Chapter Text
Amaya offered no resistance as she was shuffled back through the grand entryway by the elbows, without a doubt being returned to the imprisoning circle of hellfire.
The exhaustion of the trial left her weakened, entirely rendered defenseless. Her body trembled uncontrollably, chest heaving with shuddering breaths, legs threatening to give out with each guided step. The prolonged exposure of disorienting blindness had her temples aching with excruciating pain from eyes clenched shut, yet she was helpless to the stem the tears flowing down her cheeks.
She remembers flinching away from the light at its first assault, so desperate to escape the judgment. It wasn't until she had felt two hands grip her shoulders that she whipped her head to face them, only to be met with the warrior Sunfire elf of whom she had met blow-for-blow in each instance of combat. There had been the presence of sheer urgency in the crease of painted eyes to the split second where she focused on mouthed words that insisted, "You have to look. If you want to live, you have to look into the light!"
The graveness of the statement had her forcing her gaze back into the beam of unleashed sunlight, determination increasing tenfold as irises shrank into pinpoints, eyesight rapidly becoming extinguished. The pressure on her shoulders had disappeared and she was faced with overcoming the endeavor alone. As all of her senses began to be overwhelmed from the light's power, she willed the screams of her thoughts to keep her grounded.
She would live and be safely reunited with her nephews. Live and see Gren's jovial smile. Live and kneel once more on dampened stone to light remembrance candles for both Sarai and Harrow. She would live.
She lived, but would she be stripped of her eyesight forever?
Was that the Sunfire Queen's intent? To take away her sight, leaving her with the remaining senses of touch, taste, and smell? If she ever made it back across the molten rivers, how could she lead the Standing Battalion if deemed a liability? How could she protect what was left of her family?
The full force of the realization struck her gut with a monstrous blow and she began to weep, body quivering from soul-wrenching sobs.
Strong hands clasped above her elbows faltered in strength before tightening their grip as Amaya's movements became sluggish. Not a moment later, her legs crumpled underneath.
All movement ceased.
Her knees never struck the ground.
The elf positioned at her back had prevented her from falling and now shifted to snake an arm across her shoulder blades, pulling Amaya's weight towards their chest. The tug resulted in Amaya falling into them and the elf effectively took on the full weight of the human's broken body.
As the haze of fatigue began to creep ever closer, she felt her limp body be readjusted. The arm of the Sunfire elf had stayed its presence around her back but the other arm had moved swiftly, dipping to sweep Amaya's legs out from under her.
Had she been of sounder mind, Amaya would have been impressed that the elf had cradled her in their arms. But still, her burdening thoughts echoed continuously, drowning out any others.
Her chin was met with the cold metallic surface of gilded spaulders, wet tear streaks giving little comfort in the coolness between flesh and metal, yet her temple was met with warmth radiating from soft skin.
Thoroughly spent from her mind spiraling into the fathoms of a future without sight, Amaya succumbed to the encompassing fog of darkness with a trembling sigh.
''''''''''
Janai paused in her movement as the Standing Battalion General fell limp in her arms with a breath that whispered against her chin, the woman's sweat-ridden brow slumping forward to rest in the crook of her neck.
Kazi regarded Janai with an intrigued gaze when she had swept the captive into a bridal carry but seeing now that Janai was still unmoving in the corridor, their brow furrowed with a concerned softness. "Is she...?"
"Be still, Kazi," Janai gently hushes, waiting attentively in the following silence for any sure signs of life. It's impossible to feel for a pulse with her arms occupied and the head tucked against her own proves to further limit visual assessment. After a worrying moment, she's relieved at another faint wisp of an exhale. "Fortunately, not unconscious," she discerns. "Just exhausted."
"Should we continue our way to the prisons?" they ask, voice just above a whisper with care as if the human would startle out of Janai's grasp like a frightened harvest mouse.
Janai mulls over the various options, torn between remaining impassive or acknowledging the small intrusive feeling of guilt that was beginning to bloom under her skin. Staying unattached would be the safest move; she could easily assert authority over the woman now that she'd assuredly been knocked down an arrogant peg or two. But on the other hand...a tooth worried at the inner flesh of her bottom lip.
