"E-excuse me?" Leianna stammered. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately, she observed, sounding so much like Corryn that she had to swallow a nervous laugh.
A small, weathered hand the color of dark ivory grabbed the curtain and swung it out of the way in a brusque manner that contrasted strongly with it's owner's whispery voice. Leianna was aware of large, shimmering dark eyes that peered at her from within an ancient face.
"Shan zai jin si, je te mon!" the stranger murmured, breathy voice excited. "Ist, an!" Was it Leianna's imagination or was the dirty stall behind her glowing, a brilliant white-gold that hurt her eyes?
"I'm sorry," the girl gasped, shielding her eyes from the perhaps-imaginary light as it intensified, filling her vision. It was drilling into her mind, clogging her sight with glaring gold, and refusing to relinquish her. She struggled to speak as the light continued to bind her. "Ma'am? Sir? I don't understand you. Is that…Doi?" She was yielding now, struggling to remain standing, as the glow blended with darkness and… evanesced.
"Ah," the stranger stood in front the stall, hands clasped as if nothing extraordinary had happened. "You speak Common? Come in." A wrinkled hand beckoned, and Leianna obeyed, still rubbing her eyes.
"Yes, I speak Common," she muttered, grateful for the darkness inside the tiny wooden structure. She turned to the small form who had spoken so strangely.
The stranger was revealed to be an elderly woman, small and bird-like. Her rough muslin robe fluttered as she hobbled clumsily with an ebony cane, and Leianna saw a number of faint blue lines that caressed one bony leg, like fading tattoos or old scars. Her arms were scrawny and threaded with shiny green veins, a rope of brilliant opal intertwined in two fingers. Her face, framed by an amethyst turban, showed nothing of senility. A firm jaw, stubborn chin, and arched nose gave her a look of determination, and her unearthly black eyes shone with wisdom and cunning.
"My name is Nin-ching, known as Madame Nineve to the Marenites," she addressed the shen in a matter-of-face manner. "And yes, I was once of the Rockmouse Doi, their seer as a matter of fact. But they cast me out, exiled me, and now my daughter Mi-chi sees for them. I spoke to you in my native tongue, for I took you to be one of us. But you are not, are you, warrior-in-training?"
Leianna arched her eyebrows slightly, wondering how this unusual woman had known her chosen path. Well she is- was- a seer. "Uh, no," she replied, remembering courtesy. "I'm a Yinhai Islander. Some of my ancestors might have been Doi, I don't know."
Nin-ching nodded and held a hand out to the dying fire lighting the modest hearth. A brilliant golden flame blossomed in the center of her palm, and she threw it in the heart of the fireplace.
"You cast that light!" Leianna gasped, completely taken aback. I thought seers had clairvoyant magics alone, like the Sight, she thought, None of that battle magic, flashy, glittery, banging stuff. The Gift-
"I apologize for startling you," the seer interrupted her thoughts, "and yes, it was I who illuminated this structure in order to see you more clearly. And what I saw…" her dark eyes held Leianna's for a second, glinting was an undistinguishable emotion. Was it sorrow?
"You're Gifted? A light bringer?" Leianna asked, ignoring it. "I thought the Doi only had fortune-telling magic."
Nin-ching dropped her gaze abruptly. "I am not limited to future sight. I can cast light, raise flames without flint and wood, summon the waters, and heal, within certain limits. Many warriors fear this power. Do you?" Her gaze was probing again, as if looking into the depths of Leianna's mind and soul, scraping for secrets and things concealed.
"No," Leianna answered, half-truthfully. "I have mages in my bloodline, along with scholars who study spells and such. I have an instructor who rather dislikes the Gift, but I'm not that way." But it makes me uneasy sometimes, her treacherous mind argued, I didn't like it when Grandfather made the earth shake or rivers flood, even though it was to warn off the Jindazhen who raided our coasts. Her memory sounded with thundering earth, rushing waters, and human screams both familiar and alien. She shuddered involuntarily.
Nin-ching saw the apprehension cloud the girls mind but wisely did not say anything. Instead, she reached for the ceiling and removed a string of shining obsidian hanging from it.
"It's just as well then," she said quietly, offering the stones to Leianna, who only stared. "Take this and listen carefully to what I have to tell you."
Author's Note: Well, you can tell that this is set in pre- or early Song of the Lioness now.