Appeal to the Hunger

[Ixzo]

“No knife, you watch.” Ixzo said simply. She had three rabbits, the woman could do one, and she would show her with the second. But this first one was created to impress. The Kelvic took the stiff carcass by its hind legs, cracking one knee joint backwards with one hand, while pulling the skin taut with the other. It broke the skin easy enough and she slid the foot out of the skin with a slight tug. She did the same on the next, until the rabbit’s legs were bare. Sticking two large fingers under the skin over one thigh she worked it around the belly of the rabbit to the tail, yanking the skin from it. Then, with a very quick movement, that was perhaps more showy than it needed to be, she grabbed the fur with one hand, and the legs with the other, and yanked them apart. She didn’t expect the Svefra to do this the first time, but she would teach the sea-woman how to separate the skin from the front legs without brutal force. Then, Ixzo took the hunting knife, set the rabbit on a brick, and slammed the knife down, severing the head and letting it roll off. Flipping the knife in her hand, she dragged it down the rabbit’s belly, letting the mess of organs spill out onto the dirt, and then using her other hand to clean out any left over, and yank out the heart and lungs.

The whole thing happened in under a chime, and she immediately looked at Kailani with a grin on her face, to see if the sea-woman thought she was barbaric or not. After allowing herself to chuckle at whatever reaction she got, even a blank stare. Ixzo let the rabbit fall into the pot, and picked up the other one.

“Okay. Now I teach you.” She stuck her tongue out at the woman, nodding at the rabbit that Kailani held, and turning her own rabbit backwards to show Kailani perspective. She waited unitil the Svefra was ready, and then Kelvic exaggerated and slowed down her movements, pinching the skin just above the knee joint, and pulling it taught. She then grabbed the knee joint from below with the other hand, and forced backwards into the taut skin, effectively breaking the joint and the skin in one swift movement. She stuck her index finger into the soft, cold flesh to hook it around the broken joint, and pulled it out of the skin, widening the hole as she did so. As Kailani did the same, the sea woman would find the skin was not as attached as one might seem, and gave way to the simple pressure and manipulations of their hands easy enough, separating from the muscle with little complaint. Ixzo did the other leg as well, and then waited for Kailani, offering her help if needed.

“Not like fish. Good, strong meat.” Ixzo said. She liked fish, the Kelvic did not get a lot of it living in Cyphrus, and missed the freshwater fish of the Taloban lakes. But the rabbits were abundant and easy to snag, especially as most of them were fat with fall preparations, they lost that fat into the broth and would make an excellent soup once they cooked down enough. Although she didn’t know how to communicate this to the woman, Ixzo was excited to share her land food with the foreign Svefra.

Word Count: 574

[Kailani]

Kailani could hardly accuse anyone of being “barbaric” when the Svefra woman wasn’t so very civilized herself. How many times had she stood over one of the bodies of the pod’s latest conquests, blood-soaked and grinning? A few rabbit guts weren’t likely to upset her, though she was impressed at the speed and efficiency of Ixzo’s skinning. It was hardly more than a few ticks before the rabbit was devoid of skin and fur, the Kelvic’s work quick and clean. Kailani’s reaction was a broad smile and a few claps of her hands. Showing off or no, she would give credit where credit was due. She doubted her attempt would be anywhere near as graceful.

She laughed as the lioness stuck her tongue out, returning the gesture in kind. Looks like there’s a sense of humor in there, after all, she thought as she took a firmer hold of her rabbit and carefully watched what Ixzo did before attempting to emulate it. Bending back the rabbit’s knee was easier than she thought it would be, the skin tearing and the small bone cracking in her grasp. A small smile accompanied her actions, looking over at the Kelvic’s hands again. She repeated the action again with the other front leg, the movement coming even easier this time. The Svefra looked to Ixzo for approval, wanting to make sure she’d done it right. Perhaps not so hard, after all?

“I’ve never eaten it before,” Kailani admitted as she slid her fingers under the skin like she’d seen the Kelvic do moments before. Her nose wrinkled a little at the viscous feeling of the underlying muscle, but she quickly reprimanded herself. Was scaling a fish really any more pleasant? It was just different, that was all. At least she wouldn’t have little scales covering her from head to toe after she was done with this one.

