"She was," the bard said quietly, taking strength from the memory as well as melancholy. Someday he hoped to meet the tulmhainar in the Fae village, too, but it wasn't likely to happen any time soon. It was a shame that the memory of the Spire's worldturtle was marred by the memory of Roana alongside it, and Jigano's mood took a turn for the worse at the reminder of the ex-Captain.
His expression tightened for a moment, but the heat in Loren's voice surprised him out of his own descending funk and he paused on his moss placement to look the scholar over with an appraising eye.
He was honest enough to admit a flare of petty satisfaction that he wasn't the only one who'd run into problems with the woman, but the truth was as colder than last season's stew. "It was in Flowerbirth, not recently," he admitted, going back to their task. "When the Spire was first breached." His mouth tightened grimly; that had been a dark time as well, and Roana's actions had nearly torn the Settlement apart. "And before," he added after a moment's pause, unsure of what Loren had heard in his absence. "But the night the Spire was opened, that was the night she attacked and tried to kill the Tulmhainar in the Spire's basement." Everyone thought she had succeeded, too, ignorant of what the great tortoise was back then.
His expression tightened for a moment, but the heat in Loren's voice surprised him out of his own descending funk and he paused on his moss placement to look the scholar over with an appraising eye.
He was honest enough to admit a flare of petty satisfaction that he wasn't the only one who'd run into problems with the woman, but the truth was as colder than last season's stew. "It was in Flowerbirth, not recently," he admitted, going back to their task. "When the Spire was first breached." His mouth tightened grimly; that had been a dark time as well, and Roana's actions had nearly torn the Settlement apart. "And before," he added after a moment's pause, unsure of what Loren had heard in his absence. "But the night the Spire was opened, that was the night she attacked and tried to kill the Tulmhainar in the Spire's basement." Everyone thought she had succeeded, too, ignorant of what the great tortoise was back then.
