A sad disappointment washed over Ayatah, and for two distinct reasons. Firstly, the teacher had seen through her poorly disguised question far too easily. Though she felt no attachment or affection for the man who had fathered her, Aya had not expected his onetime partnering with her mother would have reflected badly on his societal stance. She equal parts insulted and saddened for him.
"Oh," she said, suddenly quite timid and at a loss of what else to say. His comment about her clan loving her did earn a small smile, though. He was right: the Scattered Bones had accepted Ayatah into their family as if she were a pureblood. Further than this, they allowed her to chase down that hunger for knowledge that Aya had clearly inherited from her paternal people.
She considered his request for any other questions for a tick. Then, frowning slightly, she asked: "my mother said that my father was very clever. Are Eypharians..." she paused, her hand tickling the air as she searched for a suitable word, "...[i]smart?[i]" she asked eventually, a little deflated at the anticlimax of her sentance. Just in case he needed further detail, she added, "she said that he was always writing things down in a book, anything anyone said. It quite annoyed her." Another little smile.
