Chapter Two
Talia stopped in shock as she watched Rolan nuzzle a complete stranger, curled up into a protective ball on the ground. A muffled groan arose from the crumpled figure. "Stop it Rolan. Would you want stinky horse breath breathing on you when you feel like someone is enthusiastically chopping at your head with a dull axe?" Talia glanced over at Skif and noticed that her surprise was nothing compared to his utter stupefaction. "Holy mother of gods," he whispered, his eyes so wide Talia thought they were going to fall right out of his skull. "What?" Talia hissed impatiently. She felt her annoyance rising as Skif utterly ignored her and struggled to suppress it as she turned her attention back to the unfamiliar girl in front of her. Now that she had recovered from her shock enough she started detachedly studying the stranger. Shoulder length chestnut brown hair was concealing the girl's face, but even curled up on the ground Talia could tell that she was quite tall. She looked over at Skif, decided he was in no position to take any authority, and cleared her throat uncertainly. The girl opened one eye and dragged some of her hair back to lay her unfocused gaze on Talia. Talia noted with a shock that she was quite pretty. Small-defined features, with eyes some unnamable color between green and gray, she looked both youthfully innocent and completely mature at the same time. "Terribly sorry to have forgotten my manners." The girl's voice arose with a smoothly pleasant, and utterly unfamiliar, accent. "I would give you the graceful bow you deserve, but I'm afraid that if I tried I would just fall over." Grimacing, she looped her arm around the closest Companion and slowly dragged herself to her feet. Talia watched in surprise while not only did the Companion not shy away, it actually maneuvered itself to better support the girl. Talia opened her empathic ability just wide enough to catch the general mindset of the girl. While she was met with a fascinating mixture of pain, annoyance, and confusion, there was no malice or ill wishes whatsoever. She stepped past the statue named Skif and took hold of the girl's arms, surveying her wildly unconventional dress and trying to decide what to do with her. To her surprise the girl's fingers whitened around Talia's wrists and the girl stared into Talia's eyes with a fierceness that was faintly alarming. "I must see Selenay." Talia hesitated. "Please, you have no idea how urgent this must be." Noting the peculiar way that the girl delivered the last two words she nodded and started to help the girl toward the Collegium.
Talia stopped in shock as she watched Rolan nuzzle a complete stranger, curled up into a protective ball on the ground. A muffled groan arose from the crumpled figure. "Stop it Rolan. Would you want stinky horse breath breathing on you when you feel like someone is enthusiastically chopping at your head with a dull axe?" Talia glanced over at Skif and noticed that her surprise was nothing compared to his utter stupefaction. "Holy mother of gods," he whispered, his eyes so wide Talia thought they were going to fall right out of his skull. "What?" Talia hissed impatiently. She felt her annoyance rising as Skif utterly ignored her and struggled to suppress it as she turned her attention back to the unfamiliar girl in front of her. Now that she had recovered from her shock enough she started detachedly studying the stranger. Shoulder length chestnut brown hair was concealing the girl's face, but even curled up on the ground Talia could tell that she was quite tall. She looked over at Skif, decided he was in no position to take any authority, and cleared her throat uncertainly. The girl opened one eye and dragged some of her hair back to lay her unfocused gaze on Talia. Talia noted with a shock that she was quite pretty. Small-defined features, with eyes some unnamable color between green and gray, she looked both youthfully innocent and completely mature at the same time. "Terribly sorry to have forgotten my manners." The girl's voice arose with a smoothly pleasant, and utterly unfamiliar, accent. "I would give you the graceful bow you deserve, but I'm afraid that if I tried I would just fall over." Grimacing, she looped her arm around the closest Companion and slowly dragged herself to her feet. Talia watched in surprise while not only did the Companion not shy away, it actually maneuvered itself to better support the girl. Talia opened her empathic ability just wide enough to catch the general mindset of the girl. While she was met with a fascinating mixture of pain, annoyance, and confusion, there was no malice or ill wishes whatsoever. She stepped past the statue named Skif and took hold of the girl's arms, surveying her wildly unconventional dress and trying to decide what to do with her. To her surprise the girl's fingers whitened around Talia's wrists and the girl stared into Talia's eyes with a fierceness that was faintly alarming. "I must see Selenay." Talia hesitated. "Please, you have no idea how urgent this must be." Noting the peculiar way that the girl delivered the last two words she nodded and started to help the girl toward the Collegium.