Shanna flashed the Immortal a mischievous grin. "Deepest apologies, m'lord. I'm off to broaden my horizons a little for some months, but if I ever pass this way again, I'll remember the offer. Perhaps I'll even have a whole new world of my own to share with you." She lowered a hand flirtatiously to the hem of her too-short skirt, making it very obvious what kind of new world she had in mind to share.<br/><br/>It never hurt to have friends. Or fans. Or just men who wanted in her panties and could be talked into giving up some advantage or another in hope of a possible erotic encounter. One used what weapons one had.<br/><br/>At Cyprus's question, she huffed. "I had freedom up till the moment you showed up and handed me this ridiculous, impossible, gods-forsaken quest. Ask me again when the Sorcerer-Kings are all dead," she reminded him. "I was going to go to Khavad-Khor and have some fun as a wrestler. Not a slave, mind you, but my own woman. People wagering gold on me, winning my following among the crowds, lifting trophies from the slain, being fawned upon and attended to after a match.<em>That </em>would've been freedom." Shanna laced her fingers behind her head and grinned, and one could practically see the thought bubble of languid imagination above her head, featuring Shanna half-clad in diaphanous silks and bathed with perfumed water by slaves. "No. There's no freedom until the Sorcerer-Kings are all dead."<br/><br/>Even so talking, she kept up a brisk pace until the city walls were far out of sight. Hopefully it would be far enough that the decision of whether to send men and horse riding out after one suspected murderer would not be a sure thing. By now Shanna was already drenched in sweat, huffing and puffing under the hot midday sun. Even her gladiatorial armor, abbreviated as it was, was wearing her out on foot. "Damn." With some visible reluctance -- good armor was hard to come by -- she started stripping off her armored gauntlets, boots and breastplate, haphazardly burying them in loose rocks and gravel. "Let's hope I can get proper clothes in Azkad," she grumbled, looking down at her handiwork. Now she wore only her white bodice and scanty underskirt, which was drenched through with sweat and plastered to her thighs, barely keeping concealed the thong she wore beneath.<br/><br/><br/><br/>