Melody watched the squatting Kengetar eagerly dig into the platter. She sat on the stool again, sitting more near the man than away from him. Her Captain would have pitched a fit to see her so exposed and vulnerable to the man to whose people her people had done so much harm today, but Melody wasn't concerned; she had confidence that Kengetar was more interested in hearing her tale than in breaking her neck ... for the moment, at least.

"All my life, I've been told that my mother was a very special child..." she began, adding, "...and a beautiful one at that. When she was but 10 years old, she caught the eye of a very powerful man. This man essentially [i]stole[/i] my mother away her parents and her people, none of whom would ever see her again.

"She was, of course, far too young to join him in his bed at that time, even for a man of such power. He sent her to the Holy House of Tella-Un, where -- for the next eight years -- she was guarded by and educated by the Priestesses of the Fire. She was taught Mathematics, Letters, Art ... Politics, Finance, History. 

"For eight years, she didn't again see the man who'd ripped her from her mother's arms ... nor [i]any other[/i] man for that matter.

"Six years after she'd been taken, when that little [i]stick[/i] of a girl had grown tall and [i]curvy[/i] as most women do at by that age, my mother's education as a Consort began. Oh, don't misunderstand me; it would be almost another three years before the man who had taken her or, again, [i]any[/i] other man would touch her.

"But men she did see. During this period of her [i]education[/i], the Priestesses brought men to the Holy House to lay with some of the servants who had surrounded my mother all those years. They did things with each other ... for each other ... [i]to[/i] each other ... than man husbands and wives never imagined. My mother watched ... listened ... learned ... and [i]remembered[/i]. 

"When she was nearly to her 19th Winter, the man came for her. He took her away to the City that would be her home for the next six years. There, she revealed to him just how well she'd been educated in those final years of her education ... revealed how well she'd paid attention and how eager she was to share that education with him, [i]despite[/i] how she'd come to be in his service.

"This man quickly became enamored with my mother. He began spending more time at her City, in and [i]out[/i] of her bed. She had become so much more to him that simply a warm, energetic body that served his carnal urges and needs. He had traded lust for love.

"He nearly ceased his travels to the other Cities under his rule ... and to the beds of the other Consorts under his rule as well. He had little use for those other women. She and the City she ruled in his absence soon became the focal point of his life. 

"And she gave him a child..." Melody continued, a slight smile appearing on her lips as she added, "...a daughter ... who many said then and still say today was as beautiful as her mother ever had been. And this man loved his daughter ... [i]professed[/i] his love publicly ... something for which he hadn't done for any of his previously born daughters or even many of his sons. 

"And this was the beginning of my mother's downfall," Melody said with a tone that was more solemn at this point. "Others ... other [i]Consorts[/i] ... became jealous of the attention, support, and [i]power[/i] my mother was being given. One in particular, Lady Gwenneth of the House of Youln, became determined to ... [i]correct[/i] what she felt was a mistake on her Master's part ... on my father's part. She conspired with others to see that my mother fell from her lofty position of power. And she succeeded."

Melody paused, unsure if she wanted to explain the details of how her mother's second life had been torn away from her. She decided this wasn't the time and instead continued with, "Lady Gwenneth of the House of Youln has been in the Capital City of Yalla for several months. She is in talks with the Republic's Prime Minister regarding control of the waters and coastline of the Dead Coast..."

Her tone and expressions became conspicuously harsher as she told Kengetar, "She is serving as the Imperial Ambassador for her Master ... Emperor Frenk the Hearty ... my father."

Melody studied the barbarian's reaction, wondering whether or not he'd already picked up on the clues she'd dropped and concluded that it was indeed the ruler of the Frenkish Empire about whom she'd been speaking all this time. Was Kengetar [i]fluent[/i] in world politics such that he even knew who Frenk the Hearty was? Most of the world's population had heard of the Emperor, but most of those couldn't tell you his name, let alone anything about him [i]other[/i] than the fact that in less than 40 years, he and his brutal and ever growing army had taken over nearly a fifth of the world's landmass, including at least four major, walled cities.

"This is the woman I want you to kill, Kengetar ... lady Gwenneth," Melody went on, spelling out the details that would matter to him if he took the mission. "I cannot get to her, but you can. She has a ... [i]fondness[/i] for men such as yourself ... men who are -- and please, do not think that I offend you intentionally -- men who are wild ... men who are barbaric ... animals--"

She let her gaze fall toward his now-thankfully hidden crotch before she added, "--and endowed enough to bring out the barbaric animal in her, too. You can get to her as few men can ... and once you have gotten to her ... once you have served her ... once she is sated and off her guard ... vulnerable ... you can kill her and escape ... and lead your people back to the mountains with more silver and gold than you and they have ever imagined."

For the first time since they'd met, Melody reached out and touched Kengetar, laying her hand atop his as it rest on the edge of the tiny dining table. Would he withdraw it in surprise...? In anger...? In hate? Or would he allow it to sit there while she squeezed it softly in an attempt to show him that she was being entirely sincere in her offer?

Either way, Melody would finish with, "Will you do this for me, Kengetar? Will you do this for your people?"