She had an issue. Said issue being the need to bathe and being full of dust and dirt. She'd spent all morning cleaning the dens and working her little ass off. Her only breaks had been to make sure the kids were all good and of course to get bossed around. She thankfully hadn't seen Basilisk or Ignita today, having slipped past them quietly any time she saw them. Currently she was on her way back to the dens, clean bedding in a basket she had found and in her jaws. Purple eyes were on the ground. She'd told him she was good at cleaning. That was what she intended to make sure they understood, cleaning, cooking and shitty basic first aid were her trades. Her hobbled leg was made to be used, sadly slowing her down but at least the blankets wouldn't end up in the ground as she made her way back to the warlords chambers. Hopefully no one had went to take a nap while she had had their bedding stripped off. She didn't want to clean mattresses too. She paused at the start of the stairs to lift her leg and roll it. It was getting sore. This was the fourth or fifth trip up and down them today. Then she started up the stairs. No use complaining in her mind about it. Nothing anyone would likely do or care about anyone. "Speech"

Basilisk had been waiting - somewhat impatiently - for his new slave to return. He knew from the state of the beds that she had taken the bedding off to be cleaned. A job that Ignita had been doing, but was now entirely above her. “There you are” He said as she returned with a basket. “Glad to see you grew a backbone.” He added dryly. The stipulation for her to be allowed to leave her room at all, of course.

He nodded to her burden. “Put that down, and come with me.” He ordered her, moving back down the incline to the den that she had just walked up. He needed to get to know her a little better, and to understand who she was and what made her tick.


"Speech"

She'd been in her own world as she came into the room only for her to be startled by her new master. The jump was very small but she cursed inwardly. She lowered her head though dipping slightly to avoid losing the laundry but make sure he was shown a proper respectful bow. His order and nod to her burden had her quickly hobbling to place it beside the bed and catch up. Though she now lifted the leg to ensure she wouldn't feel it throb anymore until she needed it. Gods she hated this incline right now. She hadn't been asked anything. So it was best she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want more trouble. And she had been working her ass off to try to make sure they understood her utility wasn't misunderstood. Her ears pressed and she made sure once she caught up she stayed on his heels. "Speech"

She gave no response except that of her movement. The Warlord in turn held his own silence as he entered the den that led to their newest territory, Gale Gorge. Once they were out the other side, they were surrounded by lush greenery, and woods on either side of them. There was a newness to this place, it still felt wild and unclaimed to Basilisk.

“You had three masters, you said. How did you end up slavery before that?” He asked, feeling her out. She was, for better or worse, a new member in his pack. One that perhaps he intended to use, but they weren’t there yet.

"Speech"

The silence was comfortable for her. She'd learned the purpose he had in mind for her upon her first day here and she didn't like it. But then again she wasn't allowed to chose. He was the master and her the slave. When he said jump she was expected to ask how high. She hadn't appreciated the blindsiding she had received before. He lead her to another part of the territory and she watched as she followed with her leg to her chest. The path was noted down, memorized. If he expected her out here she figured he needed to know the way by herself. The lush greenery was a welcome difference to her and she took note that she might find a good game for citadel in the thick place here. He'd been eager before, finding the game of tag no fun. The words of the Warlord came finally and she dropped her eyes. He was asking personal questions, and she hated that. "I was sold into it by my father...." it wasn't a comfortable story. She hated that man the most in her life, and she didn't hate freely. "Speech"

The Warlord nodded his head thoughtfully. For better or worse, this was her home now. So perhaps she should understand a little of its history. “My Grandfather was a slave, bred in a large kingdom as a gladiator. He would likely have lived and died in those battles, except his father before him died before my Grandfather could finish his training. Instead of wasting their resources on another trainer, they gave him away. A gift, to one of the Princesses. He saved her life, and many years later, became the first Warlord. This pack was founded by him. In another world, I like you, might have been a slave.” He shook his head, amused at the thought. He felt he would have died fighting his chains, but then he couldn’t know who he might have been if his world had been different.

“Your father. Would you kill him, if you were given the chance?” He asked, curious at what made this woman tick. She was a stranger to him, but she was offered great opportunity by living in the Warlords house. Close to his inner circle. She just didn’t know it yet.


