Marama turned out to be the name of the female shifter herbalist that Quynh had taken shelter with whenever that huge storm hit. Her husband’s name was Oryn, and the pair apparently traveled between Matori and Jahaur often while trading medical herbs and the like with the locals before returning to Neued to set up a stall for a few weeks before traveling again. Quynh had lucked out that they had been delayed while traveling between settlements so that they were in the middle of the main road for traders when the storm hit and forced them to take shelter together. Once she had explained her situation the couple had offered to give her a ride in their wagon to the next settlement where she was hoping to find word of her mothers, the pair of Aishans always roaming instead of staying in one place for too long. At first Quynh hadn’t really known how to feel about traveling with earthlings, but after the first day she found herself warming up to the older couple who had only shown her kindness so far. Though what did she do in return? Break things apparently. The very thought made Quynh wince as she looked at the tea spilled across the floor of the wagon. They had made camp again and she thought to boil some water for tea to offer them once they returned from foraging for more medical herbs before going to the next settlement that they were hoping to arrive at in the morning. However, the kettle had been a bit hotter than Quynh expected and so she had immediately let go without thinking once her fingers registered the pain. The thing had hit the floor so hard that it dented and Quynh didn’t know if she could fix it. The top as well had broken off, the metal latch there twisted and in no shape to reattach to the kettle. “Well, that’s unfortunate.” She let out a sigh before looking around. There was no way to hide it nor did she feel like lying to the shifters who had only been kind to her since traveling together. It was a lie to say that her fingers didn’t sting still as she wiped up the spilled tea with a cloth, Quynh feeling her heart grow heavier with each swipe of the material against the wooden floor. At least she could focus on cleaning before Marama arrived and then try to figure out the broken kettle.

“Oh! Are you okay?” Marama’s voice disturbed her thoughts, Quynh blinking as she glanced back up towards the shifter as she arrived. “Looks like quite a spill.”

“A bit.” Quynh acknowledged with a sigh and a wince as she pulled the cloth away from the remnants of the spill. “I was going to greet you both with tea when you returned, but I startled myself and it spilled everywhere. I suppose I forgot how hot a kettle can be once you’ve boiled some water.”

“I see.” Marama didn’t seem angry even as she noticed the damaged kettle that was lying on its side, the metal still a bit too hot for Quynh to want to bother with. “Did you burn yourself?”

“I did, but I also broke the kettle. I’m sorry.” Quynh glanced over at the piece with a frown. Surely the shifter would be more upset over than than over some strange Aishan hybrid and her hands, right? Apparently not because Marama wasted no time grabbing some ointment and bandages. She didn’t even hesitate to focus on Quynh, her expression full of worry rather than frustrations at the broken object.

“Sit down and leave the cleaning up to me.” Marama chastised Quynh with a frown, the first time her expression hardened since seeing the accident. “We can always get a new kettle, you can’t get new fingers quite as easily though. Give me your hands and I’ll apply medicine.”

“Thank you.” Quynh’s voice was soft, disbelief written on her features. How could earthlings be so nice towards her after everything her ancestors had put them through? Her mothers weren’t aggressive towards earthlings, but they definitely held themselves above the other races and came off as very blunt and cold at times. And her grandmothers? Well, Quynh didn’t want to think about her Elarian roots that was for certain. “I’ll get you a new kettle when we get to town.” She promised, not knowing what else to say as she sat there and allowed Marama to apply the ointment and bandage her fingers.

[758]