"Have you ever met a Lippian?" Assuntina asked her maid as she took down her hair for the evening; long, dark, and shiny waves that took nearly an hour to brush out.
Nicoletta, a woman with deeply creased winkles and gentle, steady hands, thought for a minute. "A few. When I was a child, there was a boy in my village named Uno."
Assuntina choed back a laugh.
"Laugh away," Nicoletta said wryly. "We teased him for it."
"How did you know he was a Lippian? Did he have any marks?"
"His left ear was pointed. He could move water in a bowl, but only dirty water."
Assuntina laughed again. "Poor boy. What was he like? Were people cruel to him?"
"He was quiet," Nicoletta said thoughtfully. "Shy. People were mean to him, yes, unless they wanted something from him."
"Why are people so cruel to Lippians," Assuntina huffed. "Most of them have done nothing wrong."
Nicoletta shrugged. "They're nymph-spawn, the children of our enemies. And they do things that are unnatural. Some of them do the worst things... People just want to protect themselves."
Assuntina shook her head stubbornly. "That's not right. Everyone is afraid, and superstitious. All Lippians have done is exist."
"Yes, milady," Nicoletta said simply. "Why do you ask?"
Assuntina huffed a sigh. "There is a girl, a Lippian girl, who works for Gregor, my fencing instructor. She seems so wretched. I want to know her, perhaps try and befriend her, but... She won't let me. She barely speaks to me."
"Well, be kind, milady, and patient. It is all anyone can do."
Assuntina sighed. She would be kind, yes. But she was not quite so certain about patient.
YOU ARE READING
On Mount Alyppia
FantasyArista is a beggar-girl, living on the streets of Kalterra. The streets are kind to no one, especially to half-nymphs like her, and she has been unloved and unwanted all her life. But things in the city are not as they seem, and soon Arista's life w...
