It's what is expected of me

Siren came from the beach, and the moment the petite caramel fae's eyes found her there was a saddening lack of surprise to see the condition the mottled gray and white slave was in. When she had been purchased by the kindly demure princess, she had said she would do her best to put her back together when Chimera got too rough. Up until now, Aliana had been able to tend to herself with her limited medical knowledge and foolishly assumed that would be the worst of it. Chimera had shown her just how far he was willing to unleash himself on her. When Siren said her name and began to lead her into her apothecary, Ali limped wordlessly behind, keeping her head bowed low every step of the way while Siren set up a workspace for her. She lay her aching body down onto the supple leather, trying to ignore the way her body seemed to radiate pain from within her deepest reaches and the soft patter of blood dripping from her neck and splattering on the leather.

Ali kept her aquamarine eyes turned down to the spatters of her own blood on the leather and covering her paws, feeling the warm liquid still seeping from the ragged bite marks on the back of her neck. She knew she must reek of Chimera, but she was silently grateful Siren didn't seem bothered by it. She had known. She knew what her brother had wanted her for, what he would do to her. That was why she had seemed so guilty when she purchased her. Aliana remained silent while Siren set to gathering some supplies: medicinal herbs and a damp cloth. All she could think about was the way Chimera had come at her, violent and volatile. She'd never seen him like that before. He'd been rough with her before, but in that moment, he was like a brute possessed. It had been terrifying and electrifying and exhilarating and intimidating. Ali had felt like her life had been in danger with the jaguar, and while she never felt that way with Chimera, he had done more damage to her than anything else had. More than the big cat, more than the slavers that had owned her, more than anyone. What had she done to provoke that in him? How had she messed up?

Siren presented her with the mixture of herbs and promised it would begin to ease the ache. Ali looked through the plants, separating them by kind as she identified them, maybe perhaps to distract herself from the stinging in her neck while Siren cleaned the wound left behind by her brother. The torn, ragged flesh around her neck had not been too severe, though it would leave noticeable scars and make turning her head painful until the wound healed. Ali didn't resist when Siren held the cloth to her neck, chewing down the herbs in the meantime to start easing some of the pain. "Thank you..." she spoke after a moment, her voice soft and shaky, as if still recovering from the daze of her violent intercourse with Chimera. "I don't know what I did to set him off..." Ali had been racking her brain, trying to think of something she'd said and done to upset him. But maybe he hadn't been upset with her? Maybe he'd just chosen to vent his aggression on her more than usual today. Maybe it was just Chi being Chi.

"Aliana"