Private Tales A Silver Tongue Turned Gold

[Inara Irren]

Inara glowered at him. "And I think I will just go head and use this leash to strangle myself," she said with her most sarcastic smile.

"If I wanted to be someone's maid, I would have an honest job," she laughed. Oh the irony. "Or I would be someones wife." She raised her brows and nodded with the thin lipped smile still on her face.

"So you," she poked his chest, "can go fuck yourself."

 

[Tal]

"Oh relax." Tal said with a roll of his eyes. "I wouldn't hire you to be my maid you begged."

No.

A good cleaner needed to be trusted, and...well Inara had already proven that she couldn't be. Talmanese wasn't the type of man to take risks when he didn't need to, especially when the reward wasn't large enough to actually pay off.

He was smarter than that. "No, I have a better idea."

Tal said with a smile.

"See, I've been doing some digging while you've been gone." Gently he tugged on the leash again. "And I've learned a thing or two."

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara put her hands against Tal's chest and looked up at him. She couldn't get any closer and it scared her. She didn't trust this man a single bit.

"And what have you learned?" She pushed herself away slightly but he hadn't let up on the leash. She needed to get this thing off as soon as possible.

"How to be a decent human?" She was genuinely curious how far she could push before he snapped and killed her.

 

[Tal]

Tal shook his head. "Leather."

For a moment he seemed to utterly ignore her questions, as though he hadn't heard them at all. Instead he inspected the collar around her throat, the disappointment on his face more than clear as he studied the small binding.

"Back home we have something so much more effective." He let out a small 'tsk', and then finally let his eyes roam back to hers.

A smile flashed over his lips.

"I know what got you dead." He smiled. "No, more importantly. I know who got you dead."

One of the Triumvirate. One of his bosses.

Not Vora, thankfully, but one of the others. One who might just have enough power to get Tal what he wanted most of all.

 

[Inara Irren]

Everything in Inara's posture changed as soon as he said he knew who killed her. She stood up straighter and her face was suddenly serious as she studied his for some joke. He was not joking!

"You...why did you care to look?" Why was she asking that? She didn't care why he had looked, she just cared that she could finally get her revenge.

She suddenly didn't care about him quite literally owning her or the collar.

 

[Tal]

Tal smiled easily, looking at Inara as if he were trying to search her very soul. "I like knowing things."

One of the few lessons that his father had successfully imparted on him. Tyre was an incredibly dangerous city, even for the nobility. The more you know, the more you understood, the more safe you were. His family held an extensive spy network and paid them well, better than most families could even dream of doing. That was part of how they'd stayed in power for so long.

Tal had taken that and applied it here. Urchins, archivists, thugs, and prostitutes. He paid them all, coalescing and gathering every bit of Information that he could. There was value to it, and more often than not doing so paid off.

Like right now.

"Means I'm rarely ever on the backfoot." He smiled. "And I'm ready when opportunities come my way."

His fingers finally loosened on the leash, letting her fall back just a step. "Like when little slave girls fall in my lap."

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara did stumble back a step and she cursed. He was an asshole and he was enjoying this way too much. She was not!

"Did you buy someone else? Because I will never fa..." Fall in your lap, is what was supposed to come out of her mouth but she couldn't say them. It wasn't a lie. The tell-tale pain prickled through her body and she grimaced. Her mind had betrayed her so completely. Apparently somewhere in her subconscious...she wanted to fall in his lap. "Fuck!" She said while rubbing her forehead. That one had hurt.

She was silent for a little bit before she regained her composure. "What did you find out?" She was curious and needed to change the subject from her traitorous mind.

 

[Tal]

Tal chuckled, the wide smirk on his lips only growing larger as he shook his head. He really was starting to believe the whole story of her not being able to lie. It was a dangerous thing, to keep someone like that around, but the reward outweighed the risks.

This time at least. "Quite a bit."

The Underboss remained cryptic, only smiling as he turned away from Inara. He let the leash slide down his palm, flowing until he gripped it's end and then gently tugged her along. "Can't talk much here."

He said, glancing around the small room.

"The walls have ears of their own." As they always did. "But, I'm sure your curiosity will keep you coming along. Oh...and this."

