Shadewood quam beningna

eshamun smiled gently. "yes. the malkaria keep to themselves but we do not turn away visitors. we are a land of women," she added with a gentle arch of her brow. perhaps it would intrigue lady absinthe, and she would be able to speak longer upon the subject of their beliefs. it was a point of passion for eshamun. 

pain flowed riverlike through her heart as the eyes of the other brightened and words of motherhood came to her tongue. though she carried children, the woman would be no mother -- not this year. perhaps in the time to come. but she saw no reason to reveal this, and so nodded. "i look forward to them, and all things that come with mothering," the woman murmured, smiling through the bands of grief that gripped her soul.