Chapter 228: Ashlynn’s Mark
Ashlynn’s hesitation lasted for only a few moments. Amahle had already revealed her own mark. Even if Ashlynn didn’t understand how to interpret it now, she would eventually. The other woman had already taken the initiative to reveal her own weaknesses before asking to see Ashlynn’s, exactly as a big sister should.
"It’s on my hip," Ashlynn said, looking slightly embarrassed. Her mark was something that had only been seen by a very few people and over time, it had come to take on the same sort of taboo to her that revealing her naked breast would have held. Even though she’d made the decision to reveal it, when it came time to actually do so, her fingers hesitated at the hem of her dress.
"Here," she said, standing up and pulling up her skirts above the waist before sliding her underwear out of the way to reveal the complete tree shaped mark. She stumbled slightly as she moved but she felt like this was a bandage that she needed to rip off before she could really make progress.
"This, this is my mark of the witch," she said, catching her balance and posing awkwardly to show the mark to Amahle.
"No wonder you were recognized almost instantly," Amahle said in impressed tones. "Pardon my touch, darlin’," she added, reaching forward with two spider-like limbs to carefully and precisely measure Ashlynn’s mark. From its overall length to the length of specific ’roots’ on the tree shaped birthmark, Amahle took in every detail.
"Well?" Ashlynn asked, setting her clothing back into place and returning to her seat next to Amahle and the old book. "Where do my talents lie?"
"First, the size of the mark itself is impressive," Amahle said. After examining Ashlynn, she pulled a small notebook out of one of her many pockets along with a charcoal stick for sketching and began to roughly sketch the outline of Ashlynn’s mark.
"Your mark is shaped like a tree, and its shape reminds me of an Ash or a Maple tree. The mark is long and slender, but there’s still a good bit of width to it. This means that you’ll be able to go far with your magic in the places where you are strong, but there are limits to how much you can extend beyond your core competencies."
"If your mark were shaped more like an Oak, with greater breadth, you would be a better general witch, unable to reach as great of heights but you wouldn’t be as deficient where you are weak," Amahle explained. "Likewise, if your mark were shaped more like a Spruce, very narrow and tall, you would have unparalleled ability in one or two things, but almost no ability outside of that."