A Heart so Cold

Isla take your medicine Isla's lips parted as if to question Archebold, the faint confusion on her face probably enough for him to realise she was wondering what he was getting at. She was too polite to interrupt her guest, however, and instead followed along after him to show him the infirmary, listening inently as he spoke. "It is difficult to shrug off a prejudice," she agreed. "If you had asked me as a child what I thought of your people, I likely would have parroted the same biases of my tutors and family." Isla shrugged. "That being said, you meet a lot of your kind on the battlefield. Whilst I could do little for you that you couldn't do yourselves, I have a healthy respect for what you are." And a healthy fear - that went without saying. Absently, she pointed out different parts of the infirmary as they walked - the ward, the private treatment rooms, the operating room and, finally, the study she'd just emerged from. The faint scent of smoke from the fire and the candles still suffused the air around the door. At that point Archebold had expressed his feelings on her kind and his intentions back in Northaven - Isla halted outside the door, linking her hands loosely behind her back. "Me? It wasn't inspiration, Captain, but duty that put me on this path. The Lockwood family has healed the crown for generations using their magic. I was not blessed with the gift, unfortunately. But I was blessed with a sharp mind and steady hands, and so I learned what I could the hard way." She lifted her gaze to appraise him. "What of you? Your heart beat once, too, the same as mine. What made you choose to become what you are? Did you hate our kind even then?"