She struggled with the motion of pulling the skin off a little more than she had with the initial breaks of the bone, frowning as she carefully tugged at the rabbit’s pelt and attempted to pull it over the head. Apparently, she tugged just a bit too hard, half of the skin ripping off in her hand and the rest remaining firmly where it was. Kailani sighed in exasperation, looking to Ixzo for aid. Shouldn’t have been so confident already. It was clear she had never attempted to peel the skin from an animal before.

Taking another deep breath, she attempted the motion again, this time managing to tug the front legs clean off the rabbit’s body. She let out an irritated puff of air and looked to Ixzo again. “Well, you certainly made it look easy,” the seafarer said with a slight narrowing of her turquoise eyes, her voice almost accusatory. She looked hopelessly at the severed animal in her hands and sighed again. “Can’t be good at everything, eh?” she jested with a wink in the Kelvic’s direction. Even if Ixzo couldn’t understand what she said, hopefully she’d at least pick up on the jest in her tone. “That wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the world.”

NaNo WC: 523

[Ixzo]

Ixzo couldn’t help but give a little giggle when the woman ripped the pelt. It wasn’t intentionally malicious, but the expert hunter would have shown her a easier way to do it had she waited. She supposed that the woman was overly ambitious, similar to herself, and that made the Kelvic happy. She maynot be able to completely converse with this woman, and although she came from the land and Kailani came from the sea, she was glad to find some sort of common ground.

She decided to show the woman the easier way anyway, ripping the pelt down the front of the rabbit with less force this time. It got caught on the arms, just where Kailani’s did, and instead of trying to yank it further, now that she had lost her momentum, she broke the front legs in the same fashion, and pulled them out of the skin just as easy as the back legs. With the pelt bunched up by the head, she cut it off with a swift movement of her knife, and then released the carcass of its organs before slipping it into the soup as well. The water was boiling now, and Ixzo was happy, it would be about a bell before it was ready, and she intended to spend the time goading the children into teaching her some more common, or how to write it, if they knew how. But now she had an adult companion, who despite the language barrier, she enjoyed the company off. She was so caught up in the interaction, she forgot to wonder where the children went, or if they were coming back.

“Thank you,” She said to the woman, taking the rabbit from her, and removing its head and organs as well before tossing it in the pot. She grabbed the lid of the bot and set it on there, letting the whole thing boil down well and good. The vegetables would be cooked in half a bell, and the rabbit in a whole bell. But the extra time the vegetables got to cook, the mushier they got, mixing in with the water better and giving a false stew-like feel to the quickly cooked meal.

Ixzo then set to digging her knife into the dirt, working up enough dirt to cover the guts and vegetable clippings. It was a tactic she had always used in Endrykas, since the city moved so often, it helped the ground to simply bury their waste, and it did not disrupt everyday life, since they would move on soon enough. In Taloba they had designated areas for dumping vegetable and animal waste, so that it could be reused or disposed of properly. Sunberth had no such systems or care, so she simply decided leaving it on the side of the street and covering it up would do.

“I teach skin, you teach me fish?” She looked up at the woman, asking her question in common. She had fished a small amount in Taloba, wasn’t allowed to in Kenash, and hadn’t gotten a chance to in Endrykas. The lioness prided herself on being able to provide for herself and others, and fishing was not a necessary skill if she could hunt as well as she did, but it provided more options, that she was going to try and learn if she could.

Word Count: 559

[Kailani]

Kailani felt no offense at Ixzo’s laugh; were their positions reversed, she likely would have done the same. She could even laugh at herself, looking down at the chunks of rabbit in her hands and chuckling. She shook her head with a heavy sigh before watching the Kelvic’s next demonstration. This method seemed far easier than her first, and Kailani looked up at the lioness with a playful glare. So she was just showing off before…

The Svefra willingly surrendered the carcass to Ixzo to fix the mess she’d made, smiling as she replied, “No, thank you.” It wasn’t like she’d done much beyond the initial leg breaking. But hey, everyone had to start somewhere, right? It was as she’d said before—no one could be good at everything. She was sure she could master the technique with more practice, but she didn’t think it likely that she would be skinning any more rabbits any time soon.

She looked on with interest as Ixzo proceeded to bury the scraps, golden-haired head tilted curiously to the side. When the lioness was finished with her task, Kailani reached out to tap one of the little dirt piles. “Why?” she asked simply, confused at the practice. Out at sea, scraps were simply thrown overboard and forgotten. What was the purpose of burying the waste? Was it simply a matter of convenience or was there something else behind it?

