Barruni walked quietly behind her friend as she was guided through the ship. She was still unnerved by walking into the elite section. Her new position causing her to lose most rights against those who would want to mess with her. "Can you really get me back into her good graces?" Barruni asked, her gaze coming across the occasional Vanid going about their business.
"Of course. You did as she asked, and she won't be so against you becoming her slave when your master is put in his place. You'll just serve her in another way." Cruma tried to soothe Barruni. She was as nervous as her friend but was keeping it under control. "And she will really enjoy you betraying your master with how close you two are."
"How close do you think we are?" Barruni asked in a combination of incredulity and offense. Stopping the two on their walk to their destination, jolting Cruma to almost fall over.
"He forgave you with free reign after he could do whatever he wanted with you." Cruma deadpanned to her friend. The risk of being killed was really getting to the girl. "That hopeless male probably has a desire to make you his mate, and you can use that to turn things on him." Cruma would yank Barruni's arm to get her moving again. "Use his delusions as payback for enslaving you."
Barruni was a little stunned at the insinuation. She had thought about the abuse of women and what her master could do to her, but she never thought that the young man was being so weak-willed about it that she could abuse him. "O-okay. I'll see what I can do." She finished quickly, walking up to the lavish door that held her former mistress.
mad the door opened, Barruni was revealed a sight that caused her blood to run cold. In front of her was the cooked and half tested arm of a Shu, with the bones of the talon pulled off and laid to the side. "Ah, you are here. I with how late you were I believed the human was wise enough to catch on. Not that it would do any good." The Vanid melodiously stated, taking another bite of the cooked flesh. "Nothing can compare to the torture meat undergoes when cooked."
Barruni straightened up as much as she could as the Vanid began talking. She had forgotten that the woman she served was a gourmet. The sight of the alien's hobby set almost all the survival instincts in her body off at once. "G-" before she could speak though, Cruma cut her off.
"no mistress, the human is none the wiser, but the slave overestimates her master's critical thinking." She pet the back of Barruni, who tensed up in fear... she now had to lie about what Adam knew, why did he have to give her such dangerous orders?
not noticing Barruni's thoughts, the Vanid just laughed. "You Shu are always wary of a predator sneaking up on you so I'm not surprised, without a competent protector you grow scared of any threat." Barruni couldn't help but frown at that. They weren't scared of threats, they prepared for threats, is this how the other races saw them? "Have you got a refined palette by the way?" The Vanid pointed the limb she held at Barruni to get the girl's attention on the conversation. "It is so hard to find someone who can handle the true beauty of tortured flesh."
barruni almost retched at the thought of eating her own kind. Not only did it insult the culture of the hunt, but killing her own people for self-satisfaction? Not many species had the ability to do that. Seeing her reaction though, the Vanid's eyes widened then put the limb away. "I did not mean of your own kind slave, but the flesh of those you would prey on."
"O-oh, sorry I thought you were meaning the Shu you held," Barruni admitted, quickly collecting herself. "I have not experienced the flavors from a gourmet's food." Barruni gulped, trying to keep the fear and disgust of thinking about what happened to her race to satisfy this woman. Though before she could refuse her, Adam's words rang through her mind again, her fear spiking as she needed to get into the vanid's good books and lying to her, so she couldn't just refuse. "But I am willing to try it?" Her voice nearly broke at the intense expression of the Vanid.
"wonderful. A brave subordinate is just what I need. Most of my servants are so timid that they shy away from anything uncomfortable!" Barruni heaved a sigh of relief as the Vanid accepted her words. "Would you like to take a look at the next meal I am preparing? They are in the perfect stage of infusion."
Barruni shuddered and recoiled, watching the torture would be worse than eating the byproduct of it.... "C-could I start with tasting the end product?" She requested, walking the thin line between favor and malice in the Vanid's eyes.
"That's fair." The Vanid stated after a long pause. "I've lost sisters to the taste because they did not enjoy the sights of creating the food. It is no wonder that a lesser species would have such a problem with it." Barruni let out a heavy sigh of relief when the Vanid spoke.
"Thank you, Mistress." She bowed to the Vanid, shows of weakness in front of superiors were the best way to show subservience. and a predator losing their sight meant that an enemy could easily attack them. "May we please talk about my position serving you? I was told that's why I was brought here."
Cruma took the initiative to step back in. The direction of the conversation causing her to back off in as much disgust as Barruni felt, but now able to help her friend. "Yes. The human has been very sympathetic to my friend, I believe that he has the desire to make her his mate." Everyone in the room winced at that. "So we can use that to hurt him."
In spite of the offensive statement that her servant stated right before, the suggestion to abuse the human, caused the Vanid to perk up. "That would be perfect. He needs to stew in a good broth of pain and fear before he is given to me." Everyone could see her sadistic grin at this point, even the servants that were with the Vanid when Barruni entered flinched back.
"I-if I may Mistress?" Barruni began, causing an angry gaze to whip towards her.
"Yes?" The Vanid spoke tersely, like Barruni had taken away her plaything. "You need to know not to pull me out of my fantasies if you want to get anywhere with me girl."
"I-i'm s-sorry Mistress." Barruni quickly voiced an apology before she calmed herself down." But I wouldn't target the human so openly like that." She started, giving a moment to recollect her courage as she could've sworn the vanid inched closer to her. "The fleet's CEO is keeping an eye on him, if you keep antagonizing him, she may use it as an excuse to curry favor with her supporters by kicking you out."
After a moment of silence the air lightened significantly as the Vanid seemed to slowly recoil in thought. "Thank you for reminding me. I was so lost in the vengeance I wanted to give the human that I forgot the political situation around him." The Vanid gave a sound of frustration. "He represents the lesser species now. and attacking him would mean undermining the fleet as a whole."
Barruni felt relieved again. she felt like every sentence she said was a battlefield. where failure would cause an avalanche of enemy fire to rain on her, guaranteeing her doom. She was glad she had listened to Adam's plans now. If even the Vanid agreed with his thoughts, then there was truth to them. "Mistress? The human calls me for things at random times so I can't make plans too far ahead, but I can do your bidding should he not have plans for me." She had to recite the lines word for word now.
"So you are asking to become my agent again?" The woman asked with a critical eye, causing Barruni to tense up.
"Y-yes. As a slave, I am considered unimportant for most people so I can sneak information and do tasks without being caught."
"And if you're caught, the human will be blamed. as no one would believe that I would have the human work for me." The Vanid stated in satisfaction, a grin on her face at the thought. "If you can complete my tasks for me, then I will make sure you become a personal slave of mine, and escape the fate your master set for you."
Barruni bowed again. "Thank you Mistress. That is all I can ask for."