[p] the sun was rising in the south

Tlantli Kimaris · 04-06-2012, 08:54 AM

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(603) First three paragraphs = skip, prolly

Tlantli is by Alaine!

The yellow-furred woman crossed her arms and listened, her attention diverted from the child quickly enough. He was sedate and comfortable, as he'd been the entirety of his stay in Salsola. Why this creature had received such good treatment as to suckle be breast of The Auxiliary herself, Tlantli did not know -- but no amount of pleasure, profit, or success in the world could make her envy him that disgrace. Eris had already poisoned his mind, no doubt. He knew her as mother, and he knew Salsola as home -- how long would he remain voluntarily with Ichika? Would he, too, become a prisoner?

Tlantli looked back toward Odessa with a sharp red eye, glad the dark woman had been chosen for this venture along with Tlantli. She would keep her seat and retain some hope of escape if things went agley; the Family member did not have this luxury. She was on the ground and at the mercy of these foreigners. Fear was too strong a word -- the woman did not truly believe harm would come to her, and she believed it more fervently when she saw the party of Ichikans arriving. Magnolia seemed uninjured -- a pack keen to commit betrayal would not have returned a captive uninjured.

Insofar as the tawny woman knew, however, Salsola was also meant to be righteous and upstanding in this exchange: she had been given no instruction to withhold Salvador. On the contrary, she'd been commanded -- so much as a slave can command, in any case -- to release the child first, and wait for Magnolia. This show of trust might put them in good standing; it might also result in the loss of their bargaining chip and Magnolia. Tlantli thought it a foolish gamble, but she would do as she was bid. What did she care, after all, for the lives of those who would be soon behind her? Whatever folly the Colotl engaged in and used her as pawn, she would appease them, for the moment.

Her red eyes flickered from one Ichikan to the next, and she took the one to seat herself as the leader of this group. Tlantli did not engage in the formality of sitting; she'd been commanded to exchange, but politeness had not been a part of the order. In any case, she needn't be impolite for the slight to be perceived: neither Eris nor Sirius attended this exchange themselves, insult enough, as Tlantli saw it. When neither the woman nor the burly man spoke, the woman squared her shoulders and sighed a tiny sigh before speaking.

I was ordered to bring child to you. I have, she said, indicating the child. When he did not move, her scowl deepened. Get up, she snapped at him. Go with your pack. The child looked up at her with uncomprehending eyes for a moment, and Tlantli lifted her lip in exasperation. Your birth pack, she said, pointing at the strangers. Them, she said. It is where you belong. Her accented voice was crisp and sharp with disapproval, and the child moved, his ears drooping as he padded toward the strangers apprehensively, looking from one to the other with a cringe.

Now, the woman said, looking up as soon as the child had crossed the invisible boundary Tlantli defined as "their space." Magnolia? she said, looking to the gray woman behind the big horse. Like it was agreed. No trouble, the woman added, stepping back with both palms extended, a smile on her face that could only be described as "smarmy" with her sharpened teeth and unblinking crimson eyes.

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