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  The shinno continued to arrive at her cabin at some point in the afternoon, lift her into his arms and carry her to the empty deck where they both watched the ocean. Eventually, the shinno would lower into his chair and stroke and suck her until pleasure overcame her and she was limp in his arms. After the next couple of afternoons in his lap, he tilted her on his legs so that she hung over one of his legs further than necessary as he stroked her. She didn't even really pay attention until she felt his breath on her. She squealed in surprise, but he held her tight around her hips as he licked her there slowly, his rough tongue stroking her sensitive nub. He was slow and tender at first but soon was sucking her wildly, grazing his teeth against her lower lips and twirling that large tongue around her entrance. Shaya gripped onto him, trying to control the sensations rocketing through her, but it was impossible. She had never felt anything like it, and what was worse were the sounds coming from him. The growls and the rumble and the groans coming from the Alpha with his head between her legs turned her on so much. Soon she stopped trying to control anything and just hung over his legs, enjoying everything he was doing to her, even pushing her hips into his face. And when one of his hands crept up her tunic to grip her nipple, she lost all control.

  He always said the same phrase whenever he was with her during those times “Tes ni choya detta mthnoy, kysm eshar.” She began to wonder what it meant. But she didn’t allow her curiosity to encourage her to start learning about their culture. He was still a terrible man as far as she was concerned.

  And yet those moments that they spent looking at the ocean became something she looked forward to. Soon, the blue-green of the sea couldn't capture her as intensely as the blue-green of the shinno's eyes, especially when they watched her.

  One afternoon, as she stared at the ocean, enjoying the breeze on her face, she turned to peek at the shinno while he watched the ocean, and was surprised to find that he was already looking at her. She quickly returned her gaze back to the sea, but the urge to look at him again was too strong, and soon her eyes were back on his. He seemed to find this amusing. “Dess rennon vec lesha ackken ash ren lesha dess, kysm eshar. Fegakke ni laegoy,” he murmured, a smile on his lips as he tilted his head to watch her.

  Shaya simply blinked. She had no idea what he said, but she did enjoy the way he said it and tried to memorize the words. His husky, low, and sultry tones had been the same since the moment she first met him, but this time she was not experiencing him through the filter of fear. On the contrary, she no longer felt fear around him at all when he was holding her in this way, when they were on this deck. It was a marked change.

  She glanced around the deck, wondering why it was always empty. Although the ship was large, it seemed unusual that they would not be at least one person who would interrupt them.

  She saw a glimpse of the chair behind him that he usually sat in, a small shelving unit and a little table, all on the platform. Maybe this was a space only for the shinno.

  She returned her eyes to his, meeting his gaze. She didn't even know what shinno meant or if that was even his real name.

  Their eyes remained locked for a long moment and the shinno glanced at her mouth, moving her closer to him, and a tension began to build that she had to escape.

  “What is your name?” she blurted out.

  The shinno stilled, a look of surprise gracing his expression. Since she had stopped grooming him, the hair around the lower half of his face had begun to grow, but she couldn't deny that it suited him. In fact, it made him look even more handsome. She also noticed that the hair on his head had grown a little, but that it was still neat, as though somebody had been tending to it. And she found that the idea of that… did not please her.

  “Shinno Kardos,” he said, his voice deep and proud.

  “Is shinno your name or is it your title?” she asked, aware that most people refer to him as the shinno rather than as just shinno.

  Shinno Kardos' expression deepened into a frown and then to a scowl. Turning, he whipped them around and headed back in the direction he came.

  Shaya almost cried out for him to stop. They hadn't even… done anything yet, and she couldn't deny that she was looking forward to it. But she said nothing. Something in the way he was walking, with purpose and directed force, suggested that his mood had changed, and she had no idea what that meant. She trusted nothing when it came to the shinno.

  They entered her cabin again, and he placed her down on the bed, and then picked up one of the parchments on the desk.

  “Tell me,” he said in the Common Tongue, pointing to the map in his hand.

  Shaya swallowed, cursing herself inwardly that she had asked a question that she should have known the answer to if she’d been doing the learning that Treska had wanted her to. She stared at the map, trying to figure out if she could try to guess, but it was impossible.

  The shinno didn't even wait longer than a moment for her to answer, and that fiery look entered his eyes. If she had been learning this for two weeks, she would have no problem reciting what she knew. The shinno threw down the map and left immediately. But she didn't have to wait long to find out where he'd gone.

  He returned, gripping Treska by the arm and dragging her into the cabin, raging at her.

  Shaya gasped, but the shinno ignored her, bellowing at Treska, clearly questioning her about why Shaya didn't know anything.

  Treska's eyes were wide as she stuttered an answer, glancing at Shaya but trying to keep her focus on the shinno.

  “If you can understand me,” Shaya said carefully, trying not to alert the shinno that she knew Treska could understand and speak the Common Tongue, “tell him the truth. Tell him that I have refused to learn.”

