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She spent a long while afterward at the back of the kitchen, lingering in between the worlds of the hot, crowded kitchen and the cool, quiet night beyond the walls of the tavern. Leaning against the doorframe, her arms were crossed in front of her as Bombalurina gazed out into the cold night. The Full Moon Tavern was one of the very few inns within the borders of Pawprin that had the fortune to be built upon the very edge of the city. A strategic location, as it had the advantage of being the first tavern any weary traveler would spot upon entering from this direction, the back of it also faced out into the forests surrounding the city. On clear nights such as this Bombalurina could gaze out and see the stars high above the dark tree line in the dark royal blue sky. Their points of light seeming only to shine more clearly through the cold air, they seemed so symbolize within themselves her dreams. So far away, and yet she could see them with crystal, catlike clarity. As though she could reach out and touch them... But it could not be. As much as she wanted to fly away from this place and its dirty secrets, find somewhere better and where she could be happy, she knew she was bound her like a caged wildbird. Her heart longed to be free, to soar above the heights of the cold, cruel world she knew into an endless blue sky of discovery, but these bars held her back; allowed her to see her freedom but not touch it. Now as she gazed up at those stars and all they incited within her mind and heart, Bombalurina could find it within her to cry. |
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She couldn't cry for long, for he was coming. He: the one who held her captive and at his mercy. The one she honored and obeyed like no other and yet hated beyond description. The man who was responsible for taking her childhood innocence into his black hands and turning Bombalurina, once a freespirited and vivacious young girl, into a dark-hearted and unfeeling girl of the night. A queen worth only what someone would pay for her. He was the one who had beaten into her mind like a religious code that which she lived by: the simple rules of survival, the hard truths of life which did anything but set her free. It was he who bound her wildbird wings to this place of wretchedness. He whom she had once loved. |
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It was Macavity: her employer. |
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He swept up through the shadows lingering outside of the tavern as though he was one of them, silent and seductive in his movements as he made his presence known only when he wanted it to be. Macavity was not a tom to draw unnecessary attention to himself, and often circled around the back of the tavern he owned to enter through the kitchen rather than stalk through the tavern itself. Like a sigh of the wind he rose up from the blackness of the shadows, his sleek form only accentuated by the comforming blackness of his attire and cape. Only his eyes stood out among those shadows of his features, twin burning embers of melted gold which could kill with a single look. He swept up beside Bombalurina with all the demeanor of Death itself, his hot breath drifting through her whiskers. She dared not look at him for fear of what she could see. A monster...a thing that had tricked her into loving him... |
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"You have brought good business tonight?" were the first words he hissed, quiet, though the sharpness held within them sent a shivering tingle down Bombalurina's side. She refused to cringe. |
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"Business comes slow when the weather is cold," she answered, voice ever the quieter, not the same proud declarations she had spoken with before. "You know that." |
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"Indeed, but it comes even slower when our guests are not treated with the proper kindness. Does it?" One sharp, black claw from his hand lifted to trace down the bone structure of her high cheek. The red beauty turned her face away, closing her eyes. |
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"The warrior wasn't interested. I did what I could to catch their eyes, but--" |
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"Do not make excuses with me." His voice rose only slightly, yet the force its tone carried was more powerful than any superior shouting insults at her. The claw traced down to her jaw and across her throat, his entire black hand coming to wrap around its delicate arch. Bombalurina dared not move, dared not swallow. "I always know when you lie to me, Bombalurina." |
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"I never lie to you, Macavity." |
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There was no avoiding such a thing. With a tom such as the fire-colored man who stood beside her now it was to be expected sooner or later. Inevitably, he slapped her. It was not the sting of the blow so much that hurt her. Bombalurina was used to it by now. Instead it was the knowledge that was carried within the hand that struck across her cheek: the reminder that he had entire control over her, her existence, her very thoughts, and she could do nothing against him. In this world he was the master, and it was not an authority that would be challenged. |
