Killian caught the woman checking his weapons. He didn't think much of it except that she simply did it. He had no reason to think she was judging him as being from her ship or not. He mistakenly assumed that she knew he wasn't.

She sat up, looking up and down the beach. Killian assumed she was looking for other survivors. He was about to tell her he'd found none. 

Then she spoke in a tongue he didn't know. [i]"Mae henui? Mae henui a 'ú? A 'ú Gorthin?[/i]"

Killian just stared, unsure of what she was asking. He'd heard a lot of languages in his life. [I]This[/I] one was not like any of them. 

She then spoke in barely comprehensible Common, asking, "Who are you? Who are you with? Are you Gorthin?"

“Um, my name is Killian,” he answered. “I'm not [I]really[/I] with [I]anyone[/I].”

Killian had heard of the Gorthin, of course. They were a wealthy and sometimes ruthless Family. [I]Despite[/I] not being Nobility or Royalty, they held great power in the Republic of Yalla.

He was concerned, of course, about her connection to the Gorthin. She was shackled and being transported in a box by sea. Killian doubted very much that she was an honored guest of the Gorthin. 

She had to be their captive. She'd either been bought or was about to be. And if she was, it was incumbent on Killian to make sure she was turned over to them. To not do so could mean him losing a finger or worse. 

The woman suddenly grimaced and grasped her head. In doing so, she inadvertently pulled her hair back and revealed a [i]pointy ear.[/i]

Killian freaked out, withdrawing a couple of steps in panic. He took a bad step and fell to his ass in the dry sand as he again exclaimed, “[I]What the fuck!”[/I]

He rolled away and scrambled to his feet. Pulling his danger, he spoke the obvious, “[I]You’re an Elf! An Elf! What the hell? Who are you…?”[/I]