Boartusk Heights upon return

he was correct, of course, but it burnt her like a brand to have so much nothing brandished before her eyes. "i speak three languages and am acquainted with plants, domne." poisons. two, in specific. "i am no stranger to hunting smaller things, nor to fishing, nor to scouting terrain, nor to guardianship."

all these she had been upon that forgotten little island; student, gardener, fisherfolk, huntingwolf, sentinel. all these she had been with her mother, just the two of them among the unfortunate rock and unyielding cold fields of that ugly isle she had memorized before she was a year old.

knowing he was not the ruler here gave agrippina pause and despite the grime she straightened. "please. i will see your nobles now," she tried, using in her mother's voice the bit of strength she had maintained all this way. he spoke of beggars and a power above himself. had not she lived beneath such a yoke all her life?