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"It will not happen again," Macavity hissed, and just as silent removed the black cloak from around his neck to sweep into the kitchen, not another regard given to the red-furred woman who stood with one hand to her cheek, staring at the ground until he was gone. Why should he give her a second glance? After all, she was only his plaything, and playthings were not important. They were not talked to or looked upon as equals and living creatures. They were only tools. Bombalurina felt the swish of Macavity's thick-furred yet horribly kept fire-colored tail as he disappeared into the tavern, leaving her with only the silence of the night and her own thoughts. The only things she was capable of truly owning. |
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Her solitude would not be granted much longer that night. As though Heaviside would deem her no peace, the sting had not yet left Bombalurina's cheek before she was again visited by another tom. Yet there remained an unusual comfort in the thought of interruption. In being interrupted she would not have time to think, to let her mind wonder and discover new ideas and thoughts that could only further her misery, for with truth came knowledge, and the only knowledge Bombalurina could have gained from contemplation beneath the moon's light was that of despair. Thus she welcomed the release from solitude when the sleek, handsome form of the warrior tom appeared through the same kitchen door, blocking the warm firelight as he peered out to see her among the darkness. |
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"I had hoped to find you," he said quietly as he joined her in the coolness of the outside, remaining in the door's open path of light while she lingered in the dark, where she belonged, unworthy of joining his light. She did not look up at him. |
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"Then it appears you have succeeded." |
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"I wanted to apologize for my rashness. It was uncalled for." |
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Bombalurina shook her head with a disgusted sigh and turned away, hugging herself tightly. "Do not apologize. I am not sorry for my actions, so nor should you be." She felt the lie burn her throat as much as the blow had burned her cheek, and both of them now burned so brightly and intensely she wondered how he could not see them. How could his dark eyes not detect in their serene depths her obvious guilt and shame? It must have been so apparent. |
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Though she had expected him to ask, Bombalurina knew no answer. She merely shrugged her bare shoulders, her white tail tip tossing gently. "It is a common thing." |
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"It should not be. Ladies should not be treated like dogs." |
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Bombalurina laughed to disguise her sob as fresh tears began to burn her eyes, her throat becoming dry and cracked. "Who are you to judge a lady or not? You know nothing about me. It is his right to do as he pleases." |
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"I repeat the same: it should not be." |
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"So long as he manages the money it is his right. I cannot argue." Sniffing back her show of emotion, she finally turned to face the warrior, her show of forced pride hindered only by the close proximity to which she found herself standing before him. She met his eyes, defiant in the message they sent. "You are the one to tell me what I should and should not do? What do you propose I do, then?" |
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"Leave this place. Get away from here." The warrior tom reached one arm up from beneath the folds of his cloak, touching her shoulder to which Bombalurina jerked away from. She would not look at him again: the honest colors of his facial fur, his wide eyes and their sincerity. It could not be true. Slowly, his hand fell, that strangely colored hand of black fur and wildcat spots. "My companion and I are leaving in the morning. You are free to accompany us." |
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"I am certain," she answered curtly, biting in her sarcasm. "Where are you going?" |
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"Towards the Scarlet Mountains. We have business there." |
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"Of course, and the two of you would use the company of a single queen while on your long and lonely journey." |
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She could see the offense he had taken, for already he had taken a step back towards the kitchen door: a step away from the border she was forbidden to cross. "It is not so. We have sworn an oath to uphold a code of justice and honor, and to leave you here when we could offer help would be against that." |
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Her hands rose to clasp her bare shoulders, suddenly yearning for the relatively thick shawl Bombalurina kept in her room for such cold nights. It had not seemed to cold earlier in the evening. Though her eyes gazed away the red queen could continue to feel the presence of this tom behind her, his eyes upon her back so often in the way she had felt Macavity stare at her. Such power the eyes of toms could contain, power that they did not know they possessed even when its influence worked over the queens they came into contact with. When she found her voice again it was small, fearing. |
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"What would you do with me should I accompany you?" |
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The warrior shifted behind her. "You would be free to travel with us or leave as you deemed fit. Or if you so wished you could accompany us as far as the Scarlet Mountains and go on alone to wherever you wanted." |
