She did ask if I needed any assistance, but the last thing I wanted was someone to witness my stench, so I politely refused.
“I am unable to leave, so I will just be here by the bed,” the woman replied as her steps sounded slightly further away.
“That’s fine, I don’t plan on running anyway,” I offered her peace of mind as I unpeeled my dirty clothes and folded them tightly together to hide the smell. I would have much preferred a bubble bath or a hot running shower, but this was better than nothing. The water must have sat in the sun for a while because it was body-temperature and the soap, although clunky, did wonders for my dirty and smelly skin.
I decided to wash my hair first and used a full bucket for washing and another one for rinsing, since my curls were running wild. There was no setting gel or even conditioner, and I doubted I would be able to control my savage curls, so I used as much soap as I could to at least make sure my scalp was squeakyclean. And then I rinsed my hair until I couldn’t feel any tangles or remains of soap, starting to feel like a person again.
“It’s not usual for Dahr’s prisoners to be out at all, so there is no procedure on how to do this,” Karisha filled the silence I had let grow in between us.
“How many does he have?” I posed the question to hide my real one.Why does he have them?
“Uh…” Karisha stopped for a moment, if to formulate a lie or because she realised she let out something she shouldn’t have slip, I wasn’t sure. “I’m not sure I am the right person to ask about this. As tribe lady, I have many responsibilities on a daily basis, so it’s hard for me to keep track.”
She didn’t seem like a forgetful woman, and I was convinced she was more than capable of handling responsibility, but I knew this pathway was shut, so I walked one that she opened for me while I soaped my legs behind the dressing panel.
“What kind of things do you have to do?” I asked instead and listened while she told me about how she was in charge of camp purchases and part of the finances, dividing resources and organising tasks for the other females at the camp while the males trained.
Basically, she was the financial adviser and human resource planner, thus, someone more than capable of knowing how many prisoners Dahr had.
“Do you run the camp alongside Dahr, then?” I had seen the two together a few times and Dahr had brought her in that second night to ask for an explanation.
“Oh no,” she giggled, “Grannicus is the camp leader, but he does not concern himself with actually leading. He has my mate for that,” Karisha explained then added with pride. “He is tribe lord.”
“Tribe lord and lady then…” I noted more to myself but said it out loud. I reached for the two towels she had provided andwrapped my hair in one to dry my curls and dried my body with the other, then wrapped it to cover the important parts before I came out.
“That felt amazing,” I said with gratitude when I pushed the panel away. I was starting to feel like myself again, were it not for the fact that I had to dress in leather.
The first thing I noticed when I reached the bed, where she had laid my new wardrobe out for me, was that there was no underwear.
“Only these two?” I asked instead, wanting to make sure that she didn’t forget anything.
“This is called a krasta,” she pointed towards the leather vest, “and the skirt is a srysha. Men wear rakis.”
“Right…” I replied, grabbing the vest that looked a lot tinier than I imagined it would.
“Think of it like a sleeveless bolero that ties in the front, it’s like an incorporated bra,” Karisha explained but must have seen the confusion on my face. “Come, I’ll show you,” she offered and pointed at me to remove my towel.
Reluctantly, I lowered the towel and tied it around my waist, letting my breasts out in the air, my pebbled nipples earning a grin from the woman.
“You have stunning breasts,” she complimented me, making the blood in my entire body boil with bashfulness.
“Thank you,” I replied, not knowing what else to say.
“So,” fortunately she went to the point and grabbed the krasta to show me. “You slide your hands through here and have these two straps. They go over your breasts and tie together to keep them in place,” she instructed as she did just that, covering my breasts and tying the leather strap over them until they were comfortably nestled in my chest. “Then, you hide the straps to the sides and let the fabric cover the rest,” Karisha explained as she finished dressing me.
The skirt itself didn’t present much of a problem. It had various straps that tied around my waist and my thighs and stopped at a comfortable mid-thigh length that allowed both movement and protection. It felt like wearing an oversized pair of boxers, so I didn’t complain too much once I was dressed.
Karisha did offer to provide some binding for my hair, which I gladly accepted and tied it up in a bun, giving my neck and shoulders some space to breathe for once.
Food was delivered as soon as I finished dressing and after we ate and Karisha took the opportunity to tell me all about her mating ceremony and how Markos had gifted her three full chests of gold and rubies, she invited me to see the camp, an opportunity I gladly took.
Sylam still waited for us by the time we got out into the shining sun, just after lunch, and started walking around the camp, with Karisha stopping and greeting everyone, asking questions about their day or receiving requests that she noted in a small book she carried in her bag.
The man kept a few paces behind us and never entered the conversation as Karisha and I walked around the camp, meeting people. One thing I noted after the first few minutes was that I was never introduced. Even more, no one paid me any attention, everyone was too preoccupied with their daily tasks or their tribe lady’s presence, so I spent the majority of the afternoon observing, taking in details and trying to memorise escape routes.
There were hundreds of guards around the camp, placed at every opening, every crossroads and every weapons station I had seen, so I quickly understood that without proper training, even if I could blend in, I had absolutely no chance at keeping my fingers were I to attempt something.
“Are we going to visit the training area as well?” I asked Karisha, hoping that it would lead us to another part of the campI had not seen yet, or at the very least, the journey there would present a better opportunity.
