Dark form sliding gracefully from the commandeered watercraft, charcoal toes kissed upon sand as dark as his fur. The sun was just rising, and the crystalline fragments that littered the shore were sparkling like stars. It had been a long few weeks at sea, drifting with the winds in between their last destination to this one. The ebony male was unfamiliar with these lands, but his master seemed keen to visit. Something about lucrative return profits. That was about all he needed to know, and thus set to work organizing the market to Augustus' specifications. There had been a long winded, extremely detailed list of instructions and duties loaded upon Absinthe's shoulders the night before, when they had spotted the dark shape of the shore on the horizon. A small army of slaves immediately set to work offloading the supplies and wares for the market, their bodies meshing into a sea of fur and quick moving paws. It didn't take long for his master to stride into view, titanic form parting the droves of servants as he approached. Russet and gold bodice alight with the early morning sun, the massive man gazed down his nose at his servant. "You will need to leave soon if you're going to make it to as many of the local packs as possible, so you'd better have everything organized by sunset." those familiar rumbling baritones left no room for argument, but the dark wraith had no quarrel with the command. "It will be done, sir." he assured his master smoothly, and cast his brimstone gaze across the harried bodies moving across the beach. A pile of crates and barrels was steadily growing upon the sands, which meant it was time to scout out the location of their market. Secluded, well fortified, and spacious. Those were the requirements. "The cave system is not too far up that hill, you can see the entrance we use from here." Augustus rumbled, his whiskey gaze following that of his servant. With a curt nod and a word of farewell, the raven furred man took his leave to delegate some different tasks to those doing the grunt work. He waited for the right moment to catch the eye of one of the newest additions to the group, a young marauder by the name of Petrie that had joined at their last stop. "Take two of the stronger slaves, and ensure there is no one squatting at the site of the market. We'll be moving everything up there this afternoon at the latest." the words fell from ebon lips firmly, though his auds were tipped back politely and eerie eyes shuttered against emotion. He was merely a vessel for his master's commands. Next he sought the chocolate and charcoal pelt of one of the senior ranking marauders, and dipped his head to Cael to indicate his request for an audience. It took a few moments for the older male to dignify the onyx servant with his presence. Cael offered only a demanding grunt, brow furrowed with irritation. Wearing an expression of blank indifference, Absinthe blinked up at the immense male and said "My master has asked that you take a few slaves and some of the band to cut down the green saplings needed to build the slave pens, so that they can be constructed right away." gentle vocals offered up the information accompanied by the roughness of his Slavic accent, and closed with a respectful dip of his head. Once Cael offered a glance between the young man and his master, who only narrowed his eyes at his subordinate in reply, the mottled man slipped away to collect the necessary bodies for the expedition inland. Scarred features lax with an aloofness that took years of training, Absinthe found himself scanning the harried mass of moving bodies yet again. This time, he sought the woman that had accompanied him from the beginning. He finally caught sight of her obsidian pelage, and the flash of sapphire blue that set her apart from the rush of bodies. "Citalá, a word?" he called out before taking a few steps away from the busy workers to limit their interference with the offloading while they talked. "speech" STEP IN LINE, EVERYTHING WILL BE JUST FINE

Approaching the unfamiliar land mass sent unbidden excitement shooting through every nerve in the young servant's body. The journey had been long, and more than once seasickness had ravaged her, threatening to force from her the small allowance of nourishment the slaves were rationed. To touch her paws upon the grass once more seemed a distant dream, though without yet being given permission to exit the ship the obsidian woman forced herself to stay off to the side only to catch glances of green out the port holes as materials were unloaded.

The waves crashed against the shore and rocked the ship gently, and Citala spread her legs to catch her balance through a particularly heavy one. Her shoulder tapped the hard body of one of the marauders who was hauling, who snapped his head sharply in her direction with a reprimand on his tongue. She dipped her head immediately in acknowledgement of her mistake, murmuring a soft "apologies, sir." and skittering off to the side. Thankfully the weight of the load upon his back must have been enough that he did not choose to linger to punish the unruly slave, and she heard him depart with a grunt.

Citala waited a moment staring down at the floor, only lifting her gaze when she knew the man had for certain moved on. As she raised her head once more she caught sight of her friend calling her name. Without a second thought she carefully slid past the line of workers to meet his request. Absinthe had been once in line for a throne, and still even after their seasons working together she resisted the urge to greet him with a respectful bow. "Absinthe," She greeted smoothly. "How might I assist you and our masters?" Vibrant sapphire eyes watched him intently, breaking from his face only to spare glances at the wolves that climbed onto and off of the ship to ensure she was not in anyone's way.

