skyla shuddered. "You are more valuable to me alive," he went on, "and it is for that reason I have not killed you. So I can only punish you when you act up...and that is too often. Why do you do it?" Skyla swallowed, her self control being tested to the limit as she fought the urge to flee. His very presences made her stomach plummet and her heart fill with fear and dread, and their proximity was disturbingly close.
"Why do you think?" she muttered fiercely.
"Because you can," he answered, "and you like to cause trouble and don't care about the consequences, even if it means you suffer greatly." The Lombax mulled his words over for a minute, recognising the truth in them. But he'd missed something out.
"And because..." she began, then stopped abruptly. She shouldn't tell him that, it would only give him more ammunition against her.
"Because what?" Too late now. She looked him in the eye,
"Because I hope that some day...you will kill me," she answered, her voice wavering only slightly. Baen's mouth curled into a cruel smile that made the air around them seem to drop by several degrees.
"Ah, my dear, were you any other creature I would happily have granted your wish years ago. But you're not just any other creature, are you? You're the last Lombax. I will not kill you." Skyla bowed her head, eyes drooping closed. "Not yet, anyway," he added softly, his voice echoing like the call of a dark angel. Skyla felt something within her harden she looked up at him again, staring determinedly into the bottomless pits that passed for his eyes.
"Then one day, maybe when I'm strong enough...I'll kill myself. Better to die a slave than live as one." The Novalian threw back his head and laughed, a chilling sound that seemed like the cracking of ice.
"Oh, my little Lombax, you are so full of such noble pride!" he crowed gleefully, then his eyes locked onto hers again, sucking the life from them like a vacuum, "but I know you will never take your own life. You may not love the one you have, but you don't hate it enough to take it from yourself. You are not suicide material." Skyla's eyes lowered and against her will she felt herself flush with shame. In his own way, he was calling her a coward. And in this aspect...he was right.
"We'll see," she mumbled half-heartedly to his feet. His eyes sparkled with knowing malice,
"We won't."
Later on, Skyla was eating with Maia in the slave mess hall. The Lombax paid no attention to the noise around her, instead stirring her stew absently.
"What's on your mind?" Skyla looked up distractedly at her Cazar friend who regarded her with the same soft hazel eyes that never failed to comfort her,
"Hm? Oh, nothing. Just thinking." Maia nodded but said nothing. She knew Skyla would tell her when she was ready, she only had to wait.
Before Skyla could breach her subject of thought with her friend (which lingered around her conversation with Baen) the doors to the mess hall slid open and two guards entered, a third figure between. Chatter in the hall faded as the diners turned to watch the trio with distinct curiosity. The third figure was a Rilgarian, as his green skin proclaimed, and he wore a suit that matched their own. He was a slave, a new one.
The guards pushed him into the room before turning and leaving without a word. The Rilgarian scowled after them before turning his gaze upon the slaves. There was a deep suspicion in his eyes and a coldness about them that was unlike the normal warmth of his species. One of the slaves, Jaymz, got up and walked towards the young man with a smile. He stuck out his hand,
"Hello there. I'm Jaymz. Welcome to the facility." The other Rilgarian didn't take his hand.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"A facility on Florana," Jaymz replied patiently, lowering his hand.
"Who are you all?"
"I'll introduce you to everyone..."
"No, I meant, what are you all?" the Rilgarian interrupted brusquely.
"We are...the unpaid workforce," Jaymz answered delicately. He was fast getting irritated with the other man; his manner was so bitter and curt that it could inspire annoyance in any creature.
"You're slaves?" the man exclaimed bluntly.
"In a manner of speaking," Jaymz replied calmly, "have you eaten?"
"No. How many of you are there?" The man seemed determined to obtain information. Jaymz took a breath to keep his patience.
"Come and eat and I will answer all your questions as best as I can," he offered.
"Fine," the new slave nodded curtly and followed Jaymz to a nearby table. His eyes flicked around the room, taking in the gathered creatures. Some looked back with interest but others had already gone back to their meal. New slaves came every now and again to the facility, but only a few managed to adjust quickly to the lifestyle. Those who weren't so quick often suffered for it. It was clear this new slave would almost definitely be on a hunting party by the end of the month, if he kept up his indifferent attitude.
As the slave passed by Skyla his eyes locked with her own. She immediately saw the calculating intelligence and cool defiance contained in his. Her eyes widened slightly as she recognised a kindred spirit – here was someone who would never willingly submit to authority. His own eyes narrowed slightly as he too recognised the rebel within her. An understanding passed between them and then he broke the contact.
Skyla spooned a portion of stew into her mouth and chewed quietly.
"What do you make of him?" a voice asked and she looked up to see Maia looking in the direction of the new arrival. Skyla glanced over at him again. He had taken a seat by Jaymz but was completely ignoring the food before him as he listened intently to the other Rilgarian.
"Seems alright," she commented nonchalantly. Maia scrutinised him for a moment before sighing,
"He won't last a month with that attitude. I hope he doesn't cause trouble as well," she thought aloud. Skyla considered her words for a minute. Maia was probably right, she usually was. But still, if the new slave did survive this month and adapted fast...who knew what would become of him?
"I hope so too," she said, though her heart wasn't in her words. The Cazar looked at her friend briefly, noting the change in her friend's voice. She hoped Skyla wouldn't do anything stupid...but that was unlikely. They continued eating in silence. The chatter rose around them again but neither of them spoke, both lost in their thoughts of the new slave and the freedom they thought they would never have. But neither Skyla nor Maia could imagine just how much the arrival of the new slave would affect both their futures, and their very lives...