The Girl Without a Necklace

"I'm Sylvirah Corrosa," she began, in a very high and small voice that made her sound much younger than she looked, "And this is my sister Ihrone." She paused again, giving the green-eyed girl - Ihrone - the chance to wave excitedly.

"We're your chief studiers, and the only ones actually allowed in your quarters for your trial run, or test period. For about one or two months, depending on how things go, you'll be kept here so that we can keep an eye on you and make sure you're not actually a threat and such. We heard some pretty nasty rumors while you were on your way here, and we just want to make sure that they were only rumors, mmkay?" Sylvirah seemed entirely too happy to be present, and her speech seemed a little too peppy. She was either faking the happiness entirely or was nervous, afraid, and had practiced. Or maybe both.

Luka nodded, and Ihrone stepped forward, making some gestures with her hands. She put her left out flat, facing away from herself, curled some of her fingers in and brought her hands together in front of her, and then did some kind of shrug.

Sylvirah studied her sister's hands and translated. "She's asking what your name is."

"Oh. My full name is Avacyna de Lukasa Arenelis, but..." she paused momentarily, then continued, though much less sure. "I guess you can call me Luka instead, if you want."

Ihrone clapped delightedly and pulled out a notepad, scribbling something down. She made some more gestures, this time cupping her fingers around her mouth and then bringer her hand down and out, pointing at Luka. Once again, Sylvirah translated: "How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen now, and I'll be eighteen in about five months. I was fifteen when my mana first- " she had to stop herself from saying first reared its ugly head "-showed itself."

Ihrone's signs got faster and harder to follow as the conversation went on, until her hands were simply a blur to Luka, but Sylvirah's eyes must have been equally quick, as she didn't miss a beat while playing translator. Eventually, after what seemed like at least an hour, Ihrone's hands settled back at her sides and she beamed at Luka.

Sylvirah held up a pad that contained her answers written in impeccable cursive, and explained. "We just wanted to get a basic profile on you to cross-reference what you say with what the elves have written on their sheet for you. Things can get miscommunicated, you know, truths stretched and whatnot, so we just want to be sure before we draw any conclusions of our own."

Ihrone nodded, head bobbing so quickly Luka wondered if it would fall off, and made some lightning-quick signs again. Sylvirah didn't translate this time, engrossed in the papers that they'd just filled out, until Ihrone sighed exasperatedly and poked her in the shoulder. SHe looked up, mildly annoyed, and Ihrone repeated her sign.

"She says this is all we'll be doing today, and that she's happy to see that their record about your compliance is spot-on. We'll be back tomorrow at about seven o' clock, if that's alright?" Sylvirah asked, as Ihrone tugged her out the door.

"That'll be fine," Luka answered, then right before the door shut she added hastily, "Goodnight."

She heard a muffled thump on the other side of the door and then silence.

Luka only realized that she'd fallen asleep when the glare of the sun through the window across the table from where she sat hit her square in the face, full force.

From the knock on the door, she assumed, that it must be somewhere around seven in the morning. Standing and stretching, wincing as she rolled out her shoulders, before answering the door.

"Good morning," she greeted, smoothing her messy hair out of her face and stepping out of the way. Sylvirah breezed past her at a business-like pace, setting up at the table with what looked like a stack of flash cards and a fold full of loose papers. They looked like transfer forms, though she couldn't be sure.

She was distracted from her thoughts when Irohne latched onto her with a hug, prompting a startled squeak from the elf and a disapproving frown from Sylvirah across the room. Almost sheepishly, the green-eyed girl let go of her, waving and signing something that Luka assumed must've meant 'Good Morning'.

Luka tried to copy the sign back, and Irohne beamed before practically bouncing over to the table. She must've gotten it at least half right, then.

Smiling a bit to herself, the elf made her way over to the table and sat down, where Sylvirah's frostiness prompted her to switch back to her noblewoman's formality. She spent the morning until what must've been lunch time answering questions about what she remembered from her childhood, what she could do with her mana, and so on.

At lunch they took a break and had some sandwiches delivered to her room, not little ones like there would be at a party or event but full ones, lettuce flaring out the sides and crusts uncut. Luka and Irohne devoured theirs while Sylvirah ate slowly and methodically, cookie-cutter bites taken at exactly eight-second intervals.

Afterwards, it was the flash cards' turn, and while Irohne held them up for her she told Sylvirah what first came to mind, while the blue-eyed girl would then write them down, both of them stopping every once in a while to brush wisps of red hair out of their faces.

A card with the picture of a tree on it. "Hunting with my brother in the forests."

Another with the picture of a stream. "Taking my dog out for walks."

Yet another with the picture of a young human woman, dressed for a formal event. "My bethrothal ceremony."

That answer warranted raised brows from the twins, but otherwise they continued on as normal. They went through about twenty cards before the sun went down and the two redheads packed up shop, informing her that they would be back at the same time next morning, and to get some rest so that she could stay at the top of her game.

As Luka sank back into sleep, this time on the rickety bed set about five feet from the table, she thought about Irohne's hand gestures, and how foreign they were to her. Resolving to ask about it the next morning, the elf's green eyes fluttered shut.