Her smile in return was reassuring, an answering mirror of gentler emotions that softened her mischief and made her more familiar to him, a brief bond forming at the shared moment. They might not know each other well, but he had shared a glimpse of his greatest treasure with her, and she had responded with joy for him. It was humbling and inspiring, and he realized that while he was trying to find answers to what had happened – and was currently happening – to his friends, she was getting to know him. Perhaps she was mostly concerned about whether or not he was a threat, but she was also getting a sense for him as a person, and his own courtesy was badly lacking in return.
One more question about the wood… and it was one that had been well worth asking, as it turned out.Eliza made an excellent point about not treating all Fae the same – not all would be as curious and courageous as she was. She had warned him about their warchief, after all, and that was an important distinction to make. He would never have considered treating any of the races of his home world as a monolith, and he had to keep that mindset now that Caido’s borders had expanded exponentially for those who had been within the barrier.
Or at least, it had seemed to, before the Wildwood had turned out to be a barrier no less effective than that which the gods had erected before. Jigano nodded sober acknowledgment that only the Fae could navigate the forest with ease, but at the sideways suggestion that she might be willing to help him walk it with a bit more surefootedness, even if it wasn’t as masterful as her own passage, he raised a brow. ”Thank you, that would be very kind… I would be happy to show you the ways around the land within the barrier in exchange but… well.” He smiled wryly. ”It’s a lot easier to navigate in here. Still, the offer stands.”
He was, admittedly, more than a little relieved when Eliza didn’t use another question to pursue his feelings for Rory, or ask to know about him. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to go into that much detail about his personal life with someone he’d just met! Even her strange suspicion didn’t bother him, not with the remnants of Rory’s memory lingering in his thoughts. ”You might be,” he agreed with a flicker of a wry smile. ”But I don’t think so. Most of what you’ve told me has been vague and cautionary, or matches what I already know. Clearly you are able to walk the Wildwood, and we’ve been rejected by it. AndI see no purpose in lying about what god you follow.” He gave a slight shrug of one shoulder. ”At the moment, believing your words costs me nothing, and gives me something to hope for.” He itched to ask why she was so focused on lies and seeing through them, a suspicion beginning to form in the back of his thoughts but…
He would worry about it later. For now, he had amends to make, and lost ground to recover. ”What is your favorite place in the Wildwood?” he asked instead, growing curious about Eliza in her own right, as more than just a representative of the Fae.
One more question about the wood… and it was one that had been well worth asking, as it turned out.
Or at least, it had seemed to, before the Wildwood had turned out to be a barrier no less effective than that which the gods had erected before. Jigano nodded sober acknowledgment that only the Fae could navigate the forest with ease, but at the sideways suggestion that she might be willing to help him walk it with a bit more surefootedness, even if it wasn’t as masterful as her own passage, he raised a brow. ”Thank you, that would be very kind… I would be happy to show you the ways around the land within the barrier in exchange but… well.” He smiled wryly. ”It’s a lot easier to navigate in here. Still, the offer stands.”
He was, admittedly, more than a little relieved when Eliza didn’t use another question to pursue his feelings for Rory, or ask to know about him. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to go into that much detail about his personal life with someone he’d just met! Even her strange suspicion didn’t bother him, not with the remnants of Rory’s memory lingering in his thoughts. ”You might be,” he agreed with a flicker of a wry smile. ”But I don’t think so. Most of what you’ve told me has been vague and cautionary, or matches what I already know. Clearly you are able to walk the Wildwood, and we’ve been rejected by it. AndI see no purpose in lying about what god you follow.” He gave a slight shrug of one shoulder. ”At the moment, believing your words costs me nothing, and gives me something to hope for.” He itched to ask why she was so focused on lies and seeing through them, a suspicion beginning to form in the back of his thoughts but…
He would worry about it later. For now, he had amends to make, and lost ground to recover. ”What is your favorite place in the Wildwood?” he asked instead, growing curious about Eliza in her own right, as more than just a representative of the Fae.