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"I have lived here my entire life," she protested, her tail curling for how much the notion, hearing it with her own ears, enticed her. To leave and be free... "I know nothing of the outside world. Where would I go?" |
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"My companion and I have many friends throughout Felinera. Surely you would find somewhere that suits you." |
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"Suits me," Bombalurina repeated, wistful. If only it were true. Macavity would never let her leave this city alive. |
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"My companion and I would like to help you," he said again, only reinstating what was already known. Or so he said. Bombalurina with her hardened conscience and heart had long since ceased to believe honest Jellicles still existed in the known world, or that she would ever happen to encounter one. Truly great and noble Jellicles were a world away: inhabiting the courts of Deuteronomy, fighting the fields of battle, raising their own families while making successes in their professions. They were not here in the slums. Believing this, Bombalurina grew angry at his dishonesty. To him she was nothing more than a tavern wench. |
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"You have already caused me enough trouble," she said, no longer soft and scared. After feeling the threat of Macavity gone for the moment and seeing through this warrior's facade--so she thought--nothing further could frighten her. "Leave me." |
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The tom did not move away immediately. Instead Bombalurina heard the shuffle of a cloak as he withdrew back into the light and warmth of the tavern, saying only one thing more. "I am called Tugger and my companion is Mistoffelees. If you change your mind, we shall be here until dawn." |
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Bombalurina did not breathe again until he had gone, and even then it was a frustrated sigh. Why must she suffer being tempted like this? Having long since lost her belief in Heaviside and the Everlasting Cat's existence, Bombalurina did not pray for someone to come and take her away from all of this. Though it was a constant wish, a dream, a desire, she would not lower herself to begging. If nothing else, she would maintain her inner pride. Uncrossing her arms, she turned back to look at the doorway of light. It was grinning at her, it seemed. Mocking her and her thoughts. After all, did not Grizabella begin her life as a harlot and then rise to become mate of the king? Bombalurina scoffed at the notion. Of course she had, and then see where it had gotten her. She had ran away from the royal life, back to what she knew she despised, but it was the life she knew. She could never belong with anything other than what she was, and Bombalurina knew the same rang true for her. |
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She went back into the warmth. It could have only been expected. There, waiting for her at his own table, was Grumbuskin. Bombalurina hesitated only when she saw him through the kitchen doorway that led into the tavern, unbelieving that she could have forgotten she had a scheduled appointment. This would not bode her well in the way of appeasement. The red-furred woman slipped into the tavern area only after regathering herself, brushing back her full red mane, smoothing down her attire, then seating herself gracefully across from the old sailor at the table, chin in one palm. |
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"Yer late," the grizzled old tom rumbled in his throat. Bombalurina only smiled in return, letting her tail flick at its leisure to complete the act. |
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"I had other business to attend to," she purred, letting her free hand glide over the table's worn wood patterns to disguise the quick glance she shot across the wide open space towards the fireplace. The warrior tom and his companion were gone, most likely up to their own room for the night. What had he said his name was? Tugger? Such an odd name...nothing like Bombalurina had ever heard. He was not to be worried about any longer. She reached across the table's surface to touch Grumbuskin's hand. "Shall we go retire now?" |
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"Yes, let's," he said, grinning with the muzzle that held so many crooked and chipped yellow fangs, as he stood up with a grunt. Bombalurina followed with endlessly more grace and fluidity, clenching her jaw and preparing her mind for what was to come once they entered the room upstairs and closed the door behind them. Even as they started up she could see, from the corner of her eye, Macavity's dark form lounging at a table farthest from the fire's reaching light. His eyes gleamed in the darkness, his whiskers twisted into an evil sneer as he watched. Always watched. |
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Some time later Bombalurina reemerged from the room on the second floor of the tavern alone. Brushing back her mane, her fur was messed and damp from perspiration, her face flushed as though from tears. Readjusting the straps of her purple top she headed quickly down the long, dark hallway, into her pouch concealing the last remnants of her pay. The tavern was quiet and empty, the world beyond its walls remaining asleep in the dark of early morning. The queen was tired, and perhaps if she searched the kitchen she would find enough leftover water still warm from the cauldron with which she could clean herself...return her appearance to it former beauty as though nothing had been done. No crimes had been committed in the night, which concealed all. |
