Collaring Melete

I have collared the panther girl Melete, and though I owe no explanation for doing so beyond the fact that it pleased me to do so; I will offer this one as further proof of my claim.

I first saw Melete years before I met Melete; and to be honest, I did not enjoy the company of the one I met nearly so well as the one I had imagined in my youthful and daydreaming mind. Years ago, she had drifted silently past me on the trading grounds; she was vibrant to behold against the lush goldening foliage of the swaying grasses as the breezed toyed with her hair. It had taken me another two years of waiting patiently among the shadows along the edges of trading grounds in many places to see her again. This time, I had learned more of her; and the area where she could generally, but not always, be found. I saw her at an exchange point, and followed her slowly, and cautiously for another year more to study her habits. I found her to be an exceptional choice for a mate, and I chose her to be as my equal.

This, did not suit her; no, she exercised her right to have me tested to be fit to claim her. I followed the ancient customs; met their demands for satisfaction, and returned to her with our Homestone and the rope to bind us hand in hand instead of by the wrist and throat; but this too did not please her. She was bold, and loud, and unpleasant; even during the still hours, and in close living spaces. She was often troublesome to herself in the quiet moments where the space between a man and a woman dissolves around them. In many ways she was strong and sure of herself; in many ways she was tender and unsure of herself. I left her to go North for Hunting; I thought perhaps giving her some time and space to would give her room to breathe and think. I had decided to return for her after the hunt.

While I was away on my trip, I learned a few simple truths about myself, and about Melete. My time spent in Kanirniq with Lilyana had taught me much. It was not a woman's touch I sought, it was Melete's touch; this tole me I missed her. When word had spread that the Kurri had entered the Northern Forest I could have continued my path Northward to hunt them upon the ice; but instead, I chose to turn back into the Forest to find, and embrace, to shelter and protect Melete, this told me I loved her.

I have little doubt that she is as strong willed as ever, and still prone to denying the natural order of life. No longer will I tolerate her nonsense, no longer can she choose to ignore my word. I have taken that ability alone from her; she has no more to say in this. Where I go, she will go; what I say, she will do; what I teach she will learn. whether she loves me or hates me is no longer my concern.

I have been humiliated by this infuriating woman, and I have shown great patience; many times. I have been tested time and again by this woman and her stubborn refusal to display the least of moderation to anyone other than herself. She is loud and bold too often for my pleasure to be left unattended; this is unnatural and cannot be allowed to persist, I will not have it. She must learn her place and keep it, and if she will not do so as a free woman; she surely will as my slave.

After numerous intimate encounters; after having been tender and gentle, after having been savage and brutal, she stubbornly refuses to display mildness in even the softest moments of the night when the space between a man and a woman evaporates around them. I have reached the limit of my patience in trying to persuade this woman into a milder frame of mind while in my presence; now I will teach her how she shall be, she shall learn my mind and obey it.

I have enslaved her for an entirely selfish reason; I desire her and chose to remove her ability to make me optional. Love me or not, she is mine; and I will use her as I see fit, no matter what she thinks of it. 

I see her as a valuable possession; because she is a huntress, and a survivor; she is smart and resourceful; she is well shaped and firm. She will travel with me; and live in my manner, she will keep my ways. She hunts when I send her to hunt, she scouts when I send her to scout; and if I choose to use her for bait, she will be bait.

She is a beautiful and useful woman, but once too often she annoyed me with her free-thinking ways; and now she wears my steel. Be certain; that while I do give her free rein to do as she must to carry out my will, she is not free. She knows her place; and well she will keep it, for she is kept well within it. She is my kajira.