"Speech"

He seemed to accept the little bit of information she gave him, for that she was thankful. He could of pressed for more, Could of snapped at her that the answer wasn't satisfactory, but he didn't. Her eyes went to her paws and her habit of gripping her shoulder surfaced again. She was nervous to be asked personal things. Her whole life she had learned to guard the information and keep as much about herself secret as she could. He started telling her the story of his family and her ears pressed as surprise colored her face. Though it was gone as she narrowed her eyes on her paw still on her shoulder in thought. If he had been from a slave family then why was his grandfather allowed freedom enough to rise from the bindings? She knew little about him or his family but surely these were clever lies concocted to make her more malleable to his plans. But then again, he knew so little about her, why would he lie? What purpose would it serve him? She took a chance to glance up with her chin still down to look at his face, a search for deceit there. Only she saw nothing. Damn she needed to get better at reading others. Her eyes dropped as his next question from her came. More thinking. She wasn't sure what answer he wanted to hear. If she said yes that meant he might want her to undergo obedience training. The safe answer was no. But the truth was also that yes she would though she could never as she had no training, no skills for it, and no physical capability to do so. "I have no love for him.... but I cannot, my capabilities would never allow me to do so.... regardless of my own wishes." Careful, guarded were her words. She needed to play it safe to keep her life, however little it meant to others. She told truth but also hid that if she was capable of it yes she would slaughter him and enjoy every second of it for what he had done to her. "Speech"

Her words were so carefully spoken, that the care itself told him the truth. He nodded his head, eyeing her thoughtfully again for a few more moments. So there was some fire in her veins. Well concealed, and beaten down. But she was a wolf who would kill the one who had given her this life, if she could. “I don’t know what you expect from life as a slave, and I know the Armada has already shocked you.” His words hadn’t been to frighten her, they had been for his wifes sake. But Teegra had heard it, and now she knew. There was a chance that he might rape her, and force her to bare his children. Rape. That was not allowed within this pack, but if he wanted to spare Ignita, and grant them both more children, what other choice did he have?

Perhaps that was why he had brought her here, why he gave her these small truths. As if he had any chance of winning her over. “If you are able to detail your journey here, I will send a companion to search out your father. If we can find him, I will deliver him to you. Alive, dead, whichever condition you prefer. A… welcoming gift, if you like. You don’t have to hate it here.” You just had to obey.


"Speech"

She had tried to conceal the fire that still smoldered beyond all the beatings and attempts to smother it. She might of succeeded, but she wasn't sure. Only his words would tell her the truth of how much he could glimpse into her. She squeezed her shoulder at the thought of what if she hadn't concealed her will to kill well enough? His next words were not questions. She didn't need to answer. But she knew exactly what she expected. His words were true. He had thrown her into a wolves den of possible beatings and hatred for something out of her own control. His wife could very well throw the blame on her and accuse her of seducing him, a lie she wouldn't be able to dispute with her station. She'd been on the receiving end of that before. She didn't look forward to it again. So yes she had been shocked and already in a way harmed here in the Armada as he called it, but she had no rights so it wouldn't matter. His offer had her brow furrowing though. Why offer such things to a mere slave? She wasn't worth the effort. Besides who even knew where the sleeze ball that called himself her father had gone. He wasn't worth more than a sliver of her hatred. There were others she hated more but her father had been the root of everything. Her brow smoothed by force before she offered him anything. "My lord, while your offer is..... kind, would those recourses not be wasted upon a mere slave such as myself? The gesture is appreciated though I assure you.... His life in my paws would not change the past nor my future....." A future he held in his paws. "Speech"

It was faintly amusing, to hear a slave decide what would be a waste of his resources or not. She furrowed her brow, and hugged her shoulder. All little mannerisms that spoke of what was going on inside her mind. Confusion, worry. Did she think his offer was a test?

He didn't speak for a moment, and when he opened his maw once more, the words might seem disconnected from their conversation. “There is a part of my grandfather's legacy that lives on in the Armada because of the journey his life took.” He said thoughtfully. He sighed, and stretched out before sitting on his rump in the crossroads entry to the Gorge. To go right would be to journey to the rapids. Left took them into the deepest woods. But forward offered the most variety. “All slaves in the Armada are offered education, with the expectation and intention that they could win their freedom one day. Slave isn’t the highest rank you can achieve in the Armada, Teegra” He said, taking the name his wife had asked of her. “It’s the lowest. So yes, I think that the head of your father would change your life. It would afford you the chance to learn something about yourself. Do you have what it takes?”


