| Eyes narrowed in concentration, Nasreen watches Dragomir separate the vine into twiney strands with his teeth. Turning to her own vine, she mimics him, but once again, her eagerness gets the best of her. Her teeth close over the end too firmly, and she winds up with a chunk of vine in her mouth and a bitter taste on her tongue. In a rather unladylike fashion, the princess promptly spits it out, then attempts to hide her gag as she ducks her duo-tone head beneath her wing. “Oh!” she exclaims, face reemerging and regarding her ruined plant with dismay. “And I was sure I had it.” Rather mournfully, she picks up her original vine. Granted, this one’s a bit mangled too, but at least it’s in one piece. Slowly, gingerly, she grasps the good end in her teeth, pulling the vine into strands. This time, she is gentler…and more careful to avoid the foul-tasting sap. After a minute or two of painstaking effort, she is left with two sections: a fat one, and a thin cord. One down, three to go.
“You had to be awfully patient to figure this out,” she murmurs through gritted teeth as she works, never taking her eyes off of the vine. “We had rope-makers back in Th’orqui, but I would have never guessed that it was this hard!” the princess remarks, tugging the second strand away from the main vine. For a moment, the fibers snag, and she catches her breath, waiting. With a stroke of luck, the delicate piece does not tear, and with a sigh of relief, Nasreen noses the last section apart. How many of these were they going to make?
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[O] The Bindings That Tie Us [CRAFTER'S MEETING]
