CHAPTER 5: SANTINI
"The great Goran now has a slave in tow? I heard the talk but didn't believe it. Someone might think The Demon has gone soft, lost his edge."
Goran and Cat had just been led into a large room ornately decorated with fine tapestries on the walls, brightly lit with lanterns, and large pillows arranged around the room with low tables near groups of pillows. Relaxing on the pillows were a dozen men presenting a variety of impressions: some advisors, some warriors, or leaders of warriors. At the head of the room on a raised platform two steps above the main floor was a large man relaxed in a throne-like chair. He was dressed in a fine silken robe with gold-colored trimming along the edges. He was a large man but even the flowing robe didn't hide the obvious fact that his wide body was not of strength but from a life of enjoying the luxury of food and drink. All the men held goblets they drank from. And, scattered throughout were naked slaves scurrying about filling goblets, delivering food, or in the process of being mauled in the clutches of a man.
Three slaves attended to the man on the throne-like chair and two armed guards stood rigidly behind the chair, one on either side. The guards wore sheathed swords at their sides while the other men seemed armed only by customary ceremonial daggers on their belts. There were, however, additional guards outside the door and a small army in the compound.
If the comment was intended to elicit a telling reaction from Goran, it didn't happen. Instead, Goran stopped in the middle of the great room and all clinking of cups and chatter stopped. The room, despite its size and the number of people in it, became tensely quiet. Cat stood slightly behind and slightly to his right, her head up but her eyes cast down so her attitude might not become challenging by making eye contact with any of the men. Any challenging attitude would be provided by Goran alone... unless the situation changed.
They stood unflinching in the center of the room; Goran's focus centered on the large man but his eyes flicking peripherally around the room. Unlike the other men in the room, or outside in the compound, Goran's image was one of a man prepared to do battle at any moment. Cat had learned that The Demon presented various images depending on the situation and this was one. He stood boldly, dressed in tight leather pants, heavy boots, and a naked upper body. The two swords harnessed to his back, a combat dagger at his waist where the palm of his right hand rested casually, and a smaller dagger strapped to his right calf. If he were truly entering combat, he might also be carrying a lance, long ax, or bow with quiver. Goran was an expert in all weapons of HOR if they could produce death.
As the quiet in the room grew more intense as Goran stood immobile but like a snake coiled in preparation to strike, it was the voice of the man in the chair that broke first. "I meant no offense, Goran. Please, join me for food and drink."
Goran still didn't move but a wry smile formed at the corners of his mouth. His hand tightened on the dagger and men shifted nervously on the pillows and the guards standing behind the men shifted with new tension. Finally, the large man laughed and waved to the side where two male slaves brought out another chair, not nearly as large but a chair nonetheless. Goran did not sit at a lower level than any man, even if that man might be considered a king or warlord.
Now seated next to the man with the others spread out below them, Cat took her place at the side of Goran so she could watch the two guards behind her Master as they had planned. For the first time in such a meeting, this time Goran felt somewhat protected by Cat's attention to what was behind him. Slaves were meant to be impassive and unassuming until directed. Cat's unique training from Goran was to appear to be a model slave in every way so she could be an unnoticed and vigilant set of eyes for him.
"You requested this meeting, Santini. If you think me soft, have your men touch their swords."
Cat tensed and positioned herself near his side to quickly reach across his body if he stood to grasp his dagger. She became very aware that her stronger body and very low body fat might flash her intentions with muscle-flexing so she tried to hide her readiness by leaning forward while presenting a goblet of drink before Goran as her eyes watched not him but the two men behind.
The man nervously laughed, putting on an air of control before his men despite the tension everyone in the room but Goran seemed to show on their faces and in their bodies. "Again, please... I meant no offense. Can't two old friends tease each other?"
