Ruth. Of all the people to run into - of all the people to ask for directions from, it had to be him. Nell had never been lucky, she supposed. The fact that this would happen was just par for the course.
He was so different, she thought, even excusing the eyepatch. He stood a little taller than he had when she’d been dragging him back to the clan. His gait was a little prouder. Even his accent when he spoke was different. He had lost some of the Dalish lilt to the consonants and vowels, replaced by something she couldn’t identify.
Was he different, she wondered, or had she changed?
Nell took stock of herself. She didn’t think she’d changed much, but that was probably inaccurate. Physically, she was about the same: there was perpetually ink and paint stained beneath her nails, her hair was always tied in a bun to keep it out of her face. But where Ruth rose up over her, Nell shrunk. In her time away from the Keeper, she’d recovered from some of the effects of their shitty childhood. But since going back (and then escaping once more), she’d lost some of the recovery she’d painstakingly clawed back. With Ruth in front of her, the effect was palpable.
Hot shame flooded her chest as he turned to her. She tore her eyes away from him, looking at the boots of a passing scholar. Before, Nell might’ve snapped back at him and told him she had every right to be here, thank you very much. But now, in the wake of her mistakes, she took a small step back and wished she was anywhere else but here.
“I didn’t know I would find you here,” she said, trying to get in front of an accusation before it happened. “One of the scholars commissioned a map. I’m just trying to deliver it.” Nell chanced a glance up at him. The byproduct of all those years ago, Venehn, looked more like his father than her; the blonde hair, the big eyes.
..And that, she realized, was probably something Ruth deserved to know about. She bit down on the information, watching to see if he’d immediately turn away rather than entertain any conversation with her.
10-07-2023, 03:34 PM
