Play along for a moment

"Yes'm Miss Sasha" You say and see Djuba start in surprise as you move into the stables for her palfrey. "She be fixed up good an quick." The simple **** pidgin works well for disguising your anger. "Yo ma and sista, they be safe missy? Within-out you being here?"

"Safe as can be expected Lippy." She says as she closes the massive door to the house behind her and locks it with a heavy key. "But they won't be truly safe until this siege is broken and the United Armies are thrown back." As you saddle her horse you feel her eyes boring into the back of your head examining you for any sign of deceit. Of all the Kjellborg family, Sasha was the one who never quite believed your 'Simple Lippy' act.

"I'll need you boys to come with me to the West Bank. There could be some looters out trying to take advantage of the chaos, so you two will have to run along." As she speaks, Sasha steps forward to get her horse, but you pretend to hesitate as she holds out her hand imperiously for the reins.

"Pardon Simple Lippy Miss, but Massah Milos gon told us to stay here in the barn or we be killed fast as mad dogs." As you speak your eyes stay down, never rising higher than her thin waist. Even this limited view of her was pleasing; her long thighs were firm and toned and the flare of her hips promised a great future of loving. Her small feet and lower legs were hugged by the tight leather of her boots; the dark leather emphasized the slimness of her ankles and the roundness of her calves.

The blow from her riding crop was sharp, but not unexpected. She struck you high on the left arm and you knew that soon there would be a raised red welt on the dark skin of your bicep. The pain was minor compared to the whippings you received when you were first captured and trained. As a warrior you could ignore an irritation like that, but as a man, your pride stings at letting a woman not yet even twenty years old beat you like a mule.

"You thick headed baboon!" Sasha's words cut just as sharply as the crop "You will be with me, now give me the reins, and get a shirt on." Your irritation at Sasha is at a peak, but if you can keep your emotions under control, she will take you to the drake tower where she trains. If you can get your hands on a drake you can fly anywhere, that would be true freedom.

On the other hand, the heavy key to the house door is hanging temptingly from the belt that encircles her pretty waist. With that key, you could walk into the main house without making a sound, you could get real food from the kitchen and help yourself to the finest treasures of your master's house, including his wife and daughters.