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It would not be so. Upon stepping off the last stair that was the only pathway between the upper and main floor of the Full Moon, Bombalurina stopped with a gasp upon feeling a dark form sweep behind her, taking her shoulders in a firm hold, claws at her throat. |
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"Where is it?" Macavity hissed, his voice rising steam. Without words Bombalurina lifted her pouch to hand to her employer, her pulse fluttering as he slid his hands away to take it. She did not turn around, though his evil laugh as he checked the contents within: a number of gold coins, was deep and dark. She merely waited for him to speak, forever a slave. "Good. Very good." She had begun to take her leave when he spoke again, carefully counting the money. "You have another customer. He came to see me personally about you." |
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"How fortunate," Bombalurina said quietly, daring not to argue. She heard the jumble of coins as they were shoved back into the pouch's confines and Macavity's breath resumed on her shoulder, cold and chilling. "Can I not clean first?" |
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"No. You've no need to." His claws traced her neck yet again, in response her face turning only slightly away. |
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"The warrior you encountered earlier," he answered with all pleasure, a cruel chuckle rising from him as Macavity saw the disgusted expression cross her face. "It seems you have a chance to redeem yourself, my dear. Room number twelve." He pushed her shoulders in an indication to mount the stairs yet again, leaving her no choice. "Be nice to them, girl. They have paid handsomely for you." |
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"I'll not disappoint them," Bombalurina said, hiding her face, hiding her feelings, as she went without protest. |
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It seemed almost no surprise to Bombalurina that the warrior tom had changed his mind about her previous offer. So he was much like any other tom she had serviced, as she had initially thought. Warrior, indeed. If this was his frame of mind then what did he know about honor and justice? Where could he take her that would be any better than the place she now called home? He and his companion would accompany her as far as the next town, perhaps, and then when they grow tired of her drop her in the nearest gutter like so many others had. Bombalurina as she made for the door of the second floor marked with a dark, painted 12 was certain more than ever that all toms were alike. Selfish and lustful. |
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She reached one lithe, supple white hand to knock upon the hard oak door, but before her fingers had even touched the wood it was swung open. Silenced in surprise as much as shock, Bombalurina found her gaze settling upon the pale, sickly, white-furred features of the small tom Tugger had called Mistoffelees. In the dim candlelight emitting from the room within she could see he had discarded his cloak which had so concealed before, only now to reveal he was as thin and small-framed as she had guessed. Whether by birth or by disease she could not discern, though his dominant black fur was smooth and shiny, his dark raven eyes stared out at her with a mystical depth that defied a childish appearance. |
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"We knew you would come," he said, voice a soft purr, as he opened the door further for her to enter. Turning her whiskers high into the air Bombalurina strode inside, strutting as she sighted the so-called warrior Tugger sitting upon the furthest of two beds in the small room, bent over his sword which he was hard at the task of polishing. She heard the click of the door close behind her, but resolved to keep herself proud. The room was not cluttered, its only occupants being the two toms beside her, their cloaks hanging beside the one window, and a small satchel set beside Tugger upon the bed. The warrior looked up after the door had closed, his features bright and eager. Bombalurina could have spit into that handsome face of his. Instead she could find it within herself to settle with an insult. |
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"It surprises me that you really do lie with females," she stated clearly, settling her hands on her hips with a confident smirk. Across the room the smaller tom Mistoffelees looked aghast at her, but Tugger himself stood up, returning only a gentle smile. |
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"Do not be surprised. For me that is quite a frequent thing." |
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Finding her comment rebutted Bombalurina did not answer. She sniffed and turned her face away as he approached, one spotted and black hand extended. His warrior's attire was nothing to be marveled at, as was the other's simple brown tunic; nothing to hint that either of them could afford her usual price, let alone more. Of the money pouch she had seen earlier, there was no trace. The woman found herself faltering a moment. Surely they had not given up the entire thing for her! |
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"That is not why we have had you come here," the warrior said, drawing back his offered hand when he saw she would not take it. Bombalurina sneered. |