She silently asks for forgiveness from her grandmothers before giving the interpreter her answer.
"No. You and I will take her to my own private quarters; her eyes need to be tended to from the ordeal. We'll be safe and away from any prying eyes there." She resumed the walk, clutching the woman more securely to her torso as Kazi fell into step beside her. "It will just be the three of us but I'll keep one of my trusted scouts at the end of the hall. After we enter, fetch water and cold compresses, as well as fresh poultices from the medical bay - I trust you'll identify the right one without assistance. Speak to no one of your task."
Kazi raised a closed fist to their chest. "As you command, Golden Knight."
It was quite a distance from Her Radiance's court to Janai's personal chambers as they opted to take halls and passageways less traveled. It was best to reduce the numbers of people wondering why they walked away from prisons, not to them. Their journey was met without much incident except for a few aristocrats who dared to cast a curious glance in their direction, whereupon Janai sent them shrinking back with a well-practiced scowl.
Kazi strode forward to open the doors to Janai's quarters, disappearing with a muttered I'll be as swift as possible soon after their superior and the unconscious woman had passed the through the entrance.
Janai made their way to the bed with utmost care, setting her down precariously against large cushioned pillows in fear that any jostling movements would shatter her suspended rest.
She intended to pull away and put space between them after the General's body eased out of her arms, but as she took a cursory glance... curiosity got the better of her. She took a moment to scan the details of the woman's face: The jagged slope of dark brown hair that swept down to cover an eye. A scattering of faint freckles under a light layer of dirt and ash. A prominent bloodwine scar that slashed across the right cheekbone. Sharp angles of a handsome jaw line.
It was just a short while ago that Janai had grasped that same jaw in her hand, pulling it to force the General to face her. She was met not with fear but instead unashamed impudence, even when the woman was clearly at a disadvantage and knelt at the feet of her captor. The utter audacity. The memory of it all has her lips wanting to twitch into a sneer.
Now look where that audacity had brought them.
Janai leaned forward a little further, noting a few spider web-thin scars that were scattered around the human's face. They were just a touch lighter than the already pale complexion but they were easy enough to detect. A distinctly raised and marred scar at the lip's lines suggested a history of being split open in fights, healing over itself repeatedly. Her lips were parted just slightly, the mouth relaxed in sleep.
Janai stood upright, chancing one final lingering gaze.
She could openly admit that the woman before her was undeniably attractive; she never could turn a blind eye to the fairer sex. But this person...she was so strikingly different than most women she had met.
Yet unlike those others, she had witnessed and experienced how this General fought: infuriatingly strategic actions, confidence behind each swing and bash, and damnably lithesome evasiveness. Those spoke of whispered cunning, fearsome strength, underlying beauty and practiced ease, but the sleek, predatory quality of her movements screamed danger.
And she was irrefutably the most dangerous woman she’d ever crossed paths with.
Janai batted the thought away, only to be hounded by another that'd been hovering at the back of her mind:
Enjoy your pet.
Janai understood it was meant to be a jibe, but in truth it was a cruel reduction of a fearsome combatant basking in freedom and power only to be diminished as captive, subject to the whims and follies of an authoritative hand.
But Janai would not reduce her to a play-thing.
This woman, Katolis' General of the Standing Battalion, was every bit her equal. That was begrudgingly proved time and time again in their fights. She proved it in her tactics: knowing when and where to strike, when to retreat, even when to sacrifice. Janai would admit that after every irritating skirmish...she was impressed.
And she was judged with a pure heart. That in itself was another development she needed to think on. Perhaps, in the basest sense it meant-
A small thud at the entrance caught her attention.
Kazi slips quietly through the gap between ornate double doors, holding a small crate of medical supplies and a jug of water balanced in the crook of an arm.
Janai turns to them, grateful for the timely interruption. "Anyone give you trouble?" When Kazi answers with a simple no, Golden Knight, she nods approvingly, her slender fingers plucking the rolls of gauze from the crate once as the interpreter was settled in by her side.
"Then let us begin."
