[b]Earlier:[/b]

Frandy got excited when she thought she caught sight of Kengetar moving through the shadows of the thick woods ahead of her. She called out softly at first, then louder: "Kengetar...? [i]Kengatar![/i] It is me ... Frandy ... come to be of service to you."

By that, of course, the young and rather promiscuous slave girl meant [i]sexual[/i] service. It meant nothing to her that she'd only met the man yesterday; it meant nothing to her that he was, by Yallan definition, a [i]barbarian[/i]. Frandy simply wanted to pull her dress up and Kengetar's loin cloth off and find some escape from her dull life of service. 

[i]That[/i] wasn't going to happen, though. She was suddenly screaming out in surprise, then fear, as she was grasped about her torso by powerful hands. In just seconds, the man she'd assumed was Kengetar emerged from the woods, and Frandy got her first look at a [i]new[/i] sort of [i]barbarian.[/i]

The Roki were not the Sedent; Frandy knew that in an instance from their clothes, their tattoos, and their treatment of her. The Sedent -- even after the Yallans had destroyed their village and killed many of their people -- had not raised a hand against their attackers/captors, despite their reputation for being barbarous people. Frandy couldn't know whether or not the tales of them had been stretched; she couldn't know whether or not they were biding their time, waiting for the right time to attack, to kill all the Yallans, to eat them from the inside out like so many tales from the [i]civilized world[/i] seem to portray them.

But [i]these[/i] barbarians, [i]they[/i] frightened Frandy to no end. She screamed out in terror as one arm and hand grasped her painfully about her belly and the other arm and hand held her higher, with grasping fingers digging into her [i]tit[/i] in a way no man had before this. She continued screaming out in terror, knowing that she was about to be raped, beaten, raped, killed, raped, and finally eaten.

And then, suddenly, it was over: Kengetar was there. Frandy didn't see [i]her[/i] barbarian kill the first Roki, and she was too deep in shock to really understand that the other [i]ferocious animal[/i] had simply ran away in fear. Later, when she recalled of the moment, she thought she remembered Kengetar saying [i]"Boo!"[/i] But ... no, that was ridiculous, right? Did he really frighten away a barbarian rapist with a word from a mother-infant peekaboo game?

When she realized that it was over, Frandy set her eyes on her [i]savior[/i] and tried to smile in joy, though, honestly, she wasn't entirely sure whether or not the expression had actually manifested. 

He asked her, [color=orange]"Why did you come out here alone? Don't you know it's dangerous?"[/color]

Frandy didn't immediately recognize that she was being chastised for her dangerous silliness. She was about to confess that she'd come into the woods to find him ... to flirt with him ... to seduce him. Then, she realized that she was being dressed down for her ignorance of how dangerous these lands could be. 

She lied to him instead: [color=orange]"Melody sent me to find you. She says you have to come back."[/color]

Frandy had no idea that after a full day of interactions, Kengetar would not have heard her Lady's name or even used it on occasion. But, when she'd recall this moment, Frandy would realize that the actual name [i]Melody[/i] was only rarely is ever spoken. Melody was m'lady; [i]that[/i] was what people of all natures called her. 

She explained who Melody was an introduced herself, and a moment later Kengetar was helping her to her feet. She smiled, once again near to the man who had previously been naked and oh-so-impressively-so the last time they were this close. A chill of sexual excitement ran up her spine, and she was in the process of considering what words to use to tell the barbarian that he could [i]have[/i] her, here and now and repeatedly ... when suddenly she was over his shoulder and being carried out of the forest.

[color=orange]"Don't talk until we're back at camp,"[/color] Kengetar said as he headed down the trail.

Frandy understood immediately that this wasn't part of some mating ritual; the barbarian was doing the least barbaric thing she could imagine, taking her home, untouched and still fully dressed. How disappointing; and what more, how embarrassing. Before she knew it, Frandy was on her feet again at the edge of the camp ... and after telling Kengetar where [i]m'lady[/i] could be found, once again all alone.

She watched the object of her sexual fantasies hurry off toward Melody's tent, where he rapped on the tarp covered wooden frame, waited, then entered. In her now-dark fantasies, she imagined her Mistress laying there on her soft, thick bedding in a practically see through silk gown, lifting it for the convenience of the barbarian who had already stripped off his loin cloth and was hurrying forward to find his joy.

In reality, Melody was sitting with Broon, his Juniors, and Groya, the Elder who typically spoke for the non-military men and the women and children of the tribe in times of concern. The group had been near the end of their meeting as it happened, and after Melody dismissed them, she looked up to Kengetar and asked in a somewhat unenthusiastic, almost bothered tone, "What can I do for you?"

Melody had many things on her mind and, of course, she [i]hadn't[/i] asked for the Sedent's presence after all,