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"Why else should you pay for me to go anywhere?" |
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"It did not cross my mind that you would come see us otherwise," he answered in a slight growl, matching her for once with pride and boldness. It was a challenge Bombalurina quickly rose to confront. She turned to face him, her own fangs showing their tips. |
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"What, pray tell, could you possibly have to tell me other than what you have already said?" |
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"Nothing," he answered promptly. "Only to reiterate the previous offer. Knowing what it is you have just done, how could you possibly consider remaining in this place a moment longer?" |
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The tom had struck deep and true. Bombalurina drew a deep breath to calm a rising temper and to steady herself against the onslaught of what she knew was true. If she so despised her way of life then why did she not leave? Macavity, for one, would never allow it. Bombalurina herself had witnessed him murdering toms twice as large as himself for the slightest wrong glance given his way, let alone purposefully stealing something that was rightfully his property. Furthermore, what would she be leaving for? She had nothing as it was in the matter of worldly possessions save for a room and a few meager changes of clothes. All she had was here...why leave? |
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"People are not property," Mistoffelees suddenly spoke, startling the queen from her thoughts. Had he the ability to read them? Bombalurina had heard about such things, but never chanced to encounter a Seer. Looking to him sharply, she saw his contrasting black and white form against the golden light of the one lamp in the room, standing beside the doorway still quiet and withdrawn. There was a steadiness in his small and weak voice, a soft confidence that he knew what he spoke. "If your employer is such trouble there are ways to leave this place without his noticing." |
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Bombalurina shook her head incredulously, not believing what she heard. "This is absurd. I cannot listen any longer..." She turned and hurried for the door and had just reached her hand around the latch when Tugger's voice hailed her back, asking the one question she had not heard in so long. Deep. Sincere. The question was a genuine one. |
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Who had been the last person to ask her that one simple thing? Perhaps Macavity, for not even the girls she worked among, let alone any of her clients, cared what she was called. They often called her such things as honey, or sugar, more common was wench, but never did they ask her name. She turned back, slowly, fearful to meet Tugger's gaze again. |
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"Your name," he repeated, confused by her profound reaction to the simple inquiry. "What is it?" |
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Even then she was hesitant in saying it. She hadn't spoken her own name in years, let alone thought about speaking it. Was her birth name even still who she was now? After all that had changed and altered her... "Bombalurina." |
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"Bombalurina," Tugger repeated with the same softness, his smile returning. "Please, leave with us. You don't belong here. Noone does." |
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"Then why not take some other wench with you?" she asked sharply. "Why bother me with such persistence?" |
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Tugger reached out one hand, taking her shoulder to draw her back away from the door. His eyes never once looked away after catching hers, their depths dark and sincere. "Because you above all do not want to be here. You yearn to leave, yet lack the courage to make that first step. All you need is to make that choice, Bombalurina, and you can walk away from here without further trouble. You shall never have to look back nor sell yourself ever again." |
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Bombalurina wanted to slap him for such assumptions. What right had this tom to taunt her with her very dreams and wishes? What assurances were there that his generosity would go any further than the next town? Then again, those assumptions were true, and if Bombalurina knew anything from how she lived, she knew that life offered no assurances. Choices had to be made. Chances taken. Or else nothing changed. Bombalurina realized as she gazed up into those dark eyes that the only way change was made was by making those choices, taking those chances. Otherwise, everything would stay the same. What would be here once these two left and she remained? Everything that was before. Yet what could she possibly find by leaving? Even if she only reached the next village, she was that much further away from this place, that much closer to her dream of freedom. If she only seized this one chance... |
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"You read my thoughts," she said breathlessly, finding herself smiling genuinely for the first time in years. She looked from the handsome tom before her to the smaller companion, who smiled in his own kittenish way and nodded gently. Bombalurina laughed: a full, beautiful sound she had so missed, and looked back to the warrior, flinging her arms around his sturdy shoulders and no longer caring if she cried. |
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