"Speech"

Did her know what he offered? The fact that he was offering a slave things she had never had was strange. Freedom. His words were taken in and she narrowed those eyes. Lilacs lifting to meet azure, searching for lies and deceit behind those words. His grandfather had been a slave. Had rose to become a Warlord... He offered bits of himself so freely. Did he expect her to openly express herself to him? To bleed her life story to him? That was information, and with information came power. He sat and she took it as a confirmation that they would be speaking for a while so she lowered herself carefully eyeing him. Waiting for the snap that he had yet to invite her to sit across from him or beside him. She was careful. Her eyes looked out to the woods beyond as she contemplated his words. Education, rank, freedom. All set on a table before her to grasp for. Her name on his lips didn't matter much but he did get a release of some of her tension as he spoke it instead of some other name for her. He was testing her with his question. Ears pressed. She had wanted freedom for so long but had no way to achieve it aside from running away and even then she would never make it far. She couldn't hunt, couldn't track, and had never fought in her life. Her eyes dropped as she let her voice come finally in a whisper. "You offer me everything my lord, and I am grateful you even wish to do so...." She was aware of the catch to his offer though. His offspring that would be ripped from her the moment she birthed them, to be raised likely with knowledge of never knowing of her. For her to be killed by bearing him as many offspring as he wished. She had been listening. Was not stupid regardless of what was told to her previously. "I remember he was massive..... the den my mother and he had occupied was cloaked in grapevine and there were columns of ivory beneath them...." She slid her eyes closed and furrowed her brow trying to remember. She knew it wasn't a lot to go on so she tried harder. He wanted her to have her father's head to try to start whatever this journey he wanted her to take to her freedom was. "The slaver he sold me to was called Ryder by the group he sold me to.... they move a lot and frequent markets from what I could understand..... the nearest market they took me to to sell me to my first master was in a warm place, there was sand and the air smelled like smoke...." "Speech"

This time, she told him what she could of the slaver her father sold her to, and the place he had lived. He nodded his head, and took a moment to commit the words to memory. “It will likely take some time to track him down, but perhaps when I deliver him to you, you will see the truth in my words.” He offered her a small smile, and let his gaze drift back to the woods once more. He had bever been very good with people. From pup hood to now, he had struggled with it. Becoming Warlord hadn’t fixed him, it had simply shifted the dynamic. How to bond with this slave? He did not know. But he would take his time with her.

“In the meanwhile, you will need to pick a path for your education to take, and I’ll ensure wolves who have the knowledge will help guide you.” Her freedom, if she found the strength to grasp it, was a long way off.

"Speech"

He fell silent for a moment. Perhaps he did not expect her to grasp for something intangible. Vengeance was something she had only dreamed of. Freedom had never been something she could imagine. Rank was never anything but a myth. Paw lowered from her shoulder and her eyes opened to look into the forest once more. His words settled next in the air between them and she nodded stiffly. She wasn't sure her father would be found, that he would even remember the runt he had sold because she had been born small and the wrong gender for him to love. She could remember the cold anger in his eyes though as she lived with him, remembered that her mother disappeared shortly before he sold Teegra. She like the Warlord had limited social skills. Her life had not been easy, she had learned to stay in her bubble, keep her words to herself and guard her heart from those around her. He spoke again and she looked to him from the side of her eyes to show she was paying attention. He offered her to chose what path she took and she had to think hard on it. Her nose was useless in hunting, her leg useless in fights, even being a hindrance, and directions were hard so not really her thing. But she had wanted to learn, always had a desire to when she was young, but her position never afforded her to be allowed to ask. And she supposed the other thing would be that she could learn to take care of others better. She also enjoyed cooking when she did so. "I'm no good on a battlefield or to take hunting.... But I can learn, I always loved to learn, just wasn't allowed to be taught anything not related to my jobs.... Maybe I can learn to give better first aid or care.... And I love cooking, when I do cook...." Was he serious though? Did he really want to teach her and let her escape her bindings? "Speech"

Once more, the Warlord toko a moment to consider her words. Healing was easy enough, though poor Oleander already had Vesper and Citadel to teach. Cooking however was a hard one. Isa had done some cooking, but she had left with his grandfather. The Hallows seemed to have some decent cooks - but Ignita was right. The Hallows would not approve of his plans with Teegra.

He turned slightly, bringing his attention back to the tiger marked wolf. “Oleander is our lead healer, he and Vesper his current student slave can get you started on first aid. As for cooking… If I gather you books, are you able to learn from them?” She’d need supplies to practise her cooking as well. A place she could set up. Ignita’s old painting den, perhaps…


"Speech"

His eyes on her had her own eyes dropping back to the ground between them. She turned her ears to the side to him as he spoke yet again. He spoke of the doctor already having a slave student. So she would learn along someone else who was in the same position? At least she might make a friend while living under the Warlord's roof. But the cooking option had her ears pressing. He had no one to cook? She knew simple recipes and herbs and spices. But he offered something she had only ever seen from afar. Her ears pressed and she closed her eyes to keep from showing the sadness there. She had always desired to learn to read, but she couldn't without help. "I cant read...." A whisper. The barest of breaths as she turned her head away. Would he think her stupid? Recant his offers? She knew basic cooking at least. If she was given a place and the supplies to do so she was sure she could blossom in a kitchen. Cooking was always quiet time for her. It kind of hurt to admit she couldn't do something that she supposed was basic knowledge to most wolves. That mangled leg came up and she gripped her shoulder again in an attempt at self comfort. She wanted this bad though... Freedom was within her grasp if she could learn and if she worked hard enough. "Speech"

