Amyra's room was by far the coolest one of them all thus far. Unlike her sisters, the orange-eyed woman had a bunked bed that had a beautiful orange and deep blue threads on the top where the mattress was, and below her bed was a giant desk filled with books, papers, rolled up parchments, and maps plastered everywhere.
There was also a compass and some liquid in closed vials he had never seen before. While her room wasn't dirty - it was absolutely chaotic, but it seemed like there was a place for everything, and everything had its place.
"Woah. My slightly-older brother Tobias had a penchant for books, but you look like its your life. I mean, you must have read so much that's why you need glasses...Although back in my day, you couldn't lose eyesight. Have we started to regress?" Azier half-rambled, and half wondered aloud.
"Hah. No. My eyes are blessed. You could have just asked right out, you know. You like to lead people into answering your inquiries, don't you?" Amyra replied with a sweet, calm voice, but he couldn't help but feel a little bit threatened.
She had known him for what, five minutes - and she had already figured out one of his games? Nice.
His father had often feared intelligent women, and so he often kept his mother and the other wives doing meaningless tasks or held them up in his bedroom. Azier on the other hand, loved it.
Was it still like that? He sure hoped not...How boring, to cut off a challenge due to fear. As much as his father loved to pretend he was big and bad and feared nothing - the truth was, the old man's hide was more yellow than a weathered piece of paper. He didn't have to compete with anyone when he kept his foot on their necks.
"Oh shit, really?" He suddenly pinged out as it registered what she had said. "Foresight? No no, it's a Gaze or Mesmerizing pair of eyes isn't it?....No no, too plain for you. Hmmm... Prediction? Yeah. Prediction - you're one of those women who can see far into the future. I'm betting that's why you love to learn so much. If you know the past, the future makes more sense, am I right?" Azier asked as he watched her expression change from triumph to awe.
"Well look at you, not as dumb as the rumors say..." Amyra replied with a small laugh. "I knew they had to be lies..."
"Why thank you, most beautiful of scholars," he replied with satisfaction.
"Yes. I can see into the distant future. I wear these glasses to avoid having to deal with it constantly. It can be terrifying to know one's fate. It was my mother's gift that she passed to me," she answered softly.
"Oh. I'm sorry... I know that the gift is only given if the mother passes away. Did you ever know her?" Azier asked with sympathy.
"No... I haven't even seen pictures of her, but I hear that I am her spitting image," she said with a sad sigh. "Ilsandra's mother was tasked with raising me since she had already finished with her child. She wasn't fond of me, so I would just bury my nose into books to keep out of trouble."
"That's a shame. It's a wonder you learned so much on your own. It's impressive," Azier complimented her again in hopes it would help her feel better.
"It's okay, I've become very valuable to my sisters. This entire expedition was my idea actually," she revealed proudly.
"That's why you have all the maps. You are quite the hidden treasure, Amyra. I assume your father is also trying to sell you off to someone?" Azier asked as delicately as he could.
"Father is a tyrant. He wants to emulate yours, and curses all of us for being daughters instead of sons. He's still trying to have a son...." Amyra replied and shook her head with disgust. "When he doesn't get what he wants...well... I'll put it like he does - 'Six girls are enough'."
"Gross. What a dick. If I had you as mine, you'd be able to decide if you wanted a kid or not. Foresight isn't something that is common, and I know many women who have it opt to keep it to themselves like Cinders do," he replied as they carried on a casual conversation.
"Well, me being a Seer isn't a secret. I'm very much wanted by other kings. Father wants the highest bidder. .....He must be furious right now," she gulped hard at the end of her words.
"Well let him be furious. Fuck him. What if I told you, that you didn't have to do what some crusty old King told you to do? What if I revealed to you that you could choose your own destiny and go where you want," he offered.
"I'd say you're dreaming, delusional, or dumb."
"Exactly - because that's what we are all taught from birth; serve and obey. Well, I'm pretty sick of it. When I get at least my torso back, I'll be able to help you a lot more as far as protection goes," he revealed.
"You're adorable, Azier. You are intelligent, but your dreams exceed your ability," she replied and shook her head with a frown.
"Psssssh. Please. You're literally talking to my head right now after it had been buried away for what...centuries? I don't know. I wasn't able to tally mark. I have a habit of making things happen with my sheer willpower alone," he bragged (and probably was over estimating his skills a little).
"A valid point." Amyra conceded.
"Now how about that history lesson?" Azier suggested again, and hopefully for the last time. Amyra was interesting, that was certain - but he had to find out what happened to his family. Were his brothers alive? Did they have children? What kind of messed up place had the world devolved into where women were straight up slaves now?
He didn't like it. As he had already said before, you cannot make sense of the future or the present without knowing the past, and all his past was filled of were days of darkness in a locked chest.