Snippet #1190418

“Slaver?” Jade injected upon overhearing the accusation. Her belt had been unbuckled and draped over the back of her chair, and she was half way through the process of pulling her heavy over-tunic over her head, though when she had stood up was anybody’s guess. Even in this most ungraceful pose, a trained eye could see that each movement was calculated and precise. Not once did she bump another person or object even while flailing about in the large folds of her tunic, and when a shiny gold pendant jumped from one of the outside pockets it was snatched clean out of the air before it had gotten half way to the floor.

“Slaver, most assuredly not, at least as far as I can tell. I was caught snooping amongst the crates in his hold looking for items of value to...” she paused, emerald eyes flicking from one member of the group to another with a suddenly suspicious gaze. She let the tunic flop heavily to the floor and sat back down, smoothing her hair with one hand and fanning herself with the one holding the pendant. “Inspect… “ she lied, rolling the pendant over her knuckles like an over-large coin and making it vanish with an open-handed gesture.

“For the tariff,” she continued, using the hem of the thin, white undershirt which left her taut belly exposed to blot the sweat from her brow with seemingly no concern for her modesty. “Anyway, since I wasn’t born with wings, I became trapped when his ship left without my knowledge. So rather than fight, I turned myself in and allowed them to put me in their ‘brig.’ When we landed, his crew graciously returned my belongings and set me free,” she lied again, unsure of the nature of the group. She knew Highwind was at least a smuggler, if not worse and it would have been unkind to just hand him to the authorities; honor among thieves and all.

“Had he brought me to Kishar, he would have collected the standard bounty and I would have been beheaded or worse, so I really am in his debt,” she finished, snatching up the tankard of ale that was left for her and draining the entire thing in one long draft and letting it thunk loudly back on the table while she wiped her mouth with her forearm. She let out a refreshed sigh and shook her head.

"You people must have gills, I can scarcely breathe."