Oh wow. He'd really done it this time. Accidentally eating those babies infected with the plague hardly compared to this. Rakkini managed to get himself captured. He knew Mother Lamia was shaking her head at him from the underworld. Of course, if he was going to look on the bright side of things, these humans hadn't treated him half bad. They'd taken the horses from the barn, having to knock down the wall between three of the stalls in order to accommodate his tail. While his hands had been bound and weights had been shackled to his tail, they'd been nice enough to give him a comfy mattress to lie on. It was quite soft, thick, and squishy. Rakkini couldn't help thinking, however, that it was all going to turn on him very soon.

Just over the half wall of the stables' doors, there appeared a boy, walking down their length while pushing something unseen by the lamia lying down upon the floor. Stopping at the stable, which housed the beast's upper body, the boy looked over at Rakkini. "You are awake," he stated, his expression carefully neutral. He was a handsome, if not lovely fellow, not terribly tall, with blond hair that fell against the side of his face, and deep brown eyes. "Are you comfortable enough?" he asked, looking down at Rakkini and letting his gaze travel all the way down to where the long tail stretched out. The heavy weights and chains were secure, but did not appear to be cutting into the mystic flesh.

"Yes, actually," Rakkini admitted. His own turquoise colored locks reached down the small of his back, never having the resources to actually cut it. Pale pink eyes set against off-white skin stared curiously back at the human. "Honestly... I expected to be gut and hung by now. The fact that I'm not, well..." The long, dark blue and white glittered tail shifted slightly. "I can only guess it means something worse is in store for me."

Alban watched the shifting of the tail carefully, keeping alert to any weakness that might show within the lattice work keeping that tail bound close to the wall. The dark brown eyes trailed back to meet the pale pink gaze, seemingly without fear. "Despite your actions and the heartache you have caused this village, we are not savages or fools, and will not bring harm to a sacred beast such as yourself."

Rakkini blinked. "Sacred, me? Wow... I haven't met a human yet who would call me that."

The blond human would not reply to that, as he suspected that this creature would find that they were quite unlike other humans. After all, they had been able to capture and subdue the beast rather easily, hadn't they? Alban unlocked the gate and swung it open. "I am here to bestow offerings and appease you, honored beast," he said, wheeling in a barrow full of food gathered and prepared by the villagers.

Pink eyes grew wide and round. "All of that is for me?" he asked, mouth already watering. Rakkini shook his head though and thought better of this. "Wait, that food is poisoned. I'm sure it is."

"I assure you, it is not," Alban replied, blinking as though surprised that the lamia would even suggest such an underhanded thing. He began to set out some of the platters and dishes that he'd tried to carefully set into the barrow. Many of them were meat-centric meals, a few of which had been prepared with at least a smattering of vegetables or fruit. "If you wish, I will sample a dish of your choosing, and prove to you that it is quite safe."

"That one," Rakkini said, wasting no time and pointing to a poultry dish. He sure as heck wasn't going to die a fool.

Alban nodded, then brushed aside some of that blond hair as it fell into his eyes and stripping off a piece of the meat with his fingers. Alban showed it to Rakkini and had his eyes follow the piece as it was set into the human's mouth, chewed, then swallowed. The human even opened his mouth to reveal that he had indeed swallowed every last piece. "Will you now eat?" he asked, spearing the fowl onto a short pole and bringing it over to Rakkini's mouth.

Rakkini was about to insist he wasn't really that hungry, but his stomach proved him wrong by emitting a gentle growl. Well then, that was that. The lamia nodded and opened his mouth to receive the meat. Being fed like this was a bit annoying and he wished the boy would untie him, but in reality, he knew that wasn't even an option.

Alban watched Rakkini eat with that same blank expression, though a tiny spark of intrigue shone in his eyes and could be read in the slight tilt of his head. Once the chicken was gone, he speared another piece, this time a rather nicely dripping roast and offered it in the same manner. The succulent juices dribbled down upon the snowy skin, but Alban paid them no heed, more interested in watching how the lamia's jaws worked.

The pieces of meat being offered weren't that large, so Rakkini didn't have to resort to anything fancy in order to eat. Were the entire roast to be offered at once, well... Once he was done chewing, Rakkini stuck his tongue out to lap up the juices dripping down his front. Now, where humans were lucky to reach their chin, the lamia's tapered tongue continued to extend further out, longer and longer, enough to lick his own neck and chest.

That made a blond brow rise up and he turned away, licking his lips with his own rather short and now somehow inferior tongue, and selected another meal to bring to the beast's mouth. Steak this time, and mutton would be next, followed by a very fat goose which Alban knew the proprietor had wished to keep plumping up for the next festival.

Rakkini ate each one with grace and earnest. If this was what these humans called revenge, well, he needed to attack and betray them more often! Alban got around to the goose and was about to cut a piece off, but Rakkini stopped him. "Wait, you don't really need to do that," he said. "Just jab it and bring it over here. All this chewing is getting boring."