I teach skin, you teach me fish? Kailani smiled in delight at the question, quickly nodding her head yes. “It would be my pleasure,” she responded warmly, pleased at the prospect of seeing Ixzo again. Even without a shared language, the woman fascinated her, and she wanted to know more. The scars and tattoos lining Ixzo’s flesh had a story, and the Svefra was eager to learn it. She wasn’t sure how she would find her again after they parted, and neither was she quite sure how to ask, but logic told her the Kelvic was staying in the Sunset Quarters. Looking for her here again seemed the simplest solution.

“Where are you from, Ixzo?” was the seafarer’s next question, crossing her legs and leaning back on her haunches as she settled in for the wait until the soup was done. She could say with almost complete certainty the lioness was not from Sunberth; if she were, the language barrier wouldn’t be an issue. She thought harder on how to make her question clearer, in case Ixzo didn’t understand. Kailani thoughtfully tapped her lip. “The Svefra, we’re from the sea,” she said, gesturing to herself then mimicking waves with her hands. She then gestured around her, encompassing the rundown buildings surrounding them. “The people here—they’re from Sunberth.” That wasn’t necessarily true, but it served well enough to explain her purpose. Reaching forward, she lightly tapped Ixzo’s hand. “What about you? Not here, right?”

NaNo WC: 479

[Ixzo]

On Kailani’s question of why to bury the waste, Ixzo shrugged. It was for convenience to keep the birds from pit-diving a camp and scaring the smaller creatures. Although when Ixzo had had her cats with her, she would purposefully leave the raw organs out, letting her caracals jump for the birds that tried to feed off of them. It was both fun to watch, and good practice for the hunting cats, whose purpose was hunting birds. But the lioness couldn’t hope to give her explanation in common, so she merely shrugged.

The Svefra seemed content to accompany her while she waited for the soup to boil and the Kelvic was happy with that. As far as she knew this city, it was wild and chaotic, with no law, and no mercy. This woman didn’t seem to be attempting to steal from her or pillage her small camp. It as those people that mainly kept her outside the city, she loved humans, but she didn’t trust these ones enough to dwell among them. Ixzo paused again when Kailani tapped her hand, still getting used to human touch that was not harsh, even if it was errant. At the touch though, she flipped her hand over to reveal Priskil’s glowing vortex that graced her right palm, and studied it for a second while she thought up how to say her words in common.

“I am born on… Taloba.” She said the common phrase and tacked the Myrian city on the end, there was no common term for the city, it was a name. “City on forest…. South forest.” She hiked thumb towards the south west, and then made the grassland sign for rain forest, as if it would help. She knew the woman did not understand the Pavi signs, but they made her more confident when attempting this unknown language. The only language she had experience with learning was spoken and signed, and now this language was spoken and written, and it was a new form she would have to get used to.

“I am from Endrykas.” She also spoke the traveling city’s name with the proper pronunciations that suggested she knew the language they spoke. Although Endrykas was close enough to Sylira, that Ixzo thought it was safe to assume the woman would understand the second city. Although if Kailani was a sea-traveler, she might also know of Taloba, where Ixzo was born. ”New family.” She tried to explain, not having nearly enough words to explain the impact that living with the Drykas had had on her, or how much she loved her Pavilion and the silly horse people.

“I speak Myrian.” She said in her mother’s tongue before switching to Pavi. ”And Pavi.” She then made the sign for learned. Her fluency in both was not readable from the single sentence, but it comforted her. “I do not speak common well. I am not come from Sylira.” She tried to make up the phrase on the end, knowing the words she needed to use, but not understanding how the grammar worked to make the appropriate sentence, still she was sure the woman understood. And then she was curious about how the woman was from the sea. Which see? In her lifetime, she had seen three. “What sea?”

Word Count: 548

[Kailani]

Kailani nodded thoughtfully as Ixzo explained where she was from. It made sense now why they had no real language in common; most of the Svefra’s time had been spent on the opposite side of Mizahar. She knew where Taloba was, at least roughly, but she’d never been. Same with Endrykas. She was aware of the existence of the tent city of the Drykas, but she’d never had the chance to spend time among the sea of grass. Her time spent in Cyphrus had only comprised of a brief stop or two in Riverfall as a child and once at Claridon. The seafarer had done a lot of travelling in her life, but her time spent in that region was decidedly brief and many years prior.

