Self Confidence

Biara walked slowly through the Royal Exchange in Silvermoon, tending to her daily business within the city. As she approached one of the sparkling fountains within the large courtyard, she paused to look down at the water, studying her reflection. She stared hard at the image in the rippling liquid, a hand raised to her right cheek, fingertips lightly touching the glowing blue ward marks there.

After a moment she reached up and unclipped her hair, letting it fall across that side of her face, attempting to arrange it in a neat style that would also cover the markings. As she finished, she scowled down at the reflection, unhappy with the results. The blue glow of the wards could be clearly seen through her red hair, pulsing dully in time with her heartbeat. They were virtually impossible to cover, and she was just hiding her face for no reason.

Anger rose in her for a moment, and the wards blazed brightly. Through her dress across the front of her chest and down the left side of her body additional blue light leaked from her clothing as her magic responded to her emotions. She shook her head and furiously clipped her hair back in place, staring at herself in the water again. After a moment, she muttered a word and the liquid froze into a non-reflective white ice. A second word cracked it into a thousand shards within the stone basin of the fountain.

"Sometimes you can't ever escape your mistakes," Biara said softly to herself before turning and walking away from the slowly thawing ice.