Emerald Snowflakes

4 - Misplaced Assumptions (2pt)

Thr sudden shock of the water, caused the woman to sit up gasping for breath. Once she had overcome the initial shock, enough to realize that she couldn't sit up or move due to the restrains, her eyes settled on Liana sending her a hateful glare.

Edmanda was taken aback by her peculiar looks, mostly by the lack of the hazel eyes that were caracteristic to the Samuarian people. Her eyes were coal black, it was not a shade she had ever seen before.

"How are you alive?" She put together the question using the little samuarian she remembered. Thankful for all those hours her mother had forces her to learn the tongues of the other nations. The woman's head snapped towards Edmanda, as though she only noticed her at that moment.

This was Tou's secret.

A halfling of his people. Something that was not supposed to be possible, yet there she was.

The woman remained silent, unable to answer through the gag. Edmanda bend over to remover it to allow the woman to answer. Liana stepped forward to stop her, but refrained upon recieving a warning look from Edmanda. Silence fell over them like a blanket once the gag was removed, Edmanda almost thought she wouldn't answer.

"I have a stuborn soul" she finally said after some time, her voice was heavy with remorse as though she regretted her own survival. "What do I call you?" Edmanda managed to piece together, looking at the woman in anticipation. The woman studied her, as though trying to figure out whether to tell edmanda her name or not. "Amberlin-" she finally answered.

"-and you?"

Almost by reflect, Edmanda straightened her back, taking a more regal stance as she introduced herself. "Lady Edmanda Li Lamoon The Second"

Amberlin regarded her in silence, "how do speak my people's tongue, Lady Li Lamoon?"

Edmanda remained silent for a second, considering her answer carefully, "The Stem-Mother is required to know the tongues spoken across the realm."

Amberlin's surprise did not go lost with her. "Stem-Mother?" Amberlin said, testing the word on her tongue, "I thought you people were only ruled by men?"

"Times have changed" Edmanda said not wanting to dwell on the true reason why she had her title. "They surely have" Amberlin mused, "tell me, Stem-Mother, what are your affilations with the other one?"

"The other one?" Edmanda asked confused.

"The samuarian."

It took a second for the question to fully click, she was asking about Tou. Edmanda wondered whether Amberlin somehow knew him. Was that why Tou had been so disturbed when she spoke to him?

"He is the head-instructer of the Stem-Family-" Edmanda decided to answer stratigically, paying a close eye to the woman's expressions, though she remained a blank as a sheet of paper, never giving away her feelings "- and trusted advisor of the Stem, and-" edmanda took a pause wondering whether or not to add the last point.

"And?" Amberline asked, betraying her own interest.

"My eclaimed"

Edmanda had expected a reaction, she always got one when she informed anyone that her eclaimed was samuarian, whether it was disbelief or outrage. But Amberlin remained still, her face set in an expressionless mask.

Deciding to not dwell on the matter, Edmanda changed the subject. "What befell you?" The question snapped Amberline out of whatever thoughts that had occupied her. "I was tricked-" she answered quietly, "- lured in by a false promise of a job, and then attacked" she motioned towards her injured and bound frame with a nod of her head. "Left to die. I had accepted my faith, but as I said before, I have a stuborn soul," Amberlin let a mirthless laugh pass her lips.