Post by shyviolet on Sept 6, 2007 13:27:48 GMT -5
Uuu, it's so hard to put this up, I'm waaaay embarassed, but I said I would and I do kind of want to know what people think of my writing.
Anyway, this comes to a rather abrupt halt because I started expanding it and then forgot about it, if youthink it's lame please don't be too harsh
Yris and Saul
The rats dragged Yris struggling down through the rough stone tunnel. The lower they went the wider the cave became, until the light of the torches the rats carried no longer illuminated the ceiling above and the walls were masked in shadow. After what could have been days Yris was thrown, exhausted, onto the floor of a huge stone hall. Spluttering, she worked to her knees and looked around in awe. No rough-walled cave this, the walls and ceiling disappeared into darkness, but ornate pillars rose up and out of sight, carved in the shape of twisting serpents. Yris was overwhelmed by the sheer immensity of the place, but what she saw approaching robbed her of any wonder.
She saw at the far end of the sphere of pale light the creature that until two days ago she had never really believed existed. He was flanked by two more of the strange rat-men who served him. Fully eight feet high from the floor, he had long, black hair, lank and tangled, and cruel yellow eyes. His body was lean and muscular, but the light from the glowing torch-stones the rats carried shone on his scaly skin, glancing off the smooth armour that was his naked chest and arms. But none of this drew Yris; her attention was fixed on the sight that greeted her where his legs should have been; the endless tail of some gargantuan serpent. What she now knelt before was Saul, the Serpent Lord of the mountain. Fear gripped Yris as she watched him, the terrible stories she had always ignored clamouring at her mind, but she set her face in defiance and stared unwavering at her captor.
“Leave us,” he hissed, waving a hand at the guards, who placed their torch-stones in the mouths of snake-shaped brackets before bowing and leaving the hall. “So you are my newest gift,” he looked intently at her, smiling coldly as she tried to hold his gaze. “You look so young and tender.”
Yris simply knelt for a moment, but she refused to just cower before him and submit, he would not find her so accommodating.
“The idea of congress with you is repulsive to me,” she spat. Saul raised an eyebrow.
“Then you’re in luck, because it is also impossible,” he said, folding his arms.
“Really?” she said, doing her best to sound incredulous “I have heard talk of what you do to the women you capture.”
Saul indicated his long, scaly tail.
“Do you see anything vaguely resembling human genitalia?” he asked patiently. “Although if you are desperate to be humiliated the end of my tail is probably thin enough,” he brought it level with his human half and inspected it absent-mindedly. “Though I’d rather not, I was in the middle of a bath.”
“I’m so sorry to have disturbed you,” Yris replied sarcastically.
“You should be,” said Saul, ignoring the insincerity. “It’s not often I have time to enjoy a good long bath and you interrupted it,” he bent close to her then straightened up. “Speaking of which you could use one before I decide what to do with you, you’re filthy.”
“I will not bathe with you, snake,” spat Yris, but she was confused. Wasn’t he supposed to rape and eat women? He showed no interest in doing either to her. In fact, he showed little interest in her at all. Saul rolled his yellow eyes in a bored sort of way.
“You have two choices,” he hissed, “you may walk freely beside me and I will show you to the spring, or you may refuse and the rats will force you.”
“I will walk freely,” said Yris, struggling to her feet.
“I thought so,” he said, and turned around as she stumbled to his side, his long tail gliding smoothly around behind. He picked a stone from the wall bracket and slithered towards the end of the hall, Yris following. The passages they travelled through were like the hall, smooth and decorated, though much smaller. Yris tried to keep track of where they were going, but she lost count of the forks and side-tunnels they passed. If she wanted to escape it seemed she would have to find a different way out. She could just wander around until a passage looked familiar, she thought, but what of the rats? They had not passed any since entering the tunnels, but she had seen them in the rougher passages further back, perhaps they weren’t allowed to enter here? She returned her thoughts to finding a way out, she wouldn’t just be toyed with like a gift for a child, she would fight this and escape. She was still wondering how she might go about it when the path came to an end. They stood in another hall, but this one was smaller and had been carved by water, not by craftsmen. The smooth floor was scattered with flat pebbles, and an underground lake lapped at the stone not far away. There were glowing white stones in the ceiling and walls, Saul placed his torch-stone in another of the snake-shaped brackets; there was no need for it here.
He moved towards her. Despite herself Yris took a frightened step backward, but Saul moved faster and circled behind her. She closed her eyes and braced herself, but all she felt was his cold hands around her wrists, and the ropes fall away.