“I was born in the southern Suvan,” she replied when the Kelvic asked her which sea she came from. “I spent the first thirteen years of my life there.” They were years she remembered fondly, the warm sea of her childhood a place she still missed fiercely. “Then we made our way out into the Sebakem and spent a lot of time travelling up and down the eastern coast of Mizahar. Our most recent years have been spent sailing around Zeltiva, if you know where that is.” The Svefra made sure to speak slowly and carefully to aid in Ixzo’s comprehension, hoping she’d at least recognize the names of the places she mentioned. She shook her head. “I’ve never been to Taloba or Endrykas, unfortunately. Perhaps someday, but… they’re both so far from the ocean! I don’t think I could survive.” She shuddered and made a dramatic slit her own throat motion with her thumb, letting her head loll briefly to the side with her tongue flopped out of her mouth.

With a laugh, Kailani straightened back up. “I speak Fratava fluently,” she said in her mother tongue and then switched to Common, “And I speak Common fairly well, though I’m told I have an accent. I can’t really read it, though.” She mimed the motion of opening and closing a book. “Speak some Char,” she continued brokenly in the tongue of the Charoda, a race that had endlessly fascinated from the brief time she’d come to know a family of them.

Reaching out slowly, as if to announce what she was about to do, she very gently took Ixzo’s marked hand and flipped it over to reveal the underside. Her thumb ever so lightly tapped against the gnosis on her palm. “Whose mark?” she asked with a smile before rolling up her sleeve to reveal the shifting blue and green waves that boldly adorned her own forearm. “Oceanus,” she explained, pointing to her own gnosis. “The mark of the sea god, Laviku. He marks all the Svefra. Or well... most of us.” Those who were not marked at birth were not regarded as true Svefra, some thrown to the waves and others sold into slavery. Kailani couldn’t imagine life without Oceanus, especially not life aboard a ship. She still wasn’t sure how ordinary sailors handled it. She could never conceive of a life where the ocean didn’t call to her, where she couldn’t commune with the creatures of the deep. Was that even a life at all?

NaNo WC: 544

[Ixzo]

Ixzo was puzzled by the frequent switched between languages she didn’t know. She thought Kailani was showing off her language skill, but she couldn’t be sure, as she understood none of it. Still, the conversation seemed to not require a response from her, so she just listened, enjoying the atmosphere of the simple conversation. She had done nothing but fight since coming to Sunberth, that the sudden relaxed conversation was making her a little tense. Still, Kailani was not, and when the Svefra picked up her left hand, the Kelvic sat up further, unsure of what she was going to do. The sea-eyed woman did little more than expose the glimmering mark of Priskil, questioning its origin.

Ixzo listened to the explanation of her own Gnosis, Oceanus. The Kelvic had never seen anything like it before, not even on the sea warriors who had attacked her city before. She leaned forward, carefully extending a hand to trace a dark finger on the moving mark. Her own gnosis shimmered slightly, but it did not swirl and dance as Kailani’s did. The God of the Sea gave his children marks for their survival, but Ixzo hadn’t understood the part about most of them. If all Svefra received these marks, then who were the sea men who had attacked them? Were there human sailors who were not blessed by the God of the Sea?

Ixzo stowed her questions, wanting to give Kailani a quick answer to her own gnosis. ”Priskil.” She purred the name of her Goddess. She had to admit that prior to her marking she had given Priskil little thought. She had always seen the Goddess as pure and good, two of the things that Ixzo was not. She was a warrior and a complex being. She strived to be good, but she did some bad things in order to get there, and the lioness saw no problem with it. But it was her rescue of the small slave girl named Catli that had drawn Priskil’s attention. She was kind and good and hid as many of the horrors of their situation from the young girl as she could. And even though she could not save the child from Dira’s grasp upon their escape, Priskil had recognized her hope and vigilance for the girl.

”Luminesence,” Ixzo pointed to her mark, naming the gnosis. ”Priskil be mother for hope and…. vigilance.” She failed to find the appropriate word in common, using the Myrian one instead. It was possible Kailani had heard of her goddess and could find the word on her own, but if not, the Kelvic was at a loss for how to describe it. Loyalty? Sort of. Strength? Sort of. Almost none of her common vocabulary could cover the meaning of vigilance.

