Providence didn't understand why Giselle needed to obey Kagan if she wasn't his slave.
"You found the human female and are Giselle's Second, maybe you should stay." Madhava suggested.
"As much as I'd like to talk to the fiery warrior." Dagaa smiled at Providence. The way his lip quirked up and his eyes twinkled in an ornery way, Providence was reminded of the playboys back home. "Unfortunately I'm the one most familiar with the Jurou Biljana vessels. So that leaves you my grim friend. Don't frighten the females too much."
Dagaa took one last look at Providence as he reached the entrance of the tent, and she couldn't help but give him a tentative smile in return. He grinned, nodded to her and left.
"Madhava take us to a private tent so I can talk with Providence." Giselle got up.
Madhava looked uncomfortable as he looked from Giselle to Providence. But he nodded and led them to another smaller tent that was filled with comfortable plush seats and refreshments.
"Are you hungry?" Giselle asked.
"Famished." Providence said as her mouth watered.
"Here try this." Giselle passed her a glass of water and a few yellow plum-like fruits.
Providence took a large refreshing gulp then moaned as she bit into the sweet fruit.
"Madhava don't look so freaked out. I've told you I don't blame you for what Vigdis did, you are forgiven. I haven't said a word to Kagan or Dagaa, and never will, so relax." Giselle said as she took a seat with a sigh.
"You should keep nothing from your bonded." Madhava insisted.
Providence took a seat with Giselle while the scarred man stood uncomfortably by the entrance.
"And I agree under most circumstances. I think they understand you were forced to do things you didn't want to do, but rubbing their noses in the details won't help." Giselle said with a wane smile.
"If I could have done differently." Madhava said then turned away from the women looking conflicted.
Providence didn't know the details, but some sort of difficult dynamic was at play among these people.
"Sorry." Giselle turned to Providence. "When I arrived on Cadi I was sold by the Jurou Biljana as a pet."
"Are you kidding me?" Providence asked in shock nearly choking on her sip of water.
The thought that they could be viewed as something so demeaning was like a punch in the gut. It painted a picture of Cadi that wasn't very encouraging. Here she thought Kagan referring to Giselle as 'Pet' was perhaps an endearment. Obviously she had been wrong.
"No." Giselle shook her head. "I was bought by Madhava for the leader of the Scelus Cadi, and then stolen by Kagan. It was a good thing because Vigdis was a vicious tyrant who abused his people. I watched him murder his own, just as easily as he murdered the enemy. He used his warriors' families to keep his men in line." Giselle looked at Madhava's back with a frown.
Madhava stood rigid looking out of the tent as Giselle spoke.
"Anyway Cadi was in the middle of violent civil war. They were so focused on the centuries long war that it made simple tasks difficult. That is why they use the Toufik slaves for everything. You've seen the hairy people right?"
"Yes." Providence nodded grimy as she tried to follow along.
"Well the Toufik, amazingly enough, are willing to put up with even the worst treatment because their planet is dying. The Cadi assumed the Toufik were docile because they never fought back. It wasn't until the final battle where Kagan's men were overwhelmed that we learned the Toufik could fight and fight well. Kagan defeated the Scelus army, but I was captured. Madhava killed Vigdis, his own leader, before he could hurt me, and now the brutal war is thankfully over."
"He had to be stopped." Madhava murmured.
Well that explained some of why Madhava worried about Giselle, and also why she forgave him.
"Now Cadi is working towards unification. Kagan is also trying to free the Toufik as well as form relations with better alien allies."
It was a lot to get a grasp on. The Cadi held slaves that came from a dying world. Giselle was a pet and Madhava had been part of the enemy under a tyrant.
"So are you still a slave or pet?" Providence asked in confusion.
"No, but in the eyes of many Cadi citizens we are not equal. I am Kagan's mate, so that helps. Much of Cadi is still trying to deal with unification, much less Kagan's decree that the Toufik are to be freed. The transition is difficult much like it was in our own history."
Providence nodded. She'd also heard Kagan refer to Giselle as his bonded, which must be the same as mate. It seemed odd considering how different Giselle and Kagan were. It wasn't as much the physical differences, which really only amounted to a tail, fangs and skin color. It was the sheer size difference that seemed insurmountable. These people were positively huge.