The Armada pack lands were beautiful. The long grass tickled at her legs, and the sand of the beach had been warm beneath her toes. Briar had been a wonderful conversationalist, gentle with the girl. Briar and Art both were gentle and wonderful. She had a full belly and a fur that was commanded to use.

For tonight, Briar had decided that they would sleep in her room and look into expanding it the next day. At dinner she had seen a winged wolf which everyone around her acted as though it was the most normal thing. Now, feeling tired and content, she settled her bedding next to Briars as the other wolf got ready for bed. “Can I interest you in a massage, My Lady?”

"Speech"

Briar settled in with a content sigh on the pile of furs that was now just a couple furs smaller since she had pulled off a couple to give to Idalia. The whole day had been one big pleasant surprise. Artorias returning from the brief trip with her father, being introduced to her new handmaiden, and getting to have such a nice dinner with both of them and Mortis... It had made for a very memorable day. Marigold was curled up in the little nest the antlered fox had created for herself by the door to her room and Briar couldn't really tell if she was actually asleep or just laying there with her eyes closed. She never really knew what Marigold was up to or thinking. She was an enigma, but she had been around for nearly as long as Briar could remember and she certainly didn't want that to change any time soon.

She had just rested her head on her paws to start working her own way toward sleep as well when Lia spoke, surprising her with the offer of a massage. She blinked with surprise, her turquoise gaze shifting toward the autumn leaf colored woman laying near by. She had never been offered a massage before. Was that just something handmaidens did? Maybe she should ask her mother what kind of things she should expect Lia to do... "Sure, if you'd like to," she replied with a soft smile, shifting a bit to lay on her stomach instead of her side and returned her head to her paws. "Just a short one though," she insisted. "You've had a long day so you should get some rest."

"Briar Fatalis"

“As you wish” Lia agreed with a small smile to the larger wolf. She shuffled over so her knees gently touched Briar's side, leaning over the back of the Princess. She did first lean a little more forward and touch gently to the back of her horns. “These are very beautiful, do most of your family have strange - but wonderful - animal characteristics?” she wondered as she moved her paws to the base of Briar's neck. Finding her spine and gently splaying her paws out on either side of it. Applying a little pressure and gently pushing down it towards her stomach, and then starting again at the spine, making her way down the girls back like that.

After she had finished a round of that, she began to search for any tight pressure points and gently work them loose. The familiar act of caring for her Mistress soothing her amongst all the strange new things that she had encountered after only a few days.

"Speech"

Briar held still as Lia moved closer got into position with her paws over her, the feeling of one of her handmaiden's paws tapping her antler making her ears twitch and she chuckled softly as she asked about her family and their animal like traits, smiling at the compliment she was given. "Thank you. They are pretty common with our family actually. You saw-" her words were interrupted as Lia's paws started working along her neck masterfully, making her hum happily as her eyes fluttered closed. This was clearly something Lia had done a lot and she was very good at it. Well, she could at least have Lia do this for her more often! She chuckled softly as Lia moved on to her back, telling her, "You're very good at massages."

Circling back around to what she had been saying before, she continued, "You saw my brother and his wings obviously. My mother has horns similar to an antelope - long and curled. Me and a bunch of my siblings and my father all have retractable claws." She lifted a paw, showing Lia her claws to demonstrate. "Oh, I guess my father's saber fangs are in the same realm as well... One of my sisters has those same fangs too. One of my older brothers has a huge mane like a lion. So... Yes, I guess most of them do." She chuckled again, smiling softly while she enjoyed Lia working the knots out of her muscles. "What was your life like before?" she asked curiously. "Have you been a servant for a long time?"

"Briar Fatalis"

She knew she was reaching the right spots when Briar paused, humming happily beneath her paws. Smiling to herself, Lia continued to move her hands along the other wolf's muscles, doing what she could to ease any aches in the young girl's body. “Thank you, My Lady” she responded to the compliment.

Briar then went on to talk about her family's rather unique blend of animal aspects. She nodded her head as she spoke of Mort's wings - that was still incredibly baffling to her - and listened as she spoke about her mother with similar horns. That would be the Warlord's Wife, right?