”Why does Laviku,” She tasted the God’s name on her tongue. She had heard of the Sea God before, but her Myrians had pronounced it differently, and she wanted to use the pronunciation that Kailani had used. ”Mark not some sea men? Or Svefra?” She asked, searching for answers to both of her questions with as little words as possible.

Word Count: 522

[Kailani]

Priskil. The name was one Kailani had only a vague familiarity with, never having delved too deep into the deities that were not her own. The Svefra’s primary loyalty was to Laviku, of course, but the master of storms, Zulrav, was another that heard many of the sailor’s prayers. This Priskil was as foreign to her as she imagined Laviku must be to Ixzo. So when the other used the Myrian word to describe what the goddess presided over, Kailani could do nothing more than shrug.

Once more, she gently tapped the glowing mark the lioness called “Luminance” and looked at her questioningly. “What does it do?” she asked curiously before gesturing to her own. “Mine does all sorts of things on the water; I can communicate with sea creatures, know tides and currents, positions of land…” She smiled. It was a mark that was invaluable to someone with her way of life. “How does yours help you?”

Kailani listened attentively as Ixzo inquired about the reasons some were marked by the sea god and some were not, but unfortunately the Svefra woman did not have an answer. At least not a very satisfactory one. She shook her head and shrugged, the gesture almost sad. “I don’t truly know, Ixzo,” she replied with a soft sigh. “My people say Laviku determines who is worthy of his favor and who is not at birth, but I don’t know what he bases that worth on. How can a little baby be worthy of anything?” She shrugged again. “They say we are his favored people, and those without marks are not true Svefra. That the seas do not belong to them. All I know is that I’m glad he found me worthy. Not all are so lucky. And those that aren’t… I still shudder to think of what becomes of them.”

The look on her face was bleak as she recalled one such incident from her childhood, before her mother was the Lia of the pod. A squalling infant, only hours old, born without Laviku’s mark and the trademark blue eyes of her race. Tossed back to the waves as if he were nothing more than the leftover scraps from that night’s supper. She could still remember the fury she’d felt. The fear. The elders had called it a mercy, giving the child back to Laviku. He was not destined for life among them, they’d said. It had never seemed right to her, that a baby should have to pay for the sin of being born. But what did she know? She was only a child. However, Kailani still carried those feelings into adulthood, and regarded it as one of the more barbaric practices of the Svefra. The woman was only glad she’d never borne a child of her own.

She pulled her attention back to the present moment, wiping that troubled look from her face as if it had never existed. Dwelling on the past did no good, especially since there was nothing she could do to change it now. Before she could change the subject, however, she was interrupted by the sound of footsteps not so very far away. Instantly on alert, Kailani turned to see who approached, hand falling to the dagger sheathed at her waist.

There was no need to worry. The footsteps quickly revealed themselves to belong to the twins from before, shyly approaching Kailani and Ixzo for the soup they’d been promised. Two pairs of dirt-streaked hands clutched at wooden bowls, holding them out to Ixzo with gap-toothed smiles. Kailani felt an answering smile form on her own lips, looking between the children and the Kelvic. “I’m not sure it’s ready yet,” she told the little ones, her tone gentle. “But I’m sure Miss Ixzo here wouldn’t mind if you sat and waited with us.” She turned her smile on the lioness, blue eyes twinkling sweetly. “Would you?”

NaNo WC: 651

[Ixzo]

Ixzo listened and nodded at Kailani’s explanation of Laviku’s mark of Oceanus. It seemed to be quite the useful mark, similar to her understanding of Prowess, which she had come in contact with among the Myrians enough to recognize the mark. These sea people were not created to live on the ocean, no sane thing was in Ixzo’s opinion, but it seemed that Laviku chose them at birth, giving them the ability to do so that they hadn’t had before. If Ixzo understood it correctly, it was an interesting concept, and a very useful mark. Her own mark was brought up, and Ixzo opened her left palm to glance at the lightly glowing vortex that shimmered on it, connecting her with her Goddess and reminding her that she had a purpose, if not for anything else, then at least to spread hope and compassion.

