FREEDOM'S BREATH || Introduction

[RHIANNON]

―――― Unlike Stryker, Rhiannon was entirely familiar with who he was. The Ardent. The one who had the final say on everything. The one who, for all intents and purposes, had played a role (no matter how minor or inadvertently) in her initial slavery in the Pitt. The sound of footsteps gently displacing sand beneath paws made Rhiannon's head lift slightly as another tally mark dragged into the sand next to her, drawing a slow breath into her lungs as if preparing herself for the voice that graced the air around them. She found insult in his words, not their subject matter, but in the way he spoke them, as if she truly were nothing more than an object- but then again, she had always been since she had stepped foot here. She was used for work, to strengthen the Pitt's numbers, to be an underlying part of these temples and the hot desert sand just as much as any other free, loyal worker.

Yet, she did nothing but smile sweetly as her head gently canted to one side, "Good morning, my Ardent," the answer came softly, almost sing-songy as she sat up a little straighter as she dipped her head at his compliments. While she was unable to see the smile upon his face physically, allowing him to think that he did not have to hold a genuine expression, the lack of generosity in his tone said enough. Then again, she wasn't sure if she had ever really been graced with a genuine smile. "You flatter me, sir," she almost purred with a warm smile, hers seeming far more genuine than the one upon his face, the features of her own face softening slightly. She knew disclosing her name was a dangerous fact, but he had asked, and he would be given the answer that he sought, "I am Rhiannon, it is an honor," the words fell from her lips easily, no trace of animosity within her tone, no matter how it may have simmered within her.

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