“Well?” he said, moving in front of her again, “You can’t very well take a bath in your clothes, get undressed.” At this Yris recovered her resolve.
“I said I will not bathe with you, serpent!” she spat at him, but he darted forward as fast as a cobra strikes and holding her in his coils pulled her dress and petticoat off over her head, leaving her naked but for her cotton underwear. He released her, but then gripped her arm as she made to move away.
“I’d really rather not have to finish undressing you,” he hissed tiredly, “will you please just cooperate for the time being?”
“I will not undress and I will not bathe with you!” Yris repeated, but her willpower melted into terror as, quick as lightning, Saul wound his tail around her legs and midriff, squeezing her tight.
“You will do asss you are told!” he hissed, the sibilance in his voice growing stronger. “You will do asss I sssay or I will crussh you like an egg, am I underssstood?”
Yris nodded fervently, and he released her.
“I am in no mood for disobedience,” he said, more calmly, “you would do well to show more respect. Now, undress and come bathe with me.”
Yris nervously removed the last of her clothing, and he seemed pleased. He glided smoothly into the water, then beckoned for her to follow. When she did not, he rolled his eyes again.
“It is not very deep, nor very cold, just walk in,” he said, as though talking to a child. Yris slid into the water, which was indeed neither deep nor cold at the shallow edge, cursing herself for being so pathetic. She looked over at Saul, he had found a ledge he was obviously familiar with, and sat (as much as a snake could sit) on it, with his arms on the bank and his head back. As she watched he gave a small contented sigh and swept the rest of his long tail into the water.
The circumstances might not be perfect, but still Yris was somewhat happy to have somewhere to wash. She was covered in mud and grime, and was glad to be clean again, but her unease returned once she was finished; Saul was still sitting on the ledge and showed no signs of moving. He opened one eye and seeing her just standing there waved a hand at her.
“You may swim if you wish, you needn’t just wait there. Amuse yourself. ”
Yris swam out into the deeper water. She vaguely contemplated going back to the shore and skipping some of the flat pebbles, but she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to leave the lake, and almost being crushed had taken away her bravery. She took a deep breath and dived under the surface, when she emerged she noticed Saul was looking at her.
“That is an interesting ability,” he said slowly.
“What is?”
“You stopped breathing, how did you do that?”
Yris blinked.
“Can’t you?” she asked, confused.
“I can make myself amphibious if I need to, but that is a magical ability, yours is a physical one. How did you do it?”
“I don’t know, I just did. All my species can.”
“Oh,” he seemed more interested now, and watched her as she started swimming again, but she stopped what she noticed his gaze.
“If I might ask,” she said uncertainly “If you do not eat them, what becomes of the women you take?”
Saul sighed; a half-exasperated, half-pitying sound.
“They will insist on trying to escape, and my guards can be a little knife-happy. Most of them meet a sticky end somewhere in the tunnels, if not before.”
“And those that don’t?”
“They just disappear, I expect they get lost and starve somewhere.”
Yris was surprised; he sounded like he felt sorry for them. He had the same tone of voice she heard in people talking about a dead puppy found on the road.
“And… what about me?” she asked tentatively. Saul looked up at her, apparently contemplating this.
“I’m not sure, I’ve never been given one as young as you, and usually my prisoners are dead or lost by now. I’ve never had to do anything with them.” He looked at her again, and this time she noticed his eyes travel smoothly up and down her figure. “Although I do think I would like a kiss.”
“From me?”
“No, from the rats,” hissed Saul sarcastically. “Of course from you, you silly girl, who else would I want it from?”
Yris drew back a little, some of her resolve returning to her. She might do as she was told up to a point, but kiss him? No, that was going too far, she would not be treated like that.
“And if I were to refuse?” she said slowly, still backing away to tread water further out in the lake. Saul rolled his eyes again, but if Yris had considered herself out of his reach she was sadly mistaken. So quickly that she didn’t even have time to take a breath, he wrapped the end of his tail around her and brought her up to him, looping the middle of his scaly coils around her and sweeping the end back out into the water.
“Let me make thisss abundantly clear.” He hissed “If you refussse any of my ordersss I will go back to your village, leaving you in the ‘care’ of my ratsss, and I will crusssh every perssson there. Friend, foe and family alike, all will perisssh in my grip. Then I will return here, and crusssh you.”
His grip around her tightened, Yris whimpered in pain as he squeezed her ribcage.