It wasn’t entirely unexpected, but he had hoped it would be otherwise. That just meant it would take a little longer until he was able to learn by herself. It would slow down the process a little, but not impossibly so. He considered for a moment. “Border patrols in the morning and afternoon, midday is usually reserved for the kids. The only reliable spot on my schedule is the evening. It’s going to make your days long” And his, but as Alpha and a father, that was nothing new to him.

“So the choice is yours. Commit to this and put in the work, or give up now. I won’t help you do things halfway. The offer on the table is this: I will teach you to read in the evenings with the use of cookbooks - we can try recipes at the same time. During the day, you will clean and manage the den, assist the children where needed and take the lessons from Oleander when he can manage them. What say you?””


"Speech"

To her surprise and probably shock, he didn't recant or decide to make fun of the stupidity of her whisper. It showed on her face as she turned her face to him again. He told her what his schedule was and that he would teach her in the late evenings if she chose to go forward with it. An excitement showed after the surprise faded. Not that she wanted to spend time with him in particular, but he was willing to teach her something that had been denied to her. His offer was solid from what she could tell, and she wasn't going to balk from this chance to learn. During the day she would clean and manage his den and his children when necessary. Take lessons from the doctor when he had the time for her and she would learn from him in the evenings how to read and would get to cook. By the end of his words she was nearly vibrating with excitement. But she was doing her best to try to cover it up with a nod to show she understood everything he said. "Yes, please let me learn. I swear I won't be a hinderance to your home." Her eyes were pleading and nearly starting to water. He wouldn't be so cruel as to play with her about this she hoped. "Speech"

Her entire demeanour had changed. No longer was she holding her shoulder and trying to fold in on herself. She seemed to grow bigger, though there was not much of herself to stretch. This was clearly something she actually wanted. Which no doubt she didn’t get very often in life. A small kindness he could offer her, consider why he had pulled her from that tree.

“Very well, report to Oleander and tell him my wishes that you wish to learn. Your healing lessons are in his hands, but I’m sure you can make offers on what fields you wish to specialise in.” As lead Healer, Oleander had the privilege of making such choices. “In the evening, meet me in the den across the Col opposite our den. You’ll know it by the mark of blue paint on the door.” He told her, and made gentle shooing motions with a paw, dismissing her. He had done what he had set out to do. Learn a little about her, and find a drive in her to move her forward.


"Speech"

He set her to tell the doctor she wished to learn and had sparked a hope in her chest. A hope that she didn't always have to remain a mere servant. A hope for her freedom. A thing she had never had nor known. And here was a master offering her it. He was treating her as if she was not just dirt beneath his paw, as if she were a real living being, as if her choices mattered. He told her when to meet him and she nodded. Then he was dismissing her and she stood, tucking her paw to her chest and bounding off, back the way they came. She was heading directly to see Ollie then to get back to her cleaning of the den. She would meet the Warlord in the place he indicated tonight to begin learning from him. She'd never had this kind of excitement before. --------time skip?---------- By the time she had finished everything she had almost lost track of time. The sun was sinking low and she had dirt in places she didn't even think dirt could get in but the den was scrubbed with vigor and the bedding clean with beds made. She had done what she could with the shelves and scrubbed the kitchens. She had also spoken with Ollie. The excitement in her bubbled as she moved from the slope and followed the directions the warlord had given her. Should she have tried to make time to bathe first? Probably. But she would either do so after her first reading lesson or in the morning. She found the door right where he had said and she nudged the door open, peeking in to see if he was there already or if she was early. Did he mean earlier or later in the evening? She had forgotten to ask. "Speech"

Basilisk arrived early for the first lesson. This den hadn’t been used for a while, and didn’t have the right equipment. With the help of his reindeers pulling abilities, he dragged in the basics needed for a kitchen. A table, some pots, food and herb supplies. While not a cook, Wylan had a good idea of what spices did, and had helped him pick some for the lesson. They would be starting basic, since neither he nor Teegra really knew what they were doing.

There was a study table beside the kitchen, with some places to sit and a stack of books. Everything he could find on cooking, in fact. He had just finished the final touches when Teegra entered the den. He looked up at the sound of the door subtly nudging open, and he nodded his head to her. “Come in. Well start with some basics for reading.” He informed her.

"Speech"