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[indent] With her own statement to the Queen concluded, Kym stepped backward to join the group again. As the girl with the crow stepped forwards to say her part, Kymir watched the queen’s stale expression. How could a woman with this much influence and wealth sit upon this throne while her homeland suffered? Kym’s gaze faltered for a moment as she suddenly thought of how the queen had also escaped a difficult life to forge a new one. The biggest difference was that this woman built a new world for herself and her people, while Kymir was trying her best to forget it.

The last to speak stepped forwards. It was the tall woman with the spear. Kymir looked over the forced bow she presented and found herself tracing the scars along her body. She’d seen scars like that before. The woman’s request only confirmed Kymir’s suspicion. Kym felt her heart sink into her stomach. Her right hand clenched into a small fist to keep it from shaking, and suddenly the room felt much warmer. [i] Darington.[/i] Slavers. The gladiator arena. Kymir and this woman had grown up in the same city but faced much different horrors. Kym was here for the reward so that she could stay as far away from her past as possible. This woman was here because her past returned to her. Her own request seemed so foolish next to that.

The queen washed this information down with an entire glass of wine. Kymir yearned for a bottle herself, but the fire inside of her stomach now was not from alcohol.

 [i] Did this woman ever meet Mikhail?[/i] The thought was so sudden that Kymir’s hand relaxed from shock. [i] No… She couldn’t have.[/i]

It was that moment when Kymir felt the queen’s gaze upon her. She lifted her eyes just in time to look into the woman’s gaze as she ridiculed Kym’s request. The queen was also running from her past. She too refused to return to it. Kym couldn’t blame her for that. For the fear of what could have been had she not escaped. Yet Kym did not sit upon a throne of influence and wealth such as the Queen of Exusia. Kym could not raise an army devoted to her cause. Kym never had magic on her side.

There was one outcome of this quest that did not seem so bleak. If this group were to succeed, the other woman from Darington had a chance to save her daughter. Kym vowed then and there to help her, no matter the cost. She’d never stood up for the other children at her orphanage, or the children from the streets that went missing in the night. She only had the time to worry about her own survival then; the circumstances were different now. Kymir was confident that she could help, and the first step was to give the Queen what she wanted.

To venture into places like The Sorrowfields, New Kaimeria, and (worst of all) Desolation would sound like a death sentence to any right minded individual. Kym was proud to say that she wasn’t that sort of person. How horrible could these places be after so many years of hiding from the horrors of Darington? Each of these places sounded equally treacherous, except with different types of danger to be wary of. This journey would require immeasurable amounts of  stealth, brains, and a skilled hand with a weapon. Kym looked around the room and saw a good amount of each within the group that stood before her. Most of them possessed more of it than Kym herself.

The girl with the copper blonde hair requested to see the glyphs for herself and Kym nodded along. It was doubtful that the queen would allow them a night’s stay on the floating island, but she would be foolish to send them off without showing them what they would be looking for. Kym was personally interested in the information anyways. The queen hadn’t been descriptive enough to satisfy that itch.

The girl with the slouch-- had any of them [i]introduced[/i] themselves yet? Kym only knew Artur’s, Lan’s, and Fourteen’s name at the moment. That left four of them with no title of their own except for the description Kym made up for them. She made it a point to ask them their names as the slouched one finished speaking. Kym turned her head to look at the queen. She was curious about the “insurance” as well. Was the queen aware that more glyphs would be found in those lands, or was she sending them off on a gamble? It seemed like Desolation would be the only place that could have more of these glyphs of the past. That is if the cataclysm that occurred there hadn’t wiped them away, or if the people that died there hadn’t had the time to carve them yet. Kym was also doubtful that New Kaimeria would be home to any of this information either. At least not to any information that wasn’t kept under lock and key by the Kaimerians.

[color=777DBB] “I’d also like to know if you have any information that confirms the existence of more of these glyphs. I also wish to know as much about the history of Deadwood as you can describe. Seeing the glyphs will let us know what we’re looking for, but we should also understand the history if we’re to look for it in other places.”[/color] Kym knew the general public knowledge of the creation of Deadwood, but she hoped that the queen would have a bit more insight than most.


[color=777DBB] "I accept your quest nonetheless."[/color]