Ixzo knew her Gnosis did not factor into her survival but she found the mark very useful despite it. Carefully she picked up the hand of the Svefra, and wordlessly cupped it between both of hers. Embracing the connection to her patron deity and borrowing from the energy given to her, she willed the gnosis into activation. Within a few ticks, a soft glow was emanating from between their fingers where her dark hands clasped Kailani’s light ones. Ixzo had no doubt that this Svefra would not shy away from the mark, but she would be surprised if she did. Luminance would create either a strong feeling of ease and confidence In the hearts of the good, but also instill fear and cowardice in those who were not, whichever Kailani was would depend on how she reacted to the gnosis’ activation. While she watched Kailani’s reaction, her awareness of the proximity of the fire increased drastically, although she had no idea how to explain this to the Svefra.

Not a word had passed as Ixzo watched Kailani’s reaction to her Gnosis, and within a few chimes the huntress heard two little pairs of feet bounding back towards them. She had all but forgotten about the children who she was feeding, and her ears picked up two more pairs. When she looked over she saw the twins, and two other boys following close behind. One of the boys had a bowl and the other a cup, while every child carried a spoon. It seems the twins had brought friends, wonderful. A grin split Ixzo’s face, as the two other children joined the new line for stew. Kailani was speaking something to the children, but Ixzo hadn’t paid attention to the common words, so when the Svefra asked her opinion, she just shrugged. Her gnosis would continue to glow for a few more chimes if she let it, and so she separated her hands from Kailani’s warm touch, reaching her left palm out towards the children to show them her Gnosis as well, sure that they would find it entertaining.

”Priskil.” She explained to them. It was evident that the Kelvic was enamored with the children. Even though she understood little of the human spectrum of emotion, and even though she had suffered heartbreak after heartbreak, the Kelvic had never found fault in a child. They were pure and kind and untainted by the world for a few years yet. It was easy for the lioness to take on a nurturing role with children, and it lifted her spirits to see that the Sunberthian children were not as terrible as the adults that haunted the streets of the lawless town. There was at least one adult who the lion could stand, a woman by the name of Kailani.

[Kailani]

Date of Season, Year

When Ixzo’s hands enveloped hers, Kailani felt herself relax, a light smile playing around her lips. The glow in her hand seemed almost to generate warmth, though not the kind of warmth one could tangibly feel. It was rather an inner warmth, a gentle glow of assurance, of strength. It was the most at ease she’d felt since she stepped foot on the soil of Sunberth, the tension in her muscles relaxing. Kailani looked at Ixzo in wonder, her smile only widening. It might not have the useful applications of Oceanus, but it was soothing, at the very least. She was curious as to how the Kelvic had been bestowed with such a mark.

The Svefra was almost disappointed when Ixzo released her hand, that feeling of ease and contentment slowly slipping away. She gently rubbed her hand where the Kelvic had touched it before her attention was caught by the approaching children. The smile returned to her face as another two followed the first pair, making room for them all to sit down should they so wish.

Watching their reaction to Ixzo made her heart near as warm as it had been when the lioness touched her. Something eased in the Kelvic’s demeanor, something probably even she herself wouldn’t recognize. Watching how gentle and patient she was… no one would ever know the beast contained within. The children, meanwhile, were utterly fascinated by the glowing vortex on her hand, grabbing the appendage and rotating it to and fro. They spoke eagerly amongst themselves, the sort of babble only children are privy to. Kailani didn’t understand a word of it, but she didn’t care. It was good to see happiness on the faces of little ones who were growing up in such squalor. Perhaps there was hope for Sunberth’s future, after all.

Within chimes, they were all happily indulging in their soup, the sailor making appreciative sounds with the first few spoonfuls. The rabbit meat had a strong, gamey taste, unusual to one who primarily lived on a diet of a seafood, but appealing, nonetheless. Kailani happily voiced such appreciation to Ixzo, a bright grin spreading over her lips. “It’s delicious,” she told her, tapping the bowl. “Thank you for sharing it.” One of the little boys echoed her words, but the others were too busy slurping every last drop to even notice. The Svefra couldn’t help but wonder where their last meal had even come from. They likely needed it more than she did.

A Kelvic huntress with the mark of Priskil and an affinity for children, she mused as she scooped up her last few bites. Now that’s a story if I ever heard one. It was a story the Svefra was eager to learn, eyeing her companion thoughtfully as they finished their meal. She’d get it out of her eventually—this wouldn’t be the last time they’d see each other. Kailani would make sure of it.