“Now do as you are told,” hissed Saul, and released her. She stumbled in the water for a moment, trying to regain her breath, and had to cling to his tail to support herself. Saul waited patiently for her to stop coughing then picked her up gently with the end of his tail and placed her on its base. Yris had been frightened when he picked her up again, but now she realised he had simply moved her so she was sitting on what would have been his lap if he had legs. His tail was oddly smooth; she had been expecting it to be cold and slimy, but it was dry and polished like glass, and thin enough to sit comfortably astride. Saul held her chin in one hand, and she shuddered as she felt his long nails scratch her cheek. He leant forward, bringing her closer as well, and looked into her eyes for a long moment.
“Well?” he hissed “I want you to kiss me, do you obey?” Taking a deep breath, Yris leant forward and put her mouth on his.
It wasn’t really so bad. Saul’s lips were soft and warm, unlike the rest of him, and no scales covered them. His tongue slid over hers, and she was relieved to find that though it was forked at the tip, it was otherwise normal. He had a human mouth at least. Yris shivered and pulled away, this was far too strange for her. She looked at Saul, who seemed to be testing the feel of the kiss on his mouth, looking up and sideways away from her. Then his face snapped back to look at her again.
“I like that,” he said quietly, more to himself than to her. “Yes,” he was speaking to her now, “I think I shall want another later on.” Yris sat uncomfortably for a moment, she didn’t like straddling his tail like this, especially not naked. Luckily she didn’t have to worry about it for long.
“Come,” said Saul, lifting her off him, “we should eat, you look hungry.”
He slithered out of the water, and beckoned for her to follow, it was then she noticed her clothes were gone. She had left them folded on the floor, but all she saw now was more of the smooth pebbles. Anger flared up again, just because Saul’s species had no need for clothes didn’t mean he could leave her naked.
“What am I to wear?” she asked in a pointed but respectful tone. Angry as she was, she was learning that making Saul angry too was unwise.
“Hmm?” he grunted, turning round to look at her. “Oh!” he clapped twice. Yris looked around fearfully, expecting more of the rats, but instead two large snakes appeared, some kind of giant cobra. One was carrying a long white garment in its mouth.
“Put your arms up,” said Saul lazily, “they will dress you.”
Yris did as she was told, and the snakes did dress her. Later she could not remember quite how they had managed it, but she was left standing in a white dress. It was a kind of muslin and had a slit from the round neckline with thicker fabric around the edges. The same double layer held it in slightly at the waist, it was quite pretty really.
“I believe white is the traditional colour for virgins among your kind?” Saul hissed when the snakes had bowed (a strange sight) and left.
“Yes it is,” said Yris, before the phrase had really sunk in, then; “Wait, what makes you think I’m-’’
He waved a hand to quiet her.
“It’s obvious. Despite your admirable attempts to be… difficult, fear is evident on your face, never more so than when I mentioned I could violate you were I so inclined, which luckily for you I’m not. None of the old farm-wives the rats bring are nearly so scared; they know what to expect, I can see you don’t.”
He smiled coldly.
“It’s really rather intriguing,” he hissed, in a tone Yris didn’t quite like, then beckoned her to follow again and slithered toward the tunnel the cobras had come from.
Yris was at a loss as to how Saul could find his way through the maze of tunnels that comprised his home, she couldn’t tell the difference between one passage and the next. Saul glided in front of her, ignoring her once more. Yris found herself contemplating what he actually did in his spare time; he didn’t do anything with the offerings the village sent him, he didn’t seem to have any entertainments and he had mentioned something about not having time for long baths…
“Are you all this vacant?”
Saul’s sarcastic voice jolted her back to the present. They were standing in another elaborately carved cavern, but here the pillars were decorated with what appeared to be fish, but on closer inspection of the tops turned out to be mermaids.
“Are they real?” Yris asked, despite herself.
“Surely even your inferior vision should be able to tell they’re statues,” said Saul, following her eye line up to the pillars. Yris sighed.
“I mean are there really mermaids in the world?” she said.
“Oh,” said Saul, apparently just realising that she was serious, “yes there are. Most are not as attractive as my statues though, they are quite slippery and never comb their hair.”
