Timestamp: 45th of Fall, 522 A.V.
The Kois Quas Dominion : Gold Lake (second season)
Tazrae’s whip lesson continued. She admired the hunting whip in her hand, the one she’d just been handed, and noted that the plaiting on the handle was different than the plaiting on the thong. “Why are the two plaits different? Just decorative?” She asked, not seeing a true reason for it.
Her trainer nodded. “Decorative. It’s a demarcation of lineage. That whip you hold was braided by a Kois. They use a 24/12 plait. The first number is the count on the handle. The second number is the thong plait. Other families use other patterns. You can identify who the owner of the whip is by the plait count. Your father would never, for example, use your mother’s whip. It’s just not done.” He said sincerely.
Tazrae’s head came up sharply. “You knew them?” She asked, her gaze meeting his.
The golden-eyed man raised an eyebrow but then nodded. “Of course, I know them.” He said with a frown on his face. “Did someone tell you they were dead? You speak of them in the past tense. That would be incorrect. They are very much alive. In fact, because they are alive, the Kois and the Lisuli Tribes might just survive what’s been happening to them. They are my wife’s parents. I am Kamrae’s lifemate. She is, I believe, your sister.” He said without emotion.
Taz nodded really slowly, indicating her hesitant understanding, fighting to conceal her shock. Kami was married. And her full name was Kamrae? There was so much Tazrae didn’t know about her sister. And now she wondered if she had squandered the time she could have been getting to know her sister. She wanted to tell him she’d met Kami, that the woman was safe in Syka. But she wasn’t sure how safe the information was with him. Taz knew the man could keep a secret, but she didn’t know if he had feelings for his wife or not… and the situation of their relationship. It could have been any sort of situation, considering how the Tribes were, and not all of them pleasant. But he’d specifically said lifemate. What did that mean? To her, it seemed like it might indicate an emotional attachment. But she was poorly versed in Benshira traditions, so it could be anything at all really.
And just like that, the moment was over. He was back to being an all-business all-professional cold calculating teacher. Watching him go from a more gentle concerned person to the teacher she knew was like watching a cold front blow in over Riverfall’s cliffs. Taz internally sighed but schooled her expression into impassive emotion but with a mild interest as he carried on. He continued the lesson, swapping out whips again, his entire demeanor that of a detached professional.
Once more the hunting whip was traded out for yet another whip. This one she took gingerly and turned over and over in her hands. It had a massive handle, nearly four times the size of the normal bullwhip she’d just gotten her first lessons with. “What’s this one?” She asked, looking up at him. “This looks like…a stock whip that has been way overdone. It has similar features to the stockwhip but this handle…. It must be five feel long…. nearly as long as I am tall.” She said, eyes wide. “The keeper like this means it has a replaceable thong. You must wear out thongs cracking this thing.” She said thoughtfully and then turned it over and over again in her hands as if to see if it would reveal its secrets.