"Why are you doing this?"
Edmanda glanced at Amberlin, meeting her suspicious look with a small smile of her own. "Doing what?" She asked, taking a seat next to the other woman.
It had been a week since she had found the foreign woman. During this time, Amberlin had regained much of her strength, though some of her larger wounds were yet to fully heal. Edmanda had put herself in charge of Amberlin's recovery and would visit her everyday to oversee the cleaning of her wounds.
"This!" Amberlin gestured around the room.
"I can't say I understand what you mean" Edma looked confused at the new room she had picked for Amberlin. She had picked a simple room for her, assuming Amberlin was not the type for pump and glitter. The room was not too big, but larger than the room she had initially stayed in.
"No, not the room... well, yes the room-" Amberlin sighed grapling with her words, "- all of this" she held Edmanda's gaze. "The first thing your companions did was to attack me" she let her gaze fall to her lap, "but you didn't, instead you have tended to my wounds, fed me and dressed me, why?"
"Would you have prefered that I attacked you?"
"I- no...I just..I don't understand".
In the past week Edmanda had come to know abit more about the foreigner, she knew for instance that Amberlin was younger than she had initially thought, at the end of her 25th year of life, about four years her minor. Her age became most clear when she spoke. She had also learned that Amberlin was fluent in the four main languages of the realm, including Kainu, but she preferred to speak samuarian.
"I think you should come with me" Edmanda said rising from her seat. She turned to offer the younger woman her hand, but Amberlin stood up without assistance, a confused look plastered to her face. Edmanda didn't wait for her as she lead the way down the long corridor, startling a maid who been dusting off a portrait. Amberlin slowly fell into step with her, "What makes you think I won't attack you and run away?" She asked glancing back at the door left open, it was the first time she was outside of her room.
"Because, as I have said before, you are no prisoner" Edmanda shrugged "You are free to leave whenever you please" she looked at Amberlin and at her healing wounds "Though, I would advice you to wait untill you have fully healed first"
They walked in silence, untill Amberlin spoke up again, "How can you trust a stranger?"
"Easy. I don't", Edmanda answered with a nonchalant wave of her hand, "I trust my intuition". Amberlin remained silent, as though waited for an elaboration but received none.
Their step slowed as the corridor opened into the castle gardens, Amberlin inhaled at the sudden change of scenary. "Beautiful, isnt it?" Edmanda asked, "My mother built it. It was her way of showing that the the forest was more than just the creatures that dwell within it. But she never got to finish it"
"What happened?"
"She was killed, by the same animal that nearly took your life." She paused, not for any other reason than to let her words sink in, she didn't expect any condolenses. People lost their lives every day, it was the way of nature. She had come to understand that.
"She was a wise woman, I just didn't understand it back then." Looking out over the garden, she could almost see her mother walking along the path. She regretted how stubborn she had been in her youth, and that she had never truly bonded with her mother. "She used to tell us stories." Edmanda said, bringing her attention back to Amberlin. "I found her stories to be... eccentric at best. But I never understood their true meaning untill it was too late." She pulled away from the railing to face Amberlin fully. "And that is why I have brought you here."
YOU ARE READING
Emerald Snowflakes
Fantasy◇~~■~~◇~~■~~◇~~■~~◇ "How can you trust a stranger?" "Easy... I don't", she answered with a nonchalant wave of her hand, "I trust my intuition". ◇~~■~~◇~~■~~◇~~■~~◇ Winter is approaching the forests of Kian, and Edmanda has a hectic season ahead of h...