''''''''''
Amaya's consciousness came to, ebbing and flowing with the perception of her surroundings. Her hand twitched and brushed against soft material of a finely woven bed sheet. A small movement of her neck revealed her head was being cradled on a down pillow. Her forehead tensed in confusion; there was no heat of flame lashing at the exposed parts of her skin, no scorching stone tiles that promised to burn at flesh if she stayed in a singular spot for too long.
She briefly wondered if this was truly reality.
There was thick wet heaviness around her eyes and when she narrowed her brow, a familiar texture came to mind. She shot up to a sitting position in a panic with hands flying up to tear at the bandage covering her face, only to have her wrists caught and stayed in powerful grips. Her chest heaved with frantic breaths and she tried to swallow the panic down past into her gut, forcing herself to not rip away from the touch.
The grasp lessened in their pressure and brought Amaya's hands back down to lay on her lap, keeping them pressed into the sheets with a placating weight.
"Your eyesight has not yet recovered. We need you to be still," Janai advised, before realizing that her words would go unheard. She twisted at the waist to look over her left shoulder, calling loudly to where her other present company lounged sleepily on the couch. "Kazi, come here. I may need you to either interpret or assist in restraining her."
Janai eased off the pressure on the human, only to flinch when Amaya's hands rushed out from under palms and began to sign in quick succession. Her hands were shaking as they twisted, coming together and breaking apart in the air before losing speed to slowly come upward to touch the bandages that covered her eyes. The corners of her lips were tense with an unspoken worry.
Kazi rushed to Janai's side to slide into a nearby chair, breathing out, "She wants to know if she's blind, if that's what the gauze covering her eyes is for - if permanent loss of sight was the result of the Light's judgement." Kazi's hand came up to touch the rim of their pink-tinged glasses - a nervous tic. "How do I even begin to communicate if her eyes are covered?"
Janai took in the sight of the General's scarred hands, her mind churning with strategy. She reached out, stopping before just grazing Amaya's hands to see if the woman could sense it - and she did. The smallest of wrinkled lines crossed the captive's forehead as she sensed the emanating heat of raised limbs. This could work, she thought, lightly brushing the backs of the woman's hands and gently grasping them to prevent startling her. This needs to work. She carefully pulled the hands towards the interpreter, watching the woman's face apprehensively for any signs of lashing out.
"I want you to answer her question. Short and simple, first. Make sure she knows she's not permanently blind." Janai took a breath to steel her own nerves. "Now prepare yourself - I want you to acquaint your hands with hers, and then you will begin to sign."
"I understand. I'm ready."
Kazi's hands reached forward as Janai began the transition, laying the captive's palms onto the linguist's hand with light coverage. Kazi pressed the pointer and middle fingers together side by side before tapping them down towards the thumb and repeated the motion, allowing the General to feel around the hand sign.
No.
Amaya's focus multiplied as she recognized this method of communication. Her back straightened, bodyweight shifting on the bed as she leaned closer.
Her hand trailed up to match, moving with the interpreter's as one of Kazi's hands came up to just under their jaw, forming the letter sign for 'A' with the thumb pad touching under the chin. Amaya followed as the hand sign moved down in an outward small arc to travel a few inches.
Kazi's wrist turned inwards and letter sign switched to a curved 'V', traveling upwards once more. The tips of the fingers tapped twice slowly on either side of their nose, again allowing for a pause to let the General feel the hand's meaning.
Not blind.
The captive's tensed shoulders relaxed and a long, shaky breath was released. Creases and tensions on her forehead smoothed. This ailment would pass.
Kazi's free hand moved to tap the captive's unoccupied wrist, letting her know that a second hand would be used for the next set of words. Amaya shadowed her hand above the interpreter's in preparation for the next movement.
They then brought their hands to each shoulder with a grasping motion before the mirroring hands arced outward and down, the loose hands becoming upside down fists on either side of Kazi's waist.
The interpreter's hands became the letter signs for 'H', one letter crossed over the other. The top hand slid back and forth along the knuckles of the non-dominant hand's pointer finger; the bottom hand stayed still.
Heal. Soon.
One hand then moved independently, lifting off of Kazi's non-dominant hand. It pointed towards the bandaged woman, before evolving into the letter hand sign for 'C' and moved towards Kazi's lips in a short arc.
