Taalia Giovanni

Taalia noticed Margot's face, illuminated by the flames as it was, as the shepardess watched her reaction from the other side of the little camp. Her suspicions had been growing, particularly towards a woman who had endured such bondage and depredation of liberty and happiness. Taalia could only remember back merely a few years ago when she had been in the clutches of the ratman, forced to wade through slavery and arrest, and how sweet the free world had been once she had made her escape.

But Margot?

Nothing. You'd think she had just woken up from a particularly long nap. No appreciation of the fresh air, the rolling fields of snow-capped green, no reaction to simply being in the presence of others that were not her supposed tormentor.

These meditations had been brewing within the shepardess' mind well into the next day when they made their way towards the shrine, whose holy edifices Bella, Briant and herself had taken shelter in for their first night beneath a Bretonnian sky. Comfort had not been the priority, but there was an enjoyable sense of reception that Taalia had felt, as if the land itself had extended a welcome of humility and piety, one which she had readily received and appreciated.

The soft whistling pulled Taalia out of her daydream.

The Shepardess looked about, then up towards the source of the gentle, barely audible melody: Margot.

Remembering how the woman had wanted her to sing for her last night, Taalia narrowed her eyes and quickly shifted her vision between Donallo, Briant and Bella - none of them noticed it. Bella was distracted. Donalo and Briant engrossed in lively conversation. Only she observed the serruptitious tune being whistled.

Then Milo poked his head out from his place within her backpack; his small mouth uttering a gentle Meow!.

The horses ears flicked back and forth, as if in search of a siren song sound - it noticed too! The goat they had brought with them, should the need for supper or a distraction arise, raised its horned head and bleated once, primitive annoyance on its face.

Taalia's face snapped back up towards Margot. She was casting some sort of spell!

Holding her quarterstaff, and positioned at 4 o'clock to the horse, Taalia covertly lowered her staff behind the horse and used it to poke Bella to draw her attention.

Prod! Prod!

When her friend turned to face her, possibly with curiosity or with annoyance, Taalia, still looking up at Margot, would gesture towards the woman with her eyebrows raised, then towards the clear annoyance of the animals.