[ @spellassassin:]
Continued from x
“You should spend a few nights at the College and see what you think of it afterwards. Being a mage has its perks when it comes to the chill, I must admit.” Like warming blankets with but a thought, and reheating tea after hours of forgotten sitting while reading. How others got along without at least a basic grasp of fire magic was beyond her. “Well, regardless I am glad you have reached your destination unscathed. Gods know the paths this far north are none too-”
“Alma!” Jae’s words were cut off at the voice calling to her and she turned to see a tiny Imperial bounding towards them, lute grasped carefully in her arms, and brown hair flying behind her. Gracious that girl could never keep her hair in place, could she? Not that Jae had much room to speak. As the girl drew closer she called to her again before giving a quick look to the stranger and stepping a bit further away. “Alma, I’m all finished.”
Jae smiled, gesturing for the little one to come closer, “Did you now? That’s wonderful, hla aln,” she rested a warm hand on the girl’s shoulder, brushing her hair back as she did, “Luci, dear, I would like you to meet a friend of mine. This is, ah, Alhusayn,” she said the name slowly more for her own benefit than her daughters, “Al, this is my daughter, Lucina.”
“Um,” Luci, looking up at the red guard, quickly hid behind Jae’s leg, “Hello Muthsera Alhusayn.”
“I am pleased to meet you, Miss Lucina,” The man smiled and gave a friendly nod. “‘Al’ is just fine, if you would prefer. ‘Alhusayn’ can be a bit of a mouthful, hm?” Privately, he didn’t see why people outside of Hammerfell seemed to have such trouble with his name. Al. Hu. Sayn. How hard was that? He gave a near-imperceptible shake of his head, letting the matter drop.
“Is that your lute?” He asked, brightening. It had been many years since Alhusayn had so much as strummed a chord, but he was fond of the instrument. “Do you play? Back in my homeland, we have an instrument that is very similar, called the oud.”