She ‘ooohed’ in delight at the retractable claws when the other woman displayed them. Pausing in her massaging to run a paw gently across the woman’s pad “That's incredible, there must be a lot of Warrior Blood in your family” She acknowledged, moving her paws to the woman’s shoulder. “Oh, I’m sure your life is much more interesting than mine, my lady” she deflected the question.

"Speech"

Briar smirked a little as Lia insisted that there must be a lot of warrior blood in her family, as if their unique traits made them more prone to being fighters and warriors. She didn't know how true that was, but it did make her wonder if there was any kind of correlation there since nearly every member of her family was a fighter in some form or another. But then again she didn't know how much of that was her father's insistence for them to be strong fighters and how much of that they were just predetermined for by their genetics. "Well, I dunno about that," she said with a soft chuckle. "Artorias is a much better fighter than me and he doesn't have any kind of odd traits. Although he does have a sword I guess so maybe that makes up for it."

The fact that Lia quickly deflected the question she asked about her life didn't slip past her, but she didn't know if she wanted to press her to know more either. It was only their first night together after all so if there was something she didn't want to talk about then she didn't want to force her. She did wonder if there was something bad she didn't want to talk about or if it was just this submissive mentality that made her feel like she needed to keep the attention off of her. Either way, Briar noticed and she made a note to circle back to it one day. "Well I'm sure you've at least been more places and seen more things than I have," she insisted, letting her eyes close again while Lia worked her paws across her shoulders. "I was born and raised here. I've traveled a little bit I guess going to visit Artorias when he's in The Hallows and seen some of the places near by, but that's about it." She paused thoughtfully, her eyes opening a bit to look at the wall of the den across from her. "I'd like to go more places and meet more wolves... Hopefully father will allow me more freedom once I'm older, but... Who knows. He's very possessive." She wasn't looking forward to the day when she inevitably told him she needed to leave to go to The Hallows with Artorias. Surely he had to know it would happen some day, but even if he saw it coming she still didn't think he would let her go without a fight.

"Briar Fatalis"

She moved from Briar's shoulder, down to her leg, smoothing out the beautiful, creamy fur there as she sought any spots of tension. “Perhaps if you got a sword, you could best him instead” she offered lightly. Artorias could be a rather large, imposing figure, but then so was Briar. She could feel the strength in Briar's arms, and she had already admired the heavy set of antlers on her brow. Briar wasn’t a pampered Princess - despite what she might be enjoying right now - she had the body of a Warrior.

“Have you asked The Warlord if you could explore?” she wondered as the girl spoke of a wanderlust that had not been quenched. If Idalia had a way to offer it, she would gladly put it forth to help the girl explore. “I came here on a big boat, and we landed near the Northern territories. I didn’t get to see much during the ocean voyage, but the feeling of a swaying boat was certainly an experience” she said, giving the girl some piece of what she had experienced, since she wondered what Lia had seen. She sounded so curious, that the slave couldn’t help but give her some tidbits.

"Speech"

Briar laughed lightly at Lia's suggestion of getting a sword so that she might best Art at his own game, grinning with amusement as she glanced back at Lia. "Now that's an idea!" Her tail wagged gently as she smirked, laying her head down again while Lia massaged down her leg. "I did actually beat him once," she said, smirking slightly at the memory. She still wasn't entirely convinced Artorias hadn't gone easy on her that day or that the rain hadn't turned things in her favor, but she had still won and they had still gotten to enjoy each other because of it thanks to the little wager she made. That day was permanently in her memories as one of her most favorite days.

When Lia asked if she had asked her father about being able to explore she gave a little shrug, shifting her gaze away from Lia to look at the wall again. "No... It's not like I'm chained here, of course. I can explore some or take small trips I guess, but... I don't know, he's hard to describe. He'll do anything for me and my siblings on some things, but other things he's just... so, so stubborn." She sighed and gave a little shake of her head. When she Lia revealed how she had been brought to Boras on a large boat that landed them in the north Briar lifted her head again, looking at Lia with wide, curious eyes. "A boat?! How big was it? What was the land you came from like?" She grinned as she questioned her handmaiden, infinitely curious about the woman that had lived a life so drastically different from her own.

