Red Hot Gardener

Ali had been so lost in her focus of following her master's orders that she hadn't been paying any attention to where she was going, walking straight for a sled of gardening supplies the boy had brought with him. The only thing that prevented her from colliding right into it was an abrupt bark that got her to look up with a start. Ali froze, mere moments from colliding with the heavy sled, blinking in stunned surprise. She glanced back at the boy who had alerted her, noticing the wide-eyed look on his face. Well, she'd attracted his attention, but he had saved her from getting hurt by doing so. Her ears folded back to her skull, head lowering in submission to the unknown boy. Despite his youth, he was a free member of Ashen and she was still a slave at the end of the day. Decorum had to be followed and formality observed. If word got back to Chimera about her being disobedient...

"Thank you for warning me," she said to the boy, appreciation sincere in her soft, mellifluous voice. She offered him a small smile, but kept her eyes diverted down while she spoke to him. She wondered why he hadn't called out to her, but the bark had been effective nonetheless. "Is this your bamboo?" She glanced up at the growing stalks he had been tending to, briefly wondering if she should apologize for indirectly pilfering some, but decided against it as it would incriminate Chimera too. "It appears to be growing well. You must be tending to it very well."

"Aliana"