<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(209, 72, 65)">"I beg your pardon, Karin," Sabina replied, noting that the healer giggled and rolled her eyes at the error. "Thank you for your input. As you said, some of these plants are lethal simply by touching them. Since the bitter scent is so strong, there could be large quantities nearby. Perhaps I should warn the leader..."<br/>
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She paused, her eyes adjusting to a dark cluster only a few yards off the beaten path. Curious, she slowed her horse a bit, digging in her satchel and finding a small spyglass that her father had gifted her with on her 16th birthday. When most girls received pearls and other jewels, she received tools of learning, something for which she would forever be grateful.<br/>
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"A gentle breeze lifted red tendrils from her braid and swept them into a gentle halo, and she lifted her spyglass to her eye and twisted it until the green came into focus. "Hmm..." she mumbled, leaning forward to help the glass do its work. A chuckle bubbled from her mouth, her husky voice echoing around them. "Well, it isn't lethal after all." Years ago, the Empire eradicated that plant from its borders because leaders said it was dangerous to humans. However, she had seen that leaf before, when her father and she journeyed through Kovachevitsa. It was sinsemilla, an herb that is a hallucinogen when smoked.<br/>
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"Some of this could be valuable if we meet tribes that practice gifting rites," she pondered aloud as she nibbled her bottom lip and closed the spyglass, slipping it back into her satchel. She sensed the giant walking up behind her, and she turned when he stopped, clearly not leaving her behind. Sabina studied the man, noting his large form and giant-like features. He reminded her of the people of a small clan she'd encountered when she was a little girl, but she'd heard they'd been massacred by invading peoples not long after she and her father left them. Perhaps Red was one who had escaped death.<br/>
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Looking into his serious face, Sabina spoke gently, "Hello, I'm Sabina. Thank you for keeping guard behind us." When he didn't respond, she placed both of her hands together in the traditional greeting of the clan she'd known, then she twisted her right hand, her left tapping her right forearm three times as she said in a deep growl, "Litumeliso. Na ke uena eo ke nahanang hore u teng?"</span>