You drink.
Kazi's hands pulled away slowly from the General's. After the command, a glass seemingly materialized next to Amaya's wrist, the condensation of the glass a welcoming feeling. She nodded and accepted the object with one grasp, as the other hand came up in a relaxed fist beside her head. An index finger flicked up and held its position before coming down back to the drink.
I understand.
Both Janai and Kazi shared a quick elated glance as the latter interpreted the sign's meaning.
Amaya contemplated in silence for a moment before placing the tall glass precariously between her lap, nestling it safely so that the contents wouldn't spill. She then began to sign, movements smooth and fluid, head tilting forward as if posing a question.
"Why was I spared? Why am I here, and not back in the fire ring?" Kazi's melodic voice spoke out.
"It's a complicated matter, but she'll be here for the time being until her eyesight returns," she says, waiting as Kazi repeated the signing process with the woman's hands. "We'll answer questions after the bandage is removed. For now, she needs to rest and let the poultice do its work."
As Kazi signed over the abbreviated message, Janai turned away from the pair only to catch her reflection on the tableside mirror. Raising two fingers to her face, Janai traced the small area where the golden painted lines were no longer defined and had blurred on her skin.
It must have happened when she had her head laying against my own, her mind recalled, remembering the feeling of the General's damp brow, how the woman's hair would brush and bump against her chin as they moved swiftly down the grand gilded hallways with a mindful quietness.
"She's asking how long the poultice will take to be effective," Kazi's voice breaks through. "Says that...she's grateful it smells pleasant and not like a skunk's...oh. Like a skunk's rear."
"I tell her to wait yet the questions still come," Janai sighs under her breath. Stubborn woman, indeed. "It may be a few hours for the poultice, half a day at the maximum," she relents, turning around to look at the communicating pair. "If this poultice should fail, we will try the process again with the stronger, more foul medicines available. She should hope it does not come to that."
The given answer seems to satiate the woman's curiosity and she leans back against the pillows, drinking the last of the water before holding the emptied cup outward and allowing one of them to remove it from her grasp. With a signed thank you, she nestles further into the bed's sheets and waits for the time to pass.
It wasn't long until Janai and Kazi heard the soft rumbles of snoring coming from the human.
"I am envious," Kazi remarks. "I wish I had the ability to sleep so quickly but my mind keeps me awake with the nature of my studies." They turned to Janai, noting that the Golden Knight's gaze was still affixed to the human laying in her bed. "What should we do now?"
"Now...we wait. You may utilize any space in this room to rest." Janai exhales, getting mentally prepared for the long evening ahead. "I will take the first watch."
''''''''''
Amaya's consciousness once again reached out as she came to, more gently this time. She took a long silent exhale before reaching up to touch the bandage's edge, anticipating a hand to snatch her tentative touch back down. Feeling no surprise physicalities, she removed the mostly dried bandage and deposited the item next to her side on the bed, keeping her eyes closed in the movement.
A ghostly whisper came to memory. Be brave, Amaya. Her sister's words.
Another steadying breath.
She slowly opened her eyes, blinking away the grogginess of sleep. As blurred hues of gold and crimson swam into sight, she released the breath she had unknowingly been holding. Her thumb and forefinger grasped one of the edges of the bed sheets, marveling at the intricate designs of threaded details as her vision became clearer.
A small movement snagged her attention and Amaya's gaze fell upon the slender elf trying to comfortably recline in an oversized chair adjacent to the bed, back facing her as they twisted their body in an unpleasant fashion. She noted they were busy scribbling down fast-paced notes in a small leather-bound journal, completely oblivious that their captive had awoken.
She braces her palms against the mattress, only realizing shifting around must have made a sound when the interpreter startles, squirming around to look at her with wide olive green eyes. Their mouth moves to breathe a quiet oh my, sitting up properly before tucking away the journal to sign.
"The Golden Knight of Lux Aurea will be back momentarily, so I implore you to not...try anything that will delay any recovery in health or jeopardize your safety. Her exact words were 'don't do anything stupid'." The interpreter paused in their motions. "Truthfully...I am not sure if that was meant more-so for you or myself. Has your eyesight returned in full?"
