<div class="floatright">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/d/dc/Arouj.jpg)<br/><strong>Name:</strong> Arouj al-Qadir (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=141932.msg6401727#msg6401727)<br/><strong>Location:</strong> The Blue Iguana<br/><strong>Languages:</strong> English, Arabic<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong> Ta'er<br/></div><em>”We are many a thing, but slavers, we are not.” </em><br/><br/>The words had come too late to stop his suspicions from dripping off his tongue. It was a common enough ploy, back in the civilized world, to tempt encroaching slavers to their death by parading pretty flesh on shore that appeared free for the taking. Predators would become the prey, outnumbered by those who had laid claim to the territory and baited the trap with their own slaves. Worse yet, there were whispers that honest corsairs could find themselves under the yoke of godless men. He cursed himself for imagining a treasure like the white bird would lie unguarded.<br/><br/>The venom had barely passed his lips when two things seemed to happen at once. Ta'er protested quite loudly and with great offense. Was he lying now or had he been under the lash in the past? Before this could be puzzled out something pointed and solid nudged Arouj just beneath the ribs in what appeared to be a friendly warning. The bird had sharp claws but no taste for blood.<br/><br/>His associates looked as if they might, however.<br/><br/>“I have offended you with hasty words,” he slowly replied, voice still low and deliberate but without the ice of anger. His grip loosened around Ta'er's wrist and his fingers slipped away, lingering a moment as he wondered if the fair skin would bruise. “I am accustomed to a world in which things of beauty are either owned or...” he gestured briefly to his ribs “...deadly. I have seen men die, ensnared by the tempting agents of their enemies. Being only a man, I have made an error in judgement. Of course you are a free and deadly beauty, Ta'er, and you have taught me not to mistake you for anything less. I thank you for the lesson.”<br/><br/>He shifted his weight, leaning ever so slightly into the dagger's point, and tipped his face towards Ta'er's with a hint of a smile returning. “And thanks be to god that I am interesting enough to escape my death at your gentle hands.”<br/>