Yris glanced incredulously at Saul’s own matted tangle, but said nothing. She looked around and saw a small raised platform to their left, which was supposedly the table. It was a solid oval of rock, Yris vaguely wondered how he could sit at it until she remembered that Saul, of course, had no need for leg room underneath it
This is my original design for Saul, if anyone's interested.
i7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/sarah_squirrel/saul.jpg
Anyway, this comes to a rather abrupt halt because I started expanding it and then forgot about it, if youthink it's lame please don't be too harsh
Yris and Saul
The rats dragged Yris struggling down through the rough stone tunnel. The lower they went the wider the cave became, until the light of the torches the rats carried no longer illuminated the ceiling above and the walls were masked in shadow. After what could have been days Yris was thrown, exhausted, onto the floor of a huge stone hall. Spluttering, she worked to her knees and looked around in awe. No rough-walled cave this, the walls and ceiling disappeared into darkness, but ornate pillars rose up and out of sight, carved in the shape of twisting serpents. Yris was overwhelmed by the sheer immensity of the place, but what she saw approaching robbed her of any wonder.
She saw at the far end of the sphere of pale light the creature that until two days ago she had never really believed existed. He was flanked by two more of the strange rat-men who served him. Fully eight feet high from the floor, he had long, black hair, lank and tangled, and cruel yellow eyes. His body was lean and muscular, but the light from the glowing torch-stones the rats carried shone on his scaly skin, glancing off the smooth armour that was his naked chest and arms. But none of this drew Yris; her attention was fixed on the sight that greeted her where his legs should have been; the endless tail of some gargantuan serpent. What she now knelt before was Saul, the Serpent Lord of the mountain. Fear gripped Yris as she watched him, the terrible stories she had always ignored clamouring at her mind, but she set her face in defiance and stared unwavering at her captor.
“Leave us,” he hissed, waving a hand at the guards, who placed their torch-stones in the mouths of snake-shaped brackets before bowing and leaving the hall. “So you are my newest gift,” he looked intently at her, smiling coldly as she tried to hold his gaze. “You look so young and tender.”
Yris simply knelt for a moment, but she refused to just cower before him and submit, he would not find her so accommodating.
“The idea of congress with you is repulsive to me,” she spat. Saul raised an eyebrow.
“Then you’re in luck, because it is also impossible,” he said, folding his arms.
“Really?” she said, doing her best to sound incredulous “I have heard talk of what you do to the women you capture.”
Saul indicated his long, scaly tail.
“Do you see anything vaguely resembling human genitalia?” he asked patiently. “Although if you are desperate to be humiliated the end of my tail is probably thin enough,” he brought it level with his human half and inspected it absent-mindedly. “Though I’d rather not, I was in the middle of a bath.”
“I’m so sorry to have disturbed you,” Yris replied sarcastically.
“You should be,” said Saul, ignoring the insincerity. “It’s not often I have time to enjoy a good long bath and you interrupted it,” he bent close to her then straightened up. “Speaking of which you could use one before I decide what to do with you, you’re filthy.”
“I will not bathe with you, snake,” spat Yris, but she was confused. Wasn’t he supposed to rape and eat women? He showed no interest in doing either to her. In fact, he showed little interest in her at all. Saul rolled his yellow eyes in a bored sort of way.
“You have two choices,” he hissed, “you may walk freely beside me and I will show you to the spring, or you may refuse and the rats will force you.”
“I will walk freely,” said Yris, struggling to her feet.
“I thought so,” he said, and turned around as she stumbled to his side, his long tail gliding smoothly around behind. He picked a stone from the wall bracket and slithered towards the end of the hall, Yris following. The passages they travelled through were like the hall, smooth and decorated, though much smaller. Yris tried to keep track of where they were going, but she lost count of the forks and side-tunnels they passed. If she wanted to escape it seemed she would have to find a different way out. She could just wander around until a passage looked familiar, she thought, but what of the rats? They had not passed any since entering the tunnels, but she had seen them in the rougher passages further back, perhaps they weren’t allowed to enter here? She returned her thoughts to finding a way out, she wouldn’t just be toyed with like a gift for a child, she would fight this and escape. She was still wondering how she might go about it when the path came to an end. They stood in another hall, but this one was smaller and had been carved by water, not by craftsmen. The smooth floor was scattered with flat pebbles, and an underground lake lapped at the stone not far away. There were glowing white stones in the ceiling and walls, Saul placed his torch-stone in another of the snake-shaped brackets; there was no need for it here.
He moved towards her. Despite herself Yris took a frightened step backward, but Saul moved faster and circled behind her. She closed her eyes and braced herself, but all she felt was his cold hands around her wrists, and the ropes fall away.