Amaya answered the question with a nod while keeping the interpreter's gaze, reading their body language for any tell-tale signs. Their breathing was quick with eyes occasionally flicking to the door. Muscles pulled taut like a string, alert to any motion that might occur. Her fingers made quick work of signing, "If you're worried about me attacking you...I won't. You've given me no reason to."
She searches about the bedchambers for any sort of clue where the armored elf had gone, finding none except the still-steaming cup beside a small hardcover book. They truly weren't lying about her being gone recently, she was pleased to note.
"I am not worried, but I do not doubt your warrior's strength even in your weakened state. If I was to be harmed...you would not last long there after." 'Foolish is the woman who knocks on Death's door twice' is the clear warning interlaced among the interpreter's words. "And I was instructed to stay for the off-chance where you might have awoken - which you have - as she brings food and fresh water up from the kitchens. It has been some time since you were last awake," Kazi signs, immediately becoming sheepish in admitting, "We grew hungry in waiting."
Amaya's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why not have someone else retrieve it?"
"Truthfully, General...it's because you are not supposed to be here, in this room. We were to take you back to the ring but you were in quite a state. It would have been impossible to keep you even mildly hydrated if you were imprisoned there. This is safer for your recovery in health," they sign. "You might have noticed you do not have additional guards; this is because you are under the Golden Knight's charge. She is more than capable of handling you if you were to...act inappropriately."
Kazi continued, "It is already a liability that you are here, but the risk would multiply greatly if more people were alerted to your presence. There may be individuals who wish to seek you out and try to take advantage of your weakened state," they point out. "If I may be succinct, General. We only wish for understanding and do not wish you any harm," Kazi ended with a small reassuring smile.
Amaya's eyes pinned them down with a flash of dry criticism. "You mean, no more harm than has already been done?" She relented when the interpreter dropped the smile, looking a touch nervous as they moved in their seat. "I'm sorry. That was...unkind of me. You've been nothing but helpful, truly."
They nod in understanding but the smile that returns is dimmed. "I accept your apology, General."
"Thank you also for...keeping my well-being in both of your thoughts," she says. "I will cooperate with you and your Golden Knight; albeit within reason." After a short pause, Amaya signed what had been truly plaguing her. "What happened in the Sunfire Queen's court? I remember her calling for my disposal, but after she turned and went back to the throne, I couldn't decipher her lips from that distance. I just remember...the Light."
Kazi stilled at the question, unsure of which parts to omit.
"The Golden Knight advocated for you just after the Queen had called for the decision for you to be...disposed of. Her Radiance remarked that since you refused to cooperate and were deemed not useful - you were worthless. That your life was forfeit. But the Golden Knight insisted that even in your being as a human, you fought bravely and treated your enemy with warrior's honor.
"And well...you know what came next. You passed the trial. Had you been found 'unworthy', you would have died - but not from the light emitted from the staff; that energy is meant to reveal one's true nature. Her Radiance would have ordered the Golden Knight to execute you right where you knelt."
Amaya fixated on the hand sign for 'execute'. It was a sharp and brutal movement, much like a downward plunge of a sword into a body.
The confession of what might have happened drew a long breath from Amaya's chest. But she had passed the trial; she would not obsess on a death that had not been her then-future.
The Golden Knight of Lux Aurea. Amaya was well acquainted with the statuesque Sunfire elf and her tactics in combat. The lengthy sunforged blade always reappeared by her side, no matter how many times she tried to rid the warrior of it. Her upper chest tensed at the memory of the blade, the ghost of molten metal searing through armor into flesh. She hadn't the opportunity yet to examine the scar too closely but she was damned sure it would never fade.
Amaya motioned for Kazi to continue, silently pleading with a tilt at the neck. She was genuinely curious of the aftermath.
"There's not too much afterwards, General. You pitched forward towards the ground and Her Radiance announced the culmination of the Light's judgment before allowing you to be removed from the court. The Golden Knight voiced thanks to her sister and Her Radiance called out to her to 'Enjoy your p--'" Kazi halted mid-sign for the word 'pet', realizing that they had recounted too much of the event.
