Fern looked taken aback for a brief moment as if Raena's question had pulled her from a thought she was lost in. The fingers wrapped around her cup tightened ever so slightly, a subtle response Raena noticed.
"Oh, this?" Fern replied with a grin that seemed practiced. "It's just a special blend I brought from home. My family has this garden, you see, and we grow all sorts of herbs. This one is… well, it's kind of a Vingrove specialty."
Raena noted the way Fern's words rolled off her tongue, almost too fluidly, which only intensified the feeling of wariness prickling at the back of her mind. There was something in the delivery that sounded rehearsed, as if she were reciting a line rather than sharing a personal story.
'But well, aren't people from Vingrove supposed to be natural and authentic?'
Raena had then shooked her head.
