Ed and Narda both turned to Kire, who turned beet-red at Ysaryn’s description of drunkenness. “Shall I tell her?” the giantess said, and Kire spat off a few curses in Taakalon to tell her, no, Nard should not tell whatever embarrassing story she was gleefully reminiscing at the moment. When Ysaryn forbade her to drink more, Kire frowned, but nodded. It wouldn’t do for her to act a fool in front of her soldiers, anyway. For good measure, though, Ed took the cup from her with a sly grin. 
“You, my good man, have more discipline that the Wyvernling,” Narda replied to Envy with a laugh. 

The Amrians fell silent, however, when Ysaryn and Envy began conversing in Elvish, followed later by a tense exchange between them and the other Shadow-Elves. Kire didn’t need to understand the language to know they were upset. Her gaze shifted to her three Amrian subjects, who had grown quiet, too. They seemed to be listening; while not proficient like Ed, they would have recognized the language and some of the sentiment behind their statements. “[i]What are they talking about?[/i]” Kire whispered in Taakalon. 
“[i]They were talking about Rulitus and the magic suppression. They are upset that Ysaryn was caged. She and Envy are telling them to stop their complaints.[/i]” Ed paused, then turned to his cousin. “[i]So which one of them was responsible for capturing her and making them slaves? Ikegai, or the Gemini?[/i]” His voice was calm, but Kire could sense the intent behind the question. 
“[i]Ikegai. Wholly him. He had already allied himself with native slaver scum here, too.[/i]” 

Ysaryn had disappeared, and Kire sighed. “Not entirely, no. I did not like the wards, myself. They siphoned all my energy away and made me all stupid. I had to leave my Ring with Ruli just so they can let me move around without the bracelets slowing my body and mind.” 
“Her people’s anger is understandable,” Ed said to Envy. “Anyone who has known chains wouldn’t be happy about their Chief’s daughter being restrained. Our friends back home can attest to feeling similar.” Narda grunted in agreement to that. 

“No, you’re not prying,” Ed said in response to Envy’s question about magic. “We can’t do what Kire could do, but it is understood that magic is lying dormant within our bloodline. In varying degrees, this is true for every Amrian, though it manifests differently. The Gemini have an affinity for blood magic, as you perhaps already know. But it takes hard work from sorcerers, hedge witches, alchemists to make magic work back home, minus the benefits of a gods-given trinket like the one my cousin has. Tradition believes magic went to sleep the day the Wyvern warlords killed off the last dragon of Amria many, many generations ago.” 
“Same goes for me,” Narda said as she continued to eat. “I’m an aberration. They say giants—even taller than you or I, Envy—roamed Amria when gods, dragons, and all manner of mythical beasts roamed the world aplenty. To get someone as tall as I am in my family is very rare. Not as impressive perhaps as claiming blood descent from actual fucking dragons though,” she added, grinning at her two companions.