Tal said, tugging on the collar as he headed towards the door.

 

[Inara Irren]

He was right. The leash was unnecessary. She was curious and she would follow. Tal just enjoyed the collar and leash way too much. Of course, that meant when he tugged at her leash, she followed like a good little pet.

Inara stayed quiet in the halls as she watched other buyers and their new purchases walk by. She had nothing to say to her new master.

Well...she had lots but the asshole would just enjoy it too much and remind her who quite literally held the leash.

 

[Tal]

Alliria, by general rule, did not allow slavery.

It was a practice that had been made illegal centuries ago within the trade hub. The Merchant Council had brought the law into effect mostly to curb rebellion, with dock workers and the like having threatened to put heads on pikes.

Of course, rules of law meant very little when you had enough money and power. People like Tal tended to have quite a bit of both.

So, the two of them did not cut directly through the streets of Alliria. That would have been practically asking to be caught by the City Watch. Instead a few minutes after Tal lead Inara out of the room the two of them found themselves on a small sailing boat piloted by a strange Tiefling with only one horn.

Tal sat himself down in the back of the boat. "Evening Victor, got myself a prize."

The Tiefling looked at Tal, then to Inara, then simply began to unhitch the boat from it's place.

 

[Inara Irren]

"I hat..." She grimaced and let out a long, exasperated sigh. Her and her mind were going to need to have a talk about it being an asshole.

She sat in the boat with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. She really hated it. Oh...she could lie to herself. That little torture had been left out of the bargain.

 

[Tal]

Tal leaned back and relaxed, deciding that it was best not yet to talk about it. Instead he simply enjoyed the ride through the bay.

Victor weaved the small boat through the dozens upon dozens of moored vessels which sat all around Alliria. He skillfully directed the little ship through the dark of night, as though he had done it dozens upon dozens of times before.

As they reached out and began to arc towards the Shallows, one would get a perfect view of Alliria itself.

The sight of the city held a certain beauty. Thousands upon thousands of lights from torches, lanterns, and likely even magics arrayed all around Alliria. It lit up the night sky, barely obscuring the stars. Pitted among it all were the ships, for they too lit up.

They came from nations all over, Elbion, Vel Anir, even Tal's native Sheketh.

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara did not relax. She sat with her arms cross over her chest. She didn't even get to enjoy the beautiful views of Alliria because she was so pissed off. The situation was bullshit. Tal was a pain in the fucking ass who now owned her. She wasn't even sure if she believed him and his talk of knowing who killed her.

Also...after all these years...what was she going to do? Did they even remember her? Probably not. She couldn't even remember everything she had taken from them.

"Are we almost there?" She asked like a petulant child.

 

[Tal]

”Impatient.” He said with a shake of his head.

Tal couldn’t really blame her. Five years ago he had been exactly the same way. He’d seen something and pushed towards it, never thinking for a second that there might be a better path. Of course, she was aso in a collar. That probably didn’t help.

A breath filled his lungs, and he glanced towards Viktor. ”No wonder she got caught.”

The Tiefling looked down at the Underboss, his yellow eyes flickering towards him. There was a look of…disapproval perhaps that passed for just a moment, and then the other man turned his attention back towards their path ahead.

A few minutes later the little boat pulled into a dock, the same dock that Inara had tried to sneak onto.

As they reached one of the piers Tal stood in the boat, pulling himself up and then motioning for Inara to quickly follow behind.

 

[Inara Irren]

"Fuck you," Inara bit at him for his little comment about why she got caught. He was an asshole and she really disliked him.

When they finally arrived at the dock and Tal started to get off the boat, Inara stood too. She thought he would grab the leash to, once again, lead her like a fucking dog. He didn't though. He just motioned for her to come along. What option did she have? None.

Inara grumbled something about assholes and climbed onto the deck.

 

[Tal]

As they stepped onto the dock it was clear that the whole thing was active throughout the night.

Dozens of people were buzzing around. Some unloading cargo, others sorting, and still others seemingly just watching. Tal walked through the mess of people without so much as a blink, just moving through the crowd and leading Inara forward.

