Page 27 of Own to Obey

Shaya frowned. “Your mother?”

Treska nodded. “She is…”

Shaya waited for her to find a word, but she shook her head. “I don't know the word. She must meet you so she will come. I will be…”

Once again she could not find the words, and although the look of frustration on her face was almost comical, Shaya felt sorry for her. “I look forward to meeting her,” she said, sincerely. “Thank you.”

Treska shot her a stern look.

“Yettsyrm,” Shaya corrected herself, repeating thank you in Mayaros.

Treska grinned and headed to the door, chuckling as she did.

The next day, Shaya found herself restless. She normally was in the morning, which was when she paced, but now that she knew that Treska was not coming, the day ahead seemed as though it would be an extraordinarily long one, an utterly boring one too. Looking at the information about the Southern Isles was not as interesting as when she studied it with Treska, who would tell her all the little bits of knowledge that she knew that were not on the parchment. Studying on her own meant that she had no idea if she got something right or if she was doing it completely wrong.

Within an hour of picking up the parchment to try to study, she realized it was pointless. So she simply waited for the shinno to arrive, hoping that her restlessness would fade once she had some time with the ocean, and time with him. With each visit, she found herself more inclined to soften her distance from him. He still treated her the same, he still touched her gently and bought her to orgasm and spoke to her. “There is nothing more as beautiful as you, little bird.” The tingles in her stomach when he said that made her weak, and not just physically. She wanted to tell him he was beautiful too, that she could see he loved the ocean like she did, that she liked his hands on her, his kisses on every part of her. She shouldn’t want to tell him all that. She was supposed to remain firm, and not easily swayed, even by his attentions. But each time he looked at her with his ocean eyes, when his lips curled like he was seeing something amazing that no one else could see, when he told her she was beautiful… she could feel a piece of her resolve breaking.

What she found unusual about his attention, was that he did not try to have sex with her again. It was almost as though the first time he did it was too unsatisfactory for him to try again, but that couldn't be true because she always felt his arousal underneath her bottom or against her hip, his thickness pressed against her when she cuddled into him. The first time she felt it, she was fearful, wondering if he was going to take her again, but it was as though it didn't exist for him. She eventually realized that he was probably seeing the other angry woman whenever he got that aroused. Strangely, the idea saddened her, but she was glad that she wasn't having to experience what she had the first time. That kind of sex just wasn’t for her.

She paced, tried to read, greeted Treska when she popped by with her lunch though did not stay, and tried to keep her mind busy. But before she knew it, the sky was already darkening. She straightened abruptly—the shinno had not arrived. Maybe he wasn't coming today at all.

A slow panic descended on her as she realized what that may mean. She wouldn't be leaving this room at all for the whole day. She shot off the bed and went to look out of one of the small round windows, hoping that it would calm her, but there was no breeze, no salty scent, no expansive view. It did nothing but remind her that she was still in a box. It wasn't as dark or as small and horrible as the one that caused her to panic, but it was still a box nonetheless.

As her breathing began to quicken, she looked around the room for something that might help, but there was nothing. Even the treatment for her shoulder and the potion she took that made her drowsy, and dull the pain, wasn't in the room anymore because her shoulder didn’t need it—it had largely healed.

As she wandered around the room, becoming more frantic, her eyes landed on the door.

What if she just stood outside for a moment? What if, just being out of the room would help? After hesitating for only a moment, she headed toward the door.

Thankfully it wasn't locked. Shaya wasn't sure what she would have done if it had been. She peeked her head out and saw that the corridors were empty. Good. She slipped out and stood outside the door, breathing deeply, hoping that her pounding heart would calm. But the corridor was more oppressive than the room. It was small, narrow, and there weren’t any windows to let in any natural light. She looked down both ends of the corridor wondering if there was a way to get to any of the decks that had a balcony.

Slowly, she picked a direction and walked down the corridor, keeping as close to the wall as she could and memorizing every part of where she was going so that she could make her way back, hopefully before anyone realized that she was gone. Treska wasn't coming before the next day, and she now doubted the shinno would either.

As she reached the end of the corridor, she felt a slight breeze coming from one flight of stairs that would take her up a deck. She followed it, eager for fresh air, but when she reached the top of the stairs, she heard music coming from somewhere along the other end of the deck.

She paused, wondering what to do. It must be very late into the evening by now, why would anybody be playing music?

Before she had time to think about it, two women turned the corner, giggling and chatting, causing Shaya to jump. They talked animatedly between them until they saw her, and then they both grinned, and greeted her, and luckily, she was able to greet them back. They then said something she didn't understand and beckoned her to follow along.

Shaya stared after them shocked. So people could be friendly here. If that was the case, why was the shinno keeping her locked away? She could understand if she came across as a threat to some of the tribeswomen, but the two that passed hadn’t known her at all, and they seem to be inviting her to follow them.

Shaya looked around the deck, it was mostly empty, with a couple of tribespeople heading in one way or another, but most were heading toward the sound of the music. She wondered if she should ask someone where the nearest balcony was, but she didn't know the words in Mayaros. It wouldn't be a smart thing to do to draw attention to herself.

As she stood there, three more groups of people walked past her, greeting her, and gesturing for her to come along toward the music. She found herself stepping in that direction, wondering where they were all going, and why they all seem so excited to go there. She had to admit, even just being out of the room and on the deck had lessened her panic somewhat, maybe she should just stay out of the room for a little longer before heading back. What would be the harm?

Fortunately, she was dressed in one of the new outfits that Treska had brought for her, so she didn't look out of place among the other tribespeople, who were all dressed neatly, with ornaments in their hair, around their waists, their wrists, and neck. In fact, some of them looked utterly beautiful.

She turned to face the stairs again, and thought through how she managed to get to where she was. If she could find her way back when she needed to, then she could pretty much go wherever she wanted.

Making a decision, she headed toward the music, the thumping of a deep instrument pounding through her chest the closer she got. She followed with the others heading in that direction, through a couple of corridors and then under an archway, and she found their excitement almost rubbing off on her about what she would find.

Suddenly, she realized she was back in the hall where the shinno had first spoken to the tribe when they set sail so many weeks ago. It was an enormous hall, with a decorated arched ceiling, but although the hall had been full the last time she had been in it, now it was almost bursting to the brim.

The entire ship looked to be in attendance.

Bodies jumped, writhed, and gyrated around her and she bumped into many as they sang along with the music and cheered. The deep heavy thud she had heard from down the deck was coming from the other side of the room, and entwined within it, rhythmic, strange sounds and melodies floated into the air, some deep and heavy that vibrated in her chest, others light and sharp.

Shaya found herself jostled and bumped halfway across the space, and every time she tried to get out of someone's way, another person swept past her, spinning her around into another direction. There were women who grabbed her and danced with her, laughing and grinning, before moving on. And suddenly, she found herself completely disorientated. Where had she come in from? She headed to the nearest wall, and stood against it, watching everybody dancing and laughing.

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