Admission Of Self

JP with Winteroak and Cindy

The redhead tended to serving the men who were conversing among themselves with words she didn't understand, that was until the familiar word "Fosia" was used. That got Islana to look up, the two guards were staring at her or more like her hair.

"Fosia."

Again one of the guards used the word, and pointed at the bench, then at Islana, then at the bench. Was he really offering the young woman to sit with them?

Kaithak could be heard calling out overhead, everytime the word was used.

"Foisa," this time followed by a word that Islana could only interpret as sit.

As unusual as Shalia offering her a seat at the table was, this was far more so. Islana took the seat and was given what was left of the stew and bread to eat.

As she was starting to eat, one of the guards tried to speak with her, in his language. Islana shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

The guard pointed at Islana and said a word but the young woman still didn't know what he was trying to say. The guards could have given up at that point but instead, one of them pointed to their bowl and said a word, then repeated it. Islana's lips formed a small smile, as she repeated the word and pointed at the bowl. The men smiled. Apparently, they were in the mood to give language lessons and Islana certainly was going to take advantage of it.

The younger of the two men were clearly more interested in trying to speak to Islana than the older one. The new generation was more attuned with Koshnem and the changes he was bringing to the clans. Also they had seen the rise of a foreigner among their ranks. And despite being a woman she brought power with her. And the clansmen of Fang respected little else above power.

He pointed to his chest, clearly indicating his name. Although he made no attempt to ask Islana for her. He pointed to the cups, the table, the other man, the room, his sword and each time made Islana repeat the words, sometime several times.

The older man grunted and got up, leaving the two alone.

The younger warrior looked at Islana and surprised her when he spoke her language?

"Witch?" He asked pointing at Islana.

The word for bowl had apparently been one of the easier ones. The sounds didn't excately come naturally to her but Islana repeated the words and got better at them faster than she thought she would.

Memorizing what each word meant was actually the easier of the tasks for the redhead. Having a good memory had been both a curse and blessing thoughout her life.

In this mist of this language lesson, the older of the men left. Probably getting annoyed at two younger ones.

Islana had repeated word, after word. Been told the name of several things and the two men. Not asked anything about herself. One day, she should really start to expect the unexpected. This whole - really her life - had almost all been a series of unexpected events, hadn't it? Being taught this language by a clansman was just one more.

Even so, nothing could have prepared her for the word, "witch" coming from the young man's mouth. It wasn't just that it was spoken in her language but the way it was said. There was no seething in the word, no spit afterwards, none of the visceral hate that the redhead was so used to hearing. It was just a question. As if he was asking if the weather was nice or if she had liked the meal.

Terms like gift, ability, power she had used in relation to her own ability. Not magik and never witch. Though clearly she didn't think of either of those things as bad. Still, that declaration of herself was difficult.

Had Alexis suspected and was just waiting for Islana to admit it to herself? Was Shalia, basically, doing the same thing? As the word hadn't been uttered outloud by either, in relation to her. Once it was admitted to the young woman knew there was no going back.

Islana put down her cup, nodded her head and quietly spoke.

"Yes, I'm a witch."