Goran finally took the cup offered by Cat but she saw his face flinch at the mention of them being friends. Part of the training he had been drilling into Cat, beyond weapons and strength development, was in regards to the work he did and the men he dealt with. The men who hired him paid handsomely for him to deal with an adversary or threat. Such men could just as easily see him as a threat and pay others to deal with him. He trusted no one who needed to pay him for his services. And, there were few he held in high enough regard that payment was not required. But this man... Santini... was near the bottom of trust.
Goran tried to get the conversation to focus on the reason for being requested. Santini held to common practice, however. He wanted to party, to entertain his guest, first. He insisted on being the good host but Goran understood a more devious motive of this practice common on HOR was to wear down the other person with drink, food, and slaves so negotiations of terms could be more to the host's favor. Goran had experienced this practice many times and knew better than to consume too much but to consume enough to not insult the host. What was new this time was bringing his slave and what the expectations would be for Cat to perform to. He had suggested perhaps that she not participate, even remain outside the compound or city. She countered that it was unlikely word had not spread to anyone interested in his actions for any reason that he had been seen with a slave in tow. To do anything else would hinder his ultimate plan for them. That the conversation occurred only reinforced the fine line they were walking. Master/slave was paramount to the plan.
Throughout the talk, Santini had eyes on Cat. He tried to get any information from Goran about her: where he got her, where she came from, even if she was for sale. Goran gave him little except to put an end to any consideration that she might be for sale.
Santini clapped his hands and five naked slaves moved into the center opening and began to dance in unison. Santini wanted Cat to join them but Goran didn't intend for her to be put in a position where she would appear in any way less than the other slaves just because she didn't know the moves the other slaves performed. Instead, he waited for them to end their dance, then motioned for Cat to perform for them. Unlike the other slaves, she was not entirely naked, though she was still very exposed. Her exposure though seemed more enticing in some ways by the sheer material she wore.
Cat moved into the space vacated by the other dancers. As in the pub, her movements started slowly and gracefully, allowing her body to flow with her mind. As she continued, though, her body twirled and spun with arms and legs swinging out and her unusual gown swirling up around her. She felt the movements the way she did at the pub and around their campfires. The look on Goran's face, the smile on his mouth, the twinkle in his eyes all encouraged her. Goran was taking her into a new phase that included a measure of self-determination and control in her life alongside him but whatever Goran added to her life would always be in orbit around the central force that was her being a slave to him, whether he might desire it to be different didn't matter more than the perception left on others. So, despite what he might give her or allow her, she would always be the compliant slave fully intent on obedience and pleasure. The look from him was everything and she no longer wondered why she felt so content by receiving such a simple expression from him.
As her dance shifted to more suggestive to purely blatant in attempts to duplicate movements and poses she had witnessed at strip clubs with the men from her units, she loosened the tie at her waist and neck, the gown swinging out and held by her fingers until she released it to have it flutter through the air before softly floating to the floor. The gown, as designed, had stolen everyone's attention for a split moment. When their focus returned to her, it was with her bent over peering through her legs directly at Santini, her hands caressing up her inner thighs until her fingers slid over her pussy. She rolled onto the floor, her hips and shoulders and breasts still undulating as she parted her legs obscenely wide before them, her hands now moving over her abdomen to her pussy. Just as the index fingers of both hands slide through her gaping, wet pussy lips, she drove them into her hole before throwing her legs in a twirl to bring her to her knees facing Santini and Goran. She crawled with all the slinking, enticing grace of the cat she was named for. Her breasts swayed beneath her, her mouth slightly open with her tongue sliding over her lips, her eyes intent on the two men in chairs. When she reached the steps rising to the platform with the chairs, she stopped, her body flowing into the presentation position, her chest heaving and her hair wild on her head and cascaded over her shoulders, back and front.
For a moment, it was quiet until the room erupted as it had at the pub. Cat didn't think it was all that good. She didn't think of herself as a skilled exotic dancer, but it was different from what slaves were taught to perform.
"Goran... she is a magnificent creature! And she has no hair there. What an interesting idea you had for her." He looked at his slaves, their public hair on display, and said, "I like it! It exposes them even more. It takes naked a step further. Was that your intention?"
