The Warrior's Pet(12)

As the caravan moved on Giselle could hear the desperate cries of the villagers as many of them were barricaded in their homes and burned alive.

Giselle sat against the bars watching as the sun set. The caravan of barbarians had stopped to make camp at the foot of a series of tall snow-tipped peaks. If she had been at home, she would have admired the scene of the sun dipping behind the dark proud monoliths, setting them aflame as the day gave way to night. But all Giselle could think of was how she could she possibly escape the cruel hand that fate had dealt her. Sadly she had given up the notion of ever making it home again. The best she could hope for was freedom.

The despair that had nearly overwhelmed Giselle in the last few days gave way to anger as she reclaimed her determination. Except Giselle didn't know what form of defiance she could show that wouldn't be met with swift and cruel reprisal. Among these violent aliens passive resistance as a form of protest wasn't an option. The men had no respect for their own people's lives let alone her freedom and happiness.

"How can I wage war against seasoned warriors?" Giselle wondered as she looked around at her captors.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu popped into her mind. Giselle recalled the words of the ancient general she'd written a term paper about. She was clearly out numbered and outmatched here.There was no way she could wage a physical battle to gain her freedom, but she could use her wiles to engineer an escape.

As much as she now treasured the safety of her gilded prison, Giselle knew that the only way she could ever be free of these men lay in convincing them she wasn't a flight risk if allowed to remain unbound. Giselle thought about the problem and came to a distasteful conclusion. In order to escape she would have to convince Vigdis that she liked being here. She was going to have to play her part to a tee and not vomit in the process.

Giselle stood up and walked to the cage door. She was still too frightened of the consequences to speak so instead she stared at Vigdis willing him to look at her. Eventually he felt her stare and turned his eyes her way. Very pointedly Giselle looked at the lock then back at the awful man then back again at the door. All the while she did a little dance like a kid that had to go pee.

"Madhava come let my pet out and go take her for a walk before she makes a mess." Vigdis demanded as his food was served.

Madhava walked begrudgingly over, unlocked the cage and pulled Giselle out. She would have fallen to the ground from the height but he didn't have to handle her so roughly. Despite the less than stellar assistance Giselle still did what her momma taught her.

"Thank you." Giselle murmured automatically before catching herself. She looked suddenly up at Madhava wondering what punishment would come.

Madhava looked surprised that she'd spoken, perhaps forgetting she was capable, unlike the Toufik. Surely he remembered the Jurou Biljana had implanted her with their language. More likely he hadn't bothered to dwell on it. Madhava's eyes narrowed and Giselle cowered, watching his large hands for the blow that thankfully never came.

"Move." Madhava grunted as he pushed her forward.

Giselle wandered towards the bushes and squatted behind the flowering branches for a bit of privacy. As she squatted Giselle wondered how she could ingratiate herself to these harsh men without getting herself killed. Giselle followed Madhava back to the circle of men now boisterously carrying on around the fire while they ate.

Giselle sat listening to the terrible aliens discuss in gruesome detail the way they killed the men and then burnt the villagers. She attempted to keep her head bowed to not attract attention but she couldn't help look at each man as he spoke taking note of which one's spoke harshly of the dead and those who kept silent. She had no doubt that all of these men were ruthless murderers but perhaps there was one or two that might be swayed to help her.

A bug with a ton of segmented legs and pincers skittered her way along the ground. Giselle was never afraid of bugs at home but here she had no clue what was dangerous or innocuous. An idea flitted into her mind.

War is deceit. Men everywhere are proud. They revel in the thought that they are the big bad protector regardless of how that feeling is generated. If she can reinforce the idea, she is weak and needs their protection it would go a long way towards her goal. The other bit of strategy that Giselle recalled would take more effort and needed to be done subtly. She had to somehow attempt to divide the men.

Giselle squealed, jumped up and ran to Madhava's side hiding behind his large back pointing in horror at the offending insect.

The peel of laughter that erupted from the men as she wagged her finger in horror at the insect and cowered behind Madhava was at least better than a slap to the face. Vigdis' eyes narrowed as he looked from his lieutenant to the scurrying bug. Giselle saw the flash of jealousy and had to repress a smile by tucking her face into Madhava's hair. Even if she wasn't playing a part, did Vigdis really think he'd garnered the affection of any creature with how he behaved.