It did not take long for them to reach that oh so familiar office.

Inara would recognize it, the same place that she had been taken to the first time she'd come to these Docks. "Ah, home sweet home."

Tal commented, practically throwing himself into at the far corner of the room.

"Now." He mused. "Where were we?"

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara took a seat on a chair near Tal and sat with her arms crossed across her chest again. She needed new clothes as soon as possible. Real clothes. Not a maids outfit. She would kill him. It was bad enough she was on this leash.

"Well, I need some clothing and you need to tell me what you know about my life." It was not a question. It was a fact. He would tell her.

 

[Tal]

"Wow." He said with a frown. "That's a lot of demands for a slave."

Tal mused. "Really weird."

His head shook, as if he quite couldn't understand where she was even coming from with those demands. A glance was offered towards one of the cabinets in the corner, and then slowly he drew his eyes back towards Inara.

"Do they not have slaves in Elbion?" He asked pointedly. "Because I can explain the concept to you."

Tal slowly gestured towards the cabinet. "After you fetch me a drink."

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara was already beyond irritated with Tal. When he started to mock her and then had the fucking nerve to tell her to fetch him a drink. She con woman-turned-slave launched herself out of the chair with her hands extended towards his neck. She was going to choke him to death.

 

[Tal]

Tal wasn't entirely surprised when Inara jumped forward, when she hopped off her chair and lashed out with an angry roar echoing from her throat.

Still, as she rushed forward the Underboss couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. Fingers instantly tightened, but he didn't move a single inch. She reached him, her hands wrapping around her throat, her face just a few inches away from his.

Yet as she touched him.

As her palms landed at her neck, she would find that odd blue blade settled against hers.

The Crescent knife sat nestled right against the crook of her throat, shimmering in some of the bare lamp light. A smirk sat on his face as he looked up at her, a wordless dare entering his eyes as the Tyrian threatened to end her life in a bath of crimson for himself.

 

[Inara Irren]

He didn't move. That should have been a sign right there. A sign that he had a plan to stop her before she could hurt him. She was already committed though. Committed to strangling him.

As her hands wrapped around his throat and her body came to straddle him for better leverage for said strangulation, she saw the glint of the off knife.

Inara looked down at him with her eyes only. She didn't move as her fingers slowly loosened from around his throat.

 

[Tal]

"Sweetheart." Tal mused, that blade still hovering against her throat.

There was a confident smugness that hung wry against his features. The expression suited him, in fact it was almost perfect. It was almost as he had worn the same face for his entire life, as if he looked at everyone around him in that same way.

"Would you reach into my pocket." The blade pressed against her throat. "And get out a cigar for me?"

He mused, his voice almost a song. "Oh, and the lighter of course."

Tal urged.

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara glared at Tal as her fingers uncurled from his throat. She held her chin high as she very carefully moved. Her hands slide down his chest and to his pocket. It took a full minute for her slender fingers to procure the cigar and the lighter. Her face had not changed as she lifted her hand back up so he could take them.

Honestly, she was wondering if she could back up and get away from him before he slit her throat. She guess the answer was no, she couldn't.

So instead she glared because she couldn't say anything along the lines of I will kill you, I hate you, etc.

 

[Tal]

He plucked the cigar from her from her hands, putting it between his lips. The knife remained steady at her throat, not moving or pressing against her throat. Simply waiting, as the quiet threat of death hanging over her. ”Would you mind?”

Tal said, looking down at the lighter.

The small contraption was a unique thing, built in Tyre. There was an engraving on the outside case, a depiction of a strange dragon skull whose eyes were beaded emeralds. The thing alone must have been worth as much as a house, the two gems equal to that.

”Takes two hands.” He explained, flipping open the lint to reveal the small flint striker that sat within.

As he waited, Tal mused. ”You’ve never met a Tyrian, have you?”

He wondered out loud.

 

[Inara Irren]

Inara used both hands to carefully ignite the flint. She watched in fascination as she slowly brought it to the tip of his cigar.

She still had barely moved so when he asked his question she simply said, "no." The habit of wanting to shake her head no would have probably ended with her dead.