"Briar Fatalis"

“I can believe it” Adalia admitted, trailing a paw down the other woman’s biceps, before continuing the massage. She was making her way to Briar’s paw now, and she gently smoothed along the top of it, before moving to the pad. Pressing down gently between the other woman’s toes.

“He sounds like an Enigma” She agreed. Already finding the majority of the wolves here to be so. “But he loves you so.” What would that have been like? It had always been so painful to dwell on, in the dark corners of a dirty cave, scraps of food in her belly. Here, smoothing Briar's soft fur, she found herself wondering, just a little. What if her parents had loved her?

“It was big enough to carry dozens of slaves, and even more marauders. Plus all of the supplies. The place we left was warmer than the climate in the North. The people who had before them kept me in a cave complex” She explained.

"Speech"

"He does... in his own way," she agreed with a small nod while she watched Lia work down the length of her leg toward her paws. She never really doubted that her father loved her, it was just the ways in which he showed his love that was sometimes the problem. At the end of the day he was her father and she was his daughter and she obviously loved him dearly, but that part of her that craved freedom and independence to make her own choices was almost as equally strong as her love for her family. It was a tough balancing act she played often with herself, but it wasn't one she would really have much say over until she was old enough to force her father to consider her an adult.

As Lia described the ship she had been brought on with the dozens of other slaves and marauders along with all kinds of supplies, Briar listened intently while the picture was painted for her. It was difficult for her to imagine what something that big would look like - or what a ship would look like in general really - but it was fun to imagine and she liked hearing about the place she had lived in before that was warmer than where she had been kept in the north. "It hasn't been much warmer around here than in the north I'm afraid," she said with a small huff. "The last winter drug on forever and it was really only in the last season or so that things have started to get back to normal, but now we're going to be going into winter again soon." She frowned at that. She was someone who most certainly hated the cold weather so the frequency of it for a large portion of her life wasn't an enjoyable experience. "The Hallows is in the southern continent though so it's generally a good bit warmer there thank goodness. Last winter I went and stayed with Artorias pretty often to escape the cold."

Talking about Artorias brought another smile back to her face while Lia worked on her paws, massaging the pads of her feet. He had done so much for her. Loved her, cherished her, supported her through all of the trauma of her family, helped teach her how to fight, build her confidence... And now he had given her Lia who she hoped could be her friend eventually once she wore down the proper slave etiquette she seemed determined to follow. It was only their first day together though so there was still lots of time. Thinking about Art and all of the things he had done made her think of how she usually tried to repay him and the slip of the tongue Lia had earlier about being trained in ways of pleasure made her curious and she smirked a little, giving Lia a shy, curious smile. "Um... Lia... What you said before about knowing pleasure and things..." She giggled softly, feeling like she was sharing secrets with someone for the first time in her life, feeling incredibly girly with this little sleepover they had accidentally created. "So, lets just say I wanted to do stuff like that for someone... Is there any... tips you'd give me?"

"Briar Fatalis"

She liked the feel of the lady’s coat. Her fur was soft to the touch, silky beneath her paws. Her pads were callused and tough, showing the life of a wolf that worked and travelled instead of laying about in the sun all day every day. It was these little things that told a story, painted a picture of people different from what she knew. Any ladies she had encountered whilst a slave were the type to keep their nose in the air and their paws off the ground.

She ran her thumb over the pad again, and wondered if the rough treatment of them ever hurt. “If you're interested, My Lady, I could make you a treatment out of seaweed to soak your paws into, it would feel wonderful” she promised, still gently circling, circling, circling slow motions across that lovely pad.

Her Lady mentioned the cold, and Lia nodded her head “I prefer warmer myself, it wasn’t very pleasant in that Northern Cave” she admitted. “The Hallows sounds perfect in so many ways.” It was becoming her perfect dream.

