He had to admit he wasn't sure what had become of any of the former slaves he'd freed. He made it a point to never get attached. To distance himself. He thought it safer if they never had to look back. To not be reminded of their past sufferings.
"I wouldn't know what to do with a life of freedom however sir." Magnius scuffed scooping the girl back into his arms. Again she yelped in fear. "You'll figure it out, eventually. First things first. Breakfast."
~~~
Magnius could tell there was an air of social discomfort with Silf as they entered the dining room. Setting her back down she fumbled by the doorway a moment scanning the room unsure what was expected of her as Magnius took his seat.
When it became clear she wasn't going to move unless invited he did so."Come, sit." He said motioning for her to take the seat opposite him. He hoped the short distance from the door to the chair wouldn't aggravate her bruises.
A hardwood chair with a high back and red velvet padding took center place along each side a table built for four. Silf gingerly moved further into the small room. Once sat she set her hands in her lap and simply looked at the meal before her.
"You may partake or leave anything presented." He said, waving a hand towards her plant of assorted fruits, greens, bread, and meats. He wasn't sure what she'd prefer but made the educated guess she wouldn't have much of an idea herself or even know what must of this was.
From the looks of her, she ate whatever was given. What little that may have been. She'd not known a proper diet since birth most likely.
Being an elf he made the assumption she'd prefer greens and fruits to meats as Zyom often did. Most elves did from his understanding. With the exception of Wood-elves, most were strictly vegetarians. He'd made sure to include some meat to be sure however.
"Ar-are y-you sure sir?" Silf asked timidly. He nodded looking to the kitchen as Aryzath entered the room.
The red-headed woman made a b-line straight for Silf with a look of disgust on her face. Looming over the much smaller elven-woman Aryzath shook her head.
"Right shameful, this is." What little optimism that might have taken root in Silf seemed to quickly spoil and withered away. Her shoulders slouched and her eyes drifted away from her food.
Magnius thought she looked utterly defeated at that moment.
Aryzath reached out and began pulling and tugging at Silf's hair. "This won't do at all." Magnius caught a glimpse of Silf looking at him as if asking for something. Help perhaps? He wasn't sure. But her eyes slowly returned to her hands, still resting in her lap.
Maybe she'd come to quickly view his gentle hand as preferable to Aryzath's bold and blunt approach. That was good. It meant she wasn't totally without trust for others he hoped. But she misunderstood Aryzath. She wasn't being spiteful.
"I was going to cut it later." Magnius remarked buttering a slice of toast.
"Cut it off! I'll hear nothing of the sort ya damn fool!" Aryzath barked, causing Silf to Flinch. Aryzath's voice was loud and forceful. "We'll not be having the young miss bald, nor walking around look'en like a damn street hound!"
Magnius shrugged. "It'll grow back." He countered taking his first bite.
Aryzath looked like she was about to flip the entire table on him. "Badder hope yah fingers can grow back, yah even try it!" Aryzath threatened "Nah, I'll be tending to her hair myself!" With that Aryzath stormed off.
Magnius doubted she could do much to save it but wasn't about to try and stop her. Maybe giving Silf a good tending too was exactly what she needed? It might do her more good to be given a proper deep cleaning then to simply cut it off.
Magnius let the room's mood settle again before speaking. Silf still hadn't touched her food. "Problem?" He asked, keeping his eyes on his meal as opposed to making eye contact.
"Oh no sir, it's just ~" She trailed off. Magnius looked up. She'd finally taken hold of a strawberry. Her eyes were locked on the bright red fruit as she turned it about between her fingers. "No one's ever done anything nice for me."
She took an extraordinarily small bite from the tip. Her face immediately lit up as she tasted the fruit. Taking a much larger bite soon after. "Don't rush." Magnius remarked. "With how frail you are, you could make yourself sick eating too much, or too fast."
Silf looked up nodding. "Yes sir." The remainder of breakfast went by in relative silence. Broken only by Aryzath returning with a comb, towel, and a bucket of hot water. This she set aside to eat her own food.
When breakfast was finished Silf instinctively stood making to collect the plates without a passing thought it seemed. Aryzath however quickly put her in her place. "Oh, nah yah don't." She snapped, snatching the plates away. "Yah not paid to clean up. That's my job."
Silf shrunk back, holding her hands to her chest and looking at Magnius as Aryzath stormed off into the kitchen.
Setting his elbows on the table and locking his fingers together Magnius leaned his chin to his hands. "While I won't stop you, you're not required nor requested to perform menial tasks while you're in my care." He began.
"However, Aryzath probably won't allow it even if you insist." Which he was well aware of. She'd absolutely refuse to allow Silf to do anything. Aryzath didn't like anyone doing her job. She was rather prideful.
Magnius motioned back to the seat as he stood. "Sit please." He said coming around to her side of the table. "I'd like to take a better look at your collar now." lap
Silf nodded, retaking her preferred posture. Hands settled in her lap. Eyes resting on her feet as they hung off the chair. Once sat, Magnius began pulling and rotating the collar around her neck. Inspecting its every detail with obsessive scrutiny.
It appeared to be a single piece of leather. No buckle or other such effectors to indicate how it had been set upon her. A perfect circle of leather. Not even something to adjust its size.
Aside from a metal loop that hung by her throat, which moved freely, it was extraordinarily simple and plain in design yet he knew it was also highly complex.
Engraved into it were Runes. Three lines wrapped the entirety of its length. He studied them intently. Whoever had crafted this artifact had taken painstaking efforts to prevent its wearer from taking any sort of retaliative action.
Normally Slave collar Runes protected the item from natural wear or destruction, being removed by its wearer and forcing obedience to some degree. These Runes only appeared to prevent its wearer from acting against their owner.
What was more was the wording was fluid yet almost sporadic. Like the collar itself, there was no beginning or ending to the three lines of text. Each line was one continuous running sentence. It was a perfect circle. Like a sentence whose beginning was also its ending.
"Interesting." He remarked as he began looking on the inside of the collar, holding Silf's matted hair aside. More Runes marked the inside in the same chaotic fashion. These Runes seemed more intent on suppressing its wearer's magical abilities.
Most curious was a line that made all this voluntary on the slave owners whim. They could suppress or allow whatever magical abilities they desired it seemed. Most collars simply nullified magic channeling outright. This instead allowed the wearer to use magic at their owner's discretion.