“Well?” he said, moving in front of her again, “You can’t very well take a bath in your clothes, get undressed.” At this Yris recovered her resolve.
“I said I will not bathe with you, serpent!” she spat at him, but he darted forward as fast as a cobra strikes and holding her in his coils pulled her dress and petticoat off over her head, leaving her naked but for her cotton underwear. He released her, but then gripped her arm as she made to move away.
“I’d really rather not have to finish undressing you,” he hissed tiredly, “will you please just cooperate for the time being?”
“I will not undress and I will not bathe with you!” Yris repeated, but her willpower melted into terror as, quick as lightning, Saul wound his tail around her legs and midriff, squeezing her tight.
“You will do asss you are told!” he hissed, the sibilance in his voice growing stronger. “You will do asss I sssay or I will crussh you like an egg, am I underssstood?”
Yris nodded fervently, and he released her.
“I am in no mood for disobedience,” he said, more calmly, “you would do well to show more respect. Now, undress and come bathe with me.”
Yris nervously removed the last of her clothing, and he seemed pleased. He glided smoothly into the water, then beckoned for her to follow. When she did not, he rolled his eyes again.
“It is not very deep, nor very cold, just walk in,” he said, as though talking to a child. Yris slid into the water, which was indeed neither deep nor cold at the shallow edge, cursing herself for being so pathetic. She looked over at Saul, he had found a ledge he was obviously familiar with, and sat (as much as a snake could sit) on it, with his arms on the bank and his head back. As she watched he gave a small contented sigh and swept the rest of his long tail into the water.
The circumstances might not be perfect, but still Yris was somewhat happy to have somewhere to wash. She was covered in mud and grime, and was glad to be clean again, but her unease returned once she was finished; Saul was still sitting on the ledge and showed no signs of moving. He opened one eye and seeing her just standing there waved a hand at her.
“You may swim if you wish, you needn’t just wait there. Amuse yourself. ”
Yris swam out into the deeper water. She vaguely contemplated going back to the shore and skipping some of the flat pebbles, but she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to leave the lake, and almost being crushed had taken away her bravery. She took a deep breath and dived under the surface, when she emerged she noticed Saul was looking at her.
“That is an interesting ability,” he said slowly.
“What is?”
“You stopped breathing, how did you do that?”
Yris blinked.
“Can’t you?” she asked, confused.
“I can make myself amphibious if I need to, but that is a magical ability, yours is a physical one. How did you do it?”
“I don’t know, I just did. All my species can.”
“Oh,” he seemed more interested now, and watched her as she started swimming again, but she stopped what she noticed his gaze.
“If I might ask,” she said uncertainly “If you do not eat them, what becomes of the women you take?”
Saul sighed; a half-exasperated, half-pitying sound.
“They will insist on trying to escape, and my guards can be a little knife-happy. Most of them meet a sticky end somewhere in the tunnels, if not before.”
“And those that don’t?”
“They just disappear, I expect they get lost and starve somewhere.”
Yris was surprised; he sounded like he felt sorry for them. He had the same tone of voice she heard in people talking about a dead puppy found on the road.
“And… what about me?” she asked tentatively. Saul looked up at her, apparently contemplating this.
“I’m not sure, I’ve never been given one as young as you, and usually my prisoners are dead or lost by now. I’ve never had to do anything with them.” He looked at her again, and this time she noticed his eyes travel smoothly up and down her figure. “Although I do think I would like a kiss.”
“From me?”
“No, from the rats,” hissed Saul sarcastically. “Of course from you, you silly girl, who else would I want it from?”
Yris drew back a little, some of her resolve returning to her. She might do as she was told up to a point, but kiss him? No, that was going too far, she would not be treated like that.
“And if I were to refuse?” she said slowly, still backing away to tread water further out in the lake. Saul rolled his eyes again, but if Yris had considered herself out of his reach she was sadly mistaken. So quickly that she didn’t even have time to take a breath, he wrapped the end of his tail around her and brought her up to him, looping the middle of his scaly coils around her and sweeping the end back out into the water.
“Let me make thisss abundantly clear.” He hissed “If you refussse any of my ordersss I will go back to your village, leaving you in the ‘care’ of my ratsss, and I will crusssh every perssson there. Friend, foe and family alike, all will perisssh in my grip. Then I will return here, and crusssh you.”
His grip around her tightened, Yris whimpered in pain as he squeezed her ribcage.
