Redsand Canyon I could let you have it

There was a part of Aquene that expected the question, truly… but it didn’t prevent her from tensing for a moment before letting her eyes close and forcing the tension to fade out of her shoulders. “I am here… I was wandering on my own for quite some time when the Lady Ruenna found me… she gave me a test of sorts, not that I knew it of the time. It was that test that led to her leading me to the valley, that day you escorted us into the canyon.” It had been a quiz on her medical knowledge which she had passed. Her mother had trained her well.
 
“No, it’s okay. I came to terms with it some time ago… I left home under… complicated circumstances. My mother passed due to an illness we could not treat. By the time she sat down and let us even try she was too far gone… my father felt I had failed, but his lack of a living mate meant he was to step down. I was the oldest. My older brothers had passed in war… to become Mater Medice, I needed an Imperatore, the equivalent of an Imperator… the man my father chose was cruel and I was not willing to subject myself to a life under his paw.” It used to hurt, and in many ways it felt like her father had simply sold her but she knew it was more complicated than that. “He was brutish, cruel… a warmonger in many ways. I did not see the pack lasting longer under his reign, nor myself.” It had been a matter of survival, and self-preservation. “And it led me here… but here is different… It’s more… balanced? I’ve honestly been trying to figure it out, but it’s good and I feel like my skills aren’t used as needlessly like they were at home.” She paused for a brief moment, shifting lightly from side to side. "If you don't mind me asking... what were you punished so harshly for?" It had clearly taken quite the toll on his body.