  Treska's eyes widened even further and the shinno growled at Shaya’s words, sparking a fear in her that she thought had disappeared. But she would not leave Treska to get in trouble. She had made the determined decision not to learn anything. It was not Treska's fault, and she would not let her take the blame, regardless of what it may mean for her.

  “I have been treated badly since I have been here, shinno Kardos,” she said firmly, straightening her back as she spoke. “I've tried to do everything you asked, but in return I have been kept like a prisoner in here, and when I haven't been a prisoner, I have been a slave. That is what we call people who are used for unfair labor, or for sex acts,” she added tightly. “That is what I have been. And I have been so willing, until you showed that you punish without explaining why, and not even allow me the basic courtesy of resting from my injuries. So I will not learn anything about your culture. It is not one I admire, I do not find anything worthy about it, and I don't want to be a part of it. Every day since Treska arrived, I have refused to learn. She tries her hardest, she tries to trick me into learning, she tries to force me into learning, but I have still refused. So if you are going to blame anybody, blame me and leave her alone!”

  The shinno's face contorted with each word she said, until he was almost vibrating with fury. Keeping hold of Treska, he grabbed Shaya by her non-damaged arm and led them both out of the cabin and down a deck.

  It was only when they reach the door of the black box-room, that she realized what he intended to do, and the fear that gripped her made her mouth dry and her knees shake.

  “No!” she cried, trying to yank herself out of his grip. “No, I’m not going in there! Please don’t put me in there.”

  The shinno opened the door, ignoring her.

  “I can't go in there,” she said, grabbing his arm. “I won't survive it, please!” Her words faltered as she realized that he had let her go in order to open the door. It wasn't her he was putting in there. With a hard push, Treska entered the room, and the door closed behind her and locked.

  “No!” Shaya yelled. “You can't do this kind of punishment. This is exactly what I'm talking about!”

  The shinno turned to her, his eyes fierce. “Eslleth atta dez rallhen lezen oara!”

  Even though sh
e couldn't understand him, she knew that he was basically telling her that he didn't give a damn. As he began to walk away, she closed her mouth and tried to think about what Kyus would do. Clearly pleading with him did not work, it wasn’t something he responded to, even though it was her default way of communicating with him. She had to try something else.

  “Wait,” she said as she hurried after him. He didn't even turn, or slow down, so when she reached him she grabbed his arm. “If you take her out of there,” she said, “I'll do anything you want, I will learn everything, I will practice on my own time, I will make an effort to learn as much as I can before we reach your lands. I promise I will be able to speak some Mayaros by the time we arrive, but please let her out.”

  The shinno slowed, turning to look at her as she spoke. She looked up at him, hoping that he would recognize the benefit of her eagerness to learn if Treska was let out. Studying a culture and a language was not easy, especially under duress, but if she made an active effort, she could be well on her way to becoming knowledgeable and fluent by the time they reached his lands.

  “I already know two other languages,” she added. “I used to learn them in my spare time at home. I’m not very good,” she admitted. “But I did learn the basics. Please let her out. I will learn the language and everything I can about the Southern Isles. I promise it.”

  The shinno's eyes narrowed on her, but he did not say anything, and that anger in his expression did not harden any further. Turning, he headed back to the black box-room and opened the door. Reaching in, he dragged out Treska, who was already sitting on the floor with her arms around her knees, then threw her toward Shaya.

  Shaya put her arm around Treska, comforting her as she realized she was out of the box, and then followed the shinno, watching his back as they climbed back up to her cabin.

  Once they were back inside, he stilled at the door, gazing at Shaya as she hugged Treska, his eyes locked on hers as an understanding passed between them about what they had agreed.

  ***

  After that, things changed again. As her shoulder healed, she wasn't taken back to work on the decks, but she spent her afternoons making a concerted effort to learn everything she could about the Southern Lands.

  She learned that there were eight main tribes who dominated the Lands and an indeterminate number of smaller clans that were much less important, but were made up of families who banded together for support. However, it was the eight main tribes that mattered. Apparently, the most dominant Alphas in each tribe, who were the sons of the tribe leaders and able to prove their worth of being potential leaders, were given the title shinno. The shinnos weren’t always the tribe leader, in fact, it was rare, and Kardos was one of the few who led his tribe and was also shinno. The title shinno was awarded through impressive feats the Alpha’s achieved during their entry into manhood and as they continue their journey as tribe member. However, it seemed to be extremely important that each shinno be capable. Shaya couldn't figure out why. There was much she couldn't understand, much that left gaps in her understanding about the land, mostly because Treska did not have sufficient understanding of the Common Tongue to explain some of the concepts to her. Shaya had an understanding, but some of it she couldn't make sense of.

  The language was much harder to learn than she thought, made complicated by the use of the sh sounds among harsher sounds, and yet when Treska spoke, it didn't sound quite as harsh as when any other did. So Shaya tried her best to emulate her exactly. She learned how to greet, hallyzan, how to ask if someone was well, lesh vi garyn, how to say please, neshra, and thank you, yettsyrm, and she learned all the names of the tribes in order of importance. Of course, Tribe Nyek came first.