But the damage was done and Kazi knew that the General picked up on the hand sign.
"I know what that sign was." Amaya's back stiffened in confusion and her neck flushed with embarrassment. "What do you mean, 'enjoy your pet'? 'Your' as in The Golden Knight? Do you mean to tell me that I am now her possession?"
Kazi's eyes widened as their hands vehemently started to sign. "No, no! I've said too much! Please, General, I--"
"No! No, no, no. If you won't tell me, I will find out what it means myself when she returns," she signs, sharp and threatening.
Kazi inhales a deep breath, knowing they were one limb into the grave no matter how they answered.
"Be rest assured that you are not relinquishing your status to be turned into some manner of...lady-in-waiting." Their skin darkened a shade as they signed the sentence. "I am sure that Her Radiance was only teasing," Kazi ended up offering.
Amaya was absolutely stunned. Her hands stilled with speechlessness for a lengthy amount of time before she tentatively prompted, "...You never denied my status as a possession."
"You are not a possession, General." Kazi adjusts their glasses frames with a finger, affixing the woman with a pensive look. "It's far closer to 'responsibility', where your fate hangs on the precipice of how you behave."
"Much like a pet," she signs with a grimace. "I see." Amaya thought back to the Golden Knight and her commanding presence. "Is the Golden Knight title her only name?"
"It is not, but please understand that it is not mine to give."
"Irritatingly fair," she replies. "May I ask what name you go by?"
"Now that, I may answer for you," they laugh softly. "My name is Kazi. Student of language, translation, and interpretation, with primary focuses in sign language across all cultures. It is a fascinating subject! I never would have dreamed I would have been employed in this capacity. I am most thankful for this opportunity to speak with you, General."
"No, Kazi. Thank you. My extensive stay in your city would be all the worse without your skill." She regards them with a small kindness, appreciative that there were students of a signed language. "My name is Amaya."
Kazi inclined at the waist, bringing a palm to the flat of their chest before sitting upright once more.
"I am pleased to meet your acquaintance, General Amaya," Kazi smiled warmly as they signed. "If I may be as bold to say that I, for one, am glad that you are not dead. Perhaps when either myself and the Golden Knight of Lux Aurea are not interrogating you, you might graciously help me in furthering my studies in Katolian finguistics?"
"'Finguistics'?" she finger spelled each letter individually with a perplexed look.
"Yes! It is a fitting name for it, no? I would not classify it as 'linguistic', even though the word is derived with a root in an ancient language meaning 'tongue'. We communicate with our hands." Kazi wiggled their eight fingers in emphasis.
Amaya leaned forward, the bed sheet further pooling around her waist. "That actually is quite a fitting name," she grinned, seeing the humor in such an odd word. "So, Kazi. Would you say this is currently an interrogation?"
"Not in this moment."
"Alright. What questions did you have for me on Katolian 'finguistics'?" Amaya looked to Kazi with a mischievous smile before continuing to sign. "Are you going to ask me about bad words? I have an extensive vocabulary."
''''''''''
Janai tensed before rounding the corner of the hallway towards her bedchambers where both the General and the linguist stayed out of sight. Surely there would have been some commotion if there was trouble and she trusted her scout to respond appropriately if things had taken a violent turn. Regardless, she had to have faith that if she had been treated with warrior's honor, then the woman would not attempt to attack an unarmed and defenseless pupil of Lux Aurea.
She shouldered the entryway's golden doors wider, passing through the gap with the tray of food and an additional jug of water.
Her eyes immediately connected with the General's gaze, noting that she was very much awake and mid-sign in conversation with the interpreter.
She crossed the expansive floor, covering the distance in long strides. "Kazi. Speak with me for a moment," she says, laying the platter onto the table beside the bed before turning to walk back to the study-area a little ways away for privacy. They followed obediently, awaiting Janai's next instruction.
"You are unhurt? Did she try anything while I was away?" She steps closer, eyes darting about Kazi's form looking for any detail that was out of place.
Kazi vehemently shakes their head, placating Janai's concern. "I am in perfect health and unharmed, thank you for your concern. Our conversations have been...exceptionally polite, truly."
