“Are you kidding me!” Aarav was livid and staring at an annoyed Haemish. “Why am I even in this situation!”

“I told you this could happen if you showed your intelligence…and ability to speak Darfan.”

“Rotten fish carcasses on a hot day!” Aarav cursed very satisfyingly in English. Haemish looked on, waiting for the translation. “Never mind!” Aarav yelled at him. “We can’t do anything now, can we? How was I supposed to know that she was behind me when someone stabbed me awake! And stealing my body matter, by the way!”

“She told me to do it and wait on the test results. I couldn’t very well tell her that you were sentient and that it would be ethical to wake you first! That would have made her more curious, and then you woke up anyway and yelled out in Darfan. Game Over…” It seemed plausible. Aarav sighed heavily and resigned himself to a lifetime of servitude. Hell NO! No servitude here! “Play your cards right, and this could be the single greatest opportunity of your life.”

“I can’t believe this…you’re serious right now! It is my life that is being toyed with, and you want to laugh, and I should try to make the best of it!” Aarav wasn’t backing down. It was infuriating, his life was about to be signed away, and it felt like there was nothing he could do about it.

“Resh, I haven’t told you about what happened to me the first time I met the queen.” He quirked his eyebrows suggestively. Aarav had no idea what the guy was about to say, but it sounded like another of his lectures.

“Well, what happened? She pants-ed you or something?”

“Pants-ed? What do-? You know what? Your annoyed and spouting nonsense, I will let it go just this once.” Haemish snorted and continued. “No, she did not do….that at all. She found me in the lab. At the time, the King had conscripted me to solve a problem with her youngest son. He needed a cure for a strange ailment. She found out that I had difficulty with my magic and worked to understand the problem. Then she approached me to talk further. I found out later that she had…’ taken care’ of the problem as a favour to me, so now I was in her debt. She liked it that way. She said that if she didn’t have me in her debt, she would have tossed me out on my arse. Or worse…” Haemish’s delivery of those words was incredibly calm, almost too much so.

Aarav wondered if the man was desensitised to death or spoke of a bitter enemy? Or if that was just a side effect of living in this world where human life seemed valued differently somehow, based on age, or maybe it was capability? Weak people were trash waiting to be reaped? The strong were revered and helped up to the light for everyone to stare at and worship.

Despite being in this world for six months, he had spent most of his time in the forest or jungle or whatever they called it here. And so the rules had been just that, the law of the jungle. However, he had come to what represented civilisation or society. He found that the same rules also seemed to apply here.

Upon reflection, though, he supposed that the law of might makes right was everywhere, in the old world that had been in the form of financial power for the most part. Muscles were more likely than not to get you killed or imprisoned if you tried. Here the view was so stark. Aarav was made to feel worthless as a weakling and humiliated if others were strong at every turn. It was something that he had felt from the moment he first met Haemish on his gryphon. Still, now it was plain to see like he had been standing in the gloom and shadow. Suddenly someone flicked on football stadium lights at full blast and close range to show every flaw and reveal even the most well-kept secrets. And the reason he liked the man was that Haemish seemed to think differently. He did not look at the world as being strong and weak. He looked at the world from the perspective of potential. For Aarav, that meant limitlessness. Maybe wishful thinking but with Assimilate, it could very well be true.

Looking at Aarav, who was clearly in reflection, he continued, “…so what I am saying is that it is a good thing to be indebted to the queen.” The definitive statement from the man was enough to rouse Aarav from his dark musings, and he had almost fallen back into his flashback.

“Hmm…you are indebted to the queen? What could you have possibly needed to be indebted to her?”

“That is a story for another time, if ever. Do you make a habit of asking deeply personal questions to everyone you meet? Within the first twenty-four hours?”

“Only when I think I can get away with it.” Aarav gave Haemish a wink. Sometimes, it was nice to distract oneself from difficult life situations by having banter or laughing with someone. He was an expert at that. “So, are you going to teach me something useful or not?”

“The queen expressly told me I am not to teach you anything until you have sworn. I believe her exact words were...’ don’t make a habit of sharpening the knife in your enemy’s hand’ she always had an interesting way with words.” Haemish got a faraway look, and Aarav had to tap the glass of his cage to bring him back. “But the good news is that once you swear the oath, you are free to be let out of the box! That will be nice, will it not?”

“Awesome! Okay, NOW I am excited about getting out of here and less depressed about signing my life away...NOT. I know you’re going to let me out of this cage because she said as much. That I would be free to wander around the palace but still couldn’t leave, it’s just a bigger cage, Haemish!” Aarav quibbled.

“A bigger...bigger cage? Have you SEEN the size of the palace!? It might as well be a city in its own right! And it is probably bigger underground than it is over!” Aarav shuddered at the thought of going underground.

“Uhh...no, thanks.” Aarav grunted. But I will allow that it will be nice to explore again. Even though it has only been about twenty-four hours, freedom is freedom, such as mine is. It remains to be seen if the trade-off is worth the space I had in the forest. WHERE YOU COULD HAVE LEFT ME!” Aarav raised his voice a little at the end. It was Haemish’s fault he was here in the first place. If he had just left Aarav alone, the Slime would have been fine, not stuck here.

“No, I couldn’t have, I needed you at the time, and then once you started speaking, there was no way I could have left you in the forest. Don’t mistake my kindness for complacency or weakness. Just because I was offering you knowledge and potions does not mean you have earned my trust. For all I know, you could be a mass-murdering blob that we happened to capture.” Haemish’s eyes turned hard for the first time, driving the point home. Aarav shied back a little before drawing himself up to his meagre height and making a show of defiance.

“That being said...” Haemish continued, “I will not treat you in a hostile manner unless your behaviour warrants it. I would extend the same courtesy to any person in my custody, human or otherwise.” He aimed his gaze directly into Aarav’s eye with that last, and the Slime finally remembered that he was sitting on food with only a single organ instead of his usual three.

“Well...umm, thanks. I suppose.” Aarav didn’t know what he should have expected from a foreign nation. Living in the forest without other humans would have been so much easier. Why had he ever been curious about how people lived and then the gryphon and then this. He might have been partly to blame for his capture. I walked in and jumped into their laps...”Hang on, what do you mean the queen told you not to teach me anything? She didn’t even talk to you after our discussion. How could she have told you not to teach me anything...” Aarav eyed Haemish suspiciously, but the fat man just laughed before replying.

“You think the Queen didn’t know what the outcome of your conversation would be? As if anyone in their right mind would choose death over service! She told me before you woke up.”

That reminded Aarav of another point, but he needed to finish this one first for his sanity. “If I don’t have a real choice, then what does it matter that I haven’t sworn yet? Just teach me, damn it!”

Then three men and three women walked into the lab to carry the box and Aarav out of the room.