Redsand Canyon invalesco

qiao could see immediately why germanicus favored her - visually she was most appealing. silvery cream, doe-like eyes tinged with knowing, suggestive of a powerful mind behind tranquil composure.

 a limp hounded her every step and shattered the illusion of anything but a creature of great suffering. qiao's gaze cut to germanicus in hardened accusation -- skilled physician and he let this noble woman live a life sorrowed by pain?

he was even crueler than qiao imagined.

she tsked to herself internally, noting traces of gauntness on lady ruenna's frame. this was not just a limp -- it was pain that shackled her and gnawed down to the bone. 

qiao bowed deferentially to the lady. "greetings, lady ruenna caseo-redsand. i am qiao-ilha. i have been sent by ramesses of the red earth to aide mereo in its establishment." qiao did not like the dark lines under lady ruenna's eyes. "i am a priestess and healer by trade, but my skills are both useful in the court and the battlefield. i hope to serve mereo well."