Janai wants to scoff at the possibility of the human being 'polite'. She'll believe it when she sees it consecutively and unprompted. "Does she have more questions, or have they already been answered?"
"I would surmise that they have been mostly answered, yet I am unsure if she will have more questions for you, specifically. Of course, I am at your call no matter the hour and will provide you with apt interpretations." A darker hue crept up Kazi's neck. "Forgive me, I am rambling."
"Are you, now?" Janai gave Kazi a suspicious glance before letting it go, decidedly walking back to their additional company after a long moment.
"I see that your eyesight has returned. Any lingering blurriness or blind spots?" Janai asked, and Kazi in turn signed the words to the woman sitting propped up in the bed. "No? Good. Now eat and drink, the both of you," she instructed, glancing between them both.
Amaya regarded Janai with a steady intensive look, unblinking even as the plate of fine Xadian food was offered. After a moment, she broke the connection in order to examine the varying fruits, nuts, and slices of baked bread patterned in an impressive spread. Her arms rose from the covers, a flattened hand coming up to touch her chin before arcing down away in a gentle motion towards Janai.
Amaya's eyes were soft, and that admittedly took Janai by surprise.
"You're...welcome. When you are done eating, you may use the washing room just over there," Janai motioned to a closed door. "We return to your cell afterwards."
Amaya nodded in understanding after Kazi's hands stilled, tracking the Golden Knight's trajectory with a keen eye as she walked away from them only to stop and sink into the armchair, resuming her reading and finishing her drink alone in peace.
''''''''''
Kazi created the open portal through the imprisonment's flame walls allowing Janai to lead Amaya back to the epicenter.
Amaya rubbed her wrists as soon as the shackles had been removed, stretching out her shoulders before she began to sign.
"Kazi mentioned that your name was not one freely given." Amaya watched as the warrior regarded her with a wary curiosity. She paused, second guessing her next action but she swallowed the uncertainty and signed anyway. "My name is Amaya. May I ask for yours?"
Janai tested the name internally. Amaya. It suited her. "They would have been correct. My name is Janai, Golden Knight of Lux Aurea."
"Janai." Amaya took the time in spelling each word individually, committing it to memory and enjoying the fluidity of the hand motion for signing the 'j'. "Thank you for the medical care, as well as the food and water. The Xadian fruits are nothing like what we have across the Breach."
Janai nodded once. "I am thankful that your eyesight returned quickly. Now, I have business that I must attend to. Kazi will continue your interrogation without my presence."
"Until our next meeting, Janai." Amaya wants to smile at the narrowed glare Janai directs to her, knowing the woman is irked at the absence of the title. Her eyes glinted as she continued to sign, the blue and grey sleeves of her tunic swaying with sure movements. She smirked at Kazi, waiting for the interpreter to relay her message.
"Um. Oh my," Kazi breathed. They shifted uncomfortably under Janai's gaze, tongue thick with an unnamed expression.
"Well, what did she say?" Janai tilted her chin up, readying herself for what may come.
Kazi swallowed, cursing their momentary lapse in sanity earlier during their conversations with Amaya.
"She said that she hopes to see you soon," Kazi braced as they continued tentatively, "...because even a pet will need to be walked, fed, and...bathed...from time to time."
Janai's jaw dropped before immediately clenching as a furious heat spread like sunfire on her dark-skinned cheeks. She spun to shoot a glare at the interpreter who had finished verbally translating, now standing embarrassed and purposefully avoiding their superior's eyes. Her head whipped back to Amaya only to find a smirk plastered on the human's lips, clearly amused at Janai's expense.
Janai took a step into Amaya's space, her hand butting against the pommel of her sword. Amaya was unflinching even as Janai vehemently stated, "You are not my pet, you are my prisoner!"
Her knight's cape snapped as she turned to angrily stalk towards the fire-ring's edge, quickly enabling her heat-invulnerable skin to walk through the barrier. It wasn't until she had arrived on the other side that Janai shouted, "We will speak of this later, Kazi! I would implore you to not continue in actions you will come to regret!"
She swept up the staircase without a second glance.
Primal Sun strike me. Pure heart, my ass.