Liana returned to Lillian's room half an hour after she had left to go get cleaned up. She knocked on the closed door and peeped in when she heard Lillian call out for her to enter and close the door behind her. When she saw that Lillian was lying on the bed with her legs dangling off the side, one arm over her torso and the other at her side, she slipped into the room and closed the door behind her. Lillian had her eyes closed, but it was clear she was awake. Liana frowned slightly as she asked,
(Liana) "Is there… Something wrong? Are you okay?"
(Lillian) "Huh? Oh. No, I'm fine. Just thinking."
Lillian said, sitting up.
(Liana) "Okay… If you say so."
(Lillian) "I suppose you want to ask your questions now?"
(Liana) "It can wait. But what I really want to know now is what you're thinking about. That is, if you're okay with telling me."
(Lillian) "I was thinking that I need to go back to my tribe in a few days and was wondering whether to ask you to come or not."
(Liana) "Your tribe? What's the name of it?"
(Lillian) "The Loyal Eagle Clan."
(Liana) "The Loyal Eagle? Isn't that like the most powerful of all the tribes? And the biggest?"
Lillian grinned at Liana's reaction.
(Lillian) "The one and only."
(Liana) "Whoa! You never told me you were a part of that tribe!"
(Lillian) "I know. I didn't because I knew you'd react this way."
(Liana) "I suppose I don't really know a lot about you, do I?"
(Lillian) "Yeah… There's a lot you still don't know."
(Liana) "But why do you need to go back in a few days?"
Lillian appeared to be thinking for a short while before she replied,
(Lillian) "In my tribe, there is an unwritten rule that most people keep that you have to go back at least once every four months. It's not entirely necessary if you tell the chief how long you're going to be away."
(Liana) "That's interesting to know. You mentioned asking me whether I want to go right?"
(Lillian) "Yeah. I was going to ask you to come back with me and visit the tribe. I don't think your father has brought you there before, right?"
(Liana) "No, he hasn't, the furthest I have gone with my father is the peace village. Hold on, is this what my father asked you to talk to him about?"
(Lillian) "Yeah… Part of it was about that."
(Liana) "Part of it? Then what was the other part about?"
(Lillian) "Your training, mostly. And something about the attack that happened three days ago."
(Liana) "So that was why you looked so alert, as if something was going to jump out at us any minute."
Lillian shrugged.
(Lillian) "Kind of."
(Liana) "Okay. Can I follow you to see your tribe? There's nothing much to do here anyway."
(Lillian) "Sure. I asked you anyway. But is there really nothing to do? Don't you like, have to fill in for your dad and mom or something?"
She actually knew about the King and Queens arrangement for when Liana was at home alone but asked anyway.
(Liana) "Not really. They go on trips so often, and for so long, that they made a system to do things around here while they are away if I'm unable to do them or studying, things like that."
(Lillian) "Oh ok."
Liana was silent for a moment, then asked,
(Liana) "When do we need to leave?"
(Lillian) "In about two days. Is that enough time for you to get prepared?"
(Liana) "That's plenty."
(Lillian) "Good. Do you want to ask any more questions or are you going to get ready?"
(Liana) "I only take about an hour or two to get ready. How long will we be there?"
(Lillian) "The time varies. When you want to come back, we can come back. However, we cannot be there longer than your parents' trip."
(Liana) "Okay. Then, if you're okay with it, I've got a few more questions."
(Lillian) "Go ahead and ask."
(Liana) "Okay. Why are you faster than most people? Is it related to why your senses are enhanced?"
(Lillian) "Yeah. I am faster than most people as one of my skills, but I managed to make it such that I can be as fast as I want, when I want."
(Liana) "Wow. You mentioned something about the arrow being different from most. What makes it different?"
(Lillian) "The arrow was poisoned. So that even if the person who shot the arrow missed the victim will still die. But I'm immune to poisons. This arrow was poisoned with magic, not the kind of poison where you mix up a potion and dip the arrow in."
Liana's eyes were wide with wonder by the time Lillian was done.
(Liana) "Wow. How do you know that it was poisoned?"
Lillian smiled sheepishly.
(Lillian) "I put a spell on me to check. It will tell me if it is poisoned, whether by magic or not."
(Liana) "When?"
(Lillian) "While I was waiting for you to come back here."
(Liana) "Oh. Why are you immune to poisons?"
(Lillian) "This one I'm actually not sure. It could be one of the perks I get from my magic, or it could be one of my skills, or something else."
(Liana) "Oh ok. How did you find out you were immune to poisons?"
(Lillian) "I used to put spells on myself that would make me immune to any kind of poisons, unless, of course, it was by magic. Then one day, I forgot to do the spells. I was shot by a poisoned arrow, but it didn't affect me."
Liana recalled when Lillian had mentioned that it would normally take ten arrows to make her pass out, but chose not to mention it and instead asked,
(Liana) "Wow. I think I know everything I want to know, so I won't ask any more questions."
Lillian laughed at the amazement on Liana's face, then said,
(Lillian) "Okay. Then it's my turn to ask a question. You are an only child, right? Have you started training to be Queen?"
(Liana) "Yeah. When I'm eighteen I'm supposed to start taking over their duties as a sort of training to be Queen. But my parents thought it would be better if I start early, since they travel around a lot."
(Lillian) "So you are already prepared to be Queen?"
(Liana) "Somewhat. But I hope I don't have to become Queen yet."
Liana put on a comical look of horror and Lillian chuckled.
(Lillian) "I suppose I can sort of relate to that."
Liana grinned as she said,
(Liana) "You're starting to be more open now, more cheerful. You look nicer with a smile on your face."
Lillian looked slightly surprised, but her face relaxed into a gentle smile.
(Lillian) "Do I really? I guess I'm more open now that I know I can trust you, and you trust me. But you actually still don't know a lot about me."
Liana raised an eyebrow.
(Liana) "Really? Like what?"
(Lillian) "You'll find out soon, but I'm not going to tell you yet."
(Liana) "Why?"
(Lillian) "It's… Easier to tell you when you see for yourself."
(Liana) "Huh. Ok then, I suppose I have to wait to satisfy my curiosity."
(Lillian) "I suppose so. Since your parents cannot do magic, do you have any relatives that have magic?"
(Liana) "My grandfather on my mother's side could do magic, but I think he's the only one."
(Lillian) "Wow. Usually someone inherits the magical abilities from the parents, but if from the grandparents, it's usually from the father's side. Your grandfather must have been a powerful magician, although there probably are other reasons your magic is so powerful."
(Liana) "I don't know anything about him being powerful, so I can't really help you about that."
Lillian merely shrugged in response. What she had said earlier was merely an observation, a hypothesis, if you might think of it that way.
(Liana) "I'm hungry, want to go eat something?"
(Lillian) "Sure."