The half-Mugrobi girl felt for the older girl, though she herself had been lucky enough to grow up in a loving family. But she knew a lot of other people weren't so lucky. Galdori families weren't known for being loving in the way her family was and a few of her closest friends had been taken under her wing simply because their families were horrid. She couldn't change their families, but at least she could make her friends feel cherished and loved, the way her family made her feel.
She knew she couldn't save the world, but if she could help the people she cared about just a little bit, that would be a good start.
Rina shook her head when Niamh looked ashamed. "No need to be ashamed, Niamh. Nobody could have stopped what happened," she said with a shrug. "They can't really even help me now. I'm not a Living conversationalist, but all the doctors my family has taken me to said that the nerves are too compressed, the bone is too close to them. They could try to do surgery, but I'm just not willing to take a risk that could end up with me being paralyzed, y'know? It's just not worth it when I generally enjoy life, even with the pain. I have a nice house and good servants and friends who like me for who I am. Father, Mother, and ja make sure I'm taken care of. This," she said, patting her wheelchair. "Doesn't define who I am, even if people think it does."
She watched as Niamh fell silent, lost in thought. She let the girl have her silence, knowing that whatever was on her mind would come out if it was meant to. She meant it when she said she didn't spread secrets. She also didn't dig if she got the slightest sense that it would be a bad idea. During the few years after her accident, when she was being poked and prodded by countless doctors, she had learned to value her privacy. And, in the past six months, she had learned to value it even more.
Rina laughed at Niamh's comment about her academic fascinations, but it wasn't a mean, nasty laugh. "I think everyone has their… thing. You know, that thing that they can get lost in, as if their soul would die without it. The thing that brings life to them. I'm glad you know what yours is."
Rina ran her hand through her hair and gave Estella a quiet smile over her coffee mug after she had taken a long drink. It was a smile that many would think was strange for a Galdor woman to give to the passive she employed, a smile that said there was much more than kindness beneath it.
Niamh wasn't the only one who had secrets. But Rina wouldn't let this one out. She couldn't. Even her parents would be scandalized. And she didn't even want to think about what the impact would be at school if her secret got out.
Estella sat down and bit back a groan at Niamh's comment about the importance of coffee to Mugrobi people, as though she knew that the girl had opened a door that might be difficult to close. She reached up with a finely-fingered hand and rubbed her forehead. "Oh, Lady. You asked the question you never ask Mugrobi people," she teased Niamh.
Rina laughed and stuck her tongue out at Estella playfully. "I'll keep it brief."
"Please do," Estella chuckled.
Rina turned her focus back to Niamh. "Coffee is… it's a religious thing for us, really. Legend says that Hulali gave us the coffee bean as our first spice to bring to the world. I mean, let's be real, it was salt that made my fathers' nation a spice powerhouse. But who drinks salt?" Rina laughed. "It's coffee that binds us. Every time we drink coffee, we're giving thanks to Hulali for the wealth he gives us. We even have a formal ceremony that people do as a religious rite or even for something as every day as a business deal. A Mugrobi store that doesn’t have fresh coffee for the customers isn't one that's going to stay open very long. Even grocery stores have coffee to offer, though their cups are usually sipping cups."
"I'll be honest, though… The flavor can be too strong for me," the disabled girl said, tipping her cup slightly to show that the coffee in it was a dark tan color, not too far off from her skin ton. "Don't tell my fathers, but I prefer a touch of cream in my coffee," she said with a mischievous grin.