Not the exercise you thought it was

He grunted softly in response. Giving him up was the hardest thing she had ever done, and she had done it anyway. “By then, the Empire we had been born in no longer existed. A drought destroyed it from the inside out. The parts of her family that would never have let her release a slave were dead.” he brushed a paw through the grass in front of him, thinking about the past. Far into the past, a fallen kingdom was easier to remember than the personal parts of his more recent loss.

At the sounds of water falling from a standing body, the Warlord turned back to her. Finding her climbing free of the rub. His mouth drew into a line at the sharp contours of her body. She had been starved, and thin white lines of scars showed out sharper beneath her wet fur.

He got to his paws, brushing past her to put out the fire, and pick up a coat he had snagged from his supplies, holding it out for her. “Dry off a little, so you don’t get a chill, then we will warm you with stretches.” he said, gently tossing it over her back so she could do as he ordered. He took an ‘at ease’ stance to the side, waiting until she complied. “This is to test the limber of your body, and how far you can move without pulling at your scars. Twist your back like so.” he commanded, displaying what he meant. “Now stretch your paws forward as far as you can, bend your head down to touch them…” he would slowly work her through them, seeing how far she could push herself without hurting.


"Speech"