<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(209, 72, 65)">Sabina knew as soon as she'd finished greeting the giant and asking him if he was one of the Ohtoses clan that he wasn't amused. He blinked his big eyes and let out a sigh of pure frustration and, without a sound, slapped her horse on its rump. She squeaked in surprise, calling out to her mount, "Nyugodj, fiú. Lassú nekem," in the native tongue of the Hyssuken people, simultaneously pulling on the reigns and maneuvering her body to slow the steed. She'd recognized the breed of horse when she first saw them, for their gleaming coats had a decided pearly sheen that was native to Hyssuke horses. The animal calmed and slowed to an easy trot, a cloud of dust in her wake.<br/>
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"Sorry about the dust," she called out to Red, even though he didn't acknowledge her and he had created the cloud by making her horse bolt.<br/>
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She laughed softly, thinking about his reaction to her attempts at conversation. His expression was that of a person who had an ant crawling in his trousers. Her laughter at the image bordered on giggles, and she covered her mouth to disguise her merriment.<br/>
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Red had not responded verbally to her words in Common Tongue, but he undoubtedly understood them. She'd known many students in her father's language classes who could read and write a language but not speak it, so partial use of a tongue was not impossible. She furrowed her brow as she rode along, allowing her horse to follow the others at a steady pace and listening to Red's footsteps on the path behind her. He clearly didn't understand the Ohtoses language, so she could strike that from her list. What else might he speak? She mentally ticked off several other tongues that were most common among small indigenous tribes in the recesses of the Karmeim islands in the south, enjoying the challenge of figuring out the creature's native tongue.<br/>
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<i>Creature...</i>she thought. <i>Perhaps he is a being that is not a human giant, but another species altogether.</i> Her eyes lit with excitement at the idea of meeting such a being, but she held herself in check. She had no way of verifying this theory, and she certainly didn't want to incur Red's wrath with rude questions. However, her curiosity was piqued, and she made a mental list of other languages to try out on him.</span>