“Now do as you are told,” hissed Saul, and released her. She stumbled in the water for a moment, trying to regain her breath, and had to cling to his tail to support herself. Saul waited patiently for her to stop coughing then picked her up gently with the end of his tail and placed her on its base. Yris had been frightened when he picked her up again, but now she realised he had simply moved her so she was sitting on what would have been his lap if he had legs. His tail was oddly smooth; she had been expecting it to be cold and slimy, but it was dry and polished like glass, and thin enough to sit comfortably astride. Saul held her chin in one hand, and she shuddered as she felt his long nails scratch her cheek. He leant forward, bringing her closer as well, and looked into her eyes for a long moment.
“Well?” he hissed “I want you to kiss me, do you obey?” Taking a deep breath, Yris leant forward and put her mouth on his.
It wasn’t really so bad. Saul’s lips were soft and warm, unlike the rest of him, and no scales covered them. His tongue slid over hers, and she was relieved to find that though it was forked at the tip, it was otherwise normal. He had a human mouth at least. Yris shivered and pulled away, this was far too strange for her. She looked at Saul, who seemed to be testing the feel of the kiss on his mouth, looking up and sideways away from her. Then his face snapped back to look at her again.
“I like that,” he said quietly, more to himself than to her. “Yes,” he was speaking to her now, “I think I shall want another later on.” Yris sat uncomfortably for a moment, she didn’t like straddling his tail like this, especially not naked. Luckily she didn’t have to worry about it for long.
“Come,” said Saul, lifting her off him, “we should eat, you look hungry.”
He slithered out of the water, and beckoned for her to follow, it was then she noticed her clothes were gone. She had left them folded on the floor, but all she saw now was more of the smooth pebbles. Anger flared up again, just because Saul’s species had no need for clothes didn’t mean he could leave her naked.
“What am I to wear?” she asked in a pointed but respectful tone. Angry as she was, she was learning that making Saul angry too was unwise.
“Hmm?” he grunted, turning round to look at her. “Oh!” he clapped twice. Yris looked around fearfully, expecting more of the rats, but instead two large snakes appeared, some kind of giant cobra. One was carrying a long white garment in its mouth.
“Put your arms up,” said Saul lazily, “they will dress you.”
Yris did as she was told, and the snakes did dress her. Later she could not remember quite how they had managed it, but she was left standing in a white dress. It was a kind of muslin and had a slit from the round neckline with thicker fabric around the edges. The same double layer held it in slightly at the waist, it was quite pretty really.
“I believe white is the traditional colour for virgins among your kind?” Saul hissed when the snakes had bowed (a strange sight) and left.
“Yes it is,” said Yris, before the phrase had really sunk in, then; “Wait, what makes you think I’m-’’
He waved a hand to quiet her.
“It’s obvious. Despite your admirable attempts to be… difficult, fear is evident on your face, never more so than when I mentioned I could violate you were I so inclined, which luckily for you I’m not. None of the old farm-wives the rats bring are nearly so scared; they know what to expect, I can see you don’t.”
He smiled coldly.
“It’s really rather intriguing,” he hissed, in a tone Yris didn’t quite like, then beckoned her to follow again and slithered toward the tunnel the cobras had come from.
Yris was at a loss as to how Saul could find his way through the maze of tunnels that comprised his home, she couldn’t tell the difference between one passage and the next. Saul glided in front of her, ignoring her once more. Yris found herself contemplating what he actually did in his spare time; he didn’t do anything with the offerings the village sent him, he didn’t seem to have any entertainments and he had mentioned something about not having time for long baths…
“Are you all this vacant?”
Saul’s sarcastic voice jolted her back to the present. They were standing in another elaborately carved cavern, but here the pillars were decorated with what appeared to be fish, but on closer inspection of the tops turned out to be mermaids.
“Are they real?” Yris asked, despite herself.
“Surely even your inferior vision should be able to tell they’re statues,” said Saul, following her eye line up to the pillars. Yris sighed.
“I mean are there really mermaids in the world?” she said.
“Oh,” said Saul, apparently just realising that she was serious, “yes there are. Most are not as attractive as my statues though, they are quite slippery and never comb their hair.”
Yris glanced incredulously at Saul’s own matted tangle, but said nothing. She looked around and saw a small raised platform to their left, which was supposedly the table. It was a solid oval of rock, Yris vaguely wondered how he could sit at it until she remembered that Saul, of course, had no need for leg room underneath it
This is my original design for Saul, if anyone's interested.
i7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/sarah_squirrel/saul.jpg