"Speech"

Thankfully, Citala was quick to respond to his request for her presence. She slid closer with all the grace that would be expected from a servant raised in his castle, demure posture never once slipping. She greeted him warmly, but without excessive friendliness. "How might I assist you and our masters?" the soft lilt of her gentle harmonies were undoubtedly pleasant on the ears, generations of good breeding and proper training influencing the delicate tones. He glanced up to observe some of the proceedings as a brief disagreement broke out when an unawares servant bumped a marauder too roughly. The poor thing was sent sprawling, and he debated breaking away from the conversation to assist them. However, the dun coloured man scrambled quickly back to his paws and returned to work without any obvious signs of pain. Brimstone eyes returned to Citala's features, blinking at her for a moment as he remembered what he was about to say. "I will be relying on you quite heavily to ensure this goes smoothly, since we no longer have Augustus' handmaid to help." the tragedy of her loss was not something he was interested in dwelling on, but it would affect the proceedings and thus needed to be addressed. "I will be putting you in charge of maintaining order among the captives and servants, please keep me updated on any dissent among them. How were they on the last leg of the voyage?" the open ocean was not kind, and their time spent on the water had been longer than the distance between their last two dockings. It wouldn't surprise him if there had been issues arising beyond his reach to quell, as his slightly elevated status often made it impossible to mingle amongst the other captives effectively. "speech" STEP IN LINE, EVERYTHING WILL BE JUST FINE

Absinthe's words brought her some surprise, though Citala knew better than to question further. The only outward display of her curiosity was the subtle lifting of her brow, though the well-mannered slave quickly slipped back behind her mask of neutrality. Wolves died, she supposed. Whether Augustus' handmaid had passed on naturally or something.. else.. had happened to her, it was none of Citala's business. She spent the majority of her time with the 'lower status' captives, those unlike Absinthe who belonged to someone like Augustus. "I see." She commented, as if he'd mentioned a shortage of soaps rather then the loss of a slave. "I'll help in whatever way I can, sir."

She took a moment to think back on the voyage, though the trip was not much more then a continual swirl of nausea in her memory. Dissent? Citala's black head shook. "Everything went as well as could be expected." She decided on finally. Of course there were always the newer captives who hadn't quite gathered an understanding of their predicament, sometimes at night Citala could hear voices weeping. She grasped for more information to give, settling upon a happier shift. "Idalia did well, she's adjusted quickly." The obsidian servant praised softly.

"Speech"

He was quite pleased to see that Citala was still quite eager to stick to her duties, and worked well with him in these situations. She shook her head at the notion of dissent among the captives, which was a good sign for the weeks to come. If there were going to be wasted hours quelling a potential uprising among the captives, he would need to inform Augustus of a change in the layout of their guards. "Everything went as well as could be expected." the petite fae finally said, though she seemed far from pleased by the notion. Absinthe could hardly expect her to be delighted by the subservience of a multitude of captives carted from their homes against their will. He was hardly pleased to be stealing children from their families- this was not the proper way for acquiring servants, in his experience. Those who wanted to work, in exchange for room and board, or the security of their families, would enlist their services willingly. Save for a few exceptions like Citala, who had been indentured by her very birth, and sent to work at his castle later in life. "Idalia did well, she's adjusted quickly." the dark femme mentioned, and he fought to contain the beleaguered sigh that threatened to cross his lips. Her situation was far from ideal. That ember riddled pelt and those sunfire eyes, coupled with a group of bloodthirsty mongrels who had been at sea for too long without entertainment.. it was a tragedy. That girl hardly deserved to suffer like that, but he was not in a position to do any more than collect her small, weeping body into a bed every other night and cover her in a tattered blanket. "I can only hope she is claimed by one of the clients that visits soon, she has... caught the eye of many of the men. I do not want them to continue this behaviour much longer. It is not good for a young girl like that to endure such.. activity." he mumbled with the slightest curl of his lip in disdain. Blinking a few times, he dismissed the topic and shifted back to business. Glancing her way, he decided he would add a bit more to her workload. So far he was hoping to keep her in passive duties, where she would be able to escape undesirable situations should they arise. He'd never openly admit he had a soft spot for the girl he'd grown up with, it would only be used against him later on. "I would also request your presence during the day, monitoring the customers' behaviour and fielding any questions that might arise at any point." he said next, letting his attention slide away to monitor the offloading once more. "speech" STEP IN LINE, EVERYTHING WILL BE JUST FINE