Duskfire Glacier [j] The king is dead but the queen is alive

At least he had manners, and she had the thought that were circumstances different the man in front of her might have made a good slave. She studied him a moment, in a likely disconcerting manner, though at home it would have been seen as the norm. Too bad he was not raised in Coatl's Rise. Those not born to the lifestyle rarely took to it, their own self-importance and egos getting in the way of them seeing the honor it truly was.

He was no slave, though, and for a time Manauia wished to spend as little time in the man's company as possible. As an Amazonian warrior she was heavily trained in maintaining and withholding her thoughts and feelings, for emotions only brought trouble in the heat of battle, but she still did not quite trust herself to know how to proceed in these strange lands. She needed to gain her bearings first. "I would prefer to discover myself what these lands are like," she responded, gaze traveling to the mountain. After a moment she remembered herself and amended, "if that is acceptable." It had sounded like an offer but very well may not have been.