  Her learning would have developed quicker if she had practiced with shinno Kardos, but she refused to speak to him. He still came every afternoon to take her to the empty deck and she did not fight him for two reasons. Firstly, she needed to see, hear, and smell the ocean; it had become a vital part of her being able to cope with being on the ship. It was the only time that she left her cabin, which had become necessary otherwise the walls closed in and an uncomfortable feeling would rise. The black box-room was the extreme, but she realized she did not like being in any enclosed space for too long—not after a lifetime of running in open gardens among nature. The ocean was the closest thing to that for her. Even her sickness and nausea had lessened since she had been able to see it on a regular basis.

  Secondly, there was no point in trying to annoy the shinno when he could simply punish Treska. He made it very clear that he had no remorse about punishing others for her actions. And she couldn’t bear the idea of that. Even if she hated what happened to her, even if he tore her apart and made her suffer, the brunt of the pain should be for her, not anyone else. More than ever she felt she was truly saving her sister. The thought she had protected Kyus from having to go through any of this, renewed her strength and kept her from outwardly rebelling.

  But she did rebel in her own way.

  She refused to speak to him and she refused to look at him, no matter how much he wanted it or tried to engage her the way he had before. He touched her, he brought her to orgasm with his mouth and fingers, he caressed her and murmured soft words to her, but she did not speak to him.

  There was once where he yanked her face in his direction, growling in annoyance that she kept her face away from him, so she kept her face toward his, but purposely stared at his beard, his ears, the groomed hair on his head, anything but the eyes that were the perfect ocean to her.

  She could feel his frustration turning to anger, but what could he do? He couldn't exactly rotate her eyeballs to fall on him.

  He pulled on her tunic harshly, and handled her roughly, bringing her to an even more delicious peak in his roughness, and Shaya rejoiced in the win.

  One afternoon, closer to the second week of her learning, she sat with Treska in her cabin, reciting the names of each island when the cabin door opened and a tribeswoman stepped through.

  She wasn't someone that Shaya had seen before, and she smiled, looking upon her with interest—maybe she was someone new to train her who could be another friend. But Treska shot to her feet, immediately on edge.

  Shaya observed the woman. She was dressed in the clothing that she had seen most tribeswomen wearing when she was working on the deck. Glittering ornaments adorned her hair, her hands and wrists, and some strapped to her calves; she appeared to be more richly dressed than most of the tribe in general. Maybe she was important. She was certainly very pretty. She was a similar coloring to Kyus' future husband, a light sand tan with black hair and deep brown eyes. However, it did not bode well that her face was set in a scowl as she looked upon Shaya.

  Treska and the woman exchanged words, and they became more heated as the conversation went on. The woman continuously turned her attention to Shaya, but Treska kept drawing her attention back to her.

  Shaya suddenly felt uncomfortable, it was clear that they were discussing her. She rose slowly from the bed and walked to stand behind Treska, who shot her a warning look as though to tell her to stay back, but her movement alone seemed to anger the new woman. She rose her voice, gesturing to Shaya, her face contorted, her eyes running down her body as though she disgusted her, and the way in which she spat out her words indicated the level of venom she had toward her.

  Shaya was shocked. She had no idea what she had done to infuriate this woman, but she didn't know how to try to reassure her. She suddenly realized she hadn’t learned any word in Mayaros that meant sorry.

  As the woman became more enraged by her own words, she stepped toward Shaya, and Shaya shuffled back a little, uncomfortable with the woman's behavior. She had never been in any kind of confrontation like this before and she was unsure how to act or behave. She certainly had never been in any fights before and she didn’t even know who this woman was. She could be someone important and then what would Shaya do?

  Treska suddenly jutted her arm out, and hit
the woman on her shoulder, pushing her back a few steps. Her voice rose, engaging a threatening tone making the woman freeze and draw her attention back to her. Treska spoke again, and Shaya recognized the shinno's name, but she couldn’t piece together what she said.

  The woman calmed, but remained a few moments longer until Treska told her to leave. Hallan.

  The woman turned, throwing one last disgusted look at Shaya and then left.

  Treska took a deep breath, and turn toward Shaya. “Are you well?”

  Shaya nodded, strangely she didn't actually feel afraid, just startled. “Why was she angry? What did she want?”

  Treska gestured for her to sit down on the bed. “She was…” Treska paused as she tried to figure out the words. Shaya had been trying to teach her more of the Common Tongue so that they could communicate easier, but she wouldn’t be able to help guess the words for this. Shaya had no idea what the woman had come in for.

  “She was searching,” Treska said finally.

  “For me?”

  Treska nodded.

  Shaya pursed her lips, shocked. “Why would she be searching for me?”

  “She searches for the answer for the shinno's change.”

  “His change in what?” she asked, her heart sinking a little as she guessed Treska was going to say next.

  “The shinno has changed for her and she is searching for the answer.”

  The shinno's change. Shaya exhaled in frustration. Did that mean that she was involved with the shinno?