She tilted her head towards Briar as the Lady spoke of her skills in pleasuring. It was truth - she had been trained, but her last masters, the Marauders, had not been interested in anything gentle or that required her commitment. She knew that was not the type of loving Briar was speaking of. “If you would like, My Lady, I could show you?” she said, running her paw back p the lady’s leg, running it gently across her side near her stomach.

"Speech"

Her ears perked with interested as Lia suggested that she could make a soak for her paws and she smiled at the idea, giving an eager nod. "That would be lovely! I'm sure it feels great. Of course just the massaging feels good too." She had never had anyone give her a massage before, but she especially hadn't had anyone pay such close attention to her paw pads before and it felt really nice. Her paws were one of those things she never really thought about. They were calloused enough that long days of scouting or patrols never really affected her much any more. She chuckled softly and grinned when Lia mentioned how The Hallows sounded perfect. She certainly couldn't disagree. "It really is... I can't wait to live there. They stay in a huge castle and there's a really tall tower where you can see everything for miles. I can't wait to show you it all, you'll love it. And it overlooks the ocean!" she added, knowing how much Lia had enjoyed seeing it during their tour earlier.

As the conversation shifted to her shy questions about pleasure and the skills to do those sorts of things well, she saw her handmaiden tilt her head with consideration for a moment. She wasn't really sure what kind of answer she had been expecting, but the offer she received to show her those things instead was certainly not it. She blinked with shock at the suggestion and was too busy reeling from it and trying to form an answer to notice Lia's paw tracing up her foreleg and down along her side until she was already near her stomach and Briar's face flushed bright red as she shifted away with an embarrassed giggle, giving a fast shake of her head. "Oh no no no... Um... No, sorry, that's not what I meant," she said in a rush, her ears pinned back against her head as she glanced at Lia shyly with a slightly nervous smile. "I don't, um... I don't want to do that stuff now I just, you know... I like to do that kind of stuff with Artorias sometimes and we've figured out some stuff I guess but I didn't know if there was ways to... do stuff better?" The more she said the more her face burned and she finally just giggled and gave another shake of her head. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked, that's super embarrassing!"

"Briar Fatalis"

Lia smiled at her Mistress, already filing away the plan to make her a seaweed concoction to soak her paws into. Briar’s paws would always be tough, with the wear and tear applied to one who was always on their feet, but a bit of soothing could still go a long way. The topic moved to the Hallows, and Briar would add on something else - that was news to Lia. “Oh!” she said, "I’ve never been up high before, I can’t even imagine what that view would be like” she admitted. Wishing, wishing that time would arrive that they could go to the Hallows together.

As for the other topic… her reaction was humourly similar to Art - in that she was shocked and surprised at the ease of which Lia could talk or suggest pleasuring them. She had never before had Masters that shied from the topic before. She moved her paws back to her own side of the bedding, and gave Briar a moment to compose herself again. “It’s just sex, My Lady, its nothing to ashamed about. But, if you don’t wish to practice, I’m sure we can talk theory instead?” she offered.

"Speech"

She blinked with surprise as Lia insisted that it was "just sex" so easily and so casually. Briar's face continued to burn with embarrassment as she looked back up at Lia uncertainly, wondering to herself what was normal. Was it normal to speak so casually about something like this or was it normal to feel like sex and pleasure had to be secret and discreet? The more wolves she met from outside of her family and outside of the wolves she had grown up with the more she was discovering that the way things were viewed here weren't exactly the way that others saw them, but she hadn't expected this kind of topic to be on that list. She gave Lia a shy grin at the suggestion that they could just talk theory instead, but it was hard to not still feel flustered even at that now.

"How is it just so... easy for you do and talk about this?" she asked curiously. "It's always felt so taboo and off limits. Well... At least from my parents... Though I don't think my brother would really like it if he knew I was doing that kind of stuff either. My older sister is really the only one that's talked to me about it and encouraged it." She chuckled softly, making herself relax again as she crossed her paws and let her turquoise gaze linger on Lia curiously. She was so different form anyone else she had ever met and it made her all that much more interesting to learn about.

"Briar Fatalis"