Again Alban blinked, curious but obedient, and did as told. Hefting the great goose up on the spear, trying hard not to let it shake too much and offered it to Rakkini. Like the roast, fatty juices dripped down off its form.

The demon serpent licked his lips. "That's it..." A queer, yet almost horrid cracking sound was then heard. Rakkini snapped his jaw apart, opening his mouth much wider than seemingly possible, and easily consumed the goose in one bite. He let the acids in his throat do the work, breaking the fowl down just enough that it could slip down into his stomach without causing him any pain. When his jaw was cracked back into place, the lamia again used his amazingly long tongue to clean himself up.

Only the faintest suck of a breath betrayed Alban, but it was not so very much in horror that he'd uttered the sound, but rather of amazement. Was that how the demon consumed the babies? Or did he break them apart into bloody bits to chew, feeling tiny, soft bones crack in his teeth? Alban shook his head and took out a pitcher and goblet, pouring out wine. "May I approach without harm?" he asked, holding out the goblet in abject offering.

Rakkini shrugged. "Not much I can do to you like this," he said. The lamia tugged at his wrists and tried to lift his tail, meeting failure as his proof.

Alban nodded, but truthfully he couldn't be sure that the lamia didn't have other tricks at his disposal. Yet, what could he do? He approached and tipped the cool wine up to Rakkini's lips; the flavour rich and bold. It was one of their greatest commodities, one that they sometimes allowed to be traded.

He drank at the wine with the same earnest that he ate the meat. When the goblet was all but drained, he drew back and licked his lips. "What was that?" he asked, pink eyes wide and licking his lips excitedly. "It's really, really good."

"It is Galnach wine," Alban said, pouring the lamia another cup, full to the brim. "The Galnach grapes seem to grow best in this valley, whereas in many other places they falter."

"Wine, eh?" Rakkini licked his lips again, watching as the goblet came closer for his second serving. "Other than making tasty offspring, looks like you humans got something else right."

"Did you really need to eat them?" Alban asked as he poured the wine passed Rakkini's lips. "You've upset quite a few people, terribly."

"I dunno. It's in my blood," Rakkini replied. "Mother Lamia did it, so the instinct has just been passed down."

"A natural food source, perhaps," Alban murmured, nodding as if for him, that was good enough. "Would you care for more?" he asked, lifting the pitcher.

Rakkini licked his lips again. "Got anymore food?"

"Of course." Alban nodded, withdrawing so that he could fetch something more. "Would something sweet please you?" Alban asked, as he lifted a rather large, berry filled pie.

There was a slight tilt of his head. "What is it?"

"It's a mullenberry pie. Possibly with strawberries, as well," Alban said, and came in close, deciding that he would chance it not to use the spear this time. It would make things easier too. He took up a fork from his vest and dug in, offering the large, deep red and purple morsel with flakey crust.

Rakkini leaned forward to sniff the pie, but kept his pink eyes on Alban. When his senses told him it was safe, he took the bite offered. "Pretty good," he mumbled around a full mouth.

Alban offered more. "Do you have a preference for what items you would like to eat?"

"I like this," he said after swallowing. "More stuff like this. I liked that bird thing I ate whole, too. I don't really like all those cooked green, yellow, and orange things you had with all the meat, though."

"Hmm, so you dislike vegetables... I will inform the others and have them bring to you more meat instead. And perhaps more of this." Since the pie was from the village's best baker, they were likely to get more anyway. Alban kept feeding Rakkini the pie until every last flake of crust and berry had been consumed.

When all the food was gone, Rakkini leaned back with a contended sigh. Were his hands free, he'd be patting his full stomach. Thanks to his style of digestive system, everything he'd eaten right now was sitting in his stomach in whole pieces, waiting to break down enough to move into his lower intestines in his tail. As a result, he was just the slightest bit bloated. "So, the feeling I'm getting here," he said, "Is that I might be some kind of god to you."

"A god?" Alban said, reaching out to gently pat the lamia's belly, amazed that the beast had put away so very much. "You are a sacred beast, which we should hold in high esteem."

Rakkini hummed with a grin. "Sounds like a god to me."

Alban shrugged. "If that is what you wish to call yourself, so be it." The human then rose up, taking hold of the wheelbarrow, now filled only with emptied plates.

One pink eye watched the human start to leave. "So, the fact that I'm the descendant of Lamia and The Silent One has no negative bearings on what you think of me?"

Alban looked back to Rakkini. "I don't see why it would, do you?"

Rakkini shrugged. "To most humans, it means I'm evil, that's all."

"You will find, that we are not most humans," the young man replied, and took his leave.

This made Rakkini frown in confusion, but he just shrugged it off. Any humans willing to make offerings of meat, wine, and dessert to him couldn't be that bad.