Blood from Stone [AU]

[Marian Hawke]

"She... no, you're mistaken. She is an elf. She would never..." 

She chews her lower lip, hesitantly. "I never got... my father wasn't part of my life as a child, I wasn't very... elven. She has much more of her heritage than I, from her mother. She has told me about... dark elves."

[Jassinth]

Of course she has. "Heritage... I would think myself lucky to have missed gaining a heritage of hate and fear. Regardless, Cindy is what she is. And I find it hard to think she never wondered how she, were she elf and human alone could see as she does in the dark."

[Tethras Clan]

Merrill raises her hand. "Actually, that sort of thing isn't entirely uncommon. The not noticing thing. Carver had no idea for years and years and years that no-one else could smell people well enough to track them across a house."

[Marian Hawke]

"I can see in the dark," says Liz quietly. "I mean, not pitch black, but very little light. She's only a little better than me. It's not impossible."

[Jassinth]

Jass snorts lightly. "And her hair? How tall she is for female? The slant of her ears, the arch of her nose? Those are drow, not elf. Oh it's subtle, but I've made something of a study of it you see."

[Marian Hawke]

"She's merikos," argues Liz. "Humans are tall. Her ears look like mine to me."

[Tethras Clan]

"How well can you see your own ears?" Merrill cocks her head to the side, expression perplexed. 

[Jassinth]

"Her nose is not human either. Human noses are broader, flater. Elven noses are sharp but small. Her nose is arched and elegant. Very attractive, mind you, but it speaks of drow, gnomish or kendish. And she is clearly none of those."

[Marian Hawke]

"She's not," argues Hawke. "Drow women are cruel, beyond cruel. They delight in suffering. They love nothing more than watching their inferiors grovel. She's nothing like that."

[Jassinth]

"I do not think she is, anymore than I am servile, brutish or conniving as most drow males are said to be. That is because of the Great Queen of Tyrants. Cindy, as I understand it was raised in Glaley, not the Underdark." He shrugs. "So of course she is not as they are. But that is not my point, at least in the main. My real thrust was why are you so afraid and disdainful of me when you love her?"

[Marian Hawke]

"I.."

She wets her lips, seeming to wilt. "I'm afraid of everyone," she whispers, glancing away.

[Tethras Clan]

"Yourself most of all," Merrill murmurs, eyes sad and a little to understanding. 

[Marian Hawke]

Liz winces, but doesn't argue, biting her lower lip.

[Tethras Clan]

"Would you like a hug?"

[Marian Hawke]

"